Fathers and the things you never knew...

Below is a story about a band my father was in a a kid. He told us little if anything about the band... Heres what I found out ( source unknown )...

lf you asked anyone in America under 40 who the

Ducanes were, odds are you'd get blank stares.

Yet the quintet of teenagers were notable if only for

the fact that they were the next rung up the ladder

to superstardom for Arnerica°s greatest record

producer.

The Ducanes were five friends who loved bas-

ketball, spending countless hours practicing near

their homes at Bergenfield Memorial Field. ln be-

tween games the guys would harmonize on some of

the better (though often obscure) doo wops of the

day such as "l Laughed" by THE JESTERS, "Zoom"

by the Collegians, and "When l Fall in Love" by

THE FLAMINGOS (who were their favorite group). The

only actual hit they sang at the time was their first

practiced song, "Diamonds and Pearls" by THE

PARADONS.

The Bergenfield, New Jersey, quintet consisted

of leader Eddie Brian (baritone) and Rick Scrofan

(second tenor), both from Bergen Catholic High

School. along with Louis Biscardi (lead)-. Jeff Breny

(first tenor), and Dennis Buckley (bass), all from

Bergenfield High School.

ln 1961 the group won a talent contest at North-

ern Valley High and met a publisher from Hill and

Range Music who suggested they come by and

audition. Taking his advice, the Ducanes (who

named themselves without knowing what a Ducane

was except that it sounded hep) went up to Hill and

Range’s office on Broadway in New York City with

their lone original composition "On My Vision

Screen." The song went over like a lead balloon,

but given another chance the group fell back on the

comfortable oldie "Zoom, Zoom, Zoom". Unbeknownst

to the Bergenfield bunch, standing outside

the door was a young record producer who was in

New York looking for material. He came in, sat at

the piano. and proceeded to work on a slower ver-

sion of "Zoom” with the Ducanes. The 20-year—old

producer—whose name was Phil Spector—rebuilt

"Zoom" until it became "Yes, l Love You." Next, as

if it came from their collective fantasies. Spector

asked if they'd like to record the song.

Soon after. Phil signed the boys to one of the first

independent production contracts. Back then art-

ists were signed directly to record labels, not pro-

ducers, but Spector had his own formula. The Los

Angeles·bred boy genius was just starting to get

recognition as a unique talent, producing hits such

as "To Know Him is to Love Him" in 1958 (as a

member of the Fairfax High singing trio THE TEDDY

BEARS) and the Ray Peterson 1960 top 10 scoring

"Corrina, Corrina." Still, Phil had never produced

a doo wop group,and the Ducanees had never heard

of him before their chance encounter. Eddie and

the group spent the next few months commuting by

bus into Hill and Range's olhces to rehearse "Yes I

Love You" and a ballad Spector had written entitled

"Little Did I Know."

One day in June, the Ducanes decided to warm

up at their rehearsal with a 1957 rocker originally

by Louis Lymon and the Teenchords. They had

gotten no further than six bars into the song (in-

cluding the now famous “tra-la-la-la-la-la-Ia" in-

tm) when Phil barged through the door and asked.

"What is that song you°re singing?” The guys told

him it was called "l’m So Happy? They cut the song

with Phil one week later at Bell Sound Studios.

Eddie Brian recalls. "The group idolized Spector

because he was so hep. He was a great producer, on

top of the whole sound. A few weeks earlier he

asked us to listen to a tape he had made. lt was

‘Pretty Little Angel Eyes` [by Curtis Lee, which

later went to number seven nationally] and we

knew half way through the tape it would be a

monster hit. There and then the group became Phil

Spector fans."

The sound of "I'm So Happy" was pure pande-

monium. Louis Biscardi sang the lead entirely

in falsetto. The record`s pace was frantic. Hand

claps. piano glisses, and uninhibited sax solos

abounded, and the guitar of Jimi Hendrix (that Jimi

Hendrix) filled all the spaces The group sang its

way through two minutes and 36 seconds of the best

rock doo wop 1961 had heard, and to top it all off,

Spector brought in Duane Eddy's 300·pIus-pound

"shouter"` to let out two wailing “yeeaas” in the

instrumental section that were guaranteed to send

any teen's parents heading for the safety of a

padded cell.

Even in 1961 Spector had little patience with B

sides, and "Little Did I Know" was done in only two

takes, cracked notes and all, along with “Yes I Love

You” (which remains unreleased to this day).

Spector must have enjoyed the Ducanes experi-

ence and liked the music since he recorded other

doc wop oldies in 1961 including "When You

Dance," "Dear One", "Honey Love," and "A Kiss

from Your Lips" all by Billy Storm and the Valiants

on Atlantic. Even his later classics by THE

Ronette's, The Crystals, and the Righteous

Brothers were heavily laced with harmonic oohs

and ahs, a touch that almost certainly came from

his days of doo wopping with the Ducanes.

In a contrast of worlds, while Phil was making

his arrangements to license the recordings to

George Goldner’s Goldisc label and was recording

his first cuts with the Crystals, the Ducanes were

performing at their senior prom. As a rnatter of fact,

Eddie Brian's date that evening was friend Linda

Scott (Linda Joy Sampson), who a month before had

scored a top three national hit with “I’ve Told Every

Little Star? She sang “He’s Gone" (The Chantels)

and "PIease Say You Want Me" (the Schoolboys)

backed by the Ducanes in an impromptu perfor-

mance that was the highlight of the prom.

In short order "I’m So Happy” was on the air

waves in many parts of the country. All three of

New York's top stations went on it (WABC. WMCA,

and WINS) although Murray the K (WINS) origi-

nally went on the flip “LittIe Did I Know." By July

17th "Happy" was on Billboards national Bubbling

Under listings. It spent three weeks on the charts

and peaked at number 109.

The East Coast airplay gave the Ducanes an

opportunity to Play with the EARLS, THE CAPRIS,

Chubby Checker, The Jive Five, and the Dream-

LOVERS. On one such show emceed by Murray the K

and Clay Cole at the Teaneck, New Jersey, Armory,

the quintet performed with Dion, Bobby Lewis, and

THE CLEFTONES.

After a few months of popularity the boys

wanted to get back in the studio. Spector was now

splitting his time between his own secret projects

(like the Crystals for his yet-undisclosed Philles

label) and working in A&R for Liberty Records.

Liberty gave Phil an appalling country song For the

group entitled "Tennessee." that elicited their best

bamyard imitations. Trouble was, the head of Lib-

erty walked into the studio just when this irreverent

response was being bestowed upon his planned

future hit. The group was unceremoniously tossed

from the studio, and even Spector couldn'! help

them (although it`s questionable whether he really

had any further interest in the group since he was

preparing to jump Liberty and put all his time

into Philles).

The Ducanes had no idea what to do next, so

they did nothing. As a result of that inaction the

group of 16-year-olds never recorded again. But it

turned out they were right about "Tennessee." lt

was later recorded twice (by the Todds and Jan and

Dean) and it flopped both times.

ln 1991 Louis Biscardi was living in Las Vegas

and had reportedly been a studio musician. Rich

Scrofan was in construction and Jeff Breny was with

United Parcel Service in Tenafly, New Jersey.

Dennis Buckley was an executive with Metro-

politan Life lnsurance in Wiestbury. Eddie Brian

sang with the Connotations and the Autunms on

Bab Records in the mid-'80s and was still perform-

ing as of 1991.

Back in 1961 Phil Spector had two more hits, "I

Love How You Love Me" by THE PARIS SISTERS and,

more importantly to Phil, a top 20 hit with the first

Philles release "There’s No Other (Like My Baby)"

by the Crystals. His star was just beginning to risc,

while the Ducanes had only memories—but what

memories.