Biography
The Marcels was one of several doo-wop-influenced American vocal groups to achieve success in the early 60s, despite the passing of the genre’s golden age. Cornelius ‘Nini’ Harp (lead singer), Ronald ‘Bingo’ Mundy (tenor), Fred Johnson (bass), Gene Bricker (tenor) and Richard Knauss (baritone), all native to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, USA, achieved fame for their distinctive version of Richard Rodgers / Lorenz Hart’s classic ‘Blue Moon’, previously a UK Top 10 hit for Elvis Presley in 1956, which topped both the US and UK charts in 1961. Johnson’s distinctive bass introduction to the song has remained one of the most enduring vocal phrases of the time. The quartet scored a further US Top 10 hit that year with ‘Heartaches’, but its personnel was unstable, with Allen Johnson (d. 28 September 1995) replacing Knauss, and Walt Maddox replacing Bricker. Mundy walked out on the group during this same period, which did...
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