Members:
Larry Vannata - organ
Barbara Lee - vocals - Guitar
Vic Castel - guitar
Mike Roma - trumpet
Tom ViVona - sax
Originally called the Rhythm Kings, the Aquatones were founded in 1956 in Valley Stream, Long Island and consisted of Larry Vannata, Gene McCarthy, David Goddard. All played instruments (McCarthy- clarinet and tenor saxophone, Goddard - piano and Vannata - alto and tenor saxophone). After auditioning for a classmate's record distributor father, it was suggested they add a high voice. Soon there after Lynne Nixon, who Vannata had met at a dance, was added. Originally singing background, Nixon sang lead on the Vannata written "You".
In November 1957, while appearing at a local talent contest, they were seen by Lou Fargo. Owner of Fargo Records, he asked if they like to record a record.
The Aquatones first single "You" was released on the Fargo Record label in the spring of 1958. "You" did better on the R&B charts (#1) than it did on the Pop charts (#21) and would be both Fargo's and the Aquatones only hit record. The group got to perform on the usual circuit of deejay jay record hops in New York. They also did a number of TV shows, including those hosted by Alan Freed, Dick Clark, and Dean Martin.
Though they made numerous concert appearances with the likes of Bobby Darin, The Shirelles, and Danny and The Juniors the Aquatones only lasted until 1960.
They only recorded eight singles between 1958 -1962, two which were released by Fargo after the group had disbanded. Most of their sixteen recordings were written by Vannata and Goddard. Aside from "You" their next best record was was a reworking of The Heartbeats 1956 ballad "Crazy For You." In the early 70s Vannata formed a new Aquatones group that included Russ Nagy of the Bellnotes and new lead singer and his wife Barbara Lee.
After that, the Aquatones went their separate ways. Lynne stayed on Long
Island, Larry moved to New Hampshire, Gene moved to the Midwest and then to Atlanta, and
Dave moved to California, Ohio, and finally Kentucky. Most important, Lynne stopped
singing. Though the group members remained friends and stayed in touch, it was difficult
to get together to perform and without Lynne, they were missing the "sound" for
which they were known.
In 1998, Dave happened to hear a young lady sing who sounded amazingly similar to Lynne. A
year passed before Dave was introduced to the wonderful fans of doo-wop, and realized
there were lots of people who still loved this music. He sought out this singer and
approached her to see if she would consider singing with the Aquatones. The young lady,
Colette Delaney, had had a career in musical comedy, and to Dave's pleasant surprise,
expressed interest in singing with the group. Colette and Dave started making
"demo" recordings of some of the Aquatones' old music. They played the
recordings for doo-wop fans, and the reaction was unanimous - "Give us more!!"
So Dave and Colette selected some songs that the Aquatones had recorded in the 50s and 60s
- and selected other songs that other groups had recorded in the golden age of doo-wop -
and Dave, inspired by Colette's voice, started writing songs again. Those who have heard
Dave's new compositions pay him the ultimate compliment - "Gee, your new songs sound
like they were written in the 50s!" That's good news for doo-wop fans!
Lynne passed away in January 2001.
