An Evening With The Vogues

For several Years I had a Restaurant at the PNC Ball Park, Home of the Pittsburgh Pirates. It was the place to be in da ‘Burgh for years. A meeting place for sports figures as well as musicians. The restaurant had a separate room for musicians to get together to play and sing, called Atria’s Live. Every Thursday night some of our favorite singers would stop by to sing, a cappella, street corner harmony … just like the old days … friends like, Fred Johnson of the Marcels, Frankie Avery of the La Rells, the Four Dots, the El Rays, Jimmy Beaumont, Mike Vale of the Shondells, Angel Rissoff and even the original Tymes from Philly dropped in, just to name a few. One particular evening an old friend, who I have performed with numerous times, Chuck Blasko of the original Vogues stopped by with two of the original Vogues, Huey and Donnie. As always, we took the stage and began reminiscing about the golden days of the Vogues. Do you remember their appearances on Shindig, Ed Sullivan, the Red Skelton Show, Dick Clark’s, just to mention a few. Do you remember watching the Drew Carey show with the opening song … “5 O’Clock World” … yep, that’s the Vogues. If you lived anywhere on this planet in the 1960’s, you’ve heard the Vogues … “Turn Around Look at Me”, “Special Angel”, “Magic Town”, ‘You’re The One” … Gold Records, Charted records, Billboard, Top 40 radio lists, TV and radio! I have always admired their stage performances, nothing but class! They recorded with some of the greatest musicians in the world, like the Wrecking Crew, Glen Campbell and Duane Alman. Even Red Skelton wanted them to move to California to be regulars on their show. The Vogues are Rock and Roll and Pop royalty. Spending an evening with the guys at my restaurant was Heavenly. Over the years Chuck has done numerous shows with my band, Johnny Angel and the Halos, we performed in the Caribbean and on a Cruise Ship and performed in concerts with the Vogues over the years. Chuck Blasko is the last Original Vogue performing and his charm and professionalism still lights the stages. Last year I received a call from Chuck asking me if I wanted to sing with the Vogues. As you can imagine, I was honored to oblige. I will be singing with the Vogues this Sunday at the Palace Theater in Greensburg, PA along with other Pittsburgh legendary groups … the Marcels, the Jaggerz and the Skyliners … “An Evening with The Vogues!”

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