Nino & The Ebb Tides

The Bronx borough of New York City gave rise to the quartet first known as the Ebb Tides, whose ranks included high-school classmates Antonio ‘Nino’ Aiello on lead, Tony Delesio handling baritone, Vinnie Drago on bass and Rudy singing tenor. A 1957 encounter with talent scout Murray Jacobs led to their first recording, the track ‘Franny Franny’. Before the year closed, the ensemble lengthened its name to Nino And The Ebb Tides and signed with Recorte Records. Personnel shifts followed on the next release, ‘Puppy Love’, which introduced baritone Tony Imbimbo and tenor Ralph Bracco in place of Delesio and Rudy. Although the single moved briskly around New York, neither it nor the follow-ups ‘I’m Confessin’’ and ‘Don’t Look Around’ registered nationally. In 1960 Tony DiBari stepped in for Bracco as the group switched to Marco Records, issuing only the single ‘Someday’ before landing at Madison Records. Their initial Madison outing, a cover of ‘Those Oldies But Goodies (Remind Me Of You)’, suffered from a rival version by Little Caesar And The Romans. A second nostalgic doo-wop outing, ‘Juke Box Saturday Night’, incorporated fragments of earlier doo-wop standards and finally cracked the national market, reaching number 57 on the US charts. Madison’s mounting financial woes prompted another move, this time to Mr Peacock Records, yet ‘Happy Guy’ made no impression. The group also declined Ernie Maresca’s composition ‘The Wanderer’, which later became a major hit for the Del-Satins. A string of releases on progressively smaller labels preceded the Ebb Tides’ dissolution in 1965. They reconvened in 1971 and again during the 1980s to perform at 1950s nostalgia concerts.