Excerpt from One Million Years of Doo Wop (Jamie CD 4002) liner notes:
The Fantasys were organized by four neighbors who lived a block from West Philly High School and less than a mile from the American Bandstand studio. They got started in 1957, the same year that Bandstand beggan being broadcast nationally from its famous studio at 46th and Market Streets in West Philadelphia. The foursome pestered Jamie Records into putting out “No One But You,” which the group had recorded itself at Reco Art Studio (later Sigma Sound, the legendary home of Gamble and Huff’s Philly Sound). The group consisted of tenor Aram Boornazian, who later went on to a career as a producer for Jamie/Guyden (responsible for the Billy and the Essentials and the Butlers records on One Million Years of Doo Wop (Jamie CD 4002)), lead Richard Schmidt, bass Charles Berbarion and tenor Ben Asero. When Jamie Records asked Boornazian to “sweeten” the record with strings, the enterprising young producer recruited two Lebanese immigrants, one of whom was living with his family while attending the Curtis School of Music in Philadelphia. Both violinists went on to distinguished careers at nationally known orchestras in the United States.
The Fantasys continued to evolve out of the rehearsal studio that Jamie Records kept above its distributorship at 1330 West Girard Avenue. Johnny Madara and Dave White were in-house producers along with Joe Wissert, later to be joined by Bob Finiz.
Aram Boornazian, one of the Fantasys, got involved with Jamie as a producer because he took over Johnny Madara's Gold Records record shop not far from American Bandstand's studios in West Philadelphia. That gave Boornazian entree to Madara and White's enduring production team, which rehearsed and improvised music on the third floor with the many singers and groups that worked together there. Madara and White produced the Fantasys' second release, "No One But You." aslong with their second, "I Wonder" in the same session at Bell Sound in New York.
