Oldies But Goodies Doo Wop Cruise

The Olympics comprised of a fine doo-wop group from the West Coast who had one big novelty hit in the late 50's followed by several minor hits, and stops at many different record labels. Walter Ward, a mainstay of the group for 50 years, born in Mississippi and sang gospel with his father and three uncles (as the Ward Brothers). In the early 50s, the family moved to Los Angeles, and he met his cousin, Eddie Lewis, who had also come to L.A. from Mississippi. While at Willowbrook Junior High School, Walter and Eddie (both tenors) formed the West Coast Gospel Singers (with James Lloyd and Walter's uncle, Jimmy Ward). Then Walter and Eddie started attending Centennial High School in Compton and, in 1954, formed an R&B group called the Challengers. The other members were pianist Marcus Banks, a second tenor named Nathan, and baritone Freddy Lewis. At a talent contest, the Challengers met Charles Fizer and Walter Hammond, and, when they decided that it would be more worthwhile to join forces rather than compete, Charles and Walter replaced Freddy and Nathan. Therefore, when the dust had settled, the Challengers were Walter "Sleepy" Ward (lead), Eddie Lewis (tenor), Charles Fizer (baritone), Walter Hammond (baritone), and Marcus Banks (piano). They didn't have many gigs (mostly local record hops and clubs), but they had fun singing in the hallways and bathrooms, as well as on Compton's street corners. Initially, Jesse Belvin was the main influence on the group; later, they admired the Spaniels and the Dells.

In 1956, because of appearing on a television show, they were offered a recording session by Joe Fornis, owner of Melatone Records. The Challengers only cut a single record for Melatone (the ballad "I Can Tell," backed with the vaguely Latin-ish "The Mambo Beat"), but at least they were on their way. However, they found out there was another group calling itself "The Challengers," so they renamed themselves "the Olympics." Their recording career was put on hold for almost two years while they practiced and practiced.

Then in 1958, Jesse Belvin introduced them to John Criner, who became their manager. Criner, a former singer who recorded "Sugar Mama Blues" in 1946, owned the Shade and Spot labels. He got them a contract with Si Aronson, Joe Greene, and George Brown's Demon label (which was distributed by Liberty Records). A&R men at Demon, Fred Smith and Cliff Goldsmith also songwriters, had written a little ditty called "Western Movies." This the Olympics first Demon release in June 1958, shot up to #7 on the R&B charts as well as #8 on the more prestigious Pop charts. Westerns were big on television and at the movies around that, time and their song came complete with not only the sounds of pistol shots but also the ricochet sounds to boot. They followed with a minor hit (I Wanna) Dance With The Teacher in 1959, and then moved to the Arvee label.

At Arvee Records, they recorded "(Baby) Hully Gully," and the Olympics once again had a major hit with a dance number. Their follow-up, "The Slop," (released in April 1960) was intended to be in the same mold (sounding suspiciously like "Hully Gully"), but DJs flipped it over and made a hit out of "Big Boy Pete" instead. This song, originally recorded in 1959 by Don & Dewey, was, of course, the model for Jim Croce's "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown," and featured the duet lead of Eddie Lewis and Charles Fizer.) "Pete" climbed to #50 on the Pop charts and all the way to #10 on R&B.

The Olympics continued to come up with several minor hits, such asShimmy like Kate. Their song Big Boy Pete (which had been recorded originally by Don & Dewey in 1959) would later serve as the inspiration for the Kingsmen's hit Jolly Green Giant. They moved to another label, Argo, and recorded another minor hit titled Peanut Butter, which for legal reasons was issued on Arvee. They continued to go from label to label, coming up with their second (and last) top forty hit The Bounce on Tri Disc in 1963. The Young Rascals, who turned it into a million seller and their first number one hit, in 1966, covered a later recording by the Olympics, Good Lovin' on the Loma label.

The Olympics moved on to other labels, including Mirwood California Gold, and All-American, although they were never to have another big hit. After 1966, music was changing and their records stopped selling, although they continued recording with a changed line up on into the 70's. Original group member Charles Fizer was killed by a gunshot wound in the Watts rioting in 1965.

Then in May 1970, the Olympics did some more recording for Warner Brothers. This time the record was released on the parent label: "Please, Please, Please" (the James Brown song)/"Girl, You're My Kind Of People." After having been a trio for about five years, they added tenor Kenny Sinclair, formerly of the Six Teens; all four members were now tenors. That same year, they released "There Ain't No Way" and "3 Billion People" on the Songsmith label.

In 1980, tragedy struck the Olympics again, as Mack Starr was killed in a motorcycle accident. The guys got bass William DeVase to replace him (it had been a long, long time since there had been a bass in the group). Back in the early 60s, William had been in the Elements/Elgins with Kenny Sinclair. The combination of Walter Ward, Eddie Lewis, Kenny Sinclair, and William DeVase was together for over 20 years. In all that time, the group made a single record, released on Mac Winn sometime in the 80s: "I Feel Your Love (Comin' On)"/"Papa Will." In 1984, the Olympic Games were held in Los Angeles, and that year Rhino issued The Official Record Album Of The Olympics, containing old songs from the group, to coincide with the event.

This group continued until March of 2003, when Kenny Sinclair died; Vel Omarr replaced him. When Walter Ward passed away in 2006, the group continued as a trio. Most recently, William DeVase passed on in May of 2009; Buddha Khan has replaced him. Eddie Lewis, an original member of the Challengers/Olympics has now been with the group for 55 years with over a dozen chart hits