A Partial Interview By Marv Goldberg The Romeos By Marv Goldberg based on an interview with Don Davenport © 2002, 2009 by Marv Goldberg The Romeos were a group that seemed to be doomed from the start, breaking up almost as soon as they'd recorded. Their story begins in 1955, in the Northwest section of Detroit, when Bobby Alexander and Don Davenport were hanging around the McKenzie High schoolyard (that was Bobby's school; Don went to Cody High). They passed the time by singing, and soon Bobby had gotten a couple of his friends to join in: Eugene Dyer (who attended Northwestern) and Kenny Johnson (from Chadsey High). The Counts - 1955 After practicing for a while, they decided that they would make a good group, and called themselves the Counts. Bobby was first tenor, Eugene was second, Kenny was baritone, and Don was bass. There was only one problem: Don was white. "It was very unusual for a white guy to sing with a black group in those days," says Don. This was to haunt the guys for years. Holland, Dozier, Holland Ty Hunter Sometime in 1956, the Counts were hanging out at a record shop on St. Antoine and Farnsworth when they met Lamont Dozier and Ty Hunter (both baritones/second tenors; Ty was the younger brother of Hershel Hunter, lead of the 4 Clippers). Some singing ensued and pretty soon Lamont and Ty were in and Bobby Alexander was out ("He couldn't sing anyway," remembers Don). They dropped the name "Counts," and began calling themselves the "Romeos," a name thought up by Lamont and Eugene. Their idols were Chicago's Magnificents, as well as Detroit's Diablos, Midnighters, and 5 Jets. Don credits Sonny Woods of the Midnighters and Gerald Gregory of the Spaniels with giving him tips on how to sing bass. All of the Romeos were from low-income families, and had no money to do much travelling for appearances. Add to this that few places wanted to book an integrated group, and you had the formula for disaster. Don remembers his mother scraping together enough money to get them "uniforms" (brown suits from J.C. Penney), and the guys ended up wearing them to church on Sundays, since they didn't have any other suits. They practiced when and where they could. Don remembers: "I had a job driving a bakery van in those days. I would go and get the guys and they would help me deliver. Then we would rehearse in the van (a 19-footer). There was a great echo in there." In 1957, Don decided to take matters into his own hands. He knew a guy named George Braxton, who owned a real estate agency and was also a director of a local magazine for kids, called Teen Life. Don brought the group down to audition and convinced Braxton to record them. As a result, George Braxton started the Fox label. At this time, the Romeos were all teenagers: Eugene was the youngest (16), then came Lamont (17), Ty and Kenny (18), and Don (the old man at 19). Braxton was a guy, says Don, who "wanted to get into the business. He thought he could sing (and even attempted to cut a record on Brax called 'Hey Ellen'). George also liked getting into anything where he thought there was money." On June 10, 1957, they put their signatures to a contract with Braxton/Fox. Since they were minors by Michigan law, Don's father also signed. Not that it makes much difference, in light of record sales, but they were contracted to a royalty rate of 5%, quite high for the time. Don Davenport's Fox Braxton, of course, had no studios; recordings were made at United Sound and the records were pressed up by Capitol. Seeking more involvement, Don even drew the picture of the fox for the Fox label. The company was called "Fox" because, says Don, "George always made jokes about being sly as a fox. So he came up with the name, and I drew the label pic." The label was headquartered at 15836 Plymouth Road in Detroit, which just happened to be the address of the real estate agency.

• published: 23 Feb 2015
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