Rock n’ Roll Hall Of Fame Inductees 

The Rascals (initially the Young Rascals) were paragons of "blue-eyed soul" - that is, soul music played and sung by white performers. Other well-known purveyors of blue-eyed soul include the Righteous Brothers and such British singers as Steve Winwood, Van Morrison and Joe Cocker. However, no one had more commercial clout in the Sixties than the Rascals who could belt it out with the best of them. The Rascals were masters of the three-minute single: sustained bursts of highly energized pop-soul made to be blasted over transistor radios or danced to at parties and discotheques. Three of the four members had apprenticed with Joey Dee and the Starliters (of "Peppermint Twist" fame), and all could legitimately claim backgrounds in R&B. The Rascals came together in New York City when Felix Cavaliere, Gene Cornish and Eddie Brigati left Dee and recruited drummer Dino Danelli.

Manager Sid Bernstein (who, as a promoter, brought the Beatles to Shea Stadium) got them signed to Atlantic Records. Their first single, "I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore," climbed the Hot Hundred and its follow-up, a breathlessly up tempo version of the Olympics' "Good Lovin'," went to #1. Several more quintessential blue-eyed soul singles followed, including "You Better Run" and "I've Been Lonely Too Long". At this point, the Rascals underwent a radical shift in direction. Inspired by the sweeping changes wrought by the Sixties counterculture, they took a markedly more mellow approach to their music. Once again they hit the jackpot when "Groovin'," a soulful reverie about "groovin' on a sunny afternoon," shot to #1 in the spring of 1967. By the end of the year, the Rascals had gone full-tilt psychedelic with songs like "It's Wonderful".

The Rascals' biggest hit, "People Got to Be Free," is an impassioned response to the assassinations of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. It topped the charts for five weeks in 1968 and inspired a follow-up single, "A Ray of Hope," written for and about Teddy Kennedy. At this juncture, the Rascals began focusing on albums instead of singles, as was typical of the time. Their more experimental, elongated approach resulted in records like Freedom Suite, a double album from 1969. By the early Seventies, the Rascals had mutated into an impressionistic jazz-rock outfit and moved from Atlantic to Columbia Records. It marked a continuing process of evolution for the band.  With Many Hit Singles & Hit Albums, The Rascals have earned their place in Music History!