1958
16 CANDLES * THE CRESTS * LONDON 8794 * UK
According to Jay Warner, in his excellent book American Singing Groups, the song 16 Candles, written by Luther Dixon and Allyson Khent, was originally 21 candles! but reduced to suit the age of the average record buyer. Released in the US 16th November, 1958 and in the UK January 1959 (with sixteen as text not numerical), the record was a tremendous success and reached number two on the US Pop charts; it must also have been a success internationally as the odd square centered New Zealand issue below evidences.
The Crests were a vocal quintet three men and one girl
(Patricia Van Dross, elder sister of Luther Van Dross) from the Lower East Side
of Manhattan, and fourth man, lead vocalist Johnny Mastrangelo. Their first two
releases were in 1957 on the small Brooklyn based Joyce label, the following
year the group, minus Patricia Van Dross, moved to Coed where their debut
release was Pretty little Angel. Released in November 1958 on Coed 506
(see below) 16 Candles was the second of twelve 45s the group had
on the label.
16 CANDLES * THE CRESTS * COED 506 * USA
16 CANDLES * THE CRESTS * LONDON 368 * NZ
See also:
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| The Angels Listened In |