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Their doo-wop sound harks back
to the 1950's and they do a tasty cover of the old Platters'
song of the same name, but the moniker of Northwest Indiana's
Harbor Lights has nothing to do with that timeless tune.
"It's really an homage to
our Northwest Indiana roots," said George Carl, one-fifth
of the crooning quintet with two national CDs and two sports
anthems to its credit.
"Indiana Harbor is a very
important part of Northwest Indiana, and it was the perfect name
for a group like us, because it was where a lot of street-corner
groups could be found singing back in the 1950's."
It was in just such a group Jim
Calinski honed his vocals as a teen. Calinski became a Harbor
Light four months ago, after replacing longtime member Jason
Andrews.
"We actually went through
two member changes just a few weeks apart,” said Carl, the
son of traveling show-biz parents. The Lakes of the Four Seasons
resident spent 13 years with the popular Chicagoland vocal group,
Yesterday’s Rhythm.
Veteran member Ron Hancher left
the group when his day job required him to relocate and was replaced
by doo-wop newcomer, George McDonald of Crown Point.
“I first heard George singing
in our church,” Carl recalled.
“He is actually a drummer,
but one day when he was singing with the church choir, he stepped
up for a solo, and his voice really impressed me. George’s
singing voice has a very ‘black’ feel, which opens
us up to a lot more material.”
That collective “us”
includes Harbor Lights cofounding members Dave Mitchell of Dyer
and Cheryl DeRosier of Whiting who, like Carl and Calinski, have
been in many professional vocal groups over the years.
Unlike most traditional doo-wop
groups, Harbor Lights’ five vocalists each sing lead regularly.
“With all of us doing lead
vocals, our sound changes with every song,” Carl said.
A highlight of their two albums
– “Almost Acappella” and “Absolutely Acappella”
– is the group’s fresh arrangements of old standards.
Their voices replace instruments
on such classics as The Temptations’ “Just My Imagination”
and Rick Nelson’s “Poor Little Fool.”
A few years ago, Harbor Lights
landed a national record deal with Collectables Records, which
focuses on reissuing vintage albums and releasing archival anthologies
by classic hit-makers (www.oldies.com).
But the imprint has a division
called the “Dennis Pettet Collectables Project” series,
which showcases modern vocal groups deemed exceptional by the
project’s namesake, Dennis Pettet, who
stumbled on the Harbor Lights Web site a few years ago while
surfing the net (www.harborlightsdoowop.com).
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Pettet was so impressed he signed
the group to a fiveyear recording deal.
“When I heard Harbor Lights’
sound, it blew me away,” Pettet said.
Harbor Lights’ latest CD,
“Absolutely Acappella,” came out this spring and proudly
declares the purging of all strings and a return to the true
spirit of doo-wopping.
“For this album, we had
a live release party on the air at WGN radio on the ‘Steve
& Johnnie Show,’ “ Carl recalled.
“We were on the air for
two and a half hours singing live and discussing ‘Absolutely
Acappella’ with listeners from all around the country. The
feedback we got on the album and the band was great.”
As with its previous recordings,
Harbor Lights turned to local producer John Carpenter of Hammond’s
Thunderclap Studio to track “Absolutely Acappella.”
“John Carpenter has a lot
to do with how our songs wind up sounding,” Carl said.
“He’s like the sixth
member of this group. John is a very talented guy and has a very
good ear. We trust his judgement and value his opinions.”
Carpenter also produced the two
original Harbor Lights’ anthems for two rival baseball clubs
in the Northern League.
“I thought it’d be
a great idea for us to tie in with a hometown team, so I sat
down and started writing down some lyrics,” said Carl of
what soon became “The Gary Southshore Railcats Anthem.”
Not to be outdone, Railcat rivals
the Joliet Jackhammers commissioned Harbor Lights to compose
an anthem for them as well. Both team anthems originally were
included on the groups’ now out-of-print “A Few Strings
Attached.”
“You can still get both
anthems on the (respective) team Web sites at their stadium gift
shops during the season,” said Carl.
Most recently, Harbor Lights
performed at an event for Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (a confessed
Harbor Lights fan).
Early last month, rock star Dennis
DeYoung of Styx crooned with Harbor Lights during a star-studded
charity event in Bollingbrook, Ill., that was hosted by comedian
and humanitarian Tom Dreesen.
“Everywhere you looked,
there were celebrities,” Carl said.
“Mike Ditka, former Vice
President Dan Quayle, baseball Hall of Famer Johnny Bench (of
the Cincinnati Reds) and Alfonso Ribeiro (of the hit TV series,
“Fresh Prince of Bel-Aire”) – and there we were
singing for them.”
nwi.com/life
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