Monday, May 19, 2008

THE MADISONS - LOOKING FOR TRUE LOVE


What a great record, and completely overlooked in the history of music. The first mistake was putting this little slice of heaven on the B side of the 45. This wasn't the only time this mistake happened to this group, either.... what a shame, because their sound is just spectacular. Bob Crewe knew it, Larry Santos wrote Candy Girl for the Four Seasons. Here he is one year later with his group the Madisons, with another tune that could've been a contendor for the Four Seasons to record. The Four Seasons even backed up Larry on two 45s he cut for Atlantic, one as a solo artist and one as Larry And The Legends, in 1964.

Now, most people do know and like the top side of this 45, Cheryl Anne, and it's a decent track, but the flip side here just blows it away. I just wish I knew more information on this group. They had a few more singles in 1964 and 1965, then Larry Santos broke out on his own and had some solo success a decade later (he had one top 40 solo record and even appeared on American Bandstand on the same episode that had Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart on it, however i've been unable to find any current information on him either. Larry doesn't seem to have recorded anything since 1982. Larry, where are you? Who were the Madisons? Inquiring minds want to know...


5 comments:

Terry Twinkle said...

I couldn't agree more!

Anonymous said...

I second that. The lead singer also went on to release a single as "Johnny Curtis" produced by Shelby Singleton on Sumpter Records (Sun). The Soul Kind of Love/Born for You became noted as rare northern soul record in the UK.

Anonymous said...

I am glad to meet another fan. You may want to check out my youtube videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5A3JpZB18M

Anonymous said...

The members of the group are John Whipple (aka Johnny Curtis), Jim Foran, Carl Irvine and Terry Golden. John and Jim are still alive today.

Anonymous said...

The Madisons were honored at the 2014 Syracuse Area Music Awards. There is a bio in the press kit on the SAMMYs website.
http://www.syracuseareamusic.com/news/2014-0204_SAMMY_Nominees_and_Inductees.html