DICK CLARK , THE REGENTS AMERICAN BANDSTAND CONTRACT SIGNED 1961 JSA AUCTION LOA for Sale

On eBay Now...

DICK CLARK , THE REGENTS AMERICAN BANDSTAND CONTRACT SIGNED 1961 JSA AUCTION LOA For Sale

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

DICK CLARK , THE REGENTS AMERICAN BANDSTAND CONTRACT SIGNED 1961 JSA AUCTION LOA:
$209.99

The group formed in The Bronx, New York, in 1958.

Group members included Guy Villari on lead; Sal Cuomo, first tenor-lead on \"Laura\" & “I\'m So Lonely\"; Chuck Fassert, second tenor; Don Jacobucci (who co-wrote \"Barbara Ann\" B-side \"I’m So Lonely\" with Cuomo) sax player/baritone; Tony Gravagna on bass; Ron Hunerberg on drums.

The group recorded demos at Bell Sound, Associated, and Regent Sound studios. They were signed to Seville Records as The Desires, however, none of the songs they recorded were released, until the group had success three years later as The Regents. The Regents\' name came from a combination of recording a demo at Regent Sound studio, and the fact that Villari smoked Regents cigarettes.

In 1958 the group recorded Cuomo\'s \"A Teenager\'s Love\". At the same recording session they waxed \"Barbara-Ann\" in three takes. Shortly afterwards, Tony Gravagna was installed into the group. Unable to secure a recording contract, they disbanded about a year later.

Eddie Jacobucci revived the Regents by accident. His group, the Consorts, lacked original songs for an audition, so they recorded a version of \"Barbara-Ann\". The owner of Cousins Records heard the track and decided to release the original version by the Regents. The original group reunited, and Cousins released \"Barbara-Ann\" in March 1961. It became a No. 1 record in New York; the demand was such that Cousins leased it to Roulette/Gee for worldwide distribution, and it reached No. 13 in the Billboard Hot 100. Their follow-up release, \"Runaround\", written by Maresca, went to No. 28 on the pop chart and No. 30 R&B. They released two more records for Gee, but after a royalties dispute with the record label, the group broke up.

They reformed in 1970 with Villari the only remaining original member. Joining Villari was Ron Lapinsky (aka Ron Anthony) and Bob Falcone, both of whom performed with the original Regents group post recording and in various offshoots (eg The Runarounds). They were soon joined by guitarist and vocalist Jamie Bannon who remained with group throughout its lifetime as musical director. The group enjoyed success in personal appearances and toured extensively across the United States. They also made many television appearances. In 1988 they were selected as one of only four \"oldies\" groups to appear on the Grammy Awards Show.

In 1995, \"Guy Villari and the Regents\" was formed, which included Tony Valitutto, Frank Civatillo and Tony Cacace making up the vocals, while Richard Rogers, Joel DeRuggiero and Sal DiCicco provided the instrumentation. Concurrently, Lapinsky, Falcone and Bannon and the long running Regents band continued as \"The Regents\" into the 21st century. This version of the group along with original member Chuck Fassert appeared on the TJ Lubinski PBS music series in 2007. Villari died in 2017. Ron Anthony Lapinsky died in chart
positionsRecord So My Darling\"\"Liar\"——\"Don\'t Be a Fool\"
\"Lonesome Boy\"——\"Oh Baby\"Barbara-AnnReferences