The Crests were a New York R&B doo-wop group in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Their most popular song, "Sixteen Candles," rose to number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1959, selling over one million copies, earning a gold disc. The interracial group had three black members (one female), one Puerto Rican, and one Italian-American.
Founded by J. T. Carter, the group included Talmoudge Gough, Harold Torres, and Patricia Van Dross, (older sister of R&B great Luther Vandross). Carter selected vocalist Johnny Mastrangelo (shortened to Johnny Mastro and later to Johnny Maestro) as lead vocalist. Maestro's recorded vocal style became instantly recognizable, and a juke box favorite of national teen audiences. Maestro's quality vocals, great song selections, and recordings, with dance-easy beats, made for charted hits. The group had several Top 40 hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s on Coed Records, including "16 Candles," "Six Nights a Week," "The Angels Listened In," "A Year Ago Tonight," "Step By Step", and "Trouble in Paradise." They also charted with "Sweetest One" (Joyce label) in 1957. In the late 1950s, the Crests appeared and performed on several, national, teen dance television shows.
After recording two singles for Joyce Records, Van Dross left The Crests in 1958. Maestro left for a solo career in 1961. Maestro would briefly rejoin the band recording under the name Johnny Maestro & the Crests producing a single for Scepter Records, in 1965, and three singles, for the Parkway label, in 1966. He later joined The Del Satins, which would merge with The Rhythm Method to become Johnny Maestro & The Brooklyn Bridge. In 1969, they had a Top 5 hit with "The Worst That Could Happen". New lead James Ancrum, took his place in The Crests. The group recorded a new single, "Little Miracles." It was the first single not to chart in the Top 100. They also recorded "Guilty" (Selma label). Gough quit the group after the single, and was replaced by Gary Lewis (not to be confused with Gary Lewis of Gary Lewis & the Playboys fame). Subsequently, the group failed to find success throughout the decade.
By the late 1960s, Torres was gone. The group continued until 1978 as a trio of Carter, Ancrum, and Lewis, when the group split. Carter went on to sing with Charlie Thomas' Drifters.
Carter reformed the group in 1980, auditioning over 200 singers, finally settling on: lead Bill Damon, Greg Sereck, Dennis Ray, and New York drummer Jon Ihle. The group continued well into the 1990s. Carter sold the trademarks to The Crests name to Tommy Mara in the late 1990s. Mara was Carter's lead vocalist at the time, and now continues the group without Carter. Currently, Carter performs as part of the three person group, Starz.[3] Lewis is now singing with The Cadillacs.
The 1984 John Hughes teen film, Sixteen Candles, took its title from The Crests' song, which was re-recorded by The Stray Cats for the Sixteen Candles soundtrack.
In 1987, for a concert in Peekskill, New York, Maestro, Carter, Torres, and Gough reunited as The Crests.
In 1993, Patricia Van Dross died of complications from diabetes. Hal Torres is deceased; Tommy Gough lives in Flint, Michigan.
Johnny Maestro died of cancer on March 24, 2010, at his home in Cape Coral, Florida. He was 70 and had lived in Islip, New York, until 2003.
In April 2010, the Los Angeles-based rights-management firm Beach Road Music, LLC, acquired the Coed Records catalog, subsequently re-releasing the Maestro song "The Great Physician" on the 2011 compilation album From The Vault: The Coed Records Lost Master Tapes, Volume 1. "The Great Physician" was originally released in 1960 as Coed 527, under the pseudonym "Johnny Masters."
