The Vocaleers

Formed in Harlem, New York, USA, in 1951, the vocal quintet known as the Vocaleers drew its original lineup from Joe Duncan on lead, Herman Curtis on first tenor, William Walker on second tenor, Melvin Walton on baritone and Teddy Williams on bass. Among the earliest acts to shape the R&B sound, the group scored its signature success with the 1953 single “Is It A Dream?,” which reached number 4 on the R&B chart and soon entered the songbooks of countless doo-wop ensembles nationwide. After inking a deal with Bobby Robinson’s Red Robin label the previous year, the Vocaleers issued their debut ballad “Be True,” a track that crystallized the interplay between Duncan’s aching lead and Curtis’s falsetto replies while generating immediate regional attention. When Williams departed shortly afterward, Lamar Cooper stepped in to fill the bass role. By 1954 the group had cut its final sides, by which point Joe Powell had taken Curtis’s place in the lineup; Curtis himself moved on to the Solitaires. Although a revised roster briefly reconvened in the late 1950s, the resulting releases failed to make an impression, and the Vocaleers dissolved permanently in 1961.