Biography
Formed in the Jamaica housing projects of Queens, New York, the short-lived vocal quintet known as the Five Sharps achieved lasting recognition for the Jubilee single “Stormy Weather,” now regarded as one of the rarest and most sought-after doo-wop 45s ever pressed.
Led by first tenor Bobby Ward, the young ensemble cut two sides in 1952—an original titled “Sleepy Little Cowboy” and a drastically slowed-down reading of the Lena Horne success “Stormy Weather.” Their interpretation featured rudimentary harmonies, rudimentary engineering, and rudimentary thunderclaps created with sound-effect discs. The session stretched through most of the day, and the singers received only hot dogs and soda as compensation. Jubilee 5104 reached stores the following year and remained the group’s sole release; shortly afterward the Five Sharps disbanded, with two members entering military service.
In 1958, Clarence Bassett and original lead singer Ronald Cuffey resurfaced on Casino Records as the Videos and scored a modest success with “Trickle Trickle.” Bassett subsequently became a member of Shep & the Limelites, contributing backing vocals to the 1961 pop hit “Daddy’s Home,” which climbed to number two on the charts that May. Four years later Jubilee assembled an entirely different lineup under the Five Sharps name and issued a fresh recording of “Stormy Weather” (Jubilee 5458), yet that remake never attained the collectible status of the 1953 original, which has fetched nearly four thousand dollars at auction owing to its tiny pressing run.
Cuffey received a leukemia diagnosis and died in the early sixties. After his time with the Limelites, Bassett sang with later editions of both the Drifters and the Flamingos before assembling the 1970s funk outfit Creative Funk. Pianist Tommy Duckett, Mickey Owens, and Bobby Ward had all stepped away from music until 1975, when four surviving original members reunited for a single performance at New York’s Academy of Music.
Led by first tenor Bobby Ward, the young ensemble cut two sides in 1952—an original titled “Sleepy Little Cowboy” and a drastically slowed-down reading of the Lena Horne success “Stormy Weather.” Their interpretation featured rudimentary harmonies, rudimentary engineering, and rudimentary thunderclaps created with sound-effect discs. The session stretched through most of the day, and the singers received only hot dogs and soda as compensation. Jubilee 5104 reached stores the following year and remained the group’s sole release; shortly afterward the Five Sharps disbanded, with two members entering military service.
In 1958, Clarence Bassett and original lead singer Ronald Cuffey resurfaced on Casino Records as the Videos and scored a modest success with “Trickle Trickle.” Bassett subsequently became a member of Shep & the Limelites, contributing backing vocals to the 1961 pop hit “Daddy’s Home,” which climbed to number two on the charts that May. Four years later Jubilee assembled an entirely different lineup under the Five Sharps name and issued a fresh recording of “Stormy Weather” (Jubilee 5458), yet that remake never attained the collectible status of the 1953 original, which has fetched nearly four thousand dollars at auction owing to its tiny pressing run.
Cuffey received a leukemia diagnosis and died in the early sixties. After his time with the Limelites, Bassett sang with later editions of both the Drifters and the Flamingos before assembling the 1970s funk outfit Creative Funk. Pianist Tommy Duckett, Mickey Owens, and Bobby Ward had all stepped away from music until 1975, when four surviving original members reunited for a single performance at New York’s Academy of Music.