The Cascades vocalists are Mike Cuomo, Jack Leichtner, Rick Nicolini, and Thomas Swift. Between them, and I hesitate to say this, they have over 100 years of experience entertaining fans all over the NY area! Of course this means absolutely nothing, except that their not a bad looking group for a bunch of old guys. LOL (laughing out loud!).
Seriously, though, these guys have been around, and every member of The Cascades has a long history of performing in live bands. A love of music and entertaining is the common bond that brought them together, and it's what keeps the group going strong to this day.
Here’s some trivia about the band members:
Mike Cuomo, lead vocals, first and second tenor, hails from Brooklyn and has lived in the Manorville area of eastern Suffolk County since the early 80's. Mike was born on New Years Eve...but won’t say what year. (LOL again!)
Mickey started singing Acapella at the age of 14 on South Brooklyn street corners, around the same era as famous Brooklyn Doo-Wop groups like The Classics, Vito & The Salutations and The Passions. He's performed professionally since 1970 with many Oldies groups, including The Passions, The Brooklyn Vocal Ensemble, The Decades, Champagne, and Classic Rock bands like Buzz, Fat Jessie and others too numerous to mention.
Mike had a brief but interesting career in Disco in the late 70's. He toured Italy promoting a huge novelty Disco hit song called Lady Bug, in 1978, for the legendary Disco/ House label: Red Gregg Records, and later that year released a couple of dance singles of his own under the Olympus label, using the stage names Michael Cori and Mick Corey. Mike was amused to find out recently that one of those records is considered a rare collectors item and comes up on EBay every now and then! To this day, Mike hates Disco music with a passion.
Jack Leichtner, first tenor and lead vocals, is the on-stage spokesman for the band. He opens and closes the show with his friendly banter and classic band introductions and specializes in singing some of the best Drifters tunes you ever heard. As one of the founding members, Jack has seen a few Cascades come and go before the current core lineup stabilized in the mid 90's. He especially loves the camaraderie of hanging and singing with the boys, and is sometimes amazed that we've remained friends all these years. Music is a wonderful thing. His mission is to make The Cascades the best and most popular Oldies/Party band on The East Coast. (We're working on it, bro.)
Jack says he likes getting married, so much so that he keeps doing it. Divorces however are becoming more and more expensive, so he’s taking a sabbatical right now. (Between you and me, though, I think Ginger's got his number.)
Like Mike, Jack is also Brooklyn born and was raised in the Brownsville and East Flatbush sections. He's sung with Long Island Sound, The Carlons, Encore, Time and Time Again, and "others not worth mentioning".
Rick Nicolini, baritone, bass and lead vocals, comes from the proud Queens neighborhood of Corona. In fact in Corona circles, Rick is quite a legend (in his own mind!) and he's often a subject of note on the many different Corona Internet blogs. He now lives in Connecticut and is so dedicated to the band that he actually drives from there to all the Cascade jobs on Long Island and the city. He's hoping that maybe just once he'll make enough money to pay his gas & toll expenses. With the price of gas these days, though, he might want to think about going back to his former job as a Verizon executive!
Rick, like all the Cascade band members, began by singing street corner Doo-Wop in his early teens. He’s performed with several notable Oldies bands over the years, including Subway Serenade and Encore, but counts The Cascades as his greatest success. Rick loves singing classic Rockin' tunes like "Old Time Rock n Roll" and "Sea Cruise", and he can shake that booty with the best of 'em. We'd give him more songs to sing except we can’t keep him on stage when he sings leads and we're afraid he might get hurt on the dance floor in the crush of his adoring fans.
Tom Swift, rock steady 2nd tenor, baritone and basswas born on the upper west side of Manhattan, in Harlem, and started singing in 1955 at the ripe young age of 13. "There was a group on every corner in those days", Tom remembers fondly. He went to school with guys like Frankie Lyman and The Teenagers, and Earl Carroll, lead singer of the Cadillac’s lived just 2 blocks away. That's some pretty good company!
Tom's first professional group, The Devonshires, recorded "Nadine", in 1956, and in 1959 opened for The Chantels at The Incarnation Church in Washington Heights, one of Doo-Wop's legendary, but little-known venues. In 1961 Tom joined the group MSH (Morning Side Heights) and recorded several tunes for Allegro Records, including "San Francisco Baby", which he wrote, arranged and sang baritone on.
Married and drafted in 1967, Tom served in the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Div. in Vietnam, where in-between jumping out of planes he teamed up with three guys from Chicago to do a USO show in Bien Hoa for the troops. During the decade following the war, the talented Mr. Swift played guitar and piano to maintain his musical chops while raising a family on Long Island. It was during this period that Tom developed an interest in Magic and performed professionally as a Magician throughout the NY area. Sometimes, Tom will go out into the audience and delight fans with sleight-of-hand tricks while we're on-stage singing This Magic Moment.
Mike Cuomo, lead vocals, first and second tenor, hails from Brooklyn and has lived in the Manorville area of eastern Suffolk County since the early 80's. Mike was born on New Years Eve...but won’t say what year. (LOL again!)
Jack Leichtner, first tenor and lead vocals, is the on-stage spokesman for the band. He opens and closes the show with his friendly banter and classic band introductions and specializes in singing some of the best Drifters tunes you ever heard. As one of the founding members, Jack has seen a few Cascades come and go before the current core lineup stabilized in the mid 90's. He especially loves the camaraderie of hanging and singing with the boys, and is sometimes amazed that we've remained friends all these years. Music is a wonderful thing. His mission is to make The Cascades the best and most popular Oldies/Party band on The East Coast. (We're working on it, bro.)
Rick Nicolini, baritone, bass and lead vocals, comes from the proud Queens neighborhood of Corona. In fact in Corona circles, Rick is quite a legend (in his own mind!) and he's often a subject of note on the many different Corona Internet blogs. He now lives in Connecticut and is so dedicated to the band that he actually drives from there to all the Cascade jobs on Long Island and the city. He's hoping that maybe just once he'll make enough money to pay his gas & toll expenses. With the price of gas these days, though, he might want to think about going back to his former job as a Verizon executive!
Tom Swift, rock steady 2nd tenor, baritone and bass was born on the upper west side of Manhattan, in Harlem, and started singing in 1955 at the ripe young age of 13. "There was a group on every corner in those days", Tom remembers fondly. He went to school with guys like Frankie Lyman and The Teenagers, and Earl Carroll, lead singer of the Cadillac’s lived just 2 blocks away. That's some pretty good company!