I've recently fallen in love with this incredible, hypnotic song...maybe it's because I am a Platters fan and my favorite song is the Great Pretender...It is obvious how much this song resembles the former- not the lyrics, but the beat and arrangement...I wouldn't be surprised if Buck Ram himself was not playing the pounding piano triplets on this recording. It's true what other posters have said that if Ram had not been so heavily promoting the Platters, the Penguins would not have wound up being one hit wonders. They were an excellent group as you can hear from this recording. But in the long run, Ram did manage to turn out the most popular and successful singing group of the entire decade- with the Platters. That's how history works.
One of the best to come out of the doowop era. The Penguins were managed by Buck Ram who also managed the Platters and unfortunately even though the Penguins turned out many fine songs, they were not promoted like the Platters were.
was this a minor hit in those days, perhaps on the West Coast? I've always been told "Earth Angel" was their only hit, but it's possible some of their other songs were hits in L.A.
