The Continentals

"THE CONTINENTALS"

(1955 - 58)

The Original Continentals was formed in the winterof 1955, when Buddy Payne, Herman Montgomery, JamesGripper and James Vincent Cooper asked Danny Hicks* tobecome a member of "The Condors". Danny was quoted to saysome years later:"The most interesting factor aboutjoining "The Condors" I found to be was that all of themembers of the group were musicians. Buddy, Herman andGripper were members of Wynn Center's renowned marchingband; and, Vinny was an accomplished singer. Everybodyknew about his abilities. In addition to which, all ofthe guys sang in the Glee Club, at their respective highschools". Herman was the only member of the group thatdid not go to Boy's High; he was a student at BrooklynTech. Soon after Danny joined the group, they decided tochange the name because they felt that the name "TheCondors" was a little too similar to the names of otherlocal groups, and they did not want to be mistaken forsome other group; they wanted to develop and presentthemselves in a more unique manner. So, one night afterpractice, they spent some time wrestling with the problemof what the new name of the group would be. They finallysettled on "The Continentals", after a very popular showof the time which presented this suave, free-spirited,independent, playboy type who was very much the ladiesman. He was well dressed, accomplished, handsome andsmooth as silk with the ladies. And the ladies were crazyabout "The Continental" TV Show. Thus "The Continentals"were born and they went to work immediately.

They formulated a ten(lO)song repertoire made up oftwo(2)original songs ("Dear Lord" and "Fine,Fine Frame")and eight(8) 'cover songs' (material originally done andrecorded by others) for which they became well known,because of their ability to"do the songs better than theartists who had originally recorded the tunes". Vinny wasthe musical director; Gripper was the choreographer (andthe best dancer); Buddy, Herman and Danny handled thelead and backgound vocals.

THE RECORD DEAL

It wasn't long before they began entering localtalent shows and singing at local functions like parties,

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picnics and as "after the game" entertainment.At oneappearance, formerly Girls High School, in Brooklyn, theywere so well received that they literally needed thepolice to help them get out of the building after theshow. It was that show that set the tone for their

subsequent popularity in New York. Then they set out tofind a record deal. But before they were able to find arecord deal, Buddy Payne left the group and joined theU.S. Marines. At that point, John"Peanut"Jones joined andbecame an important part of the group.

Finding a good record deal has never been easy; and,in 1956 finding a record company that would listen to youwas even more hectic than it is now. In those days, anaspiring singer or group/band had to do "cold auditions";which consisted of performing the songs a cappella(without the benefit of musical accompaniment), in anoffice or a dingey club or perhaps a auditorium. Needlessto say, they became good at singing without music. Sogood in fact that they were signed to a recordingcontract after their first audition. The problem was thatit turned out to be a very bad deal for the group andthey were relegated to second priority with the label andseldom promoted by the label's owners. But despite thelack of exposure by the record company, they continued toprepare themselves for future stardom. Their musicbecame ever more advanced as they continued to expandtheir ever growing repertoire. They became so accustomedto each other and so well rehearsed that they did notneed notes to help them remember the names of the songsin that repertoire. They simply called out a number. Yousee, they gave each song title a number and rememberedtheir individual roles in each song by its number. Forexample, "Dear Lord" was #1 and "Fine Fine Frame" was #2.So when someone said "#25!" they knew that meant theywere going to sing "Why Do You Have To Go?" (originallyrecorded by The Dells; "#20!" was "Here Is Why I LoveYou" (originated by The Spaniels) and so on. By the endof 1956 their song list had almost reached 50 wellrehearsed songs. When asked why they practice so much,Vinny remarked: "Because practice makes perfect. Andthat's what we want to be. Perfect."

THE LEGACY

Vinny Cooper,bass singer/bassist, was something of amusical genius. While still in High School, he was amember of New York's prestigious ALL CITY CHORUS and a

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scholarship student at world famous Julliard School ofMusic. So, in addition to his classical background, Vinnyloved modern jazz, blues and "doo-wop" music. Vinny was arenaissance man, well ahead of his time. He was mostresponsible for the group's innovative approach to music;which eventually led them to the world famous ApolloTheater in Harlem.

The Continentals influenced many groups of theirgeneration and beyond, witnessed by comments from several"rival" groups members. Without name dropping, one famoussinger-song writer said upon meeting Danny Hicks, andrealizing that Danny was a former member of TheContinentals, "Gee, I always wondered what ever happenedto you guys. I heard y'all at a theater in Brooklyn whenI was in New York visiting some relatives. My cousinhipped me to y'all and we went to see the next show. Boy!We were blown away. I had never heard such tight harmony;and your vocals were just great. But then you guys seemedto have disappeared. What happened?" Danny only said:"It's a long and familiar story, man. Too painful to talkabout." Another member of a famous R&B group said:"There are a lot of groups out today(2000)who owe theirsuccessful harmonies to you guys. But they don't know it.Before The Continentals, nobody ran the scales; no grouphad a baritone who could ad lib; you guys had a basssinger who could sing lead in three octives and threemain lead singers (Buddy,Herman and Danny - and laterPeanut) who had different styles;you guys even usedoctive harmony and that was unheard of back then. I knowthings didn't work out, but y'all have nothing to feelbad about. We owe you a debt of gratitude for the workyou guys left behind." And so it goes.

THE INTERVENING YEARS

One by one the original members left the group andthey finally, sadly disbanded in 1958. James Gripperjoined the U.S. Air Force before Willie Keels joined thegroup. But, in 1958, Vinny Cooper suddenly passed away.The guys were devastated. And although they triedvaliantly to hold things together, they called it quitsat the end of the year. Herman and Danny joined othergroups; Peanut joined the U.S.Army and Willie seemed tovanish from the face of the earth. Then, in 1999, Hermanpassed away, leaving James"Jimmy" Gripper, John"Peanut"Jones, Buddy Payne and Danny Hicks as the survivingmembers of this once talented quintet. But the years have

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been kind to these four remaining members of the group.

Peanut went on to a very successful and outstandingmilitary career in the U.S.Army National Guard, where heeventually rose to the office of Brigadier General(ret.);Jimmy Gripper retired from the State of New York, aftertwenty-five (25)years, as a Supervising Electrician in1998. During this period he was elected as the firstblack Regional President of the Civil Service EmployeesAssociation, Inc. (CSEA/AFSCME) representing over 42,000State workers located within the five boroughs of NewYork City; Buddy became an influential property owner(in New York and Georgia); and, Danny continued in showbusiness as a performer until 1970, when he became asocial & political activist and local businessman. He isstill involved in show business as a consultant to

aspiring artists.

Although their career was short lived, the survivingmembers have remained friends and remember with greatappreciation the love and respect their fans have shownover the years. Because of those loyal fans, even afteralmost 50 years from that fateful night in 1955, theirmusic is still being heard on "Old Goldies" shows allover the country. They are still regarded as one of R&B'spioneer "doo-wop" groups. And, along with a whole host ofothers, are fondly remembered for their work, dedicationand innovation.

THE REUNION

The surviving members of 'The Group' are planning,at least, one reunion in 2003. They hope to make it anannual affair, to include their families, friends andfans. But this will not be the first "reunion". Therewas an "unofficial" reunion in the early 1970's, afterthey attended the wake for a dearly beloved member of TheContinentals family. The occasion was described by DannyHicks as "nothing short of fantastic." He said, "Thelast time we had a reunion of sorts was after (the wake) .

We went to a friend's apartment,in Brooklyn, to mourn,reminnisce and remember a dear friend. Four of us werethere; Herman, Buddy, Gripper and me. After everybodygave a toast, one of our main supporters began teasing uswith requests to sing. 'Sing the one we all loved so much.You know the one. The one by The Turbans. You know theone!' We tried to beg off but she always knew the right

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buttons to push, to get us to sing. And sing we did!! Wesang 'Dear Lord'; Fine, Fine Frame; 'Picture of Love';'Soft and Sweet'; Buddy just killed with 'Please RememberMy Heart'; and, then I finally sang 'Please Let Me ShowYou (Around My Heart). By the end of that song, there wasnot a dry eye in the place. Not one!

"There was so much love and memories and passion andmore memories of what might have been, in that apartment.It was one of the most moving and emotionally chargedexperiences I have ever had, in all the years I've beenfortunate enough to have known "my boys". It was trulyelectrifying. But the thing that was so amazing, to me,was the fact that we had not rehearsed together in almost20 years - back then! But after a few brief moments tocollect ourselves, we sang together as if we had justrehearsed the night before. It just blew me away! (When Imentioned it recently to Gripper, he said 'Damn right! ')That's the kind of discipline we had.

"I'm telling you; I must have cried for about 5 fullminutes. But, as I said, I was not alone. It was like1955 allover again. It was nothing short of fantastic.That night sort of confirmed, for me, a feeling thatnever left me; which is: 'had we stuck it out and stayedtogether, I have no doubt in my mind that we would stillbe singing together, right now! '. Look, even beforeBuddy Payne left, we were being compared to super-groupslike The Five Keys and Billy Ward and The Dominoes. Thatwas before we had a record deal. That night proved to meand everyone else there that Buddy Payne could reallysing; he had a great voice. And Herman was 'THE Voice' ofour hit records. And Gripper, the best group baritone Iever heard, was in tip top form. No ,sir! I will neverforget THAT night. It was truly something special."

This reunion is about to happen. The date andtimes are being worked out. So, IT'S ON!

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Reord List

"Dear Lord""Fine, Fine Frame""Picture of Love""Soft and Sweet"

These are The Continentals:

Buddy Payne -

James Gripper Jr. -

John Jones

Danny Hicks -

*Danny Hicks is aka: Fakeer Raheem

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