Search - Little Caesar & Romans :: Toga Toga Toga

A Popular Name

07/28/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Carl "Little Caesar" Burnett, Johnny Simmons, Early Harris, Leroy Sanders, and David Johnson [The Romans], all from Los Angeles, have the distinction of being the first R&R revivalists with their smash 1961 hit for Del-Fi, Those Oldies But Goodies (Remind Me Of You) which, b/w She Don't Wanna Dance [No More], credited to just The Romans, reached # 9 Billboard Hot100 and # 28 R&B that June.



What happened after that is anyone's guess, but the record shows that, despite a nice, tight sound, they managed to avoid the dreaded "one hit wonder" club by one weak entry in August - Hully Gully Again - which topped out at # 54 Hot 100 b/w Frankie & Johnnie. It made no impact at all on the R&B charts.



Be careful not to confuse this Little Caesar with others bearing the same moniker. The first, a film/TV actor named Horace Caesar, had a # 5 R&B hit in 1952 with Goodbye Baby, while the Canadian garage-rock band, Little Caesar & The Consuls [Norm Sherratt, Tommy Wilson, and Gary Wright] had a # 50 Billboard Hot 100 hit in 1965 with Hang On Sloopy under the title [My Girl] Sloopy. Then there's the hard-rock LA band Little Caesar which had two minor hits in 1990/91.



For hit single completists, the CD under review is recommended simply because all four sides are included, and for that alone it gets top rating from this collector."