Young Rascals...Grooving

Young Rascals - Jazz Musicians,Singers


Young Rascals - jazz musicians and singers, with  Eddie Brigati (vocals), Felix Cavaliere (keyboard, vocals), Gene Cornish (guitar) and Dino Danelli (drums) started the band in Brigati and Danelli's hometown of Garfield, New Jersey. Brigati, Cavaliere, and Cornish had previously been members of Joey Dee and the Starliters.

Eddie's brother, David Brigati, an original Starliter, helped arrange the vocal harmonies and sang backgrounds on many of the group's recordings (informally earning the designation as the "fifth Rascal"). When Atlantic Records signed them, they discovered that another group,

Borrah Minnevitch's and Johnny Puleo's 'Harmonica Rascals', objected to their release of records under the name 'The Rascals'. To avoid conflict, manager Sid Bernstein decided to rename the group 'The Young Rascals'.

 The Young Rascals' first television performance was on the program Hullabaloo on 27 February 1965 where they performed their debut single "I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore". The track reached #23 in Canada and touched the lower reaches of the US charts.

This modest success was followed by the US/Canada #1 single "Good Lovin'" (1966, originally recorded by Lemme B. Good & The Olympics in 1965 with much different lyrics). The band's songwriting team of Eddie Brigati and Cavaliere then began providing most of their songs, and the hits kept coming for two years. Their immediate follow-ups to "Good Lovin'", including "You Better Run" (1966; covered in 1980 by Pat Benatar) and "Come On Up" were only modest hits.


  Rascals Music Collection

"(I've Been) Lonely Too Long" (1967) did better, and "Groovin'" (#1 US/Canada, 1967) returned them to the top of the charts.