They Came From Newark

Mention Newark to the casual music fan and they're sure to respond: "Newark? Sure, that's the home of the Drinkard Singers. You know, Lee Drinkard who begat Dionne Warwick (sometimes Warwicke) and also Dee Dee Warwick (but not Dee Dee Sharp) and adopted Judy Clay ta boot. And then there was Lee's sister Emily Drinkard who went by the name of Cissy Houston and begat Whitney Houston". Well, that's all true but it's not the full musical story of Newark. It's not even the full story of the Drinkards because it's claimed that Dionne and Dee Dee had cousins named Charles & James Patrick. James sang in The Kodaks and Charles sang in The Monotones. And before them there was Faye Adams who was a big Newark star in the early/mid 50s. Plus another vocal group called the Fiestas who hit it big with "So Fine". And then there were two of the biggest sellers of teen tunes from the early 60s: Connie Francis and The Four Seasons. And have I mentioned Paul Simon, Queen Latifah, Gloria Gaynor, Ice-T, Wayne Shorter, Sarah Vaughan.......
In case you don't recognize them, the pictures at the top are The Kodaks (on the left) and Connie Francis (on the right).