The Four Aces

During the first half of the 1950s the Four Aces ranked among the most commercially potent vocal ensembles of the pre-rock period, enjoying steady success with a tightly focused catalog of pop songs before fading from view prior to the decade’s close. The lineup took shape when Navy shipmates Al Alberts and Dave Mahoney joined forces and later recruited Lou Silvestri and Sol Vaccaro, after which the quartet began attracting attention throughout their hometown of Philadelphia. When no distributor would handle their initial single, “(It’s No) Sin,” Alberts created the Victoria label to issue the recording himself; the track emerged as a major success in late 1951 and moved a million copies. Before the year ended the group signed with Decca, whose first release, “Tell Me Why,” climbed just short of the top spot and likewise sold a million units. Additional Top Ten entries arrived through the early 1950s, culminating in the chart-topping theme from Three Coins in the Fountain in 1954. The cinematic follow-up “Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing” remained at number one for more than a month in 1955.

On several 1955 singles the act appeared as the Four Aces Featuring Al Alberts; one year later Alberts left to launch a solo career that produced no chart entries. The concurrent ascent of rock & roll left the Four Aces seemingly without prospects. They registered minor chart activity with the novelty “Bahama Mama” and the rock-styled “Rock and Roll Rhapsody,” yet failed to secure any further hits after 1959. Al Alberts remained active into the 1980s, fronting a new incarnation of the group.