The Statens

Though they never made any impression on any sales chart, the Statens cut some beautiful and beguiling doo wop-style rock & roll during their eight years or so of existence, in addition to delighting almost everyone who ever got to hear them perform live. They hailed from New York City's smallest borough, Staten Island, where lead singer Frank Toscano got together with Joe Ferrentino, Santo Rizzo, and Anton Pietrafesa in 1958 -- their main influence seems to have been the Elegants, who were riding the charts with "Little Star" at the time. In those days (and for the next coupl...