{{Short description|American late 50s vocal group}} {{about|the novelty singing vocal group|the children's song by Saxie Dowell|Playmates (song)}} <!-- FAIR USE of The Playmates Beep Beep album cover.jpg: is on the image image description page at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image: The Playmates Beep Beep album cover.jpg as well as here:Justification for "Fair Use" in this article follows below: * Though this image is subject to copyright, its use is covered by the U.S. fair use laws because: – It illustrates an educational article about the group from which is shown on this album cover illustration. – The image is used as the primary means of visual identification of the article topic. – The use of the cover will not affect the value of the original work or limit the copyright holder's rights or ability to distribute the original. In particular, copies of the image could not be used to make illegal copies of the album artwork on another record. – The image is only a small portion of the commercial product. – It is not replaceable with an uncopyrighted or freely copyrighted image of comparable educational value. – It is being used for informational purposes only, not for profit. – It illustrates the The Playmates "Beep Beep" song title that was a "hit" and helped made this group famous. --> thumb|The "Beep Beep" record cover
'''The Playmates''' were an American late 1950s vocal group led by the pianist '''Chic Hetti''' (born '''Carl Cicchetti''', 26 February 1930), drummer '''Donny Conn''' (born '''Donald Claps''', 29 March 1930 – September 2, 2015), and '''Morey Carr''' (31 July 1932 – 1987), all from Waterbury, Connecticut, United States.<ref name="Larkin50">{{cite book|title=The Virgin Encyclopedia of Fifties Music |editor-first=Colin |editor-last=Larkin|editor-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|publisher=Virgin Books |date=2002 |edition=Third |isbn=1-85227-937-0 |page=329}}</ref>
==Career== The Playmates—Donald Claps (a.k.a. Donny Conn), drummer and lyricist; Carl Cicchetti (a.k.a. Chic Hetti), pianist music composer; and Morey Cohen (a.k.a. Morey Carr), lead vocalist—were an instrumental and vocal trio, from Waterbury, Connecticut, and, in the early 1950s, at the University of Connecticut.<ref name="Larkin50"/> After graduation in 1952, they began touring small lounges and night clubs in the United States and Canada, originally as "the Nitwits", later as the Playmates.<ref name="Larkin50"/>
Signed to Roulette Records in 1958 as the label's first vocal group,<ref name=warner>{{cite book|last=Warner |first=Jay |title=American Singing Groups: a history from 1940 to today |publisher=Hal Leonard |year=2006 |pages= [https://archive.org/details/americansingingg00warn/page/278 278–279] |isbn=978-0-634-09978-6 |url= https://archive.org/details/americansingingg00warn/page/278 }}</ref> and anticipating a Calypso craze, the group recorded an album called ''Playmates Visit the West Indies''. They then released two notable Top 40 singles—"Jo-Ann" and "Don't Go Home"—before having a number 4 hit (July 9, 1958) with the tempo-changing novelty song "Beep Beep",<ref name="Larkin50"/> which became a regular feature for Dr. Demento.
"Beep Beep" was on the ''Billboard'' Top 40 chart for twelve weeks. It sold more than one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.<ref name="The Book of Golden Discs">{{cite book|first=Joseph |last=Murrells |year=1978 |title=The Book of Golden Discs |edition=Second |publisher=Barrie and Jenkins |location=London |page= [https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/106 106] |isbn=0-214-20512-6 |url= https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/106}}</ref> Concurrently with the popularity of "Beep Beep", American Motors Corporation (AMC) was setting production and sales records for the Rambler models.<ref>{{cite magazine|url= https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/printout/0,8816,864549,00.html |title=Autos: Rambler in High Gear|date=8 December 1958 |magazine=Time |accessdate=24 January 2022}}</ref> Because of a directive by the BBC at the time that songs did not include brand names in their lyrics, a version of "Beep Beep" was recorded for the European market, replacing the Cadillac and Nash Rambler with the generic terms limousine and bubble car.
The group followed up with a chart listing single in 1959 with "What Is Love" and then again in 1960 with "Wait For Me".<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.rockmusiclist.com/rock_plo.htm |title=Rubiks's Rock N Roll Discography Reference |website=Rockmusiclist.com |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171026162652/http://www.rockmusiclist.com/rock_plo.htm |archive-date=26 October 2017 |accessdate=24 January 2022}}</ref> After four albums for Roulette, the novelty group—known for its between-song comedy and banter as much for its repertoire<ref name="Larkin50"/>—broke up in 1965. Morey Carr died from lung cancer in 1987.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://thedeadrockstarsclub.com/1980.html |title=The Dead Rock Stars Club – The 1980s |first=Doc |last=Rock |website=Thedeadrockstarsclub.com |accessdate=24 January 2022}}</ref> Donald Claps died in Malibu, California, on September 2, 2015, at the age of 85.
==Discography== ===Singles=== {| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center; |- !rowspan="2"|Year !rowspan="2"|Title !colspan="2"|Peak chart<br />positions !rowspan="2"|Record Label !rowspan="2"|B-side !rowspan="2"|Album |- style="font-size:smaller;" !align=centre| US<br />Pop !align=centre| CAN<br />CHUM<br><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.1050chum.com/index_chumcharts.aspx?artist=7965|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060310103248/http://www.1050chum.com/index_chumcharts.aspx?artist=7965|url-status=dead|archive-date=2006-03-10| title=CHUM Hit Parade results}}</ref> |- |rowspan="1"| 1956 |align=left| "Nickelodeon Rag" | — | — |rowspan="1"| Rainbow |rowspan="1"| "I Have Only Myself to Blame" |rowspan="1"| |- |rowspan="3"| 1957 |align=left| "Pretty Woman" | — | — |rowspan="20"| Roulette |rowspan="1"| "Barefoot Girl" |rowspan="1"| ''Calypso With the Playmates'' |- |align=left| "Darling It's Wonderful" | — | 12 |rowspan="1"| "Island Girl" |rowspan="2"| ''At Play With the Playmates'' |- |align=left| "Jo-Ann" | 19 | 6 |rowspan="1"| "You Can't Stop Me From Dreaming" |- |rowspan="4"| 1958 |align=left| "Let's Be Lovers" | 87 | 38 |rowspan="1"| "Give Me Another Chance" (No. 49 CAN) |rowspan="1"| |- |align=left| "Don't Go Home" | 22 | 8 |rowspan="1"| "Can't You Get It Through Your Head" |rowspan="3"| ''At Play With the Playmates'' |- |align=left| "The Day I Died" | 81 | — |rowspan="1"| "While the Record Goes Around" |- |align=left| "Beep Beep" | 4 | 2 |rowspan="1"| "Your Love" |- |rowspan="4"| 1959 |align=left| "Star Love" | 75 | — |rowspan="1"| "The Thing-a-ma-jig" |rowspan="1"| |- |align=left| "What Is Love?" | 15 | 15 |rowspan="1"| "I Am" |rowspan="6"| ''Wait for Me and Other Outstanding Hits'' |- |align=left| "First Love" | — | — |rowspan="1"| "A Ciu-è" |- |align=left| "On the Beach" | — | — |rowspan="1"| "The Song Everybody's Singing" |- |rowspan="3"| 1960 |align=left| "Second Chance" | — | — |rowspan="1"| "These Things I Offer You" |- |align=left| "Parade of Pretty Girls" | — | — |rowspan="1"| "Our Wedding Day" |- |align=left| "Wait for Me" | 37 | 19 |rowspan="1"| "Eyes of an Angel" |- |rowspan="3"| 1961 |align=left| "Little Miss Stuck-Up" | 70 | 47 |rowspan="1"| "Real Life" |rowspan="1"| |- |align=left| "Tell Me What She Said" | — | — |rowspan="1"| "Cowboys Never Cry" |rowspan="1"| |- |align=left| "Wimoweh" | — | — |rowspan="1"| "One Little Kiss" |rowspan="1"| |- |rowspan="3"| 1962 |align=left| "A Rose and a Star" | — | — |rowspan="1"| "Bachelor Flat" |rowspan="1"| |- |align=left| "Keep Your Hands in Your Pockets" | 88 | — |rowspan="1"| "The Cop on the Beat" |rowspan="1"| |- |align=left| "What a Funny Way to Show It" | — | — |rowspan="1"| "Petticoats Fly" |rowspan="1"| |- |rowspan="3"| 1963 |align=left| ""A" My Name Is Alice" | — | — |rowspan="4"| ABC-Paramount |rowspan="1"| "Just a Little Bit" |rowspan="1"| |- |align=left| "She Never Looked Better" | — | — |rowspan="1"| "But Not Through Tears" |rowspan="1"| |- |align=left| "I Cross My Fingers" | — | — |rowspan="1"| "I'll Never Get Over You" |rowspan="1"| |- |rowspan="2"| 1964 |align=left| "The Only Guy Left on the Corner" | — | — |rowspan="1"| "The Guy Behind the Wheel" |rowspan="1"| |- |align=left| "Fiddler on the Roof" | — | — |rowspan="2"| Colpix |rowspan="1"| "A Piece of the Sky" |rowspan="1"| |- |rowspan="2"| 1965 |align=left| "One by One the Roses Died (Motive D'Amore)" | — | — |rowspan="1"| "Spanish Perfume (And a Yellow Rose)" |rowspan="1"| |- |align=left| "The Ballad of Stanley the Lifeguard" | — | — |rowspan="1"| Congress |rowspan="1"| "Should I Ask Someone Else to Tell Her" |rowspan="1"| |- |rowspan="1"| 1971 |align=left| "Dayeynu (That Would Be Enough for Me)" | — | — |rowspan="1"| Bell |rowspan="1"| "Foundation of Love" |rowspan="1"| |- |} {{Infobox album| | name = At Play with the Playmates | type = studio | artist = The Playmates | cover = | alt = | caption = | released = 1958 | recorded = 1958 | venue = | studio = | genre = Novelty | length = | label = Roulette | producer = Hugo Peretti | misc = {{Singles | name = At Play with the Playmates | type = Studio | single1 = Darling It's Wonderful | single1date = September 1957 | single2 = Jo-Ann | single2date = December 1957 | single3 = Don't Go Home | single3date = April 1958 | single4 = The Day I Died | single4date = August 1958 | single5 = Beep Beep | single5date = October 1958 }} }}
'''Album''' * ''At Play with the Playmates'' (1958) ;Side one # "Jo-Ann" – 2:35 # "Your Love" – 2:09 # "Darling It's Wonderful" – 2:35 # "Substitute for Love" – 2:13 # "Magic Shoes" – 2:10 # "While the Record Goes Around" – 2:10 ;Side two # "Beep Beep" – 3:01 # "The Day I Died" – 2:20 # "Give Me Another Chance" – 2:25 # "Lovable" – 2:16 # "Intimate" – 2:20 # "Don't Go Home" – 2:30
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{Discogs artist|The Playmates}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Playmates, The}} Category:American novelty song performers Category:Musical groups established in 1958 Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1964 Category:Apex Records artists Category:Roulette Records artists Category:1958 establishments in Connecticut