Elegants Give Audience Exactly What They Came for

“We were the first white group to break into the R and B (Rhythm and Blues) market,” Vito Picone told me. “Danny and the Juniors were the first. Beat us by six months.”
Picone, lead singer of The Elegants — an original rock and roll group from the 1950s, also co-wrote their number one hit single, “Little Star.”
The record sold more than 2 million copies in 1958, and the Elegants were named the number one group in both the R&B and Pop categories. They will be one of the acts appearing Oct. 15 at Wildwoods’ Fabulous ‘50s Concert in the Wildwoods Convention Center.
“Two original members (himself and Vincent “Jimmy” Moschello) still perform with the group,” Picone said. “I’ve been with the replacements 45 years.”
The original group started to split apart in 1963 when The Beatles came on the music scene.
“The term ‘British Invasion’ is an understatement,” Picone declared. “The music changed that fast. We knew we had to do something different.”
Picone started a new band, and eventually began his own booking agency — Headline Talent — which he still operates. A musician, like his father before him, Picone grew up listening to the big bands of Glenn Miller and the Dorseys. But when he heard R and B, he got hooked, and became a bass vocalist.
When The Elegants saw themselves succumbing to the overseas music assault in the early 60s, some in the group went other routes for varying reasons — marriage, the Army, or just a more ‘normal’ lifestyle than show business.
But as Picone will tell you, their music never really stopped, and the growing popularity of “doo-wop” music is not so much a resurgence, but a regression, as he sees it.
Most of us in the age group (pre-baby boomers) that appreciate the doo-wop style, have seen the PBS broadcasts of the groups from the 50s and 60s and how well they have lately been received. But Picone said PBS was not the catalyst for a resurgence in its popularity.
“We did a concert in Manhattan back in 1970,” he said, “and it never stopped after that. It has grown bigger every year.
“Our audiences are no longer in local communities,” he continued. “We go to (retirement) communities in places like Florida and do two shows nightly.
“PBS awakened the rest of the country to what had already been going on in New York since 1970.”
The Elegants will of course sing “Little Star” when they appear at the Oct. 15 concert, but they’ll underline their 1950s style by “covering” other hits from the 50s.
“We can’t alienate the audience with songs from other eras,” he said. “If we did two or three other songs, we’d lose 80 percent of the audience. Everything we do is pre-Beatles.”
And that is just what a Fabulous 50s audience wants to hear.
Learn more from www.theelegants.net.