| |
 |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
a brief history
Dave
White, Frank Maffei, Danny Rapp and Joe Terranova began singing
together in the early 1950’s at ages 13 and 14 in Philadelphia,
where they were fans of the local rhythm and blues radio stations.
The group, which was formed by Dave White, went by the name
The Juvenaires. They performed at school dances, local clubs,
restaurants and street corners, which is where John Madara
discovered them.
The
group, who had changed their name to Danny &
the Juniors, recorded AT THE HOP in 1957, where
it reached the top of the charts worldwide. Written by John
Madara and Dave White, AT THE HOP remained #1 for an astounding
seven weeks, the first record ever to reach that status.
The group immediately followed with their huge hit, ROCK AND
ROLL IS HERE TO STAY, written by Dave White and produced by
John Madara. AT THE HOP has been featured in the award-winning
motion pictures "Woodstock" and "American Graffiti,"
and ROCK AND ROLL IS HERE TO STAY appeared in the hugely successful
motion picture "Grease."
|
|
|
| |
|
|
John's memories
I
first met Danny & The Juniors
when they were singing on the street corner outside of my
bedroom window. They called themselves The Juvenaires.
The group sang backup, with me as the lead, for a song that
Dave White and I wrote called DO THE BOP. I had a contract
with Capitol Records at the time and they didn't like it much.
It was in the very beginning of Rock and Roll and they
didn't really understand it. The record was played for
Dick Clark, who suggested that the lyrics be changed to something
about the record hops, which were really big at the time,
and The Bop was on the way out.
Because
Capitol had me under contract and had already turned down
DO THE BOP, it was then decided to have Dave's group sing
the new song, which was renamed AT THE HOP. Danny Rapp
sang the lead and the rest of the guys sang background, and
their name was changed to Danny & The Juniors.
A small, local label, Singular, released the record, and it
started getting local airplay around Philadelphia.
Dick Clark played AT THE HOP on his show, American Bandstand,
and ABC Paramount decided to sign them on their label.
The song went National and was a huge hit right from the start.
Following
AT THE HOP, Dave White wrote the song ROCK AND ROLL IS HERE
TO STAY, which I produced, and that song became a huge hit
also. I also co-wrote their hit, DOTTIE, and with Dave
White I co-wrote THE CONTINENTAL WALK and OOH-LA-LA-LIMBO.
These records all made the charts.
|
|
|
| |
|
| what
happened next?
Danny
& The Juniors went on to have much success.
The group travelled around the U.S., and had additional chart
records including PONY EXPRESS and TWISTIN' USA. Dave White
eventually left the group to write and produce hit records
with John Madara, including Leslie Gore's YOU DON'T OWN ME,
Len Barry's 1-2-3 and Chubby Checker's THE FLY, to name a
few.
In
1983, Danny Rapp committed suicide, but the Juniors continued
working as "Danny & The Juniors, featuring Joe Terry."
In
1992, Danny & The Juniors was
inducted into the Hall of Fame and the Walk of Fame in their
hometown by the Philadelphia Music Alliance.
In
March of 2001, AT THE HOP was voted by the Recording Industry
Association of America as one of the top 100 songs of the
century. The soundtrack album, “Grease,” was voted
one of the top albums of the century. ROCK AND ROLL
IS HERE TO STAY is featured on that album.
In
2003, the group was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of
Fame.
Along
with their numerous television appearances and live performances,
Danny & The Juniors
had the pleasure of performing at the New York Paramount with
Alan Freed and The Apollo in Harlem with Jocko Henderson.
Joe Terry, Frank Maffei and Frank's brother Bobby, continue
to perform around the country at conventions, theatres, clubs,
casinos, fairs and festivals. Dave White continues to write
and produce for various artists.
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
