Search - Danny, Juniors :: Golden Classics Edition

Rock And Roll Is Here To Stay!

Mike King | Taunton, MA United States | 11/03/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Danny And The Juniors were a great vocal group from Philadelphia, with Danny Rapp as lead vocalist, David White as first tenor, Frank Maffel as second tenor and Joe Terry as baritone. In December of 1957, the group got their first big break by performing on American Bandstand. By early 1958, their classic song "At The Hop" went all the way to number 1. "Rock And Roll Is Here To Stay," a 50's anthem that was the group's follow-up hit single, was written by group member David White. The group were as skillful at slow ballads, like "Sometimes (When I'm Alone)" and "School Boy Romance," as they were with rockers, like "Dottie" and "Twistin' USA." Like most 50's vocals groups, they tried to repeat their success with similar sounding songs. "Back To The Hop" is a sequel to "At The Hop," while the melody of "Playing Hard To Get" is a variation of "Rock And Roll Is Here To Stay." "Twistin' All Night Long" features the group mentioning and then imitating Chubby Checker, Connie Francis, Fats Domino and Johnny Mathis, only to be joined by the real Freddy Cannon at the end! Danny Rapp is no longer with us, and the Juniors are all Seniors now. On the strength of their great songs included in this collection, Danny And The Juniors truly deserve to be in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame."

Two Hits MIssing [As Usual] ... But Not A Bad Collection

Mike King | 08/18/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Collectables once again comes up with a 20-track CD for a group that had less than ten hit singles - and leaves off two of those hits. While I will never understand their rationale, I have to admit that this one is to be counted among their best offerings. The sound is flawless and the liner notes informative.



Danny Rapp [lead], David White [first tenor], Frank Maffei [second tenor], and Joe Terranova [baritone] first got together while in high school in Philadelphia where they called themselves The Juvenairs. In 1957 they had their first release under their new name for the small Singular label, but when ABC-Paramount picked it up it was changed from Do The Bop to At The Hop. With Sometime (When I'm Alone) as the B-side, and with the backing of the Artie Singer orchestra, it tore up both the R&B and Billboard Pop Top 100 charts, reaching # 1 on both early in 1958 and remained there for seven weeks [Top 100] and five weeks [R&B].



Like many others in that era who literally exploded onto the charts, any follow-up singles were bound to suffer by comparison. In their case, however, the similar-sounding Rock And Roll Is Here To Stay topped out at a very respectable # 16 R&B/# 19 Top 100 in April 1958 b/w Schoolboy Romance, while their third release, Dottie, reached # 39 Top 100 that July b/w In The Meantime, still backed by Singer's orchestra.



But when nothing else clicked for the rest of that year [they did appear in the film Let's Rock], and all of 1959, they were dropped by ABC-Paramount. Now with Swan Records in 1960, they climbed aboard the twist craze with Twistin' U.S.A. which reached # 27 Billboard Pop Hot 100 in October b/w A Thousand Miles Away. The following spring Pony Express made it to # 60 Hot 100 b/w Daydreamer [not here], and later that year they attempted to re-capture the old magic with Back To The Hop. Few were buying, however, and it peaked at # 80 Hot 100 in September 1961 b/w The Charleston Fish [also not here].



They were still with Swan in 1962 when they hooked up with Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon on Twistin' All Night Long, but even that combination failed to get them any higher than # 68 Hot 100 in January b/w Some Kind Of Nut [not included]. Also missing here is their last Swan hit which came in April 1962 when Doin' The Continental Walk struggled to # 93 Hot 100 b/w Do The Mashed Potatoes. On all Swan hits the backing band was Frank Slay & His Orchestra.



Their final kick at the can, a desperate grasp at another craze, came in 1963 for the Guyden label when Oo-La-La Limbo just made the Hot 100 at # 99 b/w Now And Then. Neither is included here.



As mentioned by another reviewer Rapp left us in April 1983 by committing suicide, while White moved on to Decca Records and The Spokesmen with whom, in 1965, he had a # 36 Hot 100 with The Dawn Of Correction, sort of an answer song to Barry McGuire's crepe-hanging Eve Of Destruction.



Should they be considered for the R&R Hall of Fame as suggested elsewhere? Well, based upon their commercial success alone, they were miles ahead of both Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran - and both of them have been inducted. And neither ever came close to the rousing success of At The Hop which certainly has to be considered among the all-time R&R anthems."