The Famous Hearts consisted of Thomas Curry, Jr., Royalston Calhoun, Jr., and Edward Custis. Natives of Philadelphia and its Yeadon suburb, they signed a contract with Guyden Records on August 10, 1962 after a long career with Lee Andrews that took them to Gotham Records in 1956, Grand Records in 1957 and Casino-United Artists Records in 1958. Their breakthrough recordings were “Teardrops” and “Long, Lonely Nights” in 1957 on Grand Records, distributed nationally by Chess Records out of Chicago.
But the group went back to 1954 with the Rainbow recording of “Maybe You’ll Be There” b/w “Baby, Come Back,” followed the same year by two other releases on the label, headed by “The White Cliffs of Dover” and “The Bells of St. Mary’s.” From Rainbow they went to Gotham Records for a year and three releases in 1956, then followed immediately by their successes on Grand. They continued with hits on Casino-United Artists with “Try the Impossible” in 1958.
Their Guyden release, “Aisle of Love” b/w “Momma” were produced by John Madara, Dave White and Aram Boornazian, the in-house team of producers and writers for Jamie/Guyden, though these songs were written by group members Thomas Curry, Jr. (“Aisle of Love” with Carol Love) and “Momma” by Royalston Calhoun.
Their prolific career continued with Gowen, Lost Nite, and RCA Records through the 1960s, though Lee Andrews had recordings under his name in the 1960s on Swan and Parkway Records. Their enduring popularity brought them back to Gotham Records in the 1980s with, among other songs, an alternate recording of “Long Lonely Nights.”
