Little Caesar & the Romans


Little Caesar & the Romans were an American musical group from Los Angeles, California, United States, active briefly in the 1960s.
The Romans minus Little Caesar began recording in 1959 as The Cubans, but changed their name to The Upfronts after the Bay of Pigs Invasion. They had three hits: the first and biggest was the nostalgic tune "Those Oldies but Goodies ", a #9 Pop and #28 R&B hit in 1961. They appeared on the television show American Bandstand in 23 May 1961 performing their hit. It was written by Nick Curinga and Paul Politi. Charles Wright, the famous leader of Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, at the time was A&R Director for Del-Fi Records. Wright played both piano and bass on the original "Hit" recording of "Those Oldies But Goodies ". The follow-up, "Hully Gully Again", hit #54, and subsequent release "Memories of Those Oldies but Goodies" bubbled under at #101. They also released a full-length album on Del-Fi Records.
David Johnson served a prison term beginning shortly after "Hully Gully Again", and when he was released, he formed a group using the name Little Caesar and the Romans.
They worked briefly in the mid seventies, performing at Art Laboe's Club on the Sunset Strip in California. Singer Rickie Lee Jones was a back up singer for that show.
The group's live act sometimes included wearing togas on stage and on Dick Clark's American Bandstand television show. They broke up in 1962, at least partly due to an argument between lead singer Carl Burnett and member David Johnson as to which of them should be called Little Caesar.

Discography

Albums

After split

In 1975 David Johnson's formation of Little Caesar and The Romans recorded a single called "Disco Hully Gully" and they toured as Marvin Gaye's opening act.
David Johnson Jr. who was born on 16 June 1934 in Chicago, Illinois, to Alice and David Johnson Sr., died on 25 October 2018, at the age of 84.

Members