The Wanderers (8)

The Wanderers were a popular East Coast doo wop group who went through numerous name changes during their decade-long career, and despite various label-related shuffling and stylistic changes, national success eluded them at each turn. They are best known for their cover material, and had minor East Coast hits with "For Your Love" and "Thinking of You." They began their career in 1952 as the Barons. The original group members -- Ray Pollard (lead), Frank Joyner (tenor), Robert Yarbrough (baritone), and Sheppard "Shep" Grant (bass). By 1957, the group -- now simply called the Wanderers -- began releasing singles on the Onyx label. They tried broadening their material, even recording a pop single called "Thinking of You," which was already familiar to New Yorkers as the Honeydreamers had recorded it as the theme song to Brad Phillips' radio show Battle Royal. The audience response to the Wanderers' version provided them with some hope and began to clearly define the outlines of a smooth pop vocal career. Unfortunately, Onyx was then absorbed by the larger major MGM, and so they moved over to Orbit Records, a label run by Onyx's Jerry Winston. That label changed names a month later (in April of 1958) because of the proliferation of small labels using the name Orbit, becoming Cub Records. The first release on Cub was "Teenaged Quarrel" (it had been issued on Orbit, then withdrawn, making it a rare 45 today). Unfortunately, the single failed to connect, as did further efforts from the group throughout the rest of the '50s. By 1961, the group had been performing for nearly a decade without much success outside the East Coast. They went through another stylistic change to keep with the times, focusing on a more commercial R&B sound for their cover of Ed Townsend's 1957 classic ballad "For Your Love." The single rose up the national pop charts in the summer of 1961 and was a favorite of East Coast vocal group fans.