John Claude Gummoe of The Cascades is back in Manila with special guest Mark Heston of The Lettermen. They will be at Edsa Shangri-La Hotel on Sept. 10 for a dinner concert and on Sept. 11 at the Newport Performing Arts Theater of Resorts World Manila.
The two-night The Cascades with Mark Preston concert presented by Grand Leisure Corporation, Edsa Shangri-La Hotel, Resorts World Manila and Steve O’Neal Productions, will have as special guest performers Mark Mabasa, JV Decena, Lucky Robles and Lilibeth Garcia.
Among the songs to be performed include “Rhythm of the Rain,” which Gummoe (he was the leader, singer and songwriter of the Grammy award winning band The Cascades) wrote one rainy night aboard the USS Jason in San Diego in the 60s). The song has been certified as the 9th Most Performed Song of All Time, said to have been played over 10 million times in concerts and recordings in the U.S. alone. Released in 1962, “Rhythm of the Rain” hit the Billboard charts at No. 80 and shot all the way to the Top 10 before exploding all over the world and becoming No. 1 in some countries such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and the Philippines. The song has also been hailed as one of the last great songs of the pre-Beatles era in rock and roll history and which has remained one of the group’s most recognizable songs even with the younger generations.
Other hit songs of The Cascades that Gummoe is expected to sing include “Angel on My Shoulder,” “My First Day Alone,” “Dreamin’,” “Let Me Be,” “Shy Girl,” “There’s a Reason,” “The Last Leaf,” “Was I Dreamin’,” “I Wanna Be Your Lover,” “Punch and Judy” and “Lucky Guy.”
The Cascades was formed in 1960 as a band called The Silver Strands, which later became The Thundernotes before becoming The Cascades. The group disbanded in 1978 but reunited in 2005 – one year after their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – with Gabe Lapano, Tony Grasso and Gummoe as members.
The Cascades and The Lettermen were acknowledged as two of the most popular male vocal groups of the 60s and 70s. The Lettermen, with Donovan Tea, Tony Butala and Mark Preston (2010) was considered as the original boy band of the 60s.
Among The Lettermen’s hit songs include “The Way You Look Tonight,” “When I Fall in Love” (which made them the most romantic singing group of the 60s!), “The Seventh Dawn,” and “Theme from A Summer Place” among others. The Lettermen was formed in Hollywood more than 50 years ago by Butala with Jim Pike and Bob Engemann as the other original members.
The Cascades with Mark Preston” is presented in collaboration with Park & Ride, Fadcon, Manila Multimodal Terminal, Duty Free Phils., HDI, Telenovela Channel, IBC 13, Hard Rock Cafe, Aristocrat Restaurant, Davies Paint, SeaOil, Retro, Wish FM and RJ100.3 FM official concert station.