The Rascals were one of the most successful “blue-eyed” soul bands of the 1960s. Their freewheeling integration of other styles (like R&B, psychedelic rock and jazz) into their initial garage rock sound made them one of the more versatile pop groups of their time.

The band began when three short-lived touring members of Joey Dee & the Starliters (Felix Cavaliere, Eddie Brigati and Gene Cornish) joined forces with R&B drummer Dino Danelli to create a pop group to rival those of the British Invasion then dominating the airwaves. They quickly earned a reputation as a great dance rock band and were signed by Atlantic Records in 1965.

Though they were always known as The Rascals, fear of a lawsuit from Borrah Minevitch & His Harmonica Rascals made the label change their name to The Young Rascals. This developed, along with their Little Lord Fauntleroy-esque uniforms, against the band’s will and much to their chagrin.

They’re best known for their string of smash hits during the late ‘60s, including “Good Lovin'”, “Groovin'”, “A Beautiful Morning” and “People Got to Be Free”.

In 1968, the band finally gained enough success to ditch their matching uniforms and drop the “Young” from their name. They began to take a more serious approach to their music, which became more conceptual, heady and psychedelic. Sales began to sag and hits grew fewer, farther between and lower on the charts.

Brigati left in 1970, Cornish followed the year after. Cavaliere & Dinelli tried to keep the band going, turning them towards a more jazz fusion-influenced progressive bent, but the audience wasn’t interested and they ended their run in 1972.

The band toured in various forms for the rest of the 20th century – while threat of lawsuit prevented them from touring as “The Rascals”, the new outfits called themselves names like The New Rascals. The original lineup reunited completely in 2013 for an autobiographical Broadway stage show titled The Rascals: Once Upon a Dream. It ran at the Richard Rodgers Theatre for a month, then toured the East Coast for the rest of the year.

The Rascals were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.