Artists
A Brief History
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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."
BACK TO ARTISTS
Len Barry
Billy and The Essentials
Johnny Caswell
Chubby Checker
Danny & the Juniors
Lesley Gore
Maureen Gray
Daryl Hall & John Oates
Johnny Madara
Ric Sandler
The Pixies Three
The Secrets
Eddie Custis
Cindy Scott
The Sherrys
Bunny Sigler
The Spokesmen
John's Memories
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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?
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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, continued to perform around the country at
conventions, theatres, clubs, casinos, fairs and festivals. Dave White passed away on
March 16, 2019. He was 79 years old. Joe Terry passed away on April 15, 2019. He was 78
years old.