The Schoolboys

The Schoolboys sound almost uncannily similar to Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers, but they predate them by close to a year in terms of recording and success. Formed in Harlem's Cooper Junior High School in 1954 or early 1955, with Harold Atley as leader, James Edwards (first tenor), Roger Hayes (second tenor), James "Charlie" McKay (baritone), and Renaldo Gamble (bass), they performed in school talent shows and became popular locally, only to see Atley exit after a few months. He was replaced by Leslie Martin, a boy soprano who had an almost operatic intensity to his singing and...