They hosted a 1955 summer replacement series for Perry Como and were guests on any number of TV shows. The Four Lads also became a fixture on the newly-emerging medium of television. The hits kept coming, with 1955’s “Moments to Remember” followed by 1956’s “No, Not Much” and “Standing on the Corner (Watching All the Girls Go By),” the latter taken from the Frank Loesser-penned Broadway musical The Most Happy Fella. Miller, who chose all the group’s material, would continue to produce their songs, often in three-hour sessions with upwards of 50 musicians sitting in. That same year The Four Lads would have a minor hit of their own with their debut single “The Mocking Bird.” They would have greater success in 1953 with “Istanbul (Not Constantinople)” and, in 1954, the African-influenced “Skokiaan.” Both songs became hits and the pair would continue to record together through 1952. Thus, in 1951, The Four Lads made their first commercial splash, singing back-up on the Johnnie Ray track “Cry” and its B-side, “The Little White Cloud That Cried.” Both songs were arranged by Toorish, and single was credited to Johnnie Ray and The Four Tops. He liked what he heard and offered the Lads the chance to provide accompanying vocals for his artists. They did.Īt the behest of the band’s manager, Columbia Records A&R executive Mitch Miller scouted the quartet during their Ruban Bleu residency. The club’s owner informed the boys that there was another Four Dukes working out of Detroit, and suggested they change their name to The Four Lads. An impromptu performance backstage at Toronto’s Casino Theatre for their idols, the African-American “spiritual” group the Golden Gate Quartet, led to a 30-week gig at the posh New York nightclub Le Ruban Bleu.
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