#21: Getting Dizzy by the Elegants

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

The Elegants were a doo-wop group that was started in 1958 by Vito Picone, Arthur Venosa, Frank Tardogno, Carman Romano and James Moschello in South Beach, Staten Island, New York. They started out performing under the boardwalk by their homes. Back in 1955 in Staten Island,Vito Picone was 15-years old and his friend Carman Romano played the trombone in their high school. But in the mid-50s they wanted form a vocal group. They recruited reunited high school bandmate Ronnie Jones, who played trombone. The fourth member of their group was and girl trumpet player Pat “Cordel” Croccitto. They named themselves The Crescents. The foursome sang for the fun of it and performed at local church functions and dances.

In 1956 after winning a singing contest, where the 1st prize was a recording contract they signed with Club Records in New York and recorded “Darling Come Back”. It was written by Vito Picone and is one of the first white doo-wop recordings with the ‘kid sound’ in the style of Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers. This was because Patricia “Cordel” had the high Frankie Lymon sounding voice. The B- side, “My Tears”, was composed by the whole group. Pat sang lead on both sides.

The modest local success of “Darling Come Back” led to nationwide tours with The Cadillacs, The Five Satins and The Danleers. But the youthfulness of the Crescents, and the difficulties of traveling around the country with a fifteen-year old girl, led to a break up. Pat “Cordel” became one of the June Taylor dancers on the Jackie Gleason Show.

Picone and Venosa formed their new doo-wop group, The Elegants, in 1958. Artie Venosa and Vito Picone wrote a song titled “Little Star”, based on a nursery rhyme. The single appeared on the national pop charts in the USA in mid-July 1958. “Little Star” became a huge hit in 1958, spending five consecutive weeks at #2 on the Cashbox Top 100 Singles chart, and ranking at #6 for the year. It peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 the week of August 25, 1958. As well, it topped the Cashbox Rhythm and Blues Top 50 for five consecutive weeks in August and September of ’58.

“Little Star” was based on the English lullaby “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”. The lyrics came from an early-19th-century English poem written by Jane Taylor titled “The Star”.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.

When the blazing sun is gone,
When he nothing shines upon,
Then you show your little light,
Twinkle, twinkle, all the night.

Then the trav’ller in the dark,
Thanks you for your tiny spark,
He could not see which way to go,
If you did not twinkle so.

In the dark blue sky you keep,
And often thro’ my curtains peep,
For you never shut your eye,
Till the sun is in the sky.

‘Tis your bright and tiny spark,
Lights the trav’ller in the dark:
Tho’ I know not what you are,
Twinkle, twinkle, little star.

The poem in couplet form was first published in 1806 in Rhymes for the Nursery. This was a collection of poems by Jane Taylor and her sister Ann. It is now sung to the tune of the French melody “Ah! vous dirai-je maman” (English: “Oh! Shall I tell you, Mama”). The 1740s tune was first published in 1761 and later arranged by several composers, including Mozart.

In London (ON) DJ’s flipped the record from “Little Star” and began to get listener requests for the B-side, “Getting Dizzy”.

All five members of The Elegants wrote “Getting Dizzy”. The song is about a guy who is getting dizzy “because my girlfriend is getting me down.” He tried medicine, but that didn’t cure matters. His doctor says his ailment “can’t be fixed” and he’s run out of tricks to help the boyfriend cope with his girlfriend’s impact.

“Getting Dizzy” peaked at #7 in London (ON).

Riding on the success with “Little Star”, the Elegants, still in their teens, toured as part of the Biggest Show of Stars for 1958. At first they were part of a late summer 1958 ten-night stand at the Fox Theater in Brooklyn, New York. This ran from August 29th to September 7th. On the stage with The Elegants were Chuck Berry, Frankie Avalon, the Danleers, Bo Diddley, Duane Eddy, Jo Ann Campbell, Jimmy Clanton, Bobby Freeman, the Cleftones, and DJ Alan Freed.

Next, they were part of another Biggest Show of Stars for 1958 17-city tour. This included Canadian concerts in Montreal, Peterborough (ON), and Kitchener (ON). The US dates took them to cities in Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Virginia. An 18th concert date in Hartford (CT) on October 4th was cancelled. The tour began on October 3rd in Worcester (MA) and ended on October 19th in Richmond (VA).

October 4, 1958, poster in Providence, Rhode Island, included The Coasters

Biggest Show of Stars for 1958 poster for Scranton (PA), October 16, 1958

Others on the billing were Buddy Holly & the Crickets, Clyde McPhatter, Frankie Avalon, Bobby Darin, The Coasters, The Olympics, Dion & Belmonts, Bobby Freeman, The Danleers, Jimmy Clanton, Jack Scott, and Little Anthony & Imperials.  Most of the recording acts were part of the whole tour, but some acts skipped some of the tour dates. The Elegants also toured with Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis.

The Elegants next released “Goodnight”, which reached the Top 20 in San Francisco, and charted into the Top 60 in Vancouver (BC). The B-side, “Please Believe Me”, was a Top 40 hit in Los Angeles and Buffalo. In the spring of 1959, “Pay Day” was a minor hit in Denver. In 1960, “Speak Low” charted in Trenton, New Jersey. As well, in 1960 the Elegants recorded another nursery-rhyme inspired song titled “Little Boy Blue”. It charted to #8 in Frankfort, Kentucky. In 1961, the group recorded “Tiny Cloud” which was a Top 20 hit in New Haven (CT), and a Top 30 hit in Columbus (OH). Their next single release, “Happiness”, peaked at #11 in Boston in April 1961. The single also got Top 40 chart action in Worcester (MA), Springfield (MA) and Vancouver (BC). Another release, “Dressin’ Up” was a commercial flop in 1962.

In 1965, The Elegants and Vito Picone released “Letter From Viet Nam (Dear Donna)”. It cracked the Top 30 in Birmingham, Alabama. The same year, billed as Vito & the Elegants, the group released “Belinda”. The single peaked at #10 in Wilkes-Barre (PA), and charted in a number of record markets in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York. Another release, “Bring Back Wendy” was given a pass by DJs who preferred new discs by artists who were variously part of the British Invasion, Motown sound, surf sound, folk rock, and garage-rock sounds.

Into the late 60s, Frank Tardogno took on the role of lead singer for the group. In early 1970s, lead singer Vito Picone returned to the group, replacing Tardogno as the lead singer. The group can be seen annually performing at the San Gennaro Festival, in Little Italy, Manhattan, New York City.

As the only single to crack the Billboard Hot 100 is “Little Star”, The Elegants are regarded in the music industry as a ‘one-hit wonder. ‘ In 1986, Murray Hill Records released Little Star: The Best of the Elegants. 

Carman Romano (born on August 17, 1938) died in 2016, at the age of 77 two weeks before what would have been his 78th birthday. Artie Venosa died in 2018.

Vito Picone still heads a reformed Elegants who most recently performed in Staten Island in April 2024.

February 19, 2025
Ray McGinnis

References:
“Biggest Show of Stars for 1958,” rock ‘n roll historian, April 28, 2018.
“Pat Cordell and the Crescents: Darling Come Back,” whitedoowopcollector.org, February 12, 2009.
“Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” Wikipedia.org.

CKSL 1410-AM London (ON) Top Ten | October 12, 1958