From “Up on the Roof” to “Under the Boardwalk,” The Drifters recorded some of the most popular songs of the 1960s. On Wednesday, August 21, the renowned group conclude the City of Cape May Summer Concert Series. The show takes place at Cape May Convention Hall, 714 Beach Avenue in Cape May, New Jersey, beginning at 8 p.m.
Since 1957, the Drifters have had no less than five legendary lead singers, including Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Clyde McPhatter and Ben E. King. Such stalwart and famed individual lead singers as Charley Thomas, Bill Pinkney, and Johnny Moore have passed through the group over the years, each recording their share of Drifters hits. For the past 25 years, their star lead singer is Jerome Jackson, who also performed as the lead singer for the Main Ingredient in the 1970s. From “Save the Last Dance for Me,” which hit Number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1960, to “Up on the Roof,” the history-making single which sold two million copies, to “Under the Boardwalk,” the Jersey Shore classic which has been covered by performers such as Bette Midler, John Mellencamp, and the Beach Boys, the Drifters have had 33 songs on the Billboard Hot 100.
The first musical rock and roll group to incorporate string instruments into rhythm and blues with “There Goes My Baby,” the Drifters were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, along with fellow inductees The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and the Supremes. Members of the Vocal Group Hall of Fame and the Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame, the group has performed for the Pope, the Queen of England, and Nelson Mandela, and toured for the USO in three different war zones, from Korea to Iraq.
Tickets are $48 for reserved seats and can be purchased in person at Cape May Convention Hall, 714 Beach Avenue or online at CapeMayCity.com. Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/capemaycity and follow us on Twitter@capemaycity. For more information, call (609) 884-9565.