Last year, when Little Anthony & the Imperials were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, presenter Smokey Robinson called them “one of the greatest groups to have ever sung together.” Right then and there, “Little Anthony” Gourdine and his bandmates proved it with a roof-raising, gospel-caliber version of “Shout” that had them dancing in the aisles.

The New York doo-wop group has been a sensation since the early 1950s, when they hit the charts with “Tears On My Pillow.” Led by Little Anthony, who modeled his easy falsetto after jazz singer Little Jimmy Scott, the group produced hit after hit: “On the Outside Looking In,” “Shimmy Shimmy Ko-Ko-Bop,” and “Hurts So Bad,” one of the greatest songs of lost love in the pantheon.

Despite a few changes in lineup over the years (and the retirement of original Imperial Sammy Strain in 2004), the core group—Gourdine, Ernest Wright, Clarence Collins—is still intact after more than half a century. Catch Little Anthony at Trump Plaza this month, and you’re getting the real thing.

By Casino Connection Staff