Airdate – May 08, 2022

Have you ever questioned the creativity or originality when it came to coming up with names for musical groups? Many just stumbled upon a name while others took their time in coming up with a name to establish their brand.

Sometimes these “original” names were not that unique and fell into the category of being generic. Such was the case for a late 1950s street corner harmony group out of Pittsburgh, PA …

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Hands down, one of the most popular names for a group throughout North America is the “Dynamics.” A quick surf on the Internet will easily lead you to nine different groups with that name over the years, including one that is still performing here in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Many of the earlier 1950s groups with this name hailed from the Northeastern United States – in Brooklyn, NY; New York proper; New Jersey (2), and Philadelphia, PA (2).

Guaranteed Records also signed a group called the Dynamics who were based in Seattle, Washington.

And we can’t forget the Dynamics from Detroit, an R&B group formed in the early 60s and subsequently managed in the late 60s by Ted White, who married Aretha Franklin. Their first hit was “Misery” in 1963, which formed the basis for the Who’s first record, “Zoot Suit.”

The Dynamics group we are spotlighting tonight formed in 1957 on the north side of Pittsburgh and were originally known as the Four Sharps. They auditioned for RCA, but the label turned them down and the group disbanded.

Two of the original members recruited three new members and the Dynamics were born. Thanks to their success in a talent contest sponsored by Deejay, Jay Michael, the group was signed by Cindy Records out of New York.

In 1958 the group put up their own money and headed to Nashville, TN for a recording session at the Bradley Film & Recording Studio. They recorded four sides with the first two being released on the Impala label.

The first release should have gotten more traction – it was a beautiful ballad that certainly appealed to “Someone,” this week’s Tom Locke moment in time.

YouTube video of this song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TP63MzzAoc