They released their first single, "If I Can't Have You," in March 1953 and "Golden Teardrops" in October of the same year. By this time, Sollie McElroy had replaced the unreliable Earl Lewis as lead singer. At a club called Martin's Corner on the South Side, the young singers were discovered and signed by manager Ralph Leon, who in turned signed them with Chance Records, Art Sheridan's new South Side label, after being turned down at United Records. The four founder members recruited Earl Lewis as a lead singer and called themselves the Swallows, then El Flamingos, then the Five Flamingos and finally just the Flamingos. Minor key melodies were prevalent, giving the music a feeling of foreboding or sadness, perhaps contributing to the eerie quality of the group's later singing on ballads like "Whispering Stars." The group owes part of its uniqueness to their early singing of Jewish hymns.
The foursome began singing in the choir, eventually spilling out onto the streets near 35th and 36th and Lake Park, the same area where the Highway QCs and Sam Cooke sang. They joined the local black Jewish Church of God and Saints of Christ congregation on 39th and State and met Paul Wilson and Johnny Carter (later cousins to the Careys through marriage). In 1950 cousins Jacob (Jake) and Ezekial (Zeke) Carey moved to Chicago's Douglas community from their native Baltimore, home of Orioles legend Sonny Til, who they saw perform several times in 19. This was probably the case for most record buyers outside the USA, and yet this group of beautifully harmonizing individuals had been laying down mood music on disc since 1953. When the Flamingos hit the international hit parades in 1959 with the deeply romantic "I Only Have Eyes For You" it was the first that I had heard of them (although there had been earlier UK releases).
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