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Molloy
College, Rockville Centre, NY
December 3, 2011
An
acappella extravaganza was held at Molloy College’s Hays Theatre in
Rockville Centre, NY, on the evening of December 3, 2011. Randy Bergen
(“Mr. Acappella”) has been producing shows here for many years. This may
have been his last (but we hope not). It was a marathon of doo wop
acappella lasting five hours and featuring twenty-two vocal groups. Because
of the many groups in the show, each was limited to three songs.
Randy "Mr. Acappella"
Bergen opening the concert
The Tribunes opening the
show with "Rama Lama Ding Dong"
Besides "Save The Last
Dance For Me" the Tribunes did a nice version of "Valerie"
We always enjoy seeing
the Sheps. Richie led the group on
"It's All In The Game" and Tommy Lockhart followed with
a strong version of "My Prayer".
The Sheps closed with the
Five Keys' "The Verdict"
The Encounters are now
down to a four man group but still sound great.
Hutch did a great falsetto lead on the Metallics' "Need Your Love"
The Encounters singing
the Ly Dells' "Let This Night Last"
The Magic Touch, a fine
acappella group from West Chester NY,
displayed their usual tight harmony. Their songs ranged from the
Harptones'
"Sunday Kind Of Love" to the "Animal House" song, "Shama Lama Ding Dong".
Magic Touch
The group, Acappella
Soul, came to Randy Bergen's attention through
his granddaughter who saw them singing in front of the
Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC.
Acappella Soul sounded
great, with soulful versions of "I Only Have Eyes
For You," Why Do Fools Fall In Love" and "Two Kinds Of People".
Shades Of Soul was short
a voice so they borrowed Pete DeBenedetto (right)
from the Encounters. They still sounded good with a lively version of
"Zoom"
and an outstanding rendition of the Mad Lads' "Don't Have To Shop Around".
Shades of Soul
Echoes Of Time were
missing two voices, but fortunately got help from
two members of Still Around (blue jackets). They sang the popular
songs
"Darling Lorraine," "Diamonds & Pearls" and "Island Of Love".
Echoes Of Time
Randy first met Street
Corner Revue in 1973. Over the years they've
undergone some personnel changes but still sound great.
The group opened with "Bring It On Home To Me," followed
by "The Way You Do The Things You Do. Street Corner Revue
finished in grand style with a fabulous version of "Operator".
Street Corner Revue
Still Around was up next,
led by John Bishop. The group's founder, our friend
Stu Pushkin, made the trip to Long Island but laryngitis kept him from
singing. With help from a fill in, Still Around performed and sounded
fine.
Still Around performing
"Oh Gee Oh Gosh," "Don't Ask Me To Be Lonely" and
the Little Anthony & the Imperials' great, "What Did I Do".
The Wrenditions have been
part of Mr. Acappella's shows since 1988.
They did a nice job with "Bewitched Bothered and Bewildered,"
"The Diary" and "Over The Rainbow".
The Wrenditions
The Traditions have been
singing for 25 years and are a popular group on
Long Island. They started their set with "Gee" and followed with
"Lost Love" and the Fantastics' "There Goes My Love".
The Traditions
Randy introduces dj &
concert promoter Mickey B (on left).
Mickey also sang with Paul Simon in Tico & the Triumphs.
The acappella group,
Miles Harvey & the Teenchords, originated as a spin-off
of one of the later (1980's) Louis Lymon groups. Here, Mike Harvey
leads the group in "Please Tell The Angels".
Certainly one of the
highlights of the evening was when Mike Harvey's twelve-year-old
son, Miles J. Harvey did lead. He is reminiscent of a young Frankie Lymon. Miles
led the group on the Teenagers' "ABC's Of Love" and "Share" and did a
fabulous job.
Miles Harvey and his
father, Mike Harvey
After a short intermission, we realized we still had ten more
acappella groups to go.
L5, used to the acappella
group, The Lords. They changed the pace with
soulful acappella versions of "Mustang Sally" and "Walkin' In Memphis".
L5
Cool Change was the
acappella group that sang "On The Streets Of The Bronx"
in "A Bronx Tale". They sang "Drip Drop," a medley that contained
"Proud Mary"
and of course their signature song. We'd like to see this group again.
Cool Change singing "On
The Streets Of The Bronx"
Silk City sang next,
having made a couple personnel changes since we last saw them.
They started things off up tempo with the Students' "Every Day Of The Week"
before slowing the pace to the Cadillacs' "The Girl I Love" and the
Chantels' "He's Gone" (words changed to "She's Gone")
Silk City
Still In Style did a nice
job with "At My Front Door" and "Could This Be Magic".
They closed with the Earls' arrangement of "I Believe".
Still In Style
Lisa & the Lovetones
performed nice versions of the Kodaks' "Little Boy And
Girl," the Ebonaires' "Love Call" and the Students' "My Vow To You".
They had great harmony.
Lisa & the Lovetones
The Clarions were a late
addition to the show's line up. They sang "Please Say
You Want Me," "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" and "Gee Whiz".
The Clarions
Montage is a professional
sounding group that normally performs with music.
At Randy's request, they performed acappella. Montage sang the
Ronnie Milsap song, "Lost In The Fifties," "Where The Boys Are" and
"Daddy's Home"
Montage
The Vic Donna Group is
always one of our favorites. Vic had the distinction of
being the only performer on the show, who made records back in the 1950's.
Vic and the group were worth waiting for. They began with "Story
Untold" and
then followed with "Love Was A Stranger To Me," a song Vic Donna recorded
with backup from the Parakeets for the Atlas label. The group closed
with the
Parakeets' song, "My Heart Tells Me".
The Vic Donna Group, left
to right:
Vic Donna, Dom D'Elia, John Mirabile, Danny Pesce, George Marchese
The Vic Donna Group
Heart & Soul featured
Beverly Warren, whose voice is well known to us.
Beverly sang with many vocal groups including the Blend-Aires, Tokens,
Teenchords, Revivals, etc., as well as recording solo.
Heart & Soul sang excellent renditions of "So Young,"
"Wonderful Tonight" and
"This I Swear".
Heart & Soul
The final acappella group
of the night was 3rd Edition. They did a great job closing out
the show with some nice harmony on "When You Dance," "You Are" and
"The Shrine Of St. Cecilia".
3rd Edition
The encore!
It was a long but very enjoyable evening. Thanks to
Randy Bergen for producing and MC'ing this marathon acappella concert.
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