DUNCAN,VOICE OF 'EARTH ANGEL',DIES AT 78

Cleve Duncan, whose soaring tenor voice as lead singer for the Penguins helped propel the 1954 doo-wop ballad “Earth Angel (Will You Be Mine)” to rock ’n’ roll immortality, died on Nov. 7 in Los Angeles.

Gilles Petard/Redferns

The Penguins in a 1955 portrait, top to bottom, Bruce Tate, Dexter Tisby, Cleve Duncan and Curtis Williams.

Art Laboe, a disc jockey who promoted Penguins concerts and produced one of Mr. Duncan’s records, announced the death on his Web site. Many sources have Mr. Duncan’s age as 77, but according to his voting records he was 78.

“Earth Angel,” which has sold more than 10 million copies, was the Penguins’ only hit. But its rhythmic, wailing plea to an idealized young woman captured the spirit of the just-emerging rock generation. “Earrrrth Aaaangel, Earrrrth Aaaangel, will you be mine?” Mr. Duncan crooned, backed by close harmony vocals and a strong beat.

For many the song evokes a glittering, timeless vision of proms, sock hops and impossibly young love. Rolling Stone placed it on its list of the 500 greatest songs ever, and films like “Back to the Future” have used it to conjure an era.

Cleveland Duncan was born on July 23 of either 1934 or 1935 in Los Angeles, and learned to sing in his church choir and glee clubs. In 1953 he was singing in a talent show attended by Curtis Williams, an aspiring songwriter and baritone singer who thought Mr. Duncan would best give voice to “Earth Angel.” (Authorship of the song became a topic of bitter dispute; Jesse Belvin and Gaynel Hodge are now credited along with Mr. Williams as writers.)

Mr. Duncan and Mr. Williams decided to form a group. Mr. Duncan brought in Dexter Tisby, a tenor, from his high school, and Mr. Williams brought in Bruce Tate, a baritone, from his. They took their name from a pack of Kool cigarettes, whose advertising mascot was a penguin. Several other vocal groups were named after bird species, so why not?

The Penguins gathered in a garage to make their first recording, the B side of a record by the Dootsie Williams Orchestra. It went unnoticed. In October 1954 they returned to the garage to record “Hey Senorita,” a song indisputably by Curtis Williams, as the A side, with “Earth Angel” on the back. Disc jockeys started playing the B side, and it took off.

In early 1955 “Earth Angel” reached No. 1 on the rhythm-and-blues charts and No. 8 on the Billboard pop chart, a rare achievement for an R&B record at the time. As was common, a white group, the Crew-Cuts, recorded a version of the song. Their rendition reached No. 3, but it is the Penguins’ original that has continued to sell.

The Penguins never again came close to their initial success. They partly blamed Buck Ram, the manager they had hired after scoring their hit. He also managed the Platters, one of the 1950s’ most successful groups, and the Penguins came to believe he gave the Platters more attention and better songs.

The Penguins broke up in 1958, but Mr. Duncan later re-formed the group. With a succession of new members, he led the Penguins for more than 40 years.

Information on Mr. Duncan’s survivors was not immediately available.

He was convinced that “Earth Angel” would survive in the American memory. “I never get tired of singing it,” he said, “as long as people never get tired of hearing it.”