While still a teenager in Brooklyn, I became involved with music; singing in local groups. I started my first singing group with my childhood friend, Ron Mosely, who was and still is, my best friend. We formed The Cavaliers Singing Group in Brooklyn’s Fort Green Projects, but later broke up when Ron joined the service. Ron Anderson, Lowe Murray, and I brought in Lloyd Davis and Gene Redds and together we formed The Fi-Tones, later to be joined by Reggie Bores. We signed a contract with an independent record company called Atlas Records owned by Tommy Robinson, who was like a father to us as well as being our manager. We had a couple of regional hits on the East Coast; “Foolish Dreams”, “It wasn’t a Lie” and “I Belong to you.” We did not make much money, but we did get a chance to travel up and down the East Coast. Our first big show was at The Apollo Theatre- that was making the “big time.” We received a grand total of $500.00 for the week. We were still in high school though, so we could only do shows over the weekends, holidays and summer vacations.

After high school, the Fi-tones broke up and I joined a group called The Solitaires. They were friends from New York City and very popular. The head of the group was Buzz Wills ( Cousin Buzz). Buzz would become a major force in the music industry, eventually going on to manage Kool and the Gang. The Solitaires was considered one of the top groups on the East Coast. They recorded for Old Town Records, owned by Hi Weiss, who would remain a long time friend of mine. One of our hits “Walking Alone” became a Top 5 chart record. I traveled with them for a year doing shows and promotions, and after getting my first look at record promotion I said to myself: I can do that.