The Eternals

These Eternals were a vocal group who scored big with "Rockin' in the Jungle"; the "other" Eternals were based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and recorded several cover songs that became Canadian hits in the late '60s. The Eternals formed during the late '50s, in the Freeman Street neighborhood of the Bronx, where the quintet -- Charlie Gerona on lead, Fred Hodge on first tenor, Ernie Sierra on second tenor, Arnie Torres on baritone, and Alex Miranda on bass -- started out singing in junior high school as the Gleamers, cutting their teeth on covers by the Flamingoes and the Spaniels; Gerona, meanwhile, was crafting songs in the humorous pop tradition of the Coasters, the Cadets, and the Olympics. Soon the Gleamers were calling themselves the Orbits, and developing a sound all their own. A novelty Gerona penned for the holidays, "Christmas in the Jungle," which came complete with jungle sounds and bird calls (mostly done by Torres) received airplay from the Murray the K and WABC's disc jockey Bruce Morrow's shows and soon became their calling card. Their new manager, Bill Martin, a friend of Morrow's, then turned them on to Melba Records chief Morty Craft, who put the group in Beltone Studios in late spring of 1959 to record the song, which by now had been changed to "Rockin' in the Jungle." The group also felt that a new name was in order and crowned themselves the Eternals, no doubt hoping for everlasting success. "Rockin' in the Jungle" was released in early summer on Craft's new Hollywood Records label, becoming an immediate hit in New York (number 11 locally). On July 13th, the song hit Billboard's national Pop Charts, where it lodged at number 78. The Eternals' second novelty release -- "Babalu's Wedding Day" -- was just starting to break, when the Etemals' manager felt...