The Fireflies were an American doo-wop group from Long Island, New York, from the late 1950s to early 1960s. They were one of the first groups in which all band members both sang and played instruments. In addition, they were the first all-white vocal harmonizing group to appear at The Apollo Theater.[1]
The group was formed by producer Gerry Granahan in Long Island in 1957, and underwent several line-up changes. Their debut single for Roulette Records was "The Crawl", followed by the Ribbon Records 1959 release "You Were Mine", which was their biggest hit. It was written by 19-year-old Paul Giacalone about a girl he met while he was touring.[1] It spent 16 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, and peaked at #21 on October 26, 1959,[2][3] while reaching #15 on Canada's CHUM Hit Parade.[4] The members involved in the song "You Were Mine" in 1959 were Paul Giacalone (bass singer and drummer; September 28, 1939 – June 27, 2013),[1]Ritchie Adams (lead singer; real name Richard Adam Ziegler), Lee Reynolds, John Viscelli (sax and vocals), Carl Girasoli (guitar and vocals). Carl's youngest brother, Louie, was one of the chorus singers. Since Louie was a child at the time, he fit the needed voice for the sung responses. Following the single's success, The Paulette Sisters released an answer record called "I Was Yours".[5]
Later singles included "I Can't Say Goodbye", "Marianne" and "My Girl" (all 1960); "I Can't Say Goodbye" was the only charter, spending three weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #90.[6][7] In 1962 the group reappeared on Taurus Records with "You Were Mine for Awhile" and "Blacksmith Blues" on Hamilton Records; three other singles followed on Taurus, but the group never returned to the charts. They lasted until 1967 before disbanding for good.
fireflies, other, uses, firefly, disambiguation, were, american, group, from, long, island, york, from, late, 1950s, early, 1960s, they, were, first, groups, which, band, members, both, sang, played, instruments, addition, they, were, first, white, vocal, harm. For other uses see Firefly disambiguation The Fireflies were an American doo wop group from Long Island New York from the late 1950s to early 1960s They were one of the first groups in which all band members both sang and played instruments In addition they were the first all white vocal harmonizing group to appear at The Apollo Theater 1 The group was formed by producer Gerry Granahan in Long Island in 1957 and underwent several line up changes Their debut single for Roulette Records was The Crawl followed by the Ribbon Records 1959 release You Were Mine which was their biggest hit It was written by 19 year old Paul Giacalone about a girl he met while he was touring 1 It spent 16 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at 21 on October 26 1959 2 3 while reaching 15 on Canada s CHUM Hit Parade 4 The members involved in the song You Were Mine in 1959 were Paul Giacalone bass singer and drummer September 28 1939 June 27 2013 1 Ritchie Adams lead singer real name Richard Adam Ziegler Lee Reynolds John Viscelli sax and vocals Carl Girasoli guitar and vocals Carl s youngest brother Louie was one of the chorus singers Since Louie was a child at the time he fit the needed voice for the sung responses Following the single s success The Paulette Sisters released an answer record called I Was Yours 5 Later singles included I Can t Say Goodbye Marianne and My Girl all 1960 I Can t Say Goodbye was the only charter spending three weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 peaking at 90 6 7 In 1962 the group reappeared on Taurus Records with You Were Mine for Awhile and Blacksmith Blues on Hamilton Records three other singles followed on Taurus but the group never returned to the charts They lasted until 1967 before disbanding for good Adams went on to release some solo singles and had a successful songwriting career including the hits Tossin and Turnin and After the Lovin 8 9 Original member and saxophonist singer John Viscelli still resides in southern Florida citation needed Paul Giacalone was diagnosed with cancer in late 2012 He died from the disease on Long Island on June 27 2013 aged 73 1 10 Ritchie Adams died on March 6 2017 at the age of 78 11 Carl Girasoli owned a guitar shop in Deltona FL in later years and died on June 17 2009 References edit a b c d Paul N Giacalone paulngiacalone com Retrieved 2015 09 26 Hot 100 You Were Mine The Fireflies Billboard com Retrieved February 8 2018 The Billboard HOT 100 Billboard October 26 1959 p 40 Accessed September 26 2015 CHUM Hit Parade CHUM Week of November 09 1959 Hamilton Andrew Fireflies Music Biography Credits and Discography AllMusic Retrieved 2013 07 03 Fireflies Awards AllMusic Retrieved 2013 07 03 The Billboard HOT 100 Billboard February 1 1960 p 60 Accessed September 26 2015 Songs written by Ritchie Adams MusicVF com Accessed September 27 2015 Oldies Music News Retrieved March 12 2017 Doc Rock The Dead Rock Stars Club 2013 January to June Thedeadrockstarsclub com Retrieved 2013 07 03 The passing of Fireflies lead Ritchie Adams Ziegler accessdate December 4 2017External links editThe Fireflies discography at Discogs nbsp Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Fireflies amp oldid 1176727031, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
