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Ruby & the Romantics was an Akron, Ohio-based American R&B group in the 1960s, composed of Ruby Nash, George Lee, Ronald Mosely, Leroy Fann, and Ed Roberts. The group had several pop and R&B hit records, topping the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1963 with their first recording, “Our Day Will Come“. The song, written by Mort Garson and Bob Hilliard, was a worldwide hit, reaching No. 1 and selling over one million copies in the US, also topped the Billboard R&B chart at # 1.

Ruby attended Central High School in Akron. Some of the male members of the Romantics sang with The Embers, later the Supremes, then The Feilos (pronounced FAY-LOWS). Since they all grew up in Akron and knew each other, Leroy Fann, a member of The Feilos, asked Ruby to sing with them on occasions. The group was also very influential on the music of The Carpenters, who recorded three of their tunes, and Donny and Marie Osmond, who also covered several of their songs.

This video is from The Mike Douglas Show on April 16th, 1964.

Johnny Moore was an American rhythm and blues singer with the Drifters. He was one of the group’s principal lead singers, leading on many of their hit singles, and was a 1988 inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with The Drifters.

Born in Selma, Alabama, in 1934, Moore moved to Cleveland, Ohio when he was a teenager. There he began as a member of the Cleveland based group the Hornets, before being discovered by the Drifters. The group that would become the Hornets began at Cleveland’s Central High School around 1951. He joined The Drifters as lead vocalist in New York in 1955, at age 21.

He became the lead singer of The Drifters in 1964, after the death of Rudy Lewis, who was due to record “Under the Boardwalk” the next day. Dying at the age of 27 made Lewis an early member of the 27 Club (musical artists who died at age 27 like Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison). Moore took over the lead vocals on the Drifters recording of Under the Boardwalk.

The Drifters were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988. The members that were inducted were Ben E. King, Rudy Lewis, Johnny Moore, Bill Pinkney, Clyde McPhatter, Gerhart Thrasher, and Charlie Thomas.

🎸 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Class of 1988

Formed in Cleveland, Ohio, the Grasshoppers were an instrumental-based foursome. Their featured band members were Louis Pratile (lead guitar), Jerry Zadar (bass guitar), and Sid Turner (drummer). They were joined by the then-seventeen-year-old Ben Orzechowski (later Benjamin Orr and co-founder of The Cars) who became their lead singer, rhythm guitarist, and sometimes doubled as a drummer.

In 1965, the Grasshoppers released two singles on the Sunburst label: “Mod Socks” and “Pink Champagne (and Red Roses)”, the latter written by Orzechowski.

The Grasshoppers (and later the Mixed Emotions) were also one of the house bands on the Big 5 Show, which would later become Upbeat.

The Outsiders were a rock and roll band from Cleveland, Ohio that was founded and led by guitarist Tom King who attended East Cleveland’s Shaw High School. The band released the hit single “Time Won’t Let Me” in early 1966, which peaked at No. 5. The band had three other Hot 100 top 40 hit singles in 1966. Hit songs included “Girl in Love“, a cover of the Isley Brothers’ “Respectable“, and “Help Me Girl“.

The Outsiders were a continuation of the Starfires: Tom King, Sonny Geraci (John Adams High School), Mert Madsen (emigrated to the U.S. [from Denmark] in 1957 and joined Tom King and the Starfires in the Fall of 1958), Richard Kriss, Al Austin and Howard Blank (who was replaced by Ronnie Harkai before the recording of “Time Won’t Let Me”). The name was changed to The Outsiders after the recording of “Time Won’t Let Me”.

Dann Klawon organized The Choir with three of his friends who all attended Mentor High School in Mentor, Ohio. Dann Klawon began as the drummer for the band, Dave Smalley and Dan Heckel were the guitarists, and Tom Boles served as lead singer. Their largest commercial success came with the release of their first single “It’s Cold Outside” in December 1966. The Choir is well known for containing three of the four original members of Raspberries – Dave Smalley, Wally Bryson, and Jim Bonfanti (but not lead singer Eric Carmen, although he had auditioned for them).

The Hesitations were an American R&B group from Cleveland, Ohio in 1965.

From Cleveland.com

In 1968 their soulful rendition of “Born Free” reached number 38, and songs such as “Soul Superman” (number 42, 1967) and “Climb Every Mountain” (Number 90, 1968) made the Hot 100. Other Hesitations tracks like “The Impossible Dream” and “Who Will Answer” made the R&B charts.

“There were a lot of good singers in Cleveland back then,” founding member Art Blakey said. “We had singers like Edwin Starr (who later hit with “War” on Motown), Bobby Womack and the O’Jays (the latter two Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees).”

“Every (Cleveland) neighborhood had a bunch of vocal groups back then,” he said. “We would have battles of the vocal groups (competitions) every Sunday at the Circle Theater – 10208 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio.

“If you couldn’t sing, you couldn’t live in our neighborhood,” said the singer who grew up on the east side, near Central Avenue.

After moving to Detroit, “Our friend, Edwin Starr, put us in touch with (the label) Golden World in Detroit. He had recorded ‘Twenty-Five Miles’ for them before they eventually were bought by Motown,” Blakey said.

The group, now called the Hesitations, through one of Motown’s famed Funk Brothers Jack Ashford, signed a deal in 1967 with Kapp Records, the 1960s home of such acts as Akron’s Ruby & the Romantics, crooner Jack Jones, and the British group the Searchers.

The Hesitations line up included Blakey, Leonard Veal, Charles Scott, King George Scott, Robert Shepherd, Philip Dorrow on guitar, bass player Jimmy Vaughan and a drummer.

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A precursor of power-pop icons the Raspberries, Cleveland rock’n’roll band Cyrus Erie was originally formed in 1967 by singer/guitarist Tim Manning, bassist Bob McBride and his drummer brother Michael. They later added singer/guitarist Eric Carmen and guitarist Marty Murphy. 

Cyrus Erie’s popularity soared exponentially in 1968, and upon replacing Murphy with ex-Choir guitarist Wally Bryson, they opened for acts including the Who, the Byrds, and the Strawberry Alarm Clock. In early 1969 Cyrus Erie re-recorded the Eric Carmen song “Sparrow” for release as a single, although its B-side “Get the Message” earned far greater national airplay.