They have since been hailed as being one of the finest and most influential vocal groups in pop and doo wop music history.
The band's cover version of "I Only Have Eyes for You" was ranked number 158 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
The Flamingos' first single (for Chance Records), "If I Can't Have You", was a moderate local success, as was the follow-up "That's My Desire", but it was Johnny Carter's composition of "Golden Teardrops", with its complex vocal harmonies and Carter's soaring falsetto, that cemented their reputation as a top regional act of the day.
[6] Pat Boone's cover version of the song, complete with revised lyrics ("My mind's made up" replacing "My time's about up"), was a hit on the pop charts.
[5] Nate Nelson, Jake Carey and Paul Wilson continued the group with new member Tommy Hunt (added in October 1956).
Their most notable single was Johnson's arrangement of "The Ladder of Love", but legal entanglements between Checker and Nate Nelson ruined any chance of commercial success.
[5] Almost immediately, the group had their first pop chart hit with "Lovers Never Say Goodbye",[5] written by Terry Johnson, who shared lead chores on the song with Paul Wilson.
The formula was a winner as Johnson and Wilson also led three of the 12 songs selected for their first album Flamingo Serenade – George Gershwin's "Love Walked In", "But Not for Me" and "Time Was".
The Flamingos had their biggest seller in 1959 with another old standard from that LP, on which Nate Nelson handled lead vocals.
"I Only Have Eyes for You" (written in 1934 by composer Harry Warren and lyricist Al Dubin for the film Dames) became their biggest seller,[5] and has been featured in dozens of movies and TV shows.
They recorded several uptempo songs through the 1960s, peaking at number 26 in the UK Singles Chart with "The Boogaloo Party".
By this time, the group was the Careys, McClure, Fontaine, the returning Billy Clarke, and former Limelite Clarence Bassett, Jr.[12] New member Frank "Mingo" Ayers joined soon after.
[18] King Raymond Green and Ron Reace left around that time and were replaced by Earnest "Just Mike" Gilbert and former Dynamic Superior George Spann.
The current lineup is Johnson, Starling Newsome, Stan Prinston and musical director Theresa Trigg.
[23] J. C. Carey, Jr., Terry Johnson, Tommy Hunt and descendants of Nate Nelson and Paul Wilson sued PepsiCo for having used "I Only Have Eyes For You" in a 1998 television commercial, allegedly without having consulted the group.
The group which performed at the Rock Hall ceremony included Terry Johnson on lead, Hunt, and Carter.