The “Golden Hits Of The 60s”
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Cathy Jean & The Roommates
“PLEASE LOVE ME FOREVER”
(Malone, Blanchard)
(Valmor 007)
No. 12 April 24, 1961
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Steve Susskind (lead vocals, baritone) and Bob Minsky (bass) were in the same homeroom at Russell Sage
High in Forest Hills, Queens. After discovering a mutual interest in singing, the duo competed in a talent
contest at Forest Hills High, and came in second place–Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, calling themselves
Tom and Jerry, came in first. By 1959, Steve and Bob had formed the Roommates–so named because
founders Steve and Bob were in the same homeroom in school with second tenor Felix Alvarez and first
tenor Jack Carlson. After much practicing, they spent $75 at the Associated Studios to make a demo of the
Five Keys’ classic “The Glory of Love.” They hawked the number around to all the small labels they could
locate, but no one was interested.
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One night, while honing their skills in an apartment-building lobby, the Roommates were overheard by
Gene and Jody Malis, owners of the new Valmor label; named for a furniture store across the street from
the couple’s apartment. The Malises became the group’s managers and brought the guys down to Bill
Lashley’s Promo label. Lashley, who was momentarily hot with a one-off item by JiMMY CHARLES,
released the Roommates’ reworking of Kitty Wells’ “Making Believe,” but the single stiffed.
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Noting the success that Kathy Young and the Innocents were having with their “A Thousand Stars,” Jody
Malis got the idea to package the Roommates with her new “discovery,” Cathy Jean (b. Cathy Jean
Giordano, Sept. 8, 1945, Brooklyn). The 14-year-old Cathy had already recorded a remake of Tommy
Edward’s 1958 hit “Please Love Me Forever,” Jody rounded up the Roommates and had them overdub a
harmonized background onto the track. According to Story Untold writer Paul Heller, “The group was not
enthused in taking a ‘back seat’ on somebody else’s record. After hearing the play back, the group begged
[the Malises] not to release it.”‘
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“They thought they were gonna launch two acts with one record; ‘Cathy Jean recently told Sh-Boom
magazine. “I didn’t even get to meet the Roommates until we did a radio interview, after the record came
out.”
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The disk was released on Valmor, and “Please Love Me Forever” became a rockaballad biggie. They toured
with Ral Donner, B. Bumble & The Stingers, and aspiring teen idol Tony Orlando; lip-synced for Cousin
Brucie, Dick Clark, and the rest. The dusty was a stone-cold smash. To reward the Roommates for their
involvement in the well-received record, the Malises gave the group a free three-hour session at the Regent
Sound Studio. That night, November 25, 1960, they laid down and packaged some of their finest stuff ever:
“Band of Gold,” “Glory of Love,” and “My Foolish Heart.” Unfortunately, none of their reworked standards–
other than their take on “Glory of Love” (#49, 1961)–garnered much notice. Neither did any of Cathy Jean’s
follow-ups.
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Before Valmor Records shut down in 1962, At the Hop, the lone and now highly collectible (estimated
worth starts at $1,000) Cathy Jean & The Roommates album was issued. The Malises, still functioning as
the group’s managers, connected the Roommates to labels like Cameo, Philips, and Canadian-American.
George Rodriguez was added making the unit a quintet. Cover versions of “Gee” and “Sunday Kind of Love”
were waxed and shipped, but no one was buying. For the last time, the guys entered the studios to record
“Someone to Watch Over You” never to be completed. It was the spring of 1965 when they parted, never to
sing together again.
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Cathy, likewise, had another whirl at it, but her few 45s for Philips failed to fly. She married and quit the
music business. Her kids are now grown, and Cathy’s back. As Catherine Jean Ruiz, she currently fronts an
entirely new version of the Roommates and has hosted a Saturday-morning radio show on WNYG in Long
Island, New York.
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“For a long time I thought singing was something for the young; something you did before you got a real
job,” Cathy Jean told Sh-Boom. “But lately I’ve decided there’s more to life than being a collection
supervisor [for a New York bank].”
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