The Chimes

During the 1950s, countless ensembles adopted the name the Chimes, yet only one Brooklyn-based quintet—Lenny Cocco on lead, Pat DePrisco handling first tenor, Richard Mercado on second tenor, Joseph Croce as baritone, and Pat McGuire providing bass—ever registered on the national charts or achieved recognition beyond neighborhood circuits. Lenny Cocco, whose father played accordion in Brooklyn, assembled the lineup during the middle of the decade. Their debut single offered a vocal treatment of the Tommy Dorsey favorite “Once in a While” for the Tag label and climbed to number 11, prompting an immediate follow-up that revived the 1930s standard “I’m in the Mood for Love.” By 1962 the ensemble was recording as Lenny & the Chimes. They departed Tag in 1963 for brief stays at Metro and then Laurie before issuing the single “Two Times” on Vee Jay in 1964. The British Invasion together with Vee Jay’s sudden failure prompted the group’s dissolution that same year, although various lineups have since reunited, most often billed as Lenny & the Chimes, to perform at oldies revivals beginning in the early 1970s.