The Penguins

The Penguins
Origin	Los Angeles, California, United States
Genres	Doo wop, rhythm and blues
Years active	1953–2012
Labels	Dootone, Mercury, Atlantic
Past members	Cleveland Duncan Curtis Williams Dexter Tisby Bruce Tate Randy Jones Ray Brewster Teddy Harper Walter Saulsberry Vesta King Evelyn King Vera Walker Rudy Wilson Glenn Madison

The Penguins were an American doo-wop group of the 1950s and early 1960s, best remembered for their only Top 40 hit, "Earth Angel", which was one of the first rhythm and blues hits to cross over to the pop charts. The song peaked at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, but had a three-week run at #1 on the R&B chart, later used in the Back to the Future movies. The group's tenor was Cleveland Duncan.

The original members of The Penguins were Cleveland Duncan (July 23, 1935 – November 7, 2012), Curtis Williams (December 11, 1934 – August 10, 1979), Dexter Tisby (March 10, 1935) and Bruce Tate (January 27, 1937 – June 20, 1973). Duncan and Williams were former classmates at Fremont High School in Los Angeles, California, and Williams had become a member of The Hollywood Flames. In late 1953, they decided to form a new vocal group, and added Tisby and Tate. Their midtempo performance style was a cross between rhythm and blues and rock and roll. Williams brought with him a song, "Earth Angel", on which he had worked with Gaynel Hodge, another member of the Hollywood Flames.

The Penguins were one of a number of doo-wop groups of the period named after birds (such as The Orioles, The Flamingos, and The Crows). One of the members smoked Kool cigarettes, which, at the time, had "Willie the Penguin" as its cartoon advertising character. They considered themselves "cool", and accordingly decided to call themselves "The Penguins".

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