In the early 1950s, the stars of pop music were singers such as Frank Sinatra, Vic Damone, Patti Page and Perry Como. Rock 'n roll was still undefined and waiting for a young man in Memphis named Elvis Presley to push the music form into the spotlight.

But a prototype of rock 'n roll was being developed by black musicians such as Fats Domino, Chuck Willis and Johnny Otis. Back then, the two different poles of pop music were coloured black and white.

A Canadian quartet, who left the choir loft of Toronto's St. Michael's Cathedral, played gigs around Ontario and eventually made it to the recording studios of New York and contributed much to the blending of big band swing and rhythm and blues that would become rock 'n roll.

The group was the Crew-Cuts, and in some circles, their song Sh-Boom is considered to be the first rock 'n roll hit. To many critics, the Crew-Cuts were just another vocal act doing covers of so-called "black songs" and reaping the benefits. But it was only after the group recorded The Chords' song Sh-Boom that it became a number one hit. The quartet's Rudi Maugeri has his opinion.

"If we hadn't done Sh-Boom, (it) would not have become a major hit,' he said. "If we hadn't done Don't Be Angry or Ko Ko Mo (I Love You So) or Earth Angel, these songs would not have helped the black groups get their music to the white masses. They helped us by writing good material, and we helped them by doing their material and presenting it to white audiences. "You see you couldn't have gone completely from big band to rock 'n roll without a group like ours to mesh it together. It couldn't have gone from Harry James to Elvis Presley."

The Crew-Cuts were named to the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1984.