Biography
Emerging from Chicago during the 1950s, the Kool Gents ranked among the city’s more distinctive vocal ensembles. The act began life as the Golden Tones and placed a pair of singles with fleeting independent labels. Its founding lineup included Cicero Blake, James Harper, Howard McClain, Teddy Long, and John Carter. Delecta “Dee” Clark, John McCall, and Doug Brown later took the places of Harper, McClain, and Blake. McCall handled lead vocals at first, until Vee Jay A&R director Calvin Carter suggested that Clark assume the role. Teddy Long served as the group’s principal songwriter. Arkansas native Clark had already appeared on the Red Saunders Orchestra recording “Hambone” as one of the Hambone Kids.
The singers took their new name from radio personality Herb “Kool Gent” Kent, who arranged their meeting with Calvin Carter and Vee Jay Records. Their initial release, “This Is the Night” b/w “Do Ya Do,” moved well locally in 1956. A follow-up, “I Just Can’t Help Myself” b/w “You Know,” enjoyed similar regional favor yet made no headway elsewhere.
Although the Kool Gents never scaled the national charts, Calvin Carter and Ewart Abner found their sound sufficiently appealing to issue “The Convention” under the alias the Delegates as a playful nod to the Democratic National Convention. The record received extensive airplay that failed to translate into substantial sales. A second Delegates single, “Mother’s Son” b/w Teddy Long’s “I’m Gonna Be Glad,” stirred little interest even in Chicago.
In 1957 Dee Clark elected to launch a solo career with Calvin Carter’s consent, ending all recording activity by the Kool Gents and the Delegates. After several members of labelmates the El Dorados (“At My Front Door”) departed, only lead singer Pirkle Lee Moses remained; Calvin therefore renamed the Kool Gents the New El Dorados and assigned them to back Moses for two fruitless years.
John Carter later revived the Kool Gents name and kept the group working on the club circuit until 1965, though no further recordings appeared. Dee Clark went on to cut several successful solo sides, among them the number-two Pop hit “Rain Drops,” plus “Just Keep It Up,” “Your Friends,” “Nobody But You,” and “Hey Little Girl.” He recorded for numerous labels before suffering a fatal heart attack in Atlanta, GA, in 1990 at age 52.
Cicero Blake, an original Golden Tones member, also pursued a solo path and, while never matching Clark’s chart success, sustained a lengthy career. Among his notable releases were “You Got Me Walking,” “Sad Feelings,” and “Love Is Like a Boomerang,” issued on various labels. Solid Smoke Records compiled His Best Recordings: Dee Clark & the Kool Gents & the Delegates in 1984, yet omitted “The Convention” from the collection.
The singers took their new name from radio personality Herb “Kool Gent” Kent, who arranged their meeting with Calvin Carter and Vee Jay Records. Their initial release, “This Is the Night” b/w “Do Ya Do,” moved well locally in 1956. A follow-up, “I Just Can’t Help Myself” b/w “You Know,” enjoyed similar regional favor yet made no headway elsewhere.
Although the Kool Gents never scaled the national charts, Calvin Carter and Ewart Abner found their sound sufficiently appealing to issue “The Convention” under the alias the Delegates as a playful nod to the Democratic National Convention. The record received extensive airplay that failed to translate into substantial sales. A second Delegates single, “Mother’s Son” b/w Teddy Long’s “I’m Gonna Be Glad,” stirred little interest even in Chicago.
In 1957 Dee Clark elected to launch a solo career with Calvin Carter’s consent, ending all recording activity by the Kool Gents and the Delegates. After several members of labelmates the El Dorados (“At My Front Door”) departed, only lead singer Pirkle Lee Moses remained; Calvin therefore renamed the Kool Gents the New El Dorados and assigned them to back Moses for two fruitless years.
John Carter later revived the Kool Gents name and kept the group working on the club circuit until 1965, though no further recordings appeared. Dee Clark went on to cut several successful solo sides, among them the number-two Pop hit “Rain Drops,” plus “Just Keep It Up,” “Your Friends,” “Nobody But You,” and “Hey Little Girl.” He recorded for numerous labels before suffering a fatal heart attack in Atlanta, GA, in 1990 at age 52.
Cicero Blake, an original Golden Tones member, also pursued a solo path and, while never matching Clark’s chart success, sustained a lengthy career. Among his notable releases were “You Got Me Walking,” “Sad Feelings,” and “Love Is Like a Boomerang,” issued on various labels. Solid Smoke Records compiled His Best Recordings: Dee Clark & the Kool Gents & the Delegates in 1984, yet omitted “The Convention” from the collection.