A New York street corner group that could really sing, the Cellos chose to make their niche in the oddball world of novelty records. Banding together at Charles Evan Hughes High School in downtown Manhattan were Alton Campbell (lead), Billy Montgomery (first tenor), Clifford Williams (second tenor), Bobby Thomas (baritone) and Alvin Williams (bass). They formed in 1955 and at first called themselves the Marcals. Influenced by groups ranging from The Coasters to The Harptones, the youngsters practiced the hits of the day in the halls of school until Alvin started writing. One of his compositions was a catchy rocker with a wacky lyric about a guy who got all the girls because he was a Japanese sandman. They took that song (Rang Tang Ding Dong) and several others to Nola Studios in January 1957. $4 later they had such an outrageous demo that engineer Lew Merenstein felt compelled toplay it for his uncle Charles Merenstein of Apollo Records. Charles heard the potential and by January 24th the Cellos were in Mastertone studios cutting the master that would be released in April. From its earcatching intro and wailing Sam "the Man" Taylor sax solo to the ragged vocal stop where Alvin exclaims, "All you guys say the big things, all I get to say is he goes, "Rang Tang" was a happy hit bound 45. The song was covered by a 16-year old named Ray Stevens, who would go on to make a career of recording novelty records like "The Streak" (#1, 1974).

On May 27, 1957, the Cellos' "Rang Tang Ding Dong" slipped onto the Billboard Top 100, rising to number 62 by the summer. Surprisingly, the record never made the R&B charts, but the Cellos were too excited and busy to care. Despite their novelty-song reputation, the boys could also sing ballads. "I Beg for Your Love", "Under Your Spell" and "You Took My Love" clearly show that had they stayed together longer, they might have done great things for the right label. Instead Alton and Billy went off to sing with the Channels in 1959, and that was it for the Cellos. They were a group that deserved more attention and the Cellos' releases were finally compiled on an LP in the late '80s on Apollo by Relic Records.