It was a
nostalgic night at the Paramus Elks Lodge on June 13, 2009, as this was the
venue that the late Ronnie I. used for most of his United in Group Harmony
shows. It was wonderful to see old friends and acquaintances that we had
not seen in a long time. Gil Torres organized the event; Gary “Gotta Gotta”
Lovett, formerly of the duo Gary & Gary and of Little Isidore & the
Inquisitors, sang and was the MC. Dickie Italiano, Ronnie I’s brother, was
the DJ for dance music. Sandi I was present and she graciously greeted the
audience.
Gil Torres
Sandi Italiano
Charlie Horner
Gary "Gotta Gotta" Lovett
The first
group up to sing was Echoes of Time. Their members came from
Memories of You, Grand Central Echoes, The GoldTones and Twilight Time.
This group performed at Ronnie I’s last UGHA. They were smartly dressed in
black suits with white ties. A few of the songs they sang were “Crazy Little
Mama,” “My Lorraine,” and “Please Say You Want Me”.
Echoes of
Time
Often billed as the voice of “New
Jersey Doo Wop Groups,” the ever talented and versatile Joel Katz has
sung with more vocal groups than we can count. It was no surprise, then,
that he put together an all-star group, in the Dynamics. Though
Joel’s powerful voice led most of the songs, any one of the group was more
than capable of singing lead. Besides Joel, the Dynamics consisted of
veteran singers Warren Tesoro, Pat “The Cat” Profite, Cal Eng and
outstanding bassman Bernard “BJ” Jones.
Dressed in black tuxedos with black shirts, Joel & the Dynamics
thrilled the crowd with great renditions of “Tonight Could Be The Night,”
“Smoke Gets In Your Eyes,” “So Much In Love,” “So Fine.” and “Let’s Start
All Over Again.” The latter song, made famous by the Paragons, featured
Warren doing a falsetto lead. Joel led the group’s final song with an
emotional version of “I Believe,” the last song performed at the Ronnie I’s
final UGHA.
Joel Katz & Dynamics
Joel Katz
The
Encounters are always a pleasure to see. The
Encounters began singing in 1963. Two of the members, Peter Milazzo and
Charlie Di Como, go back to their first record in ’64, “Don’t Stop”. They
appeared very stylishly dressed in black and gray. Not only are the
Encounters fine vocalists, their chorography is executed well. The quintet
sang the Nutmegs’ “Hello,” “Gee Baby What About You?,” “If I Oh I,”
“Moonglow You Know,” “Goodnight Baby” and closed with “Zu Zu”. The
Encounters are one of the most polished and entertaining groups around.
The
Encounters
The
Encounters
It was
great to see Gil Torres and The Larkings again. We enjoyed seeing
them many times at UGHA. The quintet was attired in black suits with purple
ties. Two of the members, Warren Tesoro and Bernard “B J” Jones had
performed earlier in the night with Joel Katz. Their song selections
included “You Are,” “That’s My Desire” (Spiders arrangement), “I Don’t Stand
a Ghost of a Chance With You” and the Nutmegs' “Story Untold”. This is
definitely an all-star group of veteran performers and they sound fabulous!
The
Larkings
The
Larkings
Pam & Sandi
I.
Gil Torres
& Charlie
Nels & Lisa
Jensen
Pam &
Charlie
Charlie &
Joel Katz
Pam & The
Sheps' Johnnie Barlow
Stu & Pat
Pushkin
The
Encounters' Charlie DiComo & Charlie
A big
thank you goes to Gil Torres for making this event happen. Even better
news is that ASAP plans to do these shows every second Saturday of the
month. For a schedule of upcoming shows, see our
Calendar Page or
visit ASAP from our Links
Page.
Coming Soon! Photos and a review of ASAP Show #2.
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