A HOLIDAY CELEBRATION OF ROCK, RHYTHM & SOUL Set for Tarrytown Music Hall , 12/7

By: Oct. 30, 2013
Enter Your Email to Unlock This Article

Plus, get the best of BroadwayWorld delivered to your inbox, and unlimited access to our editorial content across the globe.




Existing user? Just click login.

Rrazz Entertainment presents A Holiday Celebration of Rock, Rhythm & Soul at the Tarrytown Music Hall located at 13 Main Street in Tarrytown New York... See Bobby Rydell, , Charlie Thomas' Difters, Freda Payne, The Soul Survivors, Johnny Farina of Santo & Johnny-tickets are available now at www.TarrytownMusicHall.org or by calling 877.840.0457

Bobby Rydell's influence on popular music has been profound. When the producers of "Grease" wanted to pay tribute to the era in which the popular musical was set, they named the high school where most of the action took place "Rydell High."

Today Bobby enjoys a career that is full. He performs a busy solo schedule throughout the world. Australia has welcomed him for 17 tours down under, where he continues to be a favorite. He's a showroom favorite in Vegas and Atlantic City as well. For the past 20+ years Bobby has also enjoyed performing with a must-see production called "The Golden Boys." A happy fun filled look back at a simpler time in music history with his childhood pals, Frankie Avalon and Fabian.

The teen idol, now a seasoned performer, continues to perform to sell out audiences throughout the world. As a review of one of his recent performances put it, "Bobby Rydell is a true American Music Treasure."

ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAMER (1988) Charlie Thomas was was a member of a group known as the Five Crowns in 1958 along with Ben Earl Nelson (later known as Ben E. King), who were being managed by Lover Patterson.

While the The Five Crowns met with little commercial success, they enjoyed local popularity and that is why they were on the bill at the Apollo Theater in New York City in 1958 when George Treadwell fired his famous group, The Drifters. It was Charlie Thomas' voice that Treadwell heard and hastily recruited the Crowns to become the new Drifters.

Lover Patterson once said that Charlie Thomas' voice was one that the world would enjoy forever, and he was right!

The new Drifters first release in 1959 was a song called "There Goes My Baby". This was the beginning of what is generally acknowledged as the Golden Years of the Drifters.

In 1988, Charlie Thomas, along with other original members, Doc Green, Ben E. King and Elsbery Hobbs were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City.

Freda Payne is an American singer and actress best known for her million selling, 1970 hit single, "Band of Gold". She was also an actress in musicals and film, as well as the host of a TV talk show. Freda is the older sister of former Supreme Scherrie Payne.

Payne was born in Detroit, Michigan and grew up listening to different jazz singers, such as Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday. As a teenager, she attended the Detroit Institute of Musical Arts; she soon began singing radio commercial jingles, and took part in (and won many) local TV and radio talent shows.

In 1963, she moved to New York City and worked with many different entertainers, including Quincy Jones, Pearl Bailey, and Bill Cosby. The next year, her debut album, a jazz recording entitled After the Lights Go Down Low and Much More!!! She also made occasional guest appearances on different television shows including The Merv Griffin Show and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

She added theatrical credits to her repertoire; she understudied Leslie Uggams for the Broadway show Hallelujah Baby in 1967, and appeared with the Equity Theatre in a production of Lost in the Stars.

The Soul Survivors, originally from New York City, grew up listening to the R & B groups of the 1950's. The sounds of groups like the Moonglows, Heartbeats, and Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers had a great influence on brothers Charlie and Rich Ingui.

With various street corner groups, they developed their vocal skills. While in high school, Charlie joined the vocal group from Queens, N.Y. the Dedications. When, a year later the group's lead singer decided to leave,
brother Rich was recruited.

While performing at clubs in the New York area, they found themselves at the mercy of various house bands and decided to find a group of musicians who would become permanent members of the group therefore creating a self contained unit. The group would be renamed THE SOUL SURVIVORS.

Shortly thereafter, the group began to build a strong following, playing venues in Atlantic City and Philadelphia. Enjoying great success in Philadelphia, they attracted the attention of record producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. Into the recording studio they went, emerging with " Expressway To Your Heart " a song that would climb to #3 on Billboard's R&B chart and #4 on it's Top 100 list. The success of " Expressway " became Gamble and Huff's first "crossover" hit when it began to be played on both black and white radio stations. It's success enabled Gamble and Huff to reach the large audiences they sought in order to bring their " Sound Of Philadelphia " to the mass Market.

In polls taken by both the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia's City Paper, " Expressway" was voted the number one record ever to come out of Philadelphia.

One day Johnny decided to try a music publishing company and there is where the history of "Sleep Walk" started, they signed a song writer's contract which later on lead them to Canadian American Records. Their first release in 1959 was "Sleep Walk" which was written by Santo & Johnny. It was the last #1 instrumental of the 50's and earned them a Gold Record. With their unmistakable sound, they appeared on all the top music shows, "The Alan Freed Show", "Dick Clarks' American Bandstand", "The Perry Como Show" etc. etc.

Their fame spread to other countries and they were booked on tours in Australia, Mexico and Europe. They were than signed to an Italian record label and had a string of hits in Europe starting with "Sleep Walk" followed by hit singles, Love Story, Maria Elena, Ebb Tide, Love is Blue, Enchanted Sea, etc, etc. They also did all the cover records for the James Bond films.



Videos