The Rascals biography
The Rascals (initially known as The Young Rascals) were an American blue-eyed soul group
The Rascals were inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame in 2010.
History
Eddie Brigati (vocals), Felix Cavaliere (keyboard, vocals), Gene Cornish (guitar) and Dino Danelli (drums) started the band in Brigati and Danelli's hometown of Garfield, New Jersey. Brigati, Cavaliere and Cornish had previously been members of Joey Dee and the Starliters. Eddie's brother, David Brigati, an original Starliter, helped arrange the vocal harmonies and sang backgrounds on many of the group's recordings (informally earning the designation as the "fifth Rascal"). When Atlantic Records signed them, they discovered that another group, Borrah Minnevitch's and Johnny Puleo's Harmonica Rascals, objected to their release of records under the name Rascals. To avoid conflict, manager Sid Bernstein decided to rename the group "The Young Rascals". Billy (Amato) Smith was the founder manager at the formation of the group then called "Them". The name "The Rascals" came about after meeting TV personality Soupy Sales though Billy (Amato) Smith. Sales hired the group as his back-up band on his college tours early 1965 just before playing the summer of 1965 at The Barge, a disco club on Dune Road in Westhampton, Long Island, New York - all under the direction of Billy (Amato) Smith. Smith introduced manager Sid Bernstein to the Rascals along with long time friend of Sid's, Walter Hyman at The Barge.
The Young Rascals' first television performance was on the program Hullabaloo on February 27, 1965, where they performed their debut single, "I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore". The track reached #23 in Canada, and touched the lower reaches of the U.S. charts as well. This modest success was followed by the U.S./Canada #1 single "Good Lovin'" (1966, originally recorded by The Olympics in 1965).
The band's songwriting team of Eddie Brigati and Cavaliere then began providing most of their songs, and the hits kept coming for the next two years. Their immediate followups to "Good Lovin'", including "You Better Run" (1966; covered in 1980 by Pat Benatar) and "Come On Up" were only modest hits. "(I've Been) Lonely Too Long" (1967) did better, and "Groovin'" (#1 US/Canada, 1967) returned them to the top of the charts. They reeled off a succession of top 20 U.S. hits, including "A Girl Like You" (1967), "How Can I Be Sure?" (1967), "It's Wonderful" (1968), and "A Beautiful Morning" (1968). The band was exceptionally popular in Canada, where "A Girl Like You", "How Can I Be Sure?", and "A Beautiful Morning" all reached #1. However they struggled in the UK, where they only twice reached the top 75 - with "Groovin'" (#8) and "A Girl Like You" (#35). The band would bill themselves as the Young Rascals for the last time with the single release of "It's Wonderful"; they would be known thenceforwards as simply The Rascals.
Bruce Eder, writing for Allmusic, rates the band's 1967 album Groovin as their best, noting the record's soulful core and innovative use of jazz and Latin instrumental arrangements. It also boasted the monster hit of the same name. However, 1968's Once Upon A Dream was the first Rascals album designed from conception as an album, rather than as a vehicle to package their singles (eight of Groovin's eleven songs had been released as single A- or B-sides, most in advance of the album). Once Upon a Dream, which peaked at #9 on the album charts, contained the single "It's Wonderful" plus many other strong songs, including "Easy Rollin'," "Rainy Day," "My World," and the title track. Perhaps understandably, the album's song "My Hawaii" became a top of the charts hit in Hawaii.
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