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JOEY DEE BIOGRAPHY

"THE PEPPERMINT TWIST" -- Here's How It All Began:

Joey Dee - Circa 1961
  • Born Joseph DiNicola in Passaic, New Jersey on June 11, 1940.
  • Joey attended Paterson State College (now William Paterson University) with the hopes of becoming a high school History and English teacher.  However, while attending college, he decided to take a break and give his musical career one more try and if that did not pan out successfully, he would return to Teacher’s College at Paterson State College to obtain his teaching degree.
  • Joey Dee formed his first group, The Thunder Trio, while still in high school.While the line-up would change and grow, the core remained Joey Dee, Tony Sciuto on drums, and John Yanick on guitar.
  • In 1954, the group placed second on Ted Macks' famed Amateur Hour, augmented by Tony Seragusa's upright bass.
  • Guitarist Vinnie Corrao, accordionist Ralph Fazio, Ernie Cassini on trumpet, Dave McLean on guitar, and piano player Oresti Intorella would spend time in the group at various times.
  • A new lead singer, Rogers Freeman, joined the group in 1958 and they set out for their first recording session.
  • Their first single on the obscure Little label was a ballad, "Lorraine", and an uptempo doo wop song, "The Girl I Walk To School". This early single was later bootlegged on the Bonus label, complete with a picture sleeve, when the group was first topping the record charts three years later!
  • Joey met and recruited David Brigati, lead singer of The Hi-Fives, during a gig at Garfield High School, Garfield, New Jersey.
  • Their first musical collaboration had come with The Hi-Fives, for whom Dee sang background on a few cuts, and who David had recorded with for Decca Records.

Joey Dee & the Starliters - circa 1962
  • At the suggestion of high school friends, The Shirelles, Joey contacted Florence Greenberg of Scepter Records and began working on some new material with staff writer, Luther Dixon.
  • The first single release was a ballad sung by David Brigati, "Face of an Angel". The B-side was the group-led "Shimmy Baby", which led them to work out the "1-2-3 kick, 1-2-3 jump!" routine that would later evolve into the "Peppermint Twist".
  • In 1959, Joey Dee recognized the potential of the newest fad, a new dance called "The Twist".
  • The Starliters, now composed of Dee, drummer Don Martin, Willie Davis, organist Carlton Lattimore, and Larry Vernieri, Joey worked out a stage act with some unbeatable dance routines.
  • They were all multi-talented in their own right.
  • Joey Dee and the Starliters were discovered while working at a nightclub called Oliveri's in Lodi, New Jersey, by a New York City agent named Don Davis. They were booked for a weekend at an obscure New York City night club called the Peppermint Lounge which was located on West 45th Street. What was to be a weekend stand escalated into a 13-month run!
  • Their initial appearance at the club found actress Merle Oberon and Prince Serge Oblinski dancing the night away at the Peppermint Lounge. This being in print the next morning by columnists Earl Wilson and Cholly Knickerbocker, it took barricades and mounted police to keep the crowds in line, which had backed up to Broadway, the next night!
  • For several months, the craze would continue at the Lounge. Celebrity visitors continued to pour in and included Judy Garland, John Wayne, Jackie "Ted Kennedy, Nat "King" Cole, Shirley MacLaine, Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote and Liberace, to name only a few!
  • Less than one year later, a trio of pretty young singers called The Ronettes came and danced with the Starliters one evening.
  • During their first visit to New York three years later, The Beatles even checked out the Lounge!!
  • Capitol Records and Atlantic Records approached the group for a contract, but Joey opted to go with Roulette Records which promised to record them "live" at the Peppermint Lounge and to market a record immediately, as well as to sort out all the other conflicting contracts signed by the group.

The Peppermint Lounge
  • Dee, Brigati and the group began working with Roulette producer Henry Glover on new compositions. The first collaboration was "Peppermint Twist", which was released by Roulette in November, 1961, and it took off immediately for the top of the charts.
  • A few weeks later, the group was recorded "live" at the Peppermint Lounge and Roulette rushed-released an LP from the recordings entitled "Doin' The Twist At The Peppermint Lounge".
  • Roulette continued to flood the market with Joey Dee product.
  • The group's first full studio album, "All The World's Twistin' With Joey Dee & The Starliters", was also released.
  • "Everytime (I Think About You)", a single in two parts, not included on either LP, was also released.
  • Joey Dee's first movie was for Paramount Pictures, entitled "Hey Let's Twist". The movie featured Teddy Randazzo and Joanne Campbell. Joe Pesci made his film debut in this film, playing a dancer!
  • Joey Dee performed in a second motion picture, this time for Columbia Pictures, "Two Tickets to Paris". The picture was filmed in New York and featured Charles Nelson Reilly.
  • The first song released from the film was "Everytime"

Joey Dee & the Starliters
  • The soundtrack also featured more new Dee-Glover originals.
  • A very special song, "What Kind Of Love Is This", written by Johnny Nash, put Joey Dee back in the Top 20. The song showcased a completely different, ballad sound. Original Starliter Rogers Freeman replaced Larry Vernieri while David Brigati's younger brother, Eddie, added background vocals.
  • The song, issued as a single, reached the #1 position in many parts of the country. It was this new sound for Joey Dee that pointed his career in a new direction -- a direction without The Starliters.
  • Joey Dee and The Starliters set out on their second European tour in November 1963. Their opening act in Europe: The Beatles!
  • During that same month, another song written by Johnny Nash, "I Lost My Baby", was released with billing going to Joey Dee alone.
  • An album released in December made it official. The solo album, "Joey Dee", included "I Lost My Baby", "Keep Your Mind On What You're Doing" as well as two other Nash originals.

Joey Dee & the Starliters - circa 1962

·         Two songs were recorded in December 1962 before the album's release at one last Starliters session: "Baby You're Driving Me Crazy", a new Dee-Glover original with a rinky-dink rhythm, and another Johnny Nash tune, as good as its predecessors: "Help Me Pick Up The Pieces".

·         These formed the last "new" Joey Dee & The Starliters singles for Roulette. Unfortunately, airplay was split between the sides and, as a result, neither really broke through.
  • Roulette seemed unsure of the future of Dee and The Starliters as they went into 1963. In yet another marketing coup, the label pulled "Hot Pastrami With Mashed Potatoes" from the successful "Doin' The Twist..." album and released it as a two-part single which made the Top 40.
  • Something new was needed. That turned out to be the three girls who danced with Joey at the Peppermint Lounge: Veronica and Estelle Bennett, and Nedra Talley, also known as The Ronettes!
  • Dee recruited The Ronettes for his next sessions in May and June of 1963.
  • Joey recorded eight songs with The Ronettes as well as four instrumentals with a new band. "Dance, Dance, Dance" a single and an LP, were released in July 1963.
  • Roulette next released "Ya Ya" and "Fanny Mae" from the "Doin' The Twist..." LP. In Europe, the single would garner the group the coveted Luxembourg Award.
  • "Getting Nearer" and "Down By The Riverside", two new recordings with The Ronettes, were used for another single release.
  • While Joey Dee did not record in 1964, he toured often with various "Starliters" including Felix Cavaliere, Gene Cornish and Dave Brigati's brother, Eddie, three-fourths of the original Young Rascals.
  • Other line-ups included drummer, Jimmy Mayes, singer Tommy Davis, guitarist Jimmy James (also known as Maurice James and eventually as Jimi Hendrix), and Charles Neville (The Neville Brothers).
  • In 1965, two recording sessions produced the "Cry A Little Sometime" single.
  • Dee was finished with Roulette by 1966 and signed with Jubilee Records.
  • Joey Dee's debut release on Jubilee Records in May 1966 was "Feel Good About It".
  • An album released at the end of the 1966, "Hitsville", featured cover versions of then-recent hits, as well as his own current single release, "It's Got You".
  • A few years later after a reunion with the original Starliters, Joey wrote a song with Dave Brigati and Larry Vernieri entitled "How Can I Forget", which was issued on his own Caneil Records label as by Joey Dee and The New Starliters.
  • In 1970, Joey tried again with "Roses And Candy Kisses" on the Tonsil label.
  • In 1972, Joey formed the group Hawk and, on the Sunburst label, released "Wasn't It A Heavy Summer".
  • In the mid-1970's, an album entitled "Joey Dee, Volume 1" was released on Mohawk.
  • Joey continues to tour regularly around the U.S. and Canada.
  • Joey Dee is also one of the lead singers of DREAM TEAM OF ROCK AND ROLL!


The Starliters with one of their original keyboardists,
Bill Callanan (far right)

(Some information compiled from the "Hey, Let's Twist" Rhino Records CD booklet.)

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