The Young Rascals

The YOUNG RASCALS

"HOW CAN I BE SURE"

PEOPLE GOT to BE FREE

The RASCALS

Garfield, New Jersey

The Young Rascals

GROOVIN

"On a SUNDAY AFTERNOON"

Couldn't Get Away to Soon !

IT'S a BEAUTIFUL MORNING

The RASCALS

HISTORY of The YOUNG RASCALS

Eddie Brigati (vocals), Felix Cavaliere (keyboards, vocals), Gene Cornish (guitar, bass, vocals) and Dino Danelli (drums) started the band in Cavaliere's home basement in Pelham, New York and they were quickly offered a residency at the Choo Choo Club in Lodi, New Jersey, near Brigati's hometown of Garfield, New Jersey. Brigati, Cavaliere, and Cornish had previously been members of Joey Dee and the Starliters. Eddie's brother, David Brigati, an original Starliter, helped arrange the vocal harmonies and sang backgrounds on many of the group's recordings (informally earning the designation as the "fifth Rascal"). When Atlantic Records signed them, they discovered that another group, Borrah Minnevitch's and Johnny Puleo's 'Harmonica Rascals', objected to their release of records under the name 'The Rascals'. To avoid conflict, Atlantic and the group's managers, Sid Bernstein and Walter Hyman, decided to rename the group 'The Young Rascals'.

The Young Rascals' first television performance was on the program Hullabaloo on February 24, 1966, where they performed their debut single "I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore". The track reached #23 in Canada and touched the lower reaches of the US charts. This modest success was followed by the US/Canada #1 single "Good Lovin'" (1966, originally recorded by Lemme B. Good and The Olympics in 1965 with different lyrics).

The band's songwriting team of Brigati and Cavaliere then began providing most of their songs and the hits kept coming for two years. Their immediate follow-ups to "Good Lovin'", including "You Better Run" (1966; covered in 1980 by Pat Benatar) and "Come On Up" were only modest hits. "I've Been Lonely Too Long" (1967) did better, and "Groovin'" (#1 US/Canada, 1967) returned them to the top of the charts. They reeled off a succession of top 20 US hits, including "A Girl Like You" (1967), "How Can I Be Sure" (1967), "It's Wonderful" (1968) and "A Beautiful Morning" (1968). The band was exceptionally popular in Canada where "A Girl Like You", "How Can I Be Sure?" and "A Beautiful Morning" all reached #1. But they struggled in the UK, where they only twice reached the top 75, with "Groovin'" (#8) and "A Girl Like You" (#35). The band would bill themselves as the Young Rascals for the last time with the single release of "It's Wonderful"; they were known from then on as simply 'the Rascals'. That same year the band also did away with their knickers, white round-collar shirts with floppy bows and caps stage get up. 

Bruce Eder, writing for AllMusic, rates the band's 1967 album Groovin' as their best, noting the record's soulful core and innovative use of jazz and Latin instrumental arrangements. 1968's Once Upon A Dream was the first Rascals album designed from conception as an album, rather than as a vehicle to package their singles (eight of Groovin''s eleven songs had been released as single A or B sides, most in advance of the album). Once Upon a Dream, which peaked at #9 on the album charts, contained the single "It's Wonderful". The album's song "My Hawaii" became a top of the charts hit in Hawaii.

Time Peace: The Rascals' Greatest Hits, released in mid-1968

The RASCALS

I'VE BEEN LONELY TOO LONG

Steven Van Zandt Introduces The Young Rascals

Into The ROCK & ROLL HALL of FAME

The BIG LEBOWSKI COOKBOOK

The COLLECTED RECIPES of The DUDE

Amazon.com

The RACALS

PEOPLE GOTTA BE FREE

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