Biography
East Harlem, NY-based R&B outfit the Ospreys came together in 1955. Marv Goldberg's December 1977 Yesterday's Memories profile described their lineup—lead Robert Council, first tenor Maurice Williams, second tenor Jackson Thompson, and bass John Miro—as a neighborhood supergroup that drew the strongest voices from four separate combos. As the first act managed by James A. Dailey, who later became a leading New York City R&B figure, the Ospreys cultivated a loyal following through local record hops and teen TV showcases before signing with Atlantic Records in mid-1957, the same label that already housed another Dailey group, the Bobbettes. Spring 1958 brought the release of "Do You Wanna Jump Children" on Atlantic's East-West subsidiary, coinciding with the quartet's backing vocals on Chuck Willis's posthumous hit "What Am I Living For." Atlantic passed on issuing a follow-up single, however, prompting the Ospreys to disband in 1959; Miro subsequently joined the Lincolns, where he sang lead on their sole Mercury release, "Baby Let Me Love You."