The Dubs

The Dubs had a long career, from the late '50s through the '80s, but are best remembered for their enduring Top 40 doo wop classic "Could This Be Magic," one of the more memorable songs of 1957. During the early '50s, the group developed out of two short-lived vocal acts: the Five Wings and the Scale-Tones. The Harlem-based Five Wings (originally "the Five Stars") were Jackie Rue (lead), Frank Edwards (first tenor), Billy Carlisle (second tenor), Melvin Flood (baritone), and Tommy Grate (bass). The group recorded a few singles -- including two posthumous tributes in early 1955 to Johnny Ace -- for King Records. Three of the Five Wings (Edwards, Flood, and Rue -- the latter going on to become the lead of Jackie and the Starlites of "Valerie" fame) quit the group, prompting Carlisle and Grate to join up with Kenny "Butch" Hamilton (formerly of the R&B group, the Sonics, who recorded for Groove) and soon added backing vocalist Billy Nelson. Soon after their initial November 1955 session, Carlisle's cousin Richard Blandon joined the group after leaving the Air Force. Now the four were five. In February 1956, they released the single "Walk Along." The Five Wings soon met up with another Harlem-based group, the Scale-Tones, (who had just recorded their first and only single for Joe Davis' Jay Dee label). The Scale-Tones were Cleveland Still (lead), James Montgomery (tenor), Jake Miller (aka James Miller, baritone), and Thomas Gardner (bass). After some prompting by Blandon (who wanted to sing lead), a new group emerged from the two. This lineup featured Richard Blandon (lead), Billy Carlisle (second tenor), Cleveland Still (first tenor), Jake Miller (baritone), and Thomas Gardner (bass). The Five Wings' manager, Hiram Johnson (brother of famed musician and bandleader Buddy...