The Regents

The Regents were a doo-wop vocal group from New York in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

They are best known for writing and recording the hit "Barbara Ann" in 1961, which reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #2 when later covered by the Beach Boys in 1965 on their album, Beach Boys' Party!, and the Who. They also had a second charting hit with "Runaround", which hit #28 later in 1961.

Original members

• Ernie Maresca
• Chuck Fassert (brother of Barbara Ann author Fred Fassert)
• Guy Villari
• Sal Cuomo

The group that brought us the original "Barbara Ann" formed in the Bronx, New York in 1959. Group members included Guy Villari on lead; Sal Cuomo, first tenor; Chuck Fassert, second tenor; Tony Gravagna, sax player-baritone; Don Jacobucci on bass.

An earlier version of the group from 1957 was called "The Monterays", and included Villari, Cuomo, Fassert and Ernie Maresca (who later had a hit with "Shout, Shout - Knock Yourself Out", and also wrote songs such as the Regent's "Runaround" and "The Wanderer" recorded by Dion).

The group recorded many demos in Bell Sound, Associated, and Regent Sound studios. They were finally signed to Seville Records as "The Desires", however, none of the songs they recorded were released until the group had success 3 years later as The Regents.

The Regents name came from a combination of doing a demo at Regents Sound studio and the fact that Villari smoked Regents Cigarettes. To this day, Villari has the empty pack that was in his pocket when the name was chosen.

In 1958 the group decided to do a song Villari had written called "A Teenagers Love". They booked an hour of studio time, for $15, at a small studio in Manhattan called "Associated". The group took 50 minutes to do the song. As the group was leaving the studio, one of the members noticed that they still had 10 minutes of studio time left. They decided to "throw in" Barbara Ann. The group did three takes and left. Shortly, thereafter, Tony Gravagna who came along just to play sax was taken into the group.

The Regents went to every record company they could find but they were not able to land a contract. They disbanded about a year later.

Don Jacobucci's younger brother Eddie revived the Regents by accident. His group, the Consorts, lacked original songs for an audition so they cut a version of "Barbara Ann" from an old demo Eddie found around the house. When the owner of Cousins Records heard the song, he decided to put it out, not by the Consorts, but by the Regents. The original group reunited, and Cousins released "Barbara Ann" in March of 1961. It became a No. 1 record in New York; the demand was overwhelming and Cousins leased it to Roulette/Gee for worldwide distribution and saw it soared to No. 13 pop and No. 7 R&B.

Their follow-up "Runaround", went to number 28 on the pop charts and number 30 in R&B. They did two more records for "Gee" but after a royalties dispute with the company, the group broke up.

In 1964 Villari and Fassert started a new group, named after their second record, "The Runarounds". They brought in a third singer and did the night club circuit with some success.

Returning in 1973 once more as The Regents with Guy Villari, the only remaining original member. The group enjoyed much success as a concert group and toured throughout the country. In 1988 they were also selected as one of only four "oldies" groups ever to appear on the Grammy Awards Show. (The Cadillacs, The Flamingos & The Angels were the other three.)

With over 25 years under their belts, The Regents produced one of the happiest and exciting musical acts on the scene. Their act was a mixture of wit and warmth. They had uncanny timing for humor that gave a genuine spontaneity to their act. Their vast repertoire and high energy thrilled audiences to the point of standing ovations. The Regents performed at major concert venues throughout the country. They performed at fundraisers, revival shows, corporate and private affairs.

In 1995 a New group of Regents was formed. Along with Guy, the only original performing Regent, Tony Valitutto, Frank Civatillo and Tony Cacase made up the vocals, while Richard Rogers, Joel DeRuggiero, & Sal DiCicco provided the instrumentation.

Although Villari considered this group to be the best group of Regents ever, the group was short lived. They disbanded after a year because of an injury to Villari and a trademark dispute with a group phoney of "wannabes".

Namesakes

Another band by the name of "The Regents" recorded the song "7 Teen" in 1979. It reached #11 on the UK Singles Chart.

Members

External links

• Guy Villari website

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