Harry (Aristeides
or Aristides?) Giosasi
The Impalas avoided being included
among that dreaded collection of singers known as "The One-Hit
Wonders" by one lonely little charter, Oh, What A
Fool, which barely squeaked onto the pop charts in April 1959 at # 86 b/w Sandy
Went Away.
Like The Jive Five, this foursome hailed from Brooklyn, New York, but
unlike the Eugene Pitt-led group, they became the second most prominent (for a
short while at least) mixed group following in the wake of The Dell-Vikings.
Lead singer Joe Frazier (not the boxer) was black, while the others - Richard
Wagner, Tony Carlucci, and Lenny Renda - were white.
After they secured a contract with the small Cub label in 1959, yet another
prominent Brooklynite, Aristedes
Giosasi, gave them a song he wrote called Sorry (I
Ran All The Way Home). Giosasi was no stranger to hit
songs, having taken (It's Been A Long Time) Pretty Baby to # 14 R&B and #
20 pop in June 1958 with his sister Irene under the billing Gino & Gina.
This one had "hit" written all over it, and sure enough - b/w
Fool, Fool, Fool - it gained the # 2 pop spot in May and stayed there for two
weeks, being kept from going # 1 only by a little ditty called
After that, however, only the afore-mentioned Oh, What A Fool kept them from that ignominious list. The group later
tried their luck at 20th Century and Checker, but could never again grab the
brass ring.