Curtis had previously performed with the Vocaleers, Gaston with the Four Bells, Willis with the Crows, and Owens, Baylor and Williams with the Mello-Moods.

[2] Willis happened to work for Hal Jackson, a famous disc jockey and radio personality at WLIB.

Just teenagers at the time, the Solitaires wrote most of their own material and had their own style of harmony, which helped distinguish them from the other street-corner singers.

[2] The group was signed to the Old Town record label, from which they issued a series of singles that included "Wonder Why", "Blue Valentine", and a cover version of the jazz standard, "I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance with You".

[3] Love had taken voice lessons as a child, and had released a single with the Concords while still in high school, writing the lyrics and singing the lead on both sides.

[4] With the Concords he had also sung backup on a single with Pearl Reaves ("You Can't Stay Here"/"I'm Not Ashamed") which had done well locally.

Curtis rejoined the group when time permitted and sang lead on a few more songs, including "Please Kiss This Letter" and "Thrill of Love".

When they performed their hit song "The Wedding" and its sequel, "The Honeymoon", Love would wear a mop on his head to play the part of the bride.

For several years the group was made up of Milton Love, Freddy Barksdale, George Magnezid and Robbie Mansfield.

[20] In 1984, the Murray Hill Company released a boxed set of Solitaires recordings which included several previously unreleased songs.

Another unreleased song, "Silent Grief", written and sung by Milton Love, was unearthed by a collector and released in the 1990s.

[23] (Richie Unterberger classed the Solitaires' "I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance With You" with the "should-have-been-hits" in his review of Doo-Wop Box.

[21] Decades after its original release, rock musician Lou Reed mentioned "Later for You, Baby" by the Solitaires in an interview, along with songs by the Mellows and other New York doo-wop groups, noting that they had been far more influential than anyone seemed to realize.