The Penguins Earth Angel (LP)

The Penguins

The Penguins' Earth Angel' was reputed to have sold two million copies on Dootone in 1954. The song was written by Jesse Belvin and recorded by Cleveland Duncan (lead vocal, born July 23, 1935), Curtis Williams (1935), Dexter Tisby (1936) and Bruce Tate (1935). Gently rock-inflected, the record distilled the feeling of adolescent uncertainty per-fectly.

It remains America's favourite oldie. Subsequently managed by Buck Ram, the Penguins had no comparable success, but recorded a series of fine discs for Mercury, Wing, Atlantic, Dooto, Sunstate and Original Sound, where Frank Zappa wrote and produced 'Memories Of El Monte' for them in 1963. During this period, Teddy Harper and Randolph Jones replaced Williams and Tate.