The Fi-Tones

The Fi-Tones Quintette took shape after the Brooklyn street-corner ensemble first known as the Cavaliers Quartet recruited Gene Redd and Lloyd Davis for lead vocals, joining the nucleus of Cecil Holmes, Marlowe (aka "Lowe") Murray, and Ron Anderson on bass.

Their earliest sides were cut in 1954 for Tommy Robinson’s Harlem-based independent Atlas Records and received regional exposure from Alan Freed and Tommy “Dr. Jive” Smalls throughout the New York area during the autumn and early winter of 1955. Among those releases, “Foolish Dreams” performed strongest, capturing first place in a WNJR (Newark, NJ) listener poll of favorite vocal groups. The group also appeared on “Dr. Jive’s Rhythm & Blues Easter Review” at the Apollo Theater in Harlem.

By mid-summer 1956, “I Belong to You” had entered the national charts and reached the Top Ten in Kansas City. Live dates continued, yet sales had fallen by the close of 1957. Atlas issued one final single before dropping the Fi-Tones in 1958. The group next recorded for Hy Weiss’ Old Town label, where Reggie Barnes replaced Lloyd Davis; this lineup disbanded after the single failed to chart and had dissolved by late 1958.