Let me set the stage for you … The Emerald Room Theater … we, Johnny Angel and the Halos, were in the middle of our part of the show when out of the corner of my eye I see an old friend … Eugene Pitt of the Jive Five! Gino was one of my all-time favorite singers, we worked together many times, became good friends and had a mutual admiration for the great Porky Chedwick (Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Dee Jay). I motioned to Eugene to come up and he without hesitation jumped on stage, grabbed a microphone and joined in, never missing a beat. Eugene is the lead singer of the Jive Five with hits like … “What Time Is It”, “My True Story”, “A Bench In The Park” and “If I Had A Chance To Love You”, he was also part of the Royal All Stars, the creator of music for the featured song on the children’s television network (Nickelodeon), part of the first PBS special DooWop 50 and the credits go on. I read where Terry Stewart, President and CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame, called Eugene Pitt, “the most underrated Soul Singer in America”. When Gino was in town, he would stop down my restaurant, Atria’s at PNC Park (Home of the Pirates) or stop at my house for a home cooked meal and always an a cappella session with the guys. Eugene was a street singer from the Queens and Brooklyn parts of New York. He began singing with the Acords, a group that had Eddie Murphy’s Dad and Uncle. He then sang with the group the Genies until he started his own group in 1959 called the Jive Five. I remember Eugene telling me how his father, a member of the gospel group, the Golden Gate Quartet, taught him and his brothers and sisters how to sing harmony by putting them individually in each of the four corners of the room with the lead in the center of the room. Each had to concentrate on singing their parts instead of leaning in to hear the others notes of the chord. This coming Sunday evening I will be spotlighting the great Eugene Pitt and will play an interview I did with Eugene a few years ago. You can tune in by downloading … jukinoldies.com … 8:00 PM (EST) … for my Heavenly Soul Show. We lost Gene on June 29, 2018, but I can still see his smiling face and hear his magical voice in my head and cherish the memories of … “the most underrated Soul Singer in America … Mr. Eugene Pitt!