The Vogues – “Magic Town” (1966)

The Vogues are an American singing quartet from Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania, US, a Pittsburgh suburb. They consisted of Bill Burkette (lead baritone), Don Miller (baritone), Hugh Geyer (first tenor) and Chuck Blasko (second tenor). Originally, the group was called The Val-Airs. Their first and only record under this moniker was “Launie, My Love”. It was first released under local record label Willett Records (owned by the group’s manager, Elmer Willett), then distributed nationally on Coral Records. Soon after its release, they adopted the name The Vogues, derived from Vogue Terrace, a popular teenage dance hall (which also housed Willett Records) in North Versailles, near the group’s hometown. They soon signed a recording contract with the small Pittsburgh based Co & Ce Records label, run by Herb Cohen and Nick Cenci. The song, “You’re The One”, rose to #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was followed by “Five O’Clock World,” which reached the same #4 level. Two more hits, “Magic Town” and “The Land of Milk and Honey,” did not reach the same heights, but still made Billboard’s Top 40 in 1966. As their sound was not in step with the trend in rock and roll, their fortunes dwindled, but in 1968 they signed with Reprise Records and had a string of cover versions: Glen Campbell’s “Turn Around, Look at Me,” which reached #7 on the Billboard chart and sold one million copies, Bobby Helms’ “My Special Angel” (matching Helms’ #7 peak); “Till” (previously recorded by Roger …
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