Norman Wright of The Dell-Vikings Has Died At Age 72

Norman Wright, member of the Dell-Vikings, died Friday (April 23) at the age of 72. The group was founded by airmen at a Pittsburgh base who recruited Philadelphia-born Norman when their tenor singer became stationed in Germany. Their victories in several talent contests (including the All Air Force competition in New York City) earned them a recording session with Fee Bee Records where "Come Go With Me," with Norman on lead, was cut in 1956. Originally recorded accapella, the label added instrumentation and it soon became so popular that the master was leased to Dot Records for national distribution, where it reached #4 Pop and #2 R&B the following year. It was the first top ten hit for a racially-mixed group in the U.S. But by the time Dot released "Whispering Bells" (#9 Pop, #5 R&B), Norman and three of the four other group members-- who had been under-aged when they signed their contracts-- had already split for Mercury Records where they competed with their Dot recording with "Cool Shake" (#12 Pop, #9 R&B). For the remainder of 1957, both labels released singles (though Dot added a second "L" to their group's name) but the confusion led to no more chart recordings-- even when Corinthian "Kripp" Johnson was legally able to join the others in 1958. Though the group disbanded in the mid-'60s, it re-formed in 1970 and Norman sang at times with them and with his sons in another incarnation of the group over the next thirty years. Norman and the Del Vikings were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2005.