#114: Saturday Swing Out by Four Aces

City: Ottawa, ON
Radio Station: CFRA
Peak Month: May 1958
Peak Position in Ottawa ~ #6
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 Singles ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Saturday Swing Out”
Lyrics: N/A

Al Albertini was born in Chester (PA) in 1922. In his childhood, young al appeared on a radio show from Philadelphia called The Horn and Hardart Children’s Hour. Horn and Hardart’s slogan was “Less work for mother dear whose gentle hands, lead us so kindly through little folk lands. We’ll give her happiness, each kindness, each caress repaid with thoughtfulness. Less work for mother dear.” After high school graduation in 1940, he was drafted into the United States Navy after the nation entered WWII in December 1941. While he was in the navy, Albertini met Dave Mahoney, and the pair discovered a mutual interest in singing and music. After WWII, they added Rosario “Sod” Vaccaro and Lou Silvestri to become a foursome. By the late 40s they were billed as The Four Aces. They released their first single, “Baby, wha hoppen”, in 1949.

When they recorded “(It’s No) Sin” in 1951, they couldn’t get a record company to record the song. So Al Albertini started Victoria Records and made a recording. The single soared to #4 on the Billboard pop chart, and spent 22 weeks on the survey. On the Cashbox Best Selling Singles chart, the song spent nine non-consecutive weeks at number-one, between November 3, 1951, and January 5, 1952. The song was also number-one for seven weeks on Your Hit Parade.

After the success of  “(It’s No) Sin”, the Four Aces got signed with Decca Records. In early 1952, “Tell Me Why” peaked at #2 on the national pop charts in the USA. From January 19 to February 16, 1952, both songs were charting in the Top Ten on the Billboard and Cashbox pop singles charts. As well, in 1952, The Four Aces charted into the Top Ten with “Perfidia” and “Should I”, with “Heart And Soul” stalling at #11. in 1953, Decca Records had Al Alberts release a solo recording titled “Please Tell Me”, which got little attention beyond Philadelphia and Trenton (NJ).

In February 1954, “Stranger In Paradise” was released by Tony Bennett, the Four Aces and Tony Martin. The song spent two non-consecutive weeks at number-one on the Cashbox Best Selling Singles chart. It was also a #6 hit in England. Simultaneously, “That Gang That Sang ‘Heart Of My Heart’”, spent eleven non-consecutive weeks with “Stranger In Paradise” in the Top Ten in the USA between mid-December 1953 and March 1954. Later that year, “Three Coins In The Fountain” peaked at #1 in the USA and #5 in England. The song was ranked by Billboard magazine as the #8 song for the year 1954. In the fall of 1954, “It’s A Woman’s World” reached #11 on the Billboard pop singles chart.

In 1955, the Four Aces continued to chart successfully with a Top 5 cover of the Chordettes “Mr. Sandman” on Billboard, and a number-one Cashbox hit for six non-consecutive weeks in the winter of 1954-55. From January 8 to March 5, 1955, the Four Aces had both their version of “Mr. Sandman” and “Melody Of Love” in the Top Ten. The latter tune was a number-one hit on the Cashbox Best Selling Singles chart, sharing the position for seven weeks with both Billy Vaughan & Orchestra, and David Carroll & Orchestra.

In the fall of 1955, The Four Aces had another number-one hit in the USA with “Love Is A Many-Splendoured Thing”. The single peaked at #2 in England, #3 in Australia and #6 in Belgium. In the winter of 1955, “A Woman In Love” was recorded by the Four Aces. The song was from the musical Guys and Dolls. However, it stalled at #14 and was edged out of the Top Ten by the new sounds of pop, rock and R&B. Record buyers were snapping up copies of “At My Front Door” by the El Dorados; “Only You” by the Platters, and “I Hear You Knocking” – Gale Storm’s cover of  the Smiley Lewis original; and “Daddy-O” a Fontaine Sisters cover of female rockabilly singer Bonnie Lou; Tennessee Ernie Ford’s “Sixteen Tons”; and the Four Lads “Moments To Remember”.

1956 was even more challenging for The Four Aces. Elvis Presley shook pop culture with his appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, and his chart-topping hits “Heartbreak Hotel”, “I Want You, I Need You, I Love You”, “Hound Dog”, “Don’t Be Cruel” and “Love Me Tender”.  And there was Carl Perkins singing “Blue Suede Shoes”, Jim Lowe with “Green Door”, Bill Doggett with “Honky Tonk Pt 2”, Frankie Lemon and The Teenagers with “Why Do Fools Fall In Love”, Bill Haley & His Comets with “See You Later Alligator”, Fats Domino, Little Richard, Gene Vincent, The Platters with “The Great Pretender” and “My Prayer”, the Cadets and more.

To be sure, traditional pop recording artists were still racking up solid record sales. Nelson Riddle, Gogi Grant, Morris Stoloff, Doris Day, Dean Martin, Kay Starr, Don Cherry, Patti Page, and Pat Boone, were all vying for the attention of the record-buying and jukebox playing audiences. But rock ‘n roll was on the ascendant. And The Four Aces were among the many recording acts that were being eclipsed with the new beat. The popular vocal quartet managed to have only one single barely crack the Top 20 in 1956, “You Can’t Run Away From It”.

In 1957, only one single release cracked the Billboard pop chart but didn’t reach the Top 50. Among the other singles released that year was “Yes Sir, That’s My Baby”, a cover of the 1925 pop standard which was a number-one hit for Gene Austin (and a #2 hit for Blossom Seeley). The B-side was a song titled “Three Sheets to the Wind” which climbed to #1 in Oshawa (ON).

In 1958, The Four Aces managed a peak at #18 in the UK with “The World Outside”. They also released “Saturday Swing-Out”.

“Saturday Swing Out” was cowritten by Jack Keller and Noel Sherman. Keller was born in Queens (NY) in 1936. He learned to play piano and accordion in his teens. Keller worked at a camera repair store from the age of 15, after his father’s death. In 1957, he cowrote “Just Between You And Me” which claimed to #8 for The Chordettes. In 1960, Keller teamed up with Howard Greenfield to write “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool”, and “My Heart Has A Mind Of Its Own”, both number-one hits for Connie Francis. The following year, Greenfield and Keller penned “Breaking In A Brand New Heart” which was a Top Ten hit for Connie Francis. While in 1960 Keller’s “Just for Old Times Sake” was a Top 20 hit for The McGuire Sisters.

In 1961, Bobby Vee had a #2 hit with “Run To Him”, which Keller cowrote with Gerry Goffin. The next year, Keller’s “Please Don’t Ask About Barbara” reached #15 for Bobby Vee. While his “Venus In Blue Jeans” peaked at #7 for Jimmy Clanton. Keller had a Top 40 hit for Brenda Lee in 1963 titled “Your Used to Be”. In 1964, he cowrote (with Gerry Goffin) “Girls Grow Up Faster Than Boys” for The Cookies. He produced music for The Monkees TV series, and wrote the comical “Your Auntie Grizelda”. In 1969, Keller’s “Seattle” was the theme song for the TV series Here Come the Brides, and a Top 40 hit for Perry Como. In 1970, Keller’s “Easy Come, Easy Go” was a Top Ten hit for Bobby Sherman. And in 1979, Eruption had an international Top Ten hit with “One Way Ticket”.

Jack Keller also scored some music for the TV shows Wackiest Ship in the Army, The Flying Nun, and Rhoda. Most notably he cowrote the theme songs for both Bewitched and Gidget. He died at age 68 of leukemia in 2005.

Noel Sherman was born in 1930 in Brooklyn (NY). After graduation, Sherman often collaborated with his brother Joe Sherman. They penned “Juke Box Baby” which was a Top Ten hit for Perry Como in 1956. They wrote several Top 20 hits: “Graduation Day” for the Four Freshmen (1956) and “Eso Beso (That Kiss)” for Paul Anka (1962). Their biggest hit was “Ramblin’ Rose”, a number-one hit in 1962 for Nat “King” Cole.  Noel Sherman died on June 4, 1972. A short article in Billboard magazine related that Sherman “died at the age of 42. He was most recently head of A&R for Capitol Records’ eastern division. A close friend of Nat King Cole, Sherman wrote special special material for his (Cole’s) cafe acts. He also wrote and produced nightclub shows for Paul Anka, Bobby Rydell, Frankie Avalon, Julius LaRosa and Brook Benton…. Sherman is survived by his brother, Joe, and his mother and father.”

“Saturday Swing Out” is a song where a guy is anticipating going to a dance with his girlfriend on a Saturday night. The first verse relates how it’s already noon on Friday, and school will be out soon. In a subsequent verse, we learn it’s now Saturday morning and he has to call his girlfriend to get everything lined up for going out on Saturday night. When they get there they’re going to “groove” and “move.”

“Saturday Swing Out” peaked at #6 in Ottawa, #24 in Rochester (NY) and #40 in Norfolk (VA).

After Keller and Sherman wrote “Saturday Swing Out”, they tried to give the Poni-Tails – who had recently charted “Born Too Late” into the Top Ten – a follow-up hit. However, “Seven Minutes in Heaven” stalled at #85 on the Billboard Hot 100. The Poni-Tails are mostly thought of as one-hit-wonders.

Al Alberts left the quartet hoping for success as a solo artist. His first solo release since he left The Four Aces was “Things I Didn’t Say”.

After Al Alberts had left the group, Mahoney and Vaccaro also left. Silvestri never left the group but led three new members: Fred Diodati, Tony Alesi, and Joe Giglio. The Original Aces later asked Silvestri to rejoin the original group, and he did.

In 1969, Al Alberts became a television personality in Philadelphia. He hosted a one-hour Saturday afternoon talent show, Al Alberts Showcase, which first aired on WKBS-TV, and then on WPVI-TV. The show featured a panel of local children known as the “Teeny Boppers”. In addition, there was a group of young teenage dancers called the “Show Stoppers”. Local talents of all ages would sing songs and perform dance routines. A young Andrew Pica made his debut on the show. Andrew would later go on to be a frequent guest and showstopper. The show helped launch the careers of Andrea McArdle, Sister Sledge, The Kinleys, and Teddy Pendergrass.

After 32 years of broadcasting, the show went off the air with Alberts’ retirement in 2001. Al Alberts died in 2009 at the age of 87.

Before joining the Four Aces, David Mahoney served in the United States Navy during World War II. He was stationed as a clarinet player with a military band in Newfoundland. After he left the Four Aces Mahoney became owner of the David A. Mahoney Insurance Agency in Woodlyn, Delaware County (PA). He died in July 2012, of complications from Alzheimer’s disease at age 86.

Lou Silvestri (born 1926) worked as a court officer in the Delaware County Court House for 25 years. He competed all over the world in Skeet and trap shooting and also a member of the West Chester Gun Club and the Delaware County Field and Stream. He died in January 2013, at age 86.

Rosario “Sod” Vaccaro (born in 1922) was a veteran of World War II, during which he was both in combat and played in the Army Military Band. After 1987, when the original Four Aces retired, he opened up a pizza joint. He was later selected by the City of Chester to serve as Deputy Treasurer and Chief Deputy Tax Collector. He remained in that position as a consultant after his retirement. Vaccaro died in April 2013, at age 90.

September 19, 2025
Ray McGinnis

References:
“Al Alberts, Singer and TV Host, Is Dead at 87,” New York Times, November 27, 2009.
Al Alberts, “Fly Me To The Moon“, President Records, 1963.
Al Alberts, “High School“, Coral Records, 1959.
Walter Naedele, “David A. Mahoney, 86, 1950s Singer was one of the Four Aces” Philadelphia Inquirer, July 11, 2012.
“The Four Aces,” Vocal Group Hall of Fame, 2001.
“Louis Silvestri Obituary,” Legacy.com, January 29, 2013.
“Rosario Vaccaro Obituary,” Delco Times, Chester (PA), April 11, 2013.
Spencer Leigh, “Jack Keller: Writer of Sixties Pop Hits,” Independent, May 11, 2005.
“Sherman Dies; A Capitol Exec,” Billboard, June 24, 1972.

CFRA 580-AM Ottawa Top Ten | May 31, 1958