Published Wednesday, September 18, 2002
inducts 12 more groups
Herald Staff Writer
When Arlene Smith heard Renee Minus sing on a playground, she snagged the girl to be a member of her singing group, even though there was three years difference in their ages.
"I took her under my wing," said Ms. Smith, lead singer and songwriter for the Chantels. "I recognized that she could sing and she could sing well enough to sing with the older girls."
Using the podium Tuesday at her induction into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame and Museum, Ms. Smith challenged the other groups in attendance to do what she did: Reach out to younger people.
The writer of big Chantels' hit "Maybe" said pop musicians have failed to pass on their knowledge to a younger generation.
Ms. Smith, a teacher in the Bronx, said, "I try to explain to them (students) about harmony and they have no idea what I'm talking about. I try to explain with the keyboard: 'You start here on C and you sing on E, and when you do it together it sounds nice.' These young people today don't really understand that. It's our job to be ambassadors of music and share what we know. We've never passed it down. Jazz musicians pass down a tradition of music to their sons, to their daughters, to other musicians. We need to start holding group harmony workshops and teach them how to sing together. We all need to live together and music is an integral part of it."
Tuesday's ceremony honored 12 groups, ranging from doo wop classics the Clovers and the Harptones to the world sensation ABBA to pioneering rhythm 'n' blues group the Swan Silvertones and the Four Knights to Pittsburgh mainstays the Skyliners and the Marcels.
New this year, the hall had past honorees induct new ones, a move that attracted Michelle Phillips and Denny Doherty of the Mamas and the Papas, Otis Williams of the Temptations and Tim Hauser of Manhattan Transfer. Jimmy Merchant of Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, who were inducted in 2000, said he enjoys the memories the hall brings back.
"I can not only be who I really am, but mix with some of the people that I have looked up to through the years, as well as people who look up to me and have looked up to me through the years," Merchant said. "That is the sweetest part, hanging out with your colleagues."
Some of those singers acknowledged they have to do a better job getting the word out about the hall.
"I think it should be bigger and much, much, much more advertised in other parts of the country," said Doherty, inducted in 2000. "Sharon, Pa., it's like Spider Breath, Mich., it doesn't mean much. Anytime anyone who gets inducted and is anywhere near the media should mention the place.
New inductee Florence LaRue of the Fifth Dimension had a different take on the location.
"Sharon is great because it's kind of isolated," she said. If it were in, say, Las Vegas, it might get lost in the shuffle of things. We need to get out and tell people about it so we can come here."