The Medallions

The Medallions
Origin	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Genres	R&B
Years active	1954–1960s occasionally later
Labels	Dootone
Past members	Vernon Green Andrew Blue Randolph Bryant Ira Foley Willy Graham Donald Woods Jimmy Green Charles Gardner Albert Johnson Otis Scott Billy Foster Bubba (Buddha) Carter Joe Williams Jerome Evans

The Medallions were an American doo-wop vocal group led by Vernon Green (1937–2000).

The group formed in Los Angeles in 1954, after Vernon Green was heard singing on the street by Walter "Dootsie" Williams, the owner of Dootone Records. Green – who walked with a cane as a result of childhood polio – put together a singing group with three friends from Fremont High School, Andrew Blue (tenor), Randolph Bryant (baritone), and Ira Foley (bass), and named them the Medallions because of his own penchant for wearing medallions around his neck. Their first release, "Buick 59", based on Todd Rhodes' double-entendre R&B recording "Rocket 69", was one of the first releases on Dootone in September 1954. It was backed with a ballad called "The Letter", which received extensive airplay in the region. "The Letter" contained the nonsense lyric, "the 'puppetutes' of love", which was later picked up by the Steve Miller Band as "the pompatus of love" and used in their song "The Joker". The song also included the nonsense word "pismotality", invented by Green.

Blue was replaced by Willy Graham, and Donald Woods joined to make the group a quintet. The group became a popular attraction in southern California, appearing on bills with stars such as Fats Domino, Percy Mayfield and T-Bone Walker. They continued to release singles on Dootone into late 1955, including "Edna", a favorite of Frank Zappa when interviewed on the Pop Chronicles documentary. They also recorded with singer Johnny Morrisette, as Johnny Twovoice & The Medallions. The original version of the Medallions then broke up.

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