Danny & The Juniors

Danny and The Juniors (originally The Juvenairs) all attended John Bartram High School in Philadelphia and formed in 1955, practicing their harmonies in a car initially, before graduating to street corners when they became more confident.

In 1957 the group began to target record producer John Madara, making it a ritual to sing under his window. Madara initially told the boys to get lost because they were keeping his children awake, but eventually gave in and arranged for them to meet his friend, Artie Wayne, owner of Singular Records.

Dave White had written two songs for The Juvenairs: Sometimes - a typical doo-wop ballad of the period, and a rocker called At The Bop. Artie Wayne couldn't make up his mind about the group but took a test pressing of At The Bop to the influential Dick Clark. Clark liked the song but suggested At The Hop would be a better title because, in his opinion, no one danced to the 'bop' anymore. And Artie Singer told the boys to change their name to Danny & The Juniors before he recorded them.

Sometimes/At The Hop, by Danny & The Juniors, was released on Singular in November 1957. Sales were extremely poor, but a break came when the group was asked to replace Little Anthony and The Imperials on Dick Clark's American Bandstand TV show, where they mimed to their record.

The sudden demand for At The Hop prompted ABC-Paramount to buy the masters of the record from Artie Singer, and by January 1958, Danny & The Juniors had a Number 1 hit on ABC, which stayed at the top of the charts for seven weeks, with another 21 weeks in the Top 100. The record made it to the UK the following year where it charted at Number 3. 

At The Hop was a classic record that was followed by many imitations, but it was totally expressionless. Yet that synthetic, de-personalized feel was what made people buy this and many other 'high school' hits.