Joe Negroni - The "Teenagers"

The "Teenagers"

12 year old Frankie Lymon worked in a grocery store and one night The Premiers and Lymon's brother performed in a talent show held at JHS Stitt (Junior High School Stitt). Frankie approached the Premiers, telling them how good they sounded. They started jamming together and the Premiers were impressed with the sound of Frankie's high tenor/soprano voice. Lymon sang a few numbers with them, like "You Painted Pictures" and "Lily Maebelle," and by early 1955 they had invited him to join, singing first tenor behind Santiago's lead.

In 1955, Richard Barrett, a scout for "Gee Records", heard them singing and introduced them to George Goldner, the owner of "Gee". Upon hearing them sing, Mr. Goldner signed them to a contract and changed the groups name to "The Teenagers".

The following day the group was supposed to meet with Mr. Goldner in the studio for a recording session. Santiago, who was the lead singer, was ill and could not accompany the other members, therefore he gave Negroni the music sheet with the words to the song that he had written. The song was "Why Do Fools Fall In Love" (which was originally reworked from a poem called "Why Do Birds Sing So Gay") and since Santiago was not present, Mr. Goldner asked Frankie if he could sing the song. Frankie accepted and the song was recorded. Mr. Goldner then changed the group's name to "Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers" and released the record. The song became an instant hit in the United States and in the United Kingdom it also became the first top British hit of an American vocal group. In London, they played at the Palladium. Alan Freed signed them for two movies. Upon hearing them sing, young girls acted wild, a matter that bothered the establishment more than somewhat. The Teenagers had three other hits which reached the top 10 in the R&B charts, they were: "I Want You to Be My Girl" (#3), "Who Can Explain?" (#7) and "The ABC's of Love" (#8).