Ocean City Music Pier Presents The Lettermen August 15

OCEAN CITY – The Stockton Performing Arts Center goes to the “beach” again this summer presenting seven concerts in the tenth annual Stockton Goes to the Beach Summer Concert Series at the Music Pier in Ocean City. On Monday, August 15th, Stockton Goes to the Beach presents The Lettermen. The Lettermen are the most romantic singing groups of the sixties.
Show time is 8 p.m. Tickets are priced at $30 and may be ordered online at www.ocnj.us or by calling (609) 525-9300 or by going to the Ocean City Music Pier.
This program is made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts and by funds from the National Endowment for the Arts.
The Lettermen will perform such memorable hits as “Turn Around, Look At Me,” “Love,” “Theme From A Summer Place” and “When I Fall In Love.”
The one change Tony Butala, original founding member of The Lettermen, would have made in the 45-plus year career of one of the most popular vocal groups in history is a surprising one. “We chose the wrong name!” he exclaims. “In the late 50’s, when you started a vocal group and wanted to stand out from the crowd, all you had to do was use a novel new name that would give your group a unique look and image. “If you’re a new group in today’s world and you want to get noticed, you have to dye your hair purple, multi-pierce your face, ears and tongue, and even then you may not be different enough to get some notoriety.”
In the late 50’s, most vocal groups had school type names such as Danny & the Juniors, The Four Freshmen and The Four Preps. They chose the name The Lettermen and wore letter sweaters. By the time those names became passé in the early sixties, The Lettermen had already had a few hits and were a tremendous success. Capitol Records, The Lettermen’s record label, was reluctant to try to market a new name as The Lettermen wanted, due to the fact that it was already an established world-wide name.
They did pack away the sweaters, and fortunately, their fans have gotten past the name.
The Lettermen name first appeared in February 1958 on the marquee of the Desert Inn Hotel Resort in Las Vegas, where Butala, Mike Barnett and Talmadge Russell performed in the record-shattering revue, “Newcomers of 1928,” which starred Paul Whiteman, silent film comic Buster Keaton, singers Rudy Vallee and Harry Richmond, film star Fifi D’Orsay and the sneezing comedian Billy Gilbert.
The vision for The Lettermen was of three very strong soloists who also had the ability and showmanship to perform and entertain an audience, but who also had the discipline needed to be group singers. The sound they came up with was a sound between the big band vocal groups such as the Modernaires, Pied Pipers and Mills Brothers, and the early R&B rock groups such as the Flamingos and the Platters.
Bob Engemann – were signed to Warner Brothers Records and released their first singles: “Their Hearts Were Full of Spring,” “When” and “The Magic Sound,” “Two Hearts.” In 1961, Nic Venet, a new, young, creative A&R man with Capitol Records who years earlier had written a few songs with Butala, was played these first records. Venet was impressed by their unique natural close harmonic blend and, convinced that he could produce a hit record with them, signed them to what turned out to be an over twenty-five year contract with Capitol Records.
For their debut Capitol single record in the summer of 1961, Capitol Records decided to put a ballad on the B-side of “That’s My Desire,” their doo-wop single, figuring DJs would have to play the A-side because the B-side was so slow, and did not necessarily possess the commercial sound of the day.
That B-side was “The Way You Look Tonight.” Soft, melodic and romantic, it was a departure from the rock ‘n’ roll of the day and listener requests made it a must for DJ play lists nationwide. The song shot to No. 13 on the Billboard chart. The group’s second single that year did even better, “When I Fall In Love,” another soft, slow ballad hit No. 7, establishing The Lettermen as the most romantic singing groups of the sixties.
The next year, “Come Back Silly Girl” reached No.17 and The Lettermen’s debut album, A Song for Young Love, hit the Top 10, their first of 32 straight Top 40 Albums.