CONEY ISLAND BABY, The Excellents, (Blast #205) 1962

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CONEY ISLAND BABY, The Excellents, (Blast #205) 1962
Flipside: YOU BABY YOU – Here is one of the East Coast’s greatest ballads from my music collection. The Excellents were a sextet and all hailed from the Bronx, New York. Group members were John Kuse (lead/2nd tenor), George Kuse (1st tenor), Denis Kestenbaum (lead/baritone), Phil Sanchez (falsetto), Chuck Epstein (Bass), and Joel Feldman (Baritone).


Starting out as "The Premiers," The Excellents were first formed in early 1960. In June 1961 they recorded "RED, RED ROBIN/LOVE NO ONE BUT YOU". These two sides were released in late June 1961 on (Mermaid Records #106) a division of the Sinclair Record Corp.


The record received no promotion but was aired by DJ Slim Rose on his Times Square radio show which was heard only in the New York area. Slim Rose owned the record store, “TIMES SQUARE RECORDS” which is famously known by most record collectors.

The Excellents’ “CONEY ISLAND BABY" is considered their signature song and was arranged by Vinny Catalano, a well-known record producer. At the time it was meant to be the flipside of their next release.

They themselves had already planned their own up-tempo cover of The Cleftones’ "YOU BABY YOU" to be the 'A' side. "YOU BABY YOU" and "CONEY ISLAND BABY" were recorded in February 1962 for Blast Records (also a division of the Sinclair Record Corp.) and released in April 1962.

Parent company Sinclair Records started promoting "CONEY ISLAND BABY" and it won DJ Murray the K's 'Boss Record of the Week' contest. With a rising reputation and many prominent appearances, the Excellents were on their way to a promising career but the record business ‘skulduggery’ intervened. The Excellents were booked for an appearance on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand television program, but the Sinclair Record Corp. refused to pay their travelling fees!

When Sinclair Records learned that the group simply could not afford to pay their own travel to Philadelphia, the label instead sent a Brooklyn group, The Ultimates. The Ultimates (Envoy Records ) recorded "I HEAR A RHAPSODY”/"WHY DID YOU LAUGH" under the name of The Excellents!!!

Justifiably devastated at this turn of events, the Excellents never recorded again.

In 1964 Bobby Miller, owner of Bobby and Oldtimer Record Labels, purchased and released the Excellents’ demos "SUNDAY KIND OF LOVE/HELENE" as ‘The Excellons’. I bought this record at The Relic Rack record store in Hackensack, New Jersey just before I joined the Air Force in 1964!

Enjoy the National Anthem of Coney Island, (LOL) “CONEY ISLAND BABY” by The Excellents. Bronx doowop at its finest!