The Vogues



Formed in 1960, The Vogues were a four man vocal group from Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania, consisting of Bill Burkette (lead baritone), Don Miller (baritone), Hugh Geyer (first tenor) and Chuck Blasko (second tenor). Originally calling themselves The Val-Airs, they signed with Pittsburgh manager Elmer Willet, who produced their first recording, "Which One Will It Be / Laurie My Love" which was picked up for national distribution by Coral Records. After high school the group fractured, with some joining the Army while others went to college. After their enlistments and graduations were completed, the group reformed and pooled their resources to record a cover of Petula Clark's "You're The One", which was released locally on their own Blue Star label. With strong sales and plenty of local radio play, producer Nick Cenci arranged to have them signed by the tiny Co & Ce label as The Vogues. The record quickly rose to the #4 position on Billboard's Hot 100 in late 1965. The group's second effort, "Five O'clock World" continued the Folk / Rock sound and also reached #4, staying in the Top 40 for twelve weeks. This tune enjoyed a revival of sorts when it was used as the theme to The Drew Carey Show in the late '90s. The group's next attempts, "Magic Town" (#21) and "The Land Of Milk and Honey" (#29) were not quite as successful, but still managed to become hits despite the onslaught of The British Invasion groups.

For the next few years, The Vogues' clean cut, harmony group image was out of step with the Rock 'n' Roll scene and it wasn't until they signed with Reprise Records in 1968 that they reached the charts again with a middle of the road ballad called "Turn Around, Look At Me". Despite sharing radio air time with increasingly harder Rock, the song still managed to hit #7 and sell over a million copies. Staying with the lighter, more sophisticated style they loved best, The Vogues kept the hits coming when they took a cover of a 1957 Bobby Helms hit, "My Special Angel" to #7 in September 1968. As they toured the club circuit, the group had two more songs reach the Top 40, "Till" (#27) and "No, Not Much" (#34). Throughout the decade, the group appeared on all of the top TV shows of the day, including The Tonight Show, The Ed Sullivan Show, Shindig!, The Red Skelton Show, The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, American Bandstand, Hullabaloo and several appearances on The Mike Douglas Show.

By the time the 1970's dawned, the Vogues were out of vogue. Hugh Geyer left the group to spend more time with his family and the others carried on as a trio. Recording for 20th Century Records, The Vogues released three singles, "My Prayer", "Wonderful Summer", and "Prisoner of Love", but none of these met with any commercial success. Don Miller dropped out of the band in 1974 and was replaced by a long list of vocalists. Bill Burkette left in 1983, leaving only Chuck Blasko as the only original member. Trouble began in the late '70s or early '80s when their manager sold the rights to The Vogues' name and several other groups started touring using that moniker. After a largely unsuccessful lawsuit, Blasko was only permitted to appear as Chuck Blasko's Vogues in in 14 Western Pennsylvania counties.

The original line-up of The Vogues was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2001.

In 2004, original member Hugh Geyer toured with Blasko's group, but left at the end of 2006 over musical differences. From there, Geyer joined the national touring group of The Vogues led by trademark owner Stan Elich, and continued to perform with them until his retirement in December 2012. In May, 2008, original lead vocalist Bill Burkette also joined that group. Stan Elich died in December 2010 and his son Troy became the trademark owner. That same year, The Vogues released a live album called "The Vogues Sing the Hits Live". It marked the first time in 38 years that Burkette and Geyer recorded together.

Bill Burkette passed away on March 1, 2018 at the age of 75. At that time The Vogues' line-up was Troy Elich, Royce Taylor and Bo Wagner. Taylor had previously been a member of The Vogues from 1991 to 1997. Wagner is a former member of Blasko's Pittsburgh group. Their 2018 and 2019 schedules had them booked for shows across the United States.

For more, be sure to read Gary James' interview with Hugh Geyer