The Velours

Hailing from Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, the Velours never notched major chart successes yet remain fondly recalled for their wide-ranging mix of romantic vocal-group ballads, novelty tunes, and brisk jump and rock ’n’ roll numbers. Tenor Jerome “Speedo” Ramos, first tenor John Cheetom, second tenor Donald Heywood, baritone Kenneth Walker, and bass Marvin Holland formed the original lineup in the mid-1950s and entered the studio for the fledgling Onyx label in June 1956. Their debut release, the 1956 single “My Love Come Back,” made no impression on the charts. The group’s most notable outing arrived in spring 1957 with the ballad “Can I Come Over Tonight,” followed later in the decade by “Blue Velvet,” “This Could Be the Night,” “Romeo,” “Remember,” and “Crazy Love.”

Holland and Walker departed in 1957, prompting the addition of Charles Moffitt and baritone John Pearson; this revised roster guided the Velours through the remainder of their Onyx period. Between 1958 and 1961 the ensemble shifted to Cub Records, occasionally expanding to a sextet with the inclusion of extra tenor Troy Keyes or Keith Williams. Their sole long-player, Remember With the Velours, appeared on Onyx 201. The group continued recording until 1961, after which it dissolved, only to re-emerge in 1968 as the R&B-oriented Fantastics, an incarnation that persisted into the early 1970s before finally dissolving.