THE REGENTS
Barbara-Ann
The origin of The Regents' often-discussed hit "Barbara-Ann" dates to 1958, when they recorded it...and no one cared! The guilty parties were four teenagers from the Bronx who originally called themselves The Montereys: lead singer Gaetano "Guy" Villari, first tenor Salvatore "Sal" Cuomo, baritone Ernie Maresca and second tenor Charles "Chuck" Fassert, the brother of non-singer Fred Fassert, who'd written the song for his sister. After a couple of lucky breaks, the recording became a hot seller under the foursome's more famous name. A few years later a higher-profile act remade the song, then a few years after that an even bigger band, arguably the most popular group from America's opposite coast, had even more success with it.
By 1958, the Montereys had made a couple of lineup switches. Maresca left to concentrate on songwriting after landing a hit with "No One Knows" by another neighborhood group, Dion and the Belmonts. The other three replaced him with baritone (and saxophonist) Don Jacobucci. As The Desires, they made some demonstration recordings at Bell Sound Studios on West 54th between Broadway and 7th Avenue in the heart of New York City, but had no takers. They recorded "Barbara-Ann" at Regent Sound on West 57th near Central Park, just a few blocks from Bell Sound, coming up with the Regents name after the studio and a brand of cigarettes Villari smoked (Regents had been popular during the years of World War II, packaged, unlike other brands, in a rectangular crush-proof box; by the late '50s it was available in a standard-size soft pack). Bass singer Tony Gravagna (nickname: "Hot Rod") joined, making the act a quartet for a time, but rejection became a tough pill to swallow; dozens of record companies passed on the group and their song. They broke up in 1959.
Over the next couple of years, doo wop vocal groups became hot again with the "Oldies But Goodies" movement; Don's brother, Eddie Jacobucci, had a group called The Consorts, and they went to the Cousins Record Shop in the Bronx to audition for owner Lou Cicchetti (who'd recently established his Cousins record label with a couple of singles by another local group, The Camerons). One track they recorded was "Barbara-Ann," but as soon as songwriter Fassert picked up on what was happening, he went to the shop with a copy of the Regents' failed demo, which Lou preferred and released in March 1961 (with another '58 demo, "I'm So Lonely," on the flip).
The Regents reunited as soon as the nearly-three-year-old recording began getting airplay. In May '61 it hit number one on New York's powerhouse radio station WABC ("channel 77"). The vocal group revival was particularly strong there as fans sang along in cars, on apartment fire escapes and in local hangouts: 'You got me rockin' and a-rollin', rockin' and a-reelin', Barbara Ann, ba-ba-ba-Barbara Ann!' Cicchetti, overwhelmed by the sudden demand, leased the master, such as it was, to Roulette Records. The single, on the Gee label, took off nationally, reaching lucky number 13 on both Billboard and Cash Box in June while peaking at an even luckier number seven on the R&B charts.
Old pal Ernie Maresca, who'd continued writing songs for Dion and his Belmonts, stepped up with a strong, '50s-style contribution, "Runaround" ('I'm sick and tired of your lies...pack up your bags and get outta town!'), a hard-hitting lament (recorded in stereo, unlike anything prior) that reached the top 30 in August. Other singles on Gee, "Liar" (penned by Sal Cuomo) and Maresca's "Lonesome Boy," were issued late in the year to less enthusiastic results. By that time, a similar-titled tune by Maresca, "Runaround Sue," had taken Dion (sans Belmonts) to number one...all over the North American continent! A few months later, Ernie scored a top ten party hit he sang himself: "Shout! Shout! (Knock Yourself Out)." The Regents, meanwhile, weren't doing so well.
In the spring of 1962, about the time Seville Records (the label Maresca's hit was on) released the Regents' '59 demo "Story of Love" (that Ernie had written back in the day) under the Desires moniker, Guy Villari, Chuck Fassert and Ed Jacobucci had begun rounding up candidates for a new group that included Sal Donnarumma, Ronnie Lapinsky and Sal Corrente. Opting for a new start, they were briefly known as The Run-A-Rounds that summer with "Unbelievable" (a Maresca-Pete Baron song) on Nat "King" Cole's KC label, followed by "Let Them Talk" on Tarheel Records. Three more singles came between 1964 and '67 as The Runarounds: "Carrie (You're an Angel)" (an unabashed 4 Seasons "Sherry" swipe) on Felsted, "You're a Drag" (a Barry Mann-Cynthia Weil tune) on Capitol and "You Lied" on MGM (the last two with production and/or songwriting contributions by Lou Cicchetti). Five years, five songs, five labels and the Regends/Runarounds were through making records. But Villari (as singer) and Maresca (as composer) came up with one more: "Ten Story Building," a "psychedelic" effort credited to The Cardboard Zeppelin on the Laurie label. This wasn't successful either, but within a year another act with "Zeppelin" in its name would begin a long, superstar run.
As for the hit song in question, a faithful remake of the original was recorded by Jan and Dean in the summer of 1962 and showed up on the track list of Jan and Dean's Golden Hits, despite never being a hit for them...or even available as a single! In 1965, Dean Torrence (who, with Jan Berry and Brian Wilson, had written J&D's chart-topper "Surf City" a couple of years earlier) joined The Beach Boys during sessions for the album Beach Boys' Party!, becoming part of their loose, live-sounding studio version of "Barbara Ann" (no hypen). It was released on a single and, to the surprise of many, made it to number two on Billboard in February 1966 (and number one on Cash Box)! British rockers The Who offered up their own take on the song later in the year on the LP A Quick One. Everyone just kept swayin' and singin' along to the Regents' 1958 gem.
Guy Villari, by the way, reactivated The Regents' name and performed with various members throughout the '70s, '80s and '90s, helping keep the now-legendary tribute to Fred Fassert's sister "Barbara-Ann" going strong.
