Biography

Little Caesar & the Romans were an American musical group from Los Angeles active briefly in the 1960s. The Romans minus Little Caesar began recording in 1959 as The Cubans, but changed their name to The Upfronts after the Bay of Pigs Invasion. They had three hits: the first and biggest was the nostalgic tune "Those Oldies but Goodies (Reminds Me of You)", a #9 Pop and #28 R&B hit in 1961. It was written by Nick Curinga and Paul Politi. Charles Wright, the famous leader of Charles Wright and his Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, at the time was A&R Director for Del-Fi Records. Wright played both piano and bass on the original "Hit" recording of "Those Oldies But Goodies (Reminds Me of You)". The follow-up, "Hully Gully Again", hit #54, and subsequent release "Memories of those Oldies but Goodies" bubbled under at #101. They also released a full-length album on Del-Fi Records. David Johnson served a lengthy prison term beginning shortly after "Hully Gully Again", and when he was released from prison, he reformed a group using the name Little Caesar and the Romans. They worked briefly in the mid seventies, performing at Art Laboe's Club on the Sunset Strip. Singer Rickie Lee Jones was a back up singer for that show. The group's live act sometimes included wearing togas on stage and on Dick Clark's American Bandstand television show. They broke up in 1962, at least partly due to an argument between lead singer Carl (Little Caesar) Burnett and member David Johnson (who performed the spoken-word portion of "Those Oldies but Goodies") as to which of them should be called Little Caesar.