Ike Perry and the Lyrics / 5 Lyrics

Cleveland, mid 1950s-70s

Isaac "Ike" Perry was the leader of this Cleveland vocal group, who started in the mid 50s and played the midwest circuit well into their 70s. The group started out as the 5 Lyrics and recorded a couple songs  that ended up on the Music City label from Berkeley, CA. The songs are believed to have been recorded in Chicago. The original 45 is very rare with only a few surviving copies accounted for.

The group continued as Ike Perry and the Lyrics. They recorded off and on, a couple 45s for the Mama label in Cleveland, which was Perry's own. The first Mama 45 shares a Rite account with Cleveland's Warwick label. One of the Mama label 45s was rereleased on Courier and a couple other non Ohio labels. They aslo recorded a couple earlier 45s on labels from NYC and Dallas.The suspicion here is that he tried some song-poem type operations to get the records out. The last commerically released 45 was in the mid 60s, but they recorded some unreleased songs in the 1970s. An acetate of some 70s recordings were offered for sale and sold on eBay for a huge amount of money.

Ike Perry is also credited with co-wrting

Details are slim about the history of the group, and the members. Ike Perry passed away in 2013, still living in Cleveland. The obit said he was the last surviving member.

Discography:
I'm Traveling Light / My Honey Sweet Pea - Music City 799, 1955
Star Steps to Heaven / The Love Bug's Got Me - Bridge 110/111,  1958
I Got You Covered / You Can Be My Honey (When You Get The Money) - Cowtown 801, 1960
My Letter To You / Sweet Honey Pea - Mama 1/2 (Rite 10045/6) 1963
At The Party / Don't Let It Get You Down - Mama 859M-3614 (no label number, RCA pressing number), Courier (same RCA master), Naurlene 100 (Pittsburgh market reissue), Azalea
She's Got His Nose Wide Open / Lovin' Papa - Ann 101, Bee 1875, 1964?