THE GENIES - by Al Kelly

Wasn't that familiar with the Genies and always thought they had only
one record, "Who's That Knockin'?" but they did have several good
release. The Genies formed in Long Beach, NY in '56 with Roy Hammond on
lead. They used to practice every night and during the summer sing on
the boardwalk in Long Beach. Bob Shad, the owner of Shad Records heard
them sing one summer night while he was with his family on the
boardwalk. He gave them a business card and told them to call him
Monday. The group did an audition and that led to a recording session.
In March, '59, "Who's That Knockin'?" was released, the record sold very
well and on many East Coast cities, went Top 5. When the group was on
tour with their hit record, one member met a girl and took off, while
two others left for Canada and were never seen again. The group finished
the tour borrowing other members from other groups. Since there was half
the group missing, they never did a followup record on Shad. The group
picked up some new members and had an answer tune  to their hit on
Hollywood (A NYC label), which was a dud and moved to Morty  Craft's
Warwick label in '60.  Claude Johnson (sang lead on several songs), the
tenor in the  group later found fame with Roland Trone, who were both
house painters,  in becomeing known as Don & Juan and had a hit with
"What's Your  Name". The rumour  has it that Eugene Pitts (Jive Five)
was a member of the group, it's true he sang with them but never
recorded with the group.  The group made three releases on  Warwick and
broke up.