Early in 1957 Bob Trotman met Don Carter, New York agent for the Duke/Peacock organization, at Buddy's Record Shop on 167th Street in the Bronx, and told him of their group. After a live audition in that very same record store, the Bronx boys found themselves contracted to the Texas-based record label.
Originally called the Velvetones, they changed their name to the Rob-Roys (after the drink) and recorded their first single for Peacock's new Blackbeat affiliate in April 1957 at Bell Sound Studios.
"Tell Me Why," written by bass Buzzy Helfand, became credited on all subsequent labels as Helford-Carter. (We all know who the freeloading Carter was, but how Helfand became Helford is a mystery. If it was a spelling mistake why wasn't it corrected on reprints over the years?)
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