THE MYSTICS

This rock ‘n’ roll vocal ensemble came from Brooklyn, New York, USA. The members were brothers Phil (lead) and Albee Cracolici (baritone), Bob Ferrante (first tenor), George Galfo (second tenor), and Allie Contrera (bass). The Mystics helped popularize the Italian-American doo-wop sound that came out of New York City in the early 60s, but like many such groups they did it with only one hit, ‘Hushabye’ (US pop Top 20, 1959). The song was written by the great songwriting team of Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman and has become a staple of US oldie stations. A follow-up, ‘Don’t Take The Stars’, scraped the bottom of the charts later in 1959. Failing to get another hit record, the Mystics broke up in the early 60s. They reunited in the 80s to perform at oldies shows and that led to a critically well-received album for a revival label, Ambient Sound, in 1982. By this time, however, the audience for doo-wop was limited to a passionate few on the Eastern seaboard and the album remained obscure.