Platters, The

The Platters Biography by Cub Koda With classics such as "The Great Pretender," "Only You," and their rendition of "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes," the Platters were one of the preeminent doo wop groups of the rock & roll era. Under the guidance of manager and producer Buck Ram, the Platters churned out hit after hit during the 1950s, bridging the gap between more traditional vocal-group stylings and the popular R&B grooves of the early '50s. Their sound was unique, marked by lead singer Tony Williams' powerful vocals and the feminine touch of singer Zola Taylor. Although various iterations of the Platters were formed through the years, original founding member Herb Reed secured federal trademark registration and solidified his rights to the name; the group continued recording and performing with Reed as the sole original continuous performing member until his death in 2012. In the 2020s, under the stewardship of Herb Reed Enterprises, LLC, a new lineup was formed and the group recorded its first album in decades, With Love, The Platters. The Platters started out in 1952 as a Los Angeles-based doo wop group who made a few records for Federal, a subsidiary of Cincinnati's King Records. What changed their fortunes boils down to one very important name: their mentor, manager, producer, songwriter, and vocal coach Buck Ram. Ram took a standard doo wop vocal group and turned them into stars, and one of the most enduring and lucrative groups of all time. By 1954, Ram was already running a talent agency in Los Angeles, writing and arranging for publisher Mills Music, managing the Three Suns -- a pop group who had some success -- and working with his protégés the Penguins. The Platters seemed like a good addition to his stable. After getting them out of their Federal contract, Ram placed them with the burgeoning national independent label Mercury Records (at the same time he brought over the Penguins following their success with "Earth Angel"), automatically getting them into pop markets through the label's distribution contacts alone. Then Ram started homing in on the group's strengths and weaknesses. The first thing he did was put the lead vocal status squarely on the shoulders of lead tenor Tony Williams. Williams' emoting power was turned up full blast with the group (now augmented with Zola Taylor from Shirley Gunter & the Queens) working as very well-structured vocal support framing his every note. With Ram's pop songwriting classics as their musical palette, the group quickly became a pop and R&B success, eventually earning the distinction of being the first Black act of the era to top the pop charts. Considered the most romantic of all the doo wop groups (that is, the ultimate in "make-out music"), hit after hit came tumbling forth in a seemingly effortless manner: "Only You," "The Great Pretender," "My Prayer," "Twilight Time," "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes," "Harbor Lights," all of them establishing the Platters as the classiest of all. In 1960, Williams struck out on his own and signed with Reprise Records in 1961. By the decade's end, the group had disbanded, with various members starting up their own version of the Platters. Decades of competing versions ensued, until original member Herb Reed finally secured federal trademark registration in 2003, achieving incontestable status in 2010, and prevailing in multiple federal court rulings affirming ownership. Reed restarted the group and patterned them on the original before his death in 2012. In 2015, the only group authorized to perform as the Platters released Back to Basics Live! on the You Dig It label. The album included a pair of Grammy Hall of Fame songs "Only You (And You Alone)" and "The Great Pretender." Also included was a bonus track, the new Platters' recording of Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA" (then-lead singer Frankie Pizarro was a first responder at the World Trade Center in New York City on September 11, 2001). Sonny Turner, who replaced Tony Williams in the Platters' lineup, died on January 13, 2022 at the age of 82. In 2026, a fresh lineup -- Lance Bernard Bryant, Omar Ross, Jovian K. Ford, and Brittany Michelle -- recorded the first Platters album in decades, With Love, The Platters.