The Jesters
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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The Jesters were a doo-wop group based in New York City who achieved success in the late 1950s. They were students at Cooper Junior High School in Harlem who graduated from singing under an elevated train station near 120th Street to the amateur night contest at the Apollo Theater, where Paul Winley discovered them and signed them to his Winley Records.
The Jesters' B-sides often rivaled the lead song. Their first three singles were all arranged by frequent Winley collaborator Davey Clowney, better known as Dave "Baby" Cortez, and all three — "So Strange" / "Love No One But You", "Please Let Me Love You" / "I'm Falling in Love" (both 1957) and "The Plea" / "Oh Baby" (1958) — made the lower reaches of the national pop chart, and generated considerable New York interest. The original line-up consisted of Adam Jackson (tenor [ultra-high falsetto] lead), Lenny McKay (lead), Anthony "Jimmy" Smith (second tenor), Leo Vincent (baritone), and Noel Grant (bass).
