On Sunday night, August 13, 2017, we again had a spectacular night of doo wop acappella at Roxy & Dukes in Dunellen NJ, out 26th acappella show there in the past 26 months. On this night we enjoyed the harmony of two great Philadelphia groups – Street Corner Five and the Copians.
Street Corner Five, with a few personnel changes, has been a fixture of the Philly acappella world since the late 1970’s. As evidenced by their performance at Roxy & Dukes, Street Corner Five (Freddy DiSalvo, Tony Russo, John Squillaciotti, Mike Diamond and Mark Pastor) are still as good as ever! The group opened up with some up tempo songs to get the place rocking. How great was it, when they began with the Lee Andrews & the Hearts song, “Glad To Be Here”! Street Corner Five was equally skilled at both up tempo songs (“Stormy Weather,” “Never Let You Go” and the Philly classic, “Hey Boy”) and ballads (“Kiss Kiss Kiss,” “Lost Love,” “Oh My Love”). We loved their medley of “That’s My Desire,” “Why Don’t You Write Me,” Lover’s Island,” “Diamonds & Pearls,” Never Never” and Bewitched”. Give a listen to Street Corner Five singing the Jacks’ song, “Why Did I Fall In Love” (scrolldown to the videos.
The Copians were also on top of their game on this night. The Copians (Jim Bakay, John Bishop, Bill Keith, Horace Brown and Bob Reilly) started with the Fiestas’ song, “So Fine” and then “flipped it over” to sing the other side, “Last Night I Dreamed”. I never knew John Bishop could hit notes that high! Bill Keith told us he’s now been singing 60 years and he certainly showed it with his smooth delivery of “Earth Angel,” “While Walking” and a great rendition of “I’m In Love,” a song the Cadillacs recorded back in the day that wasn’t released until years later. Bob “Bobski” Reilly not only handled the bass well but led on “In The Dark” and “Can’t Do Sixty No More”. He also entertained the crowd with his “Jocko Rap”. Everyone in the group took turns on lead. John Bishop was soulfully strong on “If I Knew” (Cruisers) and “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” (Otis Redding). Jim Bakay gave us nice renditions of “Hey Senorita” and “It’s Just A Matter Of Time”. Horace Brown gave us one of the groups’ popular signature songs, “Members Only”.
Here are some photos of the event. Click on any one to enlarge it and them use the side arrows to see others. Scroll past the photos to watch some videos.
