The original members of the Dubs were: :Richard Blandon (born September 16, 1934
Montgomery,
Alabama - died December 30, 1991,
New York) (lead) :Cleveland Still (born October 17, 1934) (first
tenor) :William "Billy" Carlisle (born September 25, 1934 - died May 1996) (second tenor) :James "Jake" Miller (
baritone) :Thomas Gardner, replaced in 1957 by Tommy Grate (
bass) The Dubs formed from the merging of two short-lived vocal groups in
Harlem, New York,
The Five Wings and
The Scale-Tones. The Five Wings (originally "The 5 Stars") were an up-and-coming group with members Jackie Rue (lead, later of
Jackie and the Starlites), Frank Edwards (tenor), Billy Carlisle (second tenor), Melvin Flood (baritone), and Tommy Grate (bass). They
recorded for
King Records in 1955, but when they were unable to find success, the group began to splinter. Rue, Flood, and Edwards left, Kenny "Butch" Hamilton joined, and, shortly afterwards, Carlisle's
cousin Richard Blandon was in following his discharge from the
United States Air Force. Meanwhile, The Scale-Tones had been formed by James "Jake" Miller and Thomas Gardner, who had added Cleveland Still (lead), James Montgomery, and Don Archer. They made one
record on the
Jay-Dee label in early 1956. After some prompting by Blandon when he showed up at a Scale-Tones' rehearsal, a new group emerged. This included Blandon and Carlisle from the Five Wings, and Still, Miller and Gardner from the Scale-Tones. The Five Wings' manager,
Buddy Johnson's brother Hiram, offered to manage the new group. As
The Marvels, they recorded an unsuccessful single, "I Won't Have You Breaking My Heart", for
ABC-Paramount. The group then renamed themselves
The Dubs, and released Blandon's song "Don't Ask Me To Be Lonely" on the Johnson label set up by their manager.
Radio acceptance was almost immediate, and the record was picked up for national release on
George Goldner's Gone label. It peaked at #72 on the
Billboard Hot 100 charts in the summer of 1957, although like all their other records it surprisingly failed to make the
R&B chart. Gardner then left the group to be replaced by Tommy Grate. The group's next single, "Could This Be Magic", also written by Blandon, was another pop hit, rising to #23 later in 1957 and becoming recognized over the years as a doo-wop classic. This success landed the group a spot on an
Alan Freed package and they toured extensively in the
U.S. and
Canada. However, subsequent singles from the group were less successful and, in November 1958 the group decided to split up, disappointed over their meagre earnings. Blandon joined The Vocaleers (who had previously had a 1953 hit, "Is It A Dream"), and the other members found jobs outside the
music industry. ==Later versions of the group==