THE KNOCKOUTS - ''DARLING LORRAINE'' (1959)

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The Knockouts hailed from North Bergen and Bayonne, New Jersey and consisted of Bob D'Andrea (vocals), Eddie Parente (guitar), Bob Collada (piano) and Harry Venuta (drums). In 1959, their manager Chic Salerno persuaded Bob Shad of Time/Brent Records, who'd just come off two hits with "I've had it" by the Bell Notes and "It Was I" by Skip and Flip, to sign his boys.

Aware of their limitations as vocalists, The Knockouts hedged their bets by placing "Darling Lorraine", which sounded like a bunch of leathery-faced cowboys breaking into an impromptu doo-wop session around the camp fire. Shad heavily hyped "Darling Lorraine" in New York area in the autumn of '59 and the song ascended to #45 on the charts just before the payola bandwagon came to a crashing halt amid a welter of recriminations and investigations.

During the 60's, The Knockouts used to perform in Seaside, NJ at the Parrot Club, Luciano's in Lodi, NJ, in Lyndhurst, NJ and also up at Greenwood Lake, NY on weekends. Bob Catucci (aka Pierre LaSalle) replaced Harry Venuta in 1960.

Pierre was with the group in all the recordings that followed Lorraine and stayed with them until the group started to decline in the early mid sixties. Bob D'Adrea went on to form a comedy duo called Andre and Cirell which still performs around the Jersey Shore.