The Brooklyn Bridge (band)

History

Johnny Maestro, born John Peter Mastrangelo, got his start in 1957 as the first lead singer of The Crests, an early interracial group in the music business. While the group was on the Joyce Record label, Patricia Van Dross—the older sister of Luther Vandross—sang alongside Maestro. She left before The Crests moved to Coed Records because her mother objected to her 15-year-old daughter touring with older band members. The Crests scored a regional hit with "My Juanita" backed with "Sweetest One" on Joyce, and then enjoyed three years of chart success on Coed with songs like "16 Candles," "Six Nights A Week," "Step by Step," "The Angels Listened In," and "Trouble in Paradise." In between "Step by Step" and "Trouble in Paradise," Coed put out a single credited to Johnny Masters: "The Great Physician" paired with "Say It Isn't So." Maestro left The Crests late in 1960 to go solo. As Johnny Mastro, billed as "The Voice of the Crests," he had Top 40 hits in 1961 with "What A Surprise" and "Model Girl" on Coed. But his next three singles for the label, now using the name Johnny Maestro, failed to chart. He recorded for three different labels after that, and in 1965 and 1966 he put out four singles on two more labels as Johnny Maestro & The Crests, backed by new singers who weren't from the original group.

By 1967, a different New York vocal group, The Del-Satins, needed a new lead singer to replace Stan Zizka. The Del-Satins were well known locally from their weekly spot on The Clay Cole Show, had released several singles between 1959 and 1967 that didn't chart, and were famous for backing Dion after his time with the Belmonts. The group consisted of brothers Fred and Tom Ferrara on baritone and bass, Les Cauchi on first tenor, and Bobby Faila on second tenor. According to Cauchi, the band members ran into Maestro at a neighborhood gym while he was playing guitar and asked him to join. Maestro initially said no, but his manager, Betty Sperber, later called Cauchi to say Maestro had changed his mind.