Discark: Then And Now, by The Original G-Clefs

What is this?
OR Put a link to this album on your Homepage or Myspace Page

Then And Now

The G-Clefs is a highly flamboyant, well choreographed pop/soul vocal group which has the distinction of having the first Boston area rock & roll record to chart nationally, their 1956 hit "Ka Ding Dong". Consisting of four brothers, Teddy Scott (b 2/29/36), Chris Scott (b 2/14/37), guitarist Tim "Payme" Scott (8/23/38), and Ilanga Scott (b 7/22/40), along with their friend and neighbor Ray Gibson (b 9/24/37), the band formed in Roxbury, Massachusetts, an area similar to New York's Harlem, thirty years before New Edition would bring Maurice Starr and Michael Jonzun's music to the world, The G-Clefs were the original pioneers from New England's soon to be important music scene.

The Scott's gang, "The Band Of Angels", ruled in what was known to the police as "Scotty's Alley" with the warning "pass at your own risk", but the gang of "bad boys" had their giving side donating monies to charity. The Scott brother's parents "adopted everyone" singer Teddy Scott told AMG in a August 2000 interview. Songs like the moody and intriguing "Zoom Gali Gali" and "Why Can't We All Get Along" on the Then & Now CD contain biographical bits, "Zoom" was written by Tim "Payme" Scott about when they were kids and their homes had fenced off back yards with alleys. The band would hold little shows charging a penny for people to see, and with their sisters and friends they would perform an Egyptian act.

The band's first "official" show was circa 1952/1953 at the Rollerway, a roller skating rink which converted to a dance hall on Fridays, located in Revere, Massachusetts. Revere Beach in the 50's and 60's was Boston's answer to Palisades Park, the group playing hundreds and hundreds of shows before they made it into the charts.

They recorded "Mary Lee" at Ace Recording Studios in Boston in the 1950's, a cover of the tune recorded in 1955 by The Rainbows. That 45 was brought to the band by Ted's girlfriend Audrey Fortune. The G-Clefs then came up with "Ka Ding Dong" "in eight minutes!" according to Teddy.

Ted Scott considers Revere "home", and at a special show on May 18, 1996 with Moulty & The Barbarians and The Pixies Three at The Wonderland Ballroom Teddy reminisced about the early days. When contacted to perform at The Apollo Theater

he said the band couldn't sing for four days they were so frightened "for four days, swear to God", The band did so well they played that Harlem theater over a dozen times. The group purchased The Peppermint Lounge in Revere and turned it into The Pied Piper. There were twenty or so clubs on the strip along with the rides and amusements, but the three performance venues were Hurley's, The Ebb Tide and their own Pied Piper. A 1968 release on Spotlight Records, The G Clefs Live At The Ebb Tide, is a good document of the time. The group polished its flashy stage show doing five shows a night during the week, and ten on Sundays when they did matinees as well. In 1997 filmmaker Abby Freedman's Redhead Productions initiated a 90 minute documentary film titled Ka Ding Dong after the group's first hit record. Projected to be released in 2003, there is footage from shows taped at The Hatch Shell on Boston's Charles River and Symphony Hall as well as rare 1963-1964 home movie footage from Hurley's nightclub on Revere Beach. Freedman told AMG that this is one of the few groups in the USA with the original five vocalists all still in the band giving a "sense of continuous history". Backing musicians which include keyboards, guitar, sax, bass and drums, have changed over the years, saxophonist Dick Lourie being the veteran - having joined the group 1992/1993, with guitarist Danny Gioioso joining circa 1998.

Ka Ding Dong influenced many, songwriter Buzzy Linhart raves how important the Top 25 tune on Pilgrim Records was to his musical development. It would be five years after the initial hit that the band would go further up the charts, reaching the Top 10 with "I Understand (How You Feel)" on the Terrace label, a cover of a 1954 hit by The Four Tunes with "Auld Lang Syne" added into the mix. The band has surprisingly few albums for having stayed together through six decades, which makes their bio film and story all the more vital. ~ Joe Viglione, All Music Guide

Track Listing

	Track Title
1.	I Shall Sing	(3:24)
2.	I Can't Stand It	(2:19)
3.	The Nott	(3:41)
4.	Why Can't We All Get Along?	(2:47)
5.	Party 66	(2:46)
6.	Won't You Tell Me Where I Stand	(3:25)
7.	I Have	(3:00)
8.	Is This a Dream?	(3:28)
9.	In The Whirlwind (Version 1)	(2:07)
10.	In The Whirlwind (Version 2)	(2:02)
11.	Little Lonely Boy	(3:13)
12.	On The Other Side Of Town	(2:52)
13.	Zoom Gali-Gali	(3:14)
14.	Lucky Old Son	(2:39)
15.	This Time	(2:13)

More Info

Release Year	2007
Genre	R&B/Soul, Pop
Band Members / Musicians	Teddy Scott, Chris Scott, Tim "Payme" Scott-guitar Ilanga Scott, Ray Gibson
Location	South Easton, MA, USA