Louie Lymon & the Teenchords

Following in the footsteps of his older brother, the legendary Frankie Lymon, Lewis Lymon also made an attempt at rock & roll stardom. And though his group, the Teenchords, never enjoyed the level of success achieved by Frankie's Teenagers, they still carved out a significant niche for themselves in the ranks of 1950s rock & roll vocal groups. The Lymon family was a musical one, with the father, Howard Lymon singing in a local gospel group, the Harlemaires. Lewis had previously sung with the Harlemaires Juniors along with brothers Frankie and Howard Jr.. And in 1956, with the success the Teenagers were having, it was not surprising that Lewis wanted to take a stab at it too. The Harlem-based Teenchords even had a similar-sounding name to the pace-setting Teenagers. The group consisted of Lewis Lymon (lead), Ralph Vaughan (first tenor), Rossilio Rocca (second tenor), Lyndon Harold (baritone), and David Little (bass). The Teenchords didn't even have to leave Harlem to be discovered and recorded. On a visit to the Apollo to hear the Teenagers, Lewis and his group were tipped off that local entrepreneur Bobby Robinson was looking for new talent. Robinson owned a record store in Harlem and was also a record producer who had already started two record labels, Red Robin and Whirlin' Disc. The fledgling Teenchords group went to Robinson's shop and introduced themselves. When Robinson learned that Frankie Lymon's brother, Lewis, was in the group, he was quite receptive to an on-the-spot audition. The Teenchords performed "Who Can Explain," a Teenagers song. Convinced that the young lads could sing, and with the Lymon name to go along with it, Robinson signed the Teenchords on the spot. For their first recording, Robinson tried to come up with something that would be catchy and...