#23: Dream World by the Four Coins

City: London, ON
Radio Station: CKSL
Peak Month: August 1958
Peak Position in London ~ #7
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Dream World”
Lyrics: N/A

The Four Coins were a vocal harmony group formed in 1952 in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, by George Mantalis. He was born in  1934. The other members of the quartet, all Greek-American, were James Gregorakis, (born in 1934) and brothers George and Jack Mahramas. Jack Mahramas, born in 1940 in Canonsburg, was the youngest member of the quartet. The Mahramas brothers assumed the stage names George and Jack James. Mantalis and Gregorakis were cousins of the Maharamas brothers, and all were living within a few houses of each other on the same block in East Canonsburg (PA). Before they became a quartet, three of its members were horn players with Stanley “Bobby” Vinton and His Band of Tomorrow Orchestra in 1951-52. At the time Vinton was just 16-years-old, and also a Canonsburg native. The future pop star rose to fame with his number-one 1962 hit “Roses Are Red”.

Front James “Jimmy” Gregorakis (left), Stanley “Bobby” Vinton (middle) and George Mantalis (right)
Back row: George Mahramas (left)

George Mahramas was the lead singer for the quartet. Then, in 1953 the quartet briefly named themselves The Four Keys, making vocal accompaniment to Ella Fitzgerald. But they changed their name when they learned that another quartet had copyright on the name the Four Keys. They quartet was “discovered” by chance by local Canonsburg band leader Lee Barrett, who arranged an audition for them. The quartet was put on a tour of cities in Ohio, when they got a call to go to New York and meet executives at Columbia Records. They subsequently won a grand prize at a Pittsburgh Amateur show.

The name, the Four Coins, was a riff off of another quartet named the Four Aces who had a number-one hit titled “Three Coins in the Fountain”. Their first single was in 1954 with the Epic label titled “We’ll Be Married (In The Church In The Wildwood)”. The vocal group fans were encouraged to join their fan club. Interested persons were advised to write to:
The Four Coins Fan Club
1733 Broadway,
New York, New York

In 1955, the Four Coins had their first nationally charting single titled “I Love You Madly”. It reached #28 on the Billboard pop chart. Later that year, “Memories Of You” climbed to #22. That year the Four Coins also released a cover of the Nutmegs R&B hit, “Story Untold”. Though it didn’t chart nationally, the Four Coins version made the Top Ten in Akron (OH), Fitchburg (MA), Jackson (MI), Kansas City (MO), Lewiston (ME), Manchester (NH), New Orleans, Newport (KY), Pittsburgh, Seattle, St. Louis, and Wheeling (WV). As well, “The Song That Brought Us Together” was a big hit in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

On March 24, 1956, the Four Coins appeared on The Perry Como Show. Jimmy Gregorakis recalls that fellow Canonsburg native, Perry Como, was deciding if they’d have The Penguins (of “Earth Angel” fame) on his show the next week. But when Como learned the Four Coins were from Canonsburg, he invited them on his show and the Penguins got bumped.

In 1957, the Four Coins earned a gold record with their biggest hit, “Shangri-La”, which reached # 11 in the US charts. The single peaked at #1 in Toronto, and #3 in Ottawa and Hull (PQ).

That year the quartet appeared in the rock ‘n roll flick Jamboree! The movie featured Dick Clark shown hosting the “second hour” of a “United Charities” telethon to raise money to fight what is described in only in the movie as “this dreaded disease.” Clark introduces various disc jockeys from across the U.S. and Canada – including Alan Freed – who then introduce the featured acts. The movie poster exclaimed “Top Stars! Great New Tunes! Picked by the Disc Jockeys Themselves!” The line-up included Jerry Lee Lewis singing “Great Balls of Fire”, Buddy Knox singing “Hula Love”, Frankie Avalon, Jody Sands, Lewis Lymon and the Teenchords, Jimmy Bowen, Charlie Gracie, jazz singer Joe Williams, Fats Domino, Count Basie, and Carl Perkins.

Poster for Jamboree!

The Four Coins singing in Jamboree!

In Jamboree! the Four Coins sang “A Broken Promise”, which reached the Top Ten in Chicago, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and Washington DC.

On July 28, 1957, the Four Coins appeared on The Steve Allen Plymouth Show. Other guests included singer Jody Sands, Jerry Lee Lewis, comedians Don Knotts and Louis Nye, actor Shelley Winters, actor and radio performer Gene Rayburn, and actor Anthony Franciosa (who was a new star in four movies in 1957 including A Face in the Crowd and A Hatful of Rain).

In September 1957, the group had a hit with “My One Sin” which reached #28 on the US pop charts. In late October ’57 they appeared on The Big Record, hosted by Patti Page, and also starring Teresa Brewer, Sarah Vaughan, Andy Williams, and Stanley Holloway (from the Broadway musical My Fair Lady).

The Indiana Gazette said of the Four Coins, “The boys possess a tremendous amount of showmanship and are gifted with voices that blend perfectly. The Coins’ use their own, specially written, fresh arrangements from all the new tunes from Tin Pan Alley, as well as the old standards, and classical pieces. Besides appearing in New York’s famed Copacabana, the Four Coins have appeared in many of the top spots in the nation, including the Town Casino in Buffalo, the Steel Pier in Atlantic City, Eddy’s in Kansas City, Gus Stevens Seafood Restaurant and Buccaneer Lounge in Biloxi, Mississippi, plus many others throughout the country and in Canada.”

In early 1958, the quartet had a Top Ten hit in Hull, Quebec, with “My Love Loves Me”. In 1958 they released “Dream World”.

In “Dream World” the singer relates “there’s a dream world where we meet every night, where you tremble in my embrace, and moonlight on your face.” The guy in the song wants more than “fantasy that brings me close to you.” If she’ll only say she loves him, she’ll make his “dream world come true.”

“Dream World” peaked at #7 in London (ON) and Rochester (NY), and #10 in Washington DC.

That fall “Wendy Wendy” was a minor hit the stalled at #72. It was written by a new songwriter named Burt Bacharach. On November 23, 1958, the Four Coins appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, along with pop singer Teddy Randazzo, conductor Leonard Bernstein, and comedian Shelley Berman. At the time, “My World Outside” peaked at #21 on the Billboard Hot 100.

During the late 50s, the Four Coins appeared on The Perry Como Show, The Julius LaRosa Show, and The Mike Douglas Show. They struggled to have further pop hits. Their last, “One Love, One Heart”, stalled at #82 in June of 1959. The song charted in the Top 60 in Vancouver.

In 1960, the Four Coins left Epic and signed with MGM Records. They released a cover of the 1954 number-one R&B hit by Johnny Ace, “Pledging My Love”. In 1961, the quartet moved over to the Jubilee label, and in 1962 to Vee-Jay Records. They took a break from the recording studio, and returned with Joy Records in 1964 to record “Love Me With All Your Heart”.  In 1966, the Four Coins covered the Ernie Maresca song “Shout, Shout, Knock Yourself Out” with Laurie Records. Between 1954 and 1967, the Four Coins released 33 singles.

The Four Coins officially disbanded in 1970. The decision was made due to family obligations. Jeanne Mantalis, who was interviewed when George Mantalis died, recalled “By 1970, they (the group members) felt that they were neglecting their families and wanted to come home.” She says her kids, who were approaching middle-school age, “truly missed their father.”During their years in the spotlight, they toured as far away as Japan and Hong Kong. This included a date at the Palladium in London (UK). In 2003, The Four Coins reunited for their two final shows which were held in their hometown in Canonsburg (PA).

In 2016, the Ponoco Record reported that the 2003 reunion “led to more gigs, including a good-paying residency in Palm Springs, Calif., and the taping of a PBS special at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City. (James) Gregorakis, who was gathered (as part of) the other three (remaining) Coins at the visitation in Canonsburg this week, said that Mantalis was “the jokester who always had everyone laughing.”

When the Four Coins disbanded, the Mantalis’ opened George and Jean’s Restaurant, a breakfast and lunch spot in Canonsburg, where the whole family worked. In the ‘80s, they moved to West Palm Beach, Fla., where he opened a cellular phone company. George Mantalis died in 2016 at the age of 81.

A Facebook post by Chartiers Bend Retirement Home in Bridgeville (PA) on April 1, 2022, announced “Back by popular demand, George Mahramas, member of the popular 50s group The Four Coins, is performing his biggest hits in our theater! Invite your friends and travel back in time with memorable music from the good ‘ole days.”

In September 2022, Jimmy Gregorakis gave a tour to an interviewer of Canonsburg and talked about the Four Coins. He stood beside a street sign that read Four Coins Drive which the city of Canonsburg named around 1983.

An obituary was posted in June 2023 announcing the Jack Mahramas had died at the age of 82.

February 14, 2025
Ray McGinnis

References:
“The Four Coins Bid for Fame: Popular Singing Quarter Signs Recording Contract,” The Daily Notes, Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, September 1, 1954.
“The Four Coins,” The Steve Allen Plymouth Show, NBC, July 28, 1957.
“The Four Coins,” The Big Record, CBS, October 30, 1957.
Scott Mervis, “‘Shangri-La’ singer dies at 81: George Mantalis was a member of The Four Coins quartet,” Ponoco Record, December 13, 2016.
“Jack Mahramas,” Pittsburghcremation.com, June 27, 2023.
“The Four Coins,” The Ed Sullivan Show, CBS, November 23, 1958.
“‘Four Coins’ Here for Fourth,” Indiana Gazette, Indiana, Pennsylvania, June 30, 1961.
“The Four Coins,” white doo-wop collector, July 2, 2014.
The Four Coins, “Story Untold“, Epic Records, 1955.
The Four Coins, “Shangri-la“, Epic Records, 1957.
The Four Coins, “A Broken Promise“, Jamboree!, Warner Bros., 1957.
Tom Meros, “Jim Gregorakis of the Four Coins gives Tom a tour of Canonsburg,” September 10, 2022.

CKSL 1410-AM London (ON) Top Ten | August 2, 1958