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Danny & the Juniors was a group of high school friends who recorded in the late 50's and came up with some rock-and-roll mainstays, including a number one song.
The group was formed in 1955 in Philadelphia and consisted of Danny Rapp on lead vocals, Frank Maffei, Joe Terranova and Dave White, all of whom were born in 1940 or 1941. Originally known as the Juvenairs, they signed with a small local label right out of high school. White and a friend, John Madara, had written a song called Do The Bop. The group practiced the song and polished it, under the direction of producer Madara, and renamed it At The Hop at the suggestion of Dick Clark. It was a song that transferred the energy of rock-and-roll into a catchy dance tune. Originally recorded on the Singular label in 1957, it was picked up by ABC-Paramount and entered the charts in December of that year. It was a smashing success -- At The Hop topped the charts for seven weeks. They followed up with another song written by White and produced by Madara, Rock And Roll Is Here To Stay. This one made the top twenty. Danny & the Juniors toured with Alan Freed's rock-and-roll shows and they were featured on the Dick Clark show, American Bandstand. They put two more songs in the top forty, Dottie and Twistin' U.S.A., before fading away. Along the way, Danny & the Juniors picked up a sideman to play saxophone named Lennie Baker. Baker later was a founding member of Sha-Na-Na. Madara and White went on to form the group The Spokesmen, whose minor hit The Dawn Of Correction was an answer song to the number one Eve Of Destruction in the 60's. The two were a large part of the music scene in Philadelphia for years to come, producing or writing songs recorded by artists such as Chubby Checker, Len Barry, and Lesley Gore. White also made a solo album on Bell in 1971 under his real name, David White Tricker. Danny Rapp committed suicide in 1983. Danny & the Juniors were typical of the late 50's period in rock-and-roll and made their mark on the pop music scene.
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Send email to the author, Tom Simon tsimon@tsimon.com.
