The Impaks originated from Ozone Park, Queens, New York. They met at a Friday night Confraternity (dance) at The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. There were two singing groups that night, the Imaginations and a no name group (Louie Forte's). Charlie left the Imaginations to become lead singer of the newly formed Impaks. Pictured below, right, is the original five, circa late 1961/Early 1962, Top left; Artie Riccio, middle; Charlie Mollica, right; Louie Forte, Bottom left; Dominic "Dickie" Agate, bottom right; Dennis Bounagura. Singing on neighborhood street corners, and the famous Boyd Avenue train station (for the echo) with other groups, happened all the time. A number of those groups were good but never recorded. According to the guys. it was because "That's What You Did" to stay out of trouble. Their career was launched at Leone's restaurant in Long Beach, owned by John Linde. He liked them so much, he became their manager and arranged for them to cut a record for the Express label - which was a subsidiary of Fargo. The Impaks then recorded "Climb Upon Your Rockin' Chair" and the flip side "Make Up Your Mind" in 1963. They had local airplay for both sides, depending on which DJ was playing it. The disc also picked up some spins in California. The Impaks appeared at many venues with other local groups including the Earls, Johnny Maestro & the Crests, Jive Five, the Dubs, Ronettes, Vito and the Salutations, and others. The Impaks actually recorded other songs, but were never released. Listen to my interview with Charlie and Louie Here! The interview was recorded in October of 2007 and was really a lot of fun.

This is the one released record by the Impaks. My copy has the X on "Make Up Your Mind", indicating the side to be played, even though the label showed it as the "B" side. "Climb Up On Your Rocking Chair" is a tribute to then president of the United States at the time, John Fitzgerald Kennedy. A great two sided record, with Make Up Your Mind being an excellent doo wop record. Express has the distribution shown by (Lou) Fargo on the label. Fargo's publishing firm, Instant music, is also shown on both of the labels.
Impaks - Climb Upon Your Rockin Chair
Impaks - Make Up Your Mind
This is the one released record by the Impaks. My copy has the X on "Make Up Your Mind", indicating the side to be played, even though the label showed it as the "B" side. "Climb Up On Your Rocking Chair" is a tribute to then president of the United States at the time, John Fitzgerald Kennedy. A great two sided record, with Make Up Your Mind being an excellent doo wop record. Express has the distribution shown by (Lou) Fargo on the label. Fargo's publishing firm, Instant music, is also shown on both of the labels.
Pictured on the left, is the fabulous Impaks reunion from August of 2007. Charlie Mollica worked hard to get all of the original Impaks together, after more than 40 years, to meet in Ozone Park. Through hours and hours of telephone and research time, he made it happen. And he didn't stop there. He contacted all the people involved with the Impaks, including John Linde, Peter Antell, Angelo Musolino, and Al Striano. Charlie's persistence paid off, and through these people the non-released Master recordings surfaced. Shown on the right, Charlie and Louie graciously agreed to an interview at around midnight Eastern Standard Time. Louie had just flown in from Florida for the reunion the next day. Charlie picked him up from the airport and they went straight to the garage, with cigar and wine in hand, to talk with me and tell their story. We had a great time discussing the history of the Impaks, the journey leading to the amazing reunion, and all the fascinating stories about the neighborhood groups.
Updates: A couple different label variations do exist of their record on Express. An orange label, which may be a promo, and a beige label with no mention of the distribution of Fargo records.
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