In the spring of 1984, WNBC-TV produced a three-part documentary on New York City “doo wop” for their Channel 4 “Live At Five” news broadcast. Hosted by Sue Simmons, the affiliate’s lead anchor from 1980 to 2012, the three segments total 26 minutes and feature interviews with Earl “Speedo” Carroll of the Cadillacs, Eugene Pitt of the Jive Five and Al Contrera of the Mystics in part one, disc jockeys and concert hosts Clay Cole, Jocko Henderson and Don K. Reed in part two, and successful concert producers Frankie Lanz, Tony DeLauro, and Joe Contorno of Radio City Music Hall’s Royal New York Doo Wopp Show, in part three. Among the groups performing live for the cameras were the Cadillacs (Earl Carroll, Bobby Phillips, Earl Wade and Johnny Brown), the Mystics (Phil Cracolici, Albee Cracolici, Al Contrera, and Johnny Tarangelo), the Elegants (Vito Picone, Sonny Copp, Nino Amato, Freddie Redmond), the Cleftones (Herb Cox, Charlie James, Tony Gaines), the Jive Five (Eugene Pitt, Beatrice Best, Casey Spencer, Frank Pitt, Herbert Pitt), and Lewis Lymon and a Teenchords group. WNBC disc jockey and author Norm Nite also appears in on-camera interviews. Originally recorded on VHS from the television broadcast, this archive copy is courtesy of Seymour Simon.
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