Little Joey & The Flips

This US vocal group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, comprised Joey Hall (b. 1943; lead), Fred Garace (b. 1947; first tenor), James Meagher (b. 1946; second tenor), John Smith (b. 1946; baritone) and Jeff Leonard (b. 1946; bass). Hall, the lone black member, was from west Philadelphia, while the remainder of the group was from the Philadelphia suburb of Upper Darby. The group’s only chart record was ‘Bongo Stomp’, which went to number 33 in 1962, a classic in the teen-lead genre made famous by Frankie Lymon And The Teenagers. Amazingly, Hall who sounded as though he was a 13-year-old, was actually a diminutive 19-year-old when he made the record. The group came together in 1959 as the Elads, but after the group was signed by their manager he replaced their original lead, Jimmy Dilks, with Joey Hall and renamed the group Little Joey And The Flips. Two more releases followed - ‘Bongo Gully’ (1962) and ‘Fool, Fool, Fool’ (1964) - but the group could not repeat the magic and broke up in 1967. Joey Hall died in 1974. © TiVo