Colony Records was My Radio Doctors in New York

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Photo: Colony Retro Records - Facebook

Colony Records sign

Colony Records

As a native Milwaukeean devoted to the mounds of sounds and stacks of wax in the 1950s at Radio Doctors and The Music Mart, one of the first things I sought in moving to New York City in 1970, was a good place to buy original Black rhythm and blues records.

An inveterate, lifelong devotee of this dynamic sound holding forth at Milwaukee’s Downtown Radio Doctors and Doc’s two neighborhood locations—at Third and Garfield followed by Third and Meinecke—and at the Music Mart at North Third Street between Clarke and Center—I simply had to find a similar place in Manhattan. And boy, oh, boy, was I ever lucky.

Happily, I discovered Colony Records at West 49th and Broadway. As writer of the authorized biography of the legendary Spaniels of “Goodnight Sweetheart, Goodnight” fame, it was a welcome oasis in a desert of musical mediocrity. During my New York years, Colony stocked all of the original sounds I loved on 45 rpm. 

In addition to touting the store’s huge stock of jazz records, its knowledgeable staff sang the praises of trend-setting Black R&B singers and musicians of the 1950s and ‘60s, innovative sounds that still entertain and enchant millions. Perhaps best of all, two White staffers were well aware of the reputation of Milwaukee as a place where many R&B stars performed—and loved their audiences. 

Thus, Colony was special to me because it reminded me so much of my introduction to doo-wop at Radio Doctors in Downtown Milwaukee. There, as a callow youth in 1953, I found the Spaniels’ haunting “Baby, It’s You” after hearing it on a Black radio station. 

“Baby, It’s You” on the yellow Chance label, to me, remains the best R&B record ever. I still recall rushing home via city bus to hear James “Pookie” Hudson, Gerald Gregory, Willie C. Jackson, Opal Courtney Jr. and Ernest Warren do their thing. And I was astonished to later learn they recorded it while finishing high school in Gary, Ind. Since then, Pookie and the Spaniels played Milwaukee many times.

Over the years, I’ve been fortunate to meet and discuss original Black R&B with many DJs, journalists, aficionados and performers regarding this distinctive American art form. Included were Wolfman Jack of “The Midnight Special” and American Graffiti fame; Ronnie I. of New Jersey-based United in Group Harmony Association; Bobby Jay (WCBS-FM); David Hinckley (New York Daily News); Gene Chandler of “Duke of Earl” fame; Jerry Butler (Impressions); Harvey Fuqua (Moonglows); Willie Winfield (Harptones); LaVern Baker, Chuck Berry, Ruth Brown, Fats Domino and other notables. 

Trading Insights

In my Milwaukee hometown after “Baby, It’s You” made me a believer, I traded R&B insights with local radio’s Eddie O’Jay in his pre-New York days; Chuck Dunaway (WRIT) and Mannie Mauldin Jr., Greg Drust, Jack “Junior” Black, my high school pal Alvin Russell and my future wife, Susan Orr—all of WYMS-FM.

And, of course, there were the original Spaniels, with whom I spent many hours in Gary in 1991 researching my 1995 book. After its publication, Susan and I escorted the vocal group on a visit to Colony Records, where we took lots of photos.

Unlike smallish Radio Doctors and The Music Mart, Colony was housed on the ground floor of the 11-story Brill Building, famed for more than 150 music publishing offices and studios where some of the best-known American songs were written by a musical who’s-who. Those who worked there included Ben E. King, Bobby Darin, Laura Nyro, Neil Diamond, Connie Francis, Phil Spector and Carole King. 

Vintage movie aficionados may recall the Brill Building lobby in a key scene in 1957’s stunning film noir, Sweet Smell of Success. Burt Lancaster, as calculating columnist J.J. Hunsecker, lived with his sister Susie (Susan Harrison) on an upper floor.

How well I recall the day when, enroute to see The Spaniels at Radio City Music Hall while researching my book, Susan and I stopped by to talk with Colony staffers Warren Tesoro and George (Shorty) Littles. They were the fount of all knowledge on original Black R&B and doo-wop. The white Tesoro was a member of several R&B vocal groups, loved the Spaniels and was a valued resource for my work.

I told Tesoro that every time I walked into Colony, my mind flashed back to Milwaukee’s Radio Doctors and the Music Mart. He then told me The Spaniels “were very much revered in my Williamsburg (Brooklyn) neighborhood when I was growing up. I knew about them long before I got into the record business. And listening to them helped inspire me.

“The group is totally unique,” he continued. “Pookie is a wonderful writer, a great ballad singer and he can really sing the blues, too, like ‘Baby, It’s You.’ He’s got that range, still today. He and the group, have a style all their own. I don’t know how the bass, Gerald (Gregory), gets down there. It’s almost as if the wind is coming out of his voice. He sounds like a baritone sax or a bass sax…”

Magnet for the Stars

Since 1970, Colony Records commanded the corner of W. 49^th and Broadway, after 22 years three blocks north. Founded in 1948, it stocked more than a million vinyl records and sold sheet music from Broadway shows and movies. It was a magnet for many big-names, such as Mick Jagger and the late Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley and Ed Bradley, of CBS-TV. I occasionally bumped into the latter—a noted lover of doo-wop. 

Colony’s demise in 2012 after 64 years in business reportedly came in the wake of a startling rent increase from around $1-million-a-month to as much as $5 million. The record store’s co-owner, Michael Grossbardt, at the time said he would house its huge inventory of records in his garage and then sell it on the Internet. 

To me, New York’s Colony Records meant the best in well-known, and obscure, original Black R&B. It was the very best place in the big city to find it, hear it and buy it. And I came to love Colony as much as I loved Radio Doctors and The Music Mart in my hometown of Milwaukee. Many of my music memories are made of this.