nfd2004 said:
lucky said:
One member of the Capri's later became a city police officer. They came from Ozone Park in Queens.
That is it "Lucky". Thank you. Now I remember. The Capri's were one of the groups playing at the show and Bouser had said. "one member just retired from the New York City Police Dept".
Thanks Guy, that was bugging me.
Nick Santamaria was the Capris member who was also a NYPD member. He passed away in 2011.
Nick Santo of the Capris Passes Away
There's a Moon Out Tonight: Very B.O.Nick Santo (born Nick Santamaria), of the vocal group the Capris, passed away on Thursday from cancer at the age of 69. He had been suffering from the disease for the last few years.
The Capris were formed in Ozone Park, NY in 1957 by Santo, Rosario Morice, Mike Mincieli, Frank Reina, Vinnie Naccarto and John Cassese. All were in their mid-teens and attended area high schools where they would perform along with churches and other venues.
The next year, they found a producer and went into the studio for the first time (Morice was no longer a member of the group). The first song cut would eventually also be their signature hit, There's a Moon Out Tonight, but the original issue on Planet Records went nowhere until a collector purchased a copy at the Times Square Record Shop. The collector, Jerry Greene, would form Lost Nite Records with his friends and reissue the song in 1960. A near instant hit in its new incarnation, Lost Nite would have to turn the record over to Hy Weiss' Old Town Records to meet the production and distribution demands.
Unfortunately, the group disbanded when the song didn't take off and Nick went into the army, returning home just as the song was breaking on the radio. Calls frantically went around to all the members who quit their jobs and, within a week, the group was playing at the Apollo and other New York venues. By early 1961, they were on American Bandstand and the song made its chart ascent to number 3 nationally.
The Capris continued to issue record over the next two years but only three made the national charts and they never again got above number 74. Nick left the group in 1962 and tried a solo career which didn't work out, so he became a New York city police officer.
Twenty years later, Santo formed a new version of the group who recorded the album There's a Moon Out Again for Ambient Sound Records. The album contained Morse Code of Love, a song that Nick had started in 1961 but didn't finish until the 1982 recording. The record sounded so authentic to the 50's sound that stations started putting it in oldies rotations. It also went on to become a minor hit for the Manhattan Transfer.
In 1999, the group appeared on Doo Wop 50, the PBS special that kicked off the reunion shows that run to this day during pledge drives. They were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2007, the same year Nick disbanded the group (a new version has since started).
- http://www.vintagevinylnews.com/2011/01/nick-santo-nick-santamaria-of-vocal.html
The Capris: http://www.electricearl.com/dws/capris.html
