The Vogues

Formed in 1958 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania while its members were still in high school, vocal group The Vogues (first known as The Valaires) has had a convoluted history over the years, but initially consisted of just four singers: lead baritone Bill Burkette, baritone Don Miller, first tenor Hugh Geyer and second tenor Chuck Blasko. After releasing their debut single “Launie, My Love” and playing numerous shows, the group went on hiatus while its members either enlisted in the army or pursued higher education. They reconvened in 1965 to record an abundance of new rock and roll and blue-eyed soul material, also founding their own label, Blue Star. The quartet’s second single, a cover of Petula Clark’s “You’re the One”, was a national success following their signing to Co & Ce Records, entering the Billboard Hot 100 at number four. In December of the same year, they released their first album, Meet the Vogues, which consisted entirely of covers of recent chart hits. The group’s third single, “Five O’Clock World”, matched the achievement of its predecessor, and they went on to release four more albums in the 1960s, bagging eleven more Hot 100 hits over the course of the decade. Several more albums and record deals later, the group underwent multiple lineup changes in the 1970s, with Geyer and Miller leaving The Vogues and a complicated trademark lawsuit leading various other groups to stake their claim to the band name. Permitted to perform under the name in just fourteen Pennsylvania counties, Blasko’s group found itself dwarfed by a rival band, who owned the trademark and were allowed to perform internationally as the Vogues. Both Geyer and Burkette went on to briefly join the “trademark” group’s lineup in the 21st century, although it no longer includes any of the original members. In 2018, Burkette passed away at the age of 75.

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