The Passions

Left to right: Wayne Smith, Lenny Teri, Lou Rotundo, Albee Galione

The Passions are one of the best Brooklyn vocal groups to emerge from New York City in the late fifties and early sixties. They started out as the Sinceres, one of several vocal groups whose "harmony haven" was the alley alongside Loew's Oriental Theatre in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn. The nearby Kelly's Pool Room occasionally served as a rehersal hall for the Sinceres. Another neighborhood group, the Overons, had just signed a contract with manager Jim Gribble, and in 1959 recorded Hushabye for Laurie Records. They changed their name to the Mystics, and Hushabye went on to become a national hit record.

Soon after, the Sinceres were introduced to Jim Gribble by their good friends the Mystics. The Sinceres also signed a management contract with Jim Gribble. They were then introduced to Sol Winkler of Audicon Records. Mr. Winkler offered the Sinceres a song called "Just To Be With You." The demo of the song, written by Marv Kalfin, had been recorded by the Cousins, who were soon-to-be-famous singer/songwriters Paul Simon and Carole King!

The Sinceres went on to record Just To Be With You in August of 1959. They changed their name to the Passions, which was selected by the group's founder, Albee Galione. In October of that year the song hit #69 on the Billboard pop charts, and enjoyed a ten-week run on the charts. The Passions' impeccable harmonies helped put Just To Be With You on radios across America. In many Eastern U.S. cities, the song was a top 20 hit. The Passions then recorded an equally strong record, I Only Want You/This Is My Love on Audicon #105. This record reached #113 on the national Billboard charts on March 14, 1960. Disc jockeys played both sides of the Passions second record, and both songs quickly became street-corner doo-wop standards, and they continue to be considered classic songs of the genre. This Is My Love is often mistakenly called Sweeter Than, which is its opening line.

The Passions' hits attracted a great deal of attention, and they soon found themselves touring the country with some of the industry's top talent, including Frankie Avalon, Del Shannon, Chubby Checker, Fats Domino, Freddie Cannon, Jackie Wilson, Frankie Ford and Jimmy Clanton. The Passions also appeared on Alan Feed's first Brooklyn Fox show, Freed's Big Beat television show, both Dick Clark's American Bandstand and his Saturday night show, Clay Cole's variety show and the Palisades Park shows with George Tucker and Bruce Morrow.

The Passions continue to perform at many of the largest venues and finest concert halls in the New York/New Jersy/Connecticut area, including Radio City Music Hall, Madison Square Garden, Nassau Coliseum, Meadowlands Arena, CPN Art Center, Westbury Music Fair, and the Paramount Theatre. They also perfrom regularly in the Pocono Mountain Resorts and the beautiful Tropicana Show Room in Atlantic City. The Passions are an outstanding night club act, whose pleasing mixture of solid vocal harmonies and and comedy has become their trademark. With enduring hits such as I Only Want You, Gloria and This Is My Love, not to mention their million-selling Just To Be With You, the Passions have truly survived the test of time. With a flexible and varied reportoire, the Passions are diverse enough to handle show rooms and dance halls. Throughout the decades from the fifties to the new millenium they have remained one of the tightest and most entertaining groups around.

The Passions today consist of originator Albee Galione; Louis Rotundo, one of the finest lead singers on the circuit today; bassist/lead vocalist Lenny Trerotola; and lead singer Wayne Smith. Together they have an uncommon blend of harmony that is remarkable. The Passions have enough variety in their reportoire to put on a show custom-made for any occasion. As a night club act, they combine rock and roll tunes, love ballads, dance songs, nostalgia and a medley of comedy routines into a potion that puts a smile on everyone's face. Their hilarious Elvis impersonation has to be seen to be believed! The Passions are guaranteed not to disappoint. They are fun, they are solid, and they are a class act.

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