"I don't want to leave nobody out.  It was Alex (Hodge) who started all
this."                                                                                                       Zola Taylor - 1972
In the early 50's Reba Gunter encouraged the young people in her Los Angeles neighborhood to come
to her house to sing and write songs.  Among those who met there were brothers Alex and Gaynell
Hodge, Joe Jefferson, and David Lynch.  Her daughter Shirley would found the group Shirley Gunter
and the Queens.  Her son Cornell would begin with The Platters and go on to The Flares before joining
The Coasters.
Alex Hodge's house was also a gathering place, and Hodge suggested they start a group.  Several
singers came and went including Gunter.  Gaynell Hodge had other ambitions, but was often pressed
to duty as the bass because basses didn't show up for rehearsals.
One afternoon Alex and Cornell were walking down the street and ran into a friend.  They told her they
were looking for a bass for their group.  She suggested her cousin who had just gotten out of the
service, Herb Reed.  Reed was interested and joined the group.
The group entered talent contests and won.  They got a recording with Federal Records and recorded
several sides, but were not successful in getting a hit.
Tony Williams became discouraged with the lack of success and asked his sister, Linda Hayes, to
arrange an audtion with her manager, Buck Ram.
Ram, a successful songwriter, was looking for a group to sing his songs. Williams was interested in a
career as a solo artist.  Ram explained to Williams that the trend in popular music was groups, and
Williams agreed to bring in some of the fellows with whom he had been singing.  It was Williams not  
Hodge who made the initial contact with Ram.  It was Hodge who went to the other singers after
Williams told him of the opportunity with Ram.
Within weeks Williams took Alex Hodge, David Lynch and Herb Reed to meet Ram.  Shortly after that
meeting Ram signed them to a management contract.  They took the name from the group, and The
Platters were on their way to success.
Things took off quickly.  Shortly after signing the young men, Ram (with Bennett) went to Ralph Bass
at Federal Records and asked his permission to record the group.  Bass agreed.  It was only a few
weeks later that Bennett was going through a box of Ram's old songs and came across one she
thought would be a hit.  It was "Only You."


"Buck Ram was a pain in the ass.  That's why The Platters are what they
are today - Stars."                              Art Talmadge - Head of A&R Mercury Records
Things seemed to be moving quickly, but it took a year and a half before the group would have its
first hit.  It wasn't for lack of trying.  "Only You" was record three times on Federal with three
different line-ups.  Twice as a quartet, and once with Linda Hayes. None were hit material.
Ram saw a different direction for the group than Bass.  When Mercury came to Ram and wanted to
sign one of his other acts, The Pengins ("Earth Angel"), Ram insisted they take The Platters too.  
Mecury had no interest in The Platters but agreed in order to get The Penguins.  They left the future
of The Platters in the hands of Ram and Bennett while Mercury concentrated on The Penguins which
did not work in The Penguins favor.  They never had another hit, and The Platters went on to be the
biggest group of an era.
Ram had the group incorporate.  Each member received 20% of the stock, and each received equal
salaries from the corporation.  There was no favoritism as to who was the "star" of the group. Each
singer was given leads, however, it was Tony Williams' voice that stood out, and the hits were made
on the songs on which he sang lead.
Ram wrote the songs or arranged them.  He produced the records.  He negotiated the contracts, and
fought to make the group successful.
When Mercury announced at an industry convention that "Only You" would be released on their
purple "race music" label, Ram went balistic.  The group had worked too hard to have their audience
and record sales limited by the color of a record label or the color of the singers skin.  Besides, it was
Ram's group.  His songs.  He sent the records back and insisted they be relabeled. He won that round,
thereby lying down the foundation for future record producers from Barry Gordy to Russell Simmons.

"Only You" went to #4 on the charts, but their follow-up song, "The Great Pretender," with lyrics
written in the men's room of the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas, went to #1, and stayed there until
knocked out of the position by Elvis with "Hound Dog."
The line-up of the group stayed stable for 6 years when Tony Williams left to pursue the solo career
he had always wanted.  Ram secured a recording contract for him with Reprise Records and
recorded 2 albums with him there.  Zola left soon after to concentrate on her family.  Paul Robi was
voted out of the group after being arrested on drug charges.  David Lynch, father of 9, left to help his
wife with their teenagers.  Herb Reed remained with the group until 1970 when he left after a power
struggle Ram.
While the hits tapered off after Williams left the group, The Platters did chart again twice in the
mid-60's with Sonny Turner singing lead.  The group has toured continually as The Buck Ram
Platters since the 70's.  Ram's name was added as a qualifier to the group's name after the Great
Pretenders began popping up around the world including 4 white men in Israel calling themselves the
"Original Platters."
The Platters stepped out from the pack not only in hits but in technical breakthroughs and public
relations coups.  They were the first group to record on 45's.  The first group to make a music video
- in the 70's on a mountain top in Greece.  The first black group to play to a mixed audience in South
Africa in the 80's.  Bennett had them named Good Will Ambassadors to the World by President
Kennedy.  Many of these achievements were accomplished after all of the original singers had left the
group.
Ram often said the reason the group didn't stay on the top of the charts was because he knew how to
write for Williams' voice and that was the key to the group's success.  However, he felt that Monroe
Powell, lead singer of The Buck Ram Platters for 25 years, had the best voice he had ever heard.  He
also felt that Gene Williams, Bass singer for the group for 18 years, was the best bass voice he had
heard based on Williams' vocal range.
Despite claims by everyone who has passed Ram or Bennett in a parking lot and nodded that they
have rights or were part of The Platters, The Buck Ram Platters continue to perform around the
world performing Ram's hit songs guided by Bennett and Ram's daughter and grandson.
Our Mission: Protecting the Past, Celebrating the Present, Commanding
the Future, One generation at a time.