Music fans young and old should not miss a marquee event happening on Dec. 20 right here in East Providence.

The Platters, one of the most commercially successful and trailblazing rock n’ roll music groups ever formed, will put on a concert at Elmasian Auditorium at East Providence High School, paying homage to their more than 70-year history while celebrating their continued influence still felt today.

The show has been brought together via East Providence Heritage Arts, which is chaired by Clarence “Junior” Butler. Most well known for his work organizing the annual Heritage Festival (along with Alba Curti), which concluded after more than 40 consecutive years in February of 2023, Butler said in a recent interview that it is still his ambition to bring exciting acts to East Providence in the hopes to raise money for arts and cultural endeavors throughout the year.

“At my age I should be sitting in a chair somewhere, but that’s not what I do,” he said. “My wife and family encourage me to keep going.”

The Platters originally formed in 1951, but they found their star lineup in 1953 with the addition of Herb Reed, who would be credited with naming the group (which came from an observation of his that a bunch of cookies sitting on a tray looked like a bunch of platters, the spinning platform of a record player).

The lineup of Reed, Tony Williams, David Lynch, Paul Robi, and Zola Taylor would go on to create 40 charting singles on the Billboard Hot 100 between 1955 and 1967, including four number-one hits. Some of their songs you might know include the likes of “Only You”, “The Great Pretender”, “(You've Got) The Magic Touch”, “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes”, and “I’m Sorry”.

The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, and was part of the inaugural induction into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame when that started in 1998. They were the first rock and roll-era group to have a Top 10 album in the United States. They were also a trailblazing group due to their makeup, consisting of four Black men, and a Black woman.

While the members changed many times throughout the decades, Reed remained the lone original member until he passed away in 2012 at age 83. A legal battle then ensued between some former members of the band who had started up groups using The Platters name and discography, which ultimately resulted in a judgment in favor of Reed and his estate being the sole trademark holder for The Platters and their music.

All of that is to say that the group coming to East Providence, now consisting of Lance Bernard Bryant, Jovian Ford, Omar Ross, and Brittney Necole Bellamy, is the official group with its roots going all the way back to the early 50s, when Butler was just a kid.

It’s a special event for Butler, and he hopes others will find joy in it as well.

“At the point (they formed) I was about 7 years old. By the time I reached junior high they were very much in vogue. I have a bunch of old records downstairs my wife wants me to throw away but I would venture to say I have some original records down there from The Platters,” he said. “Their music was about harmonizing and about love and caring. They’re going to sing all those songs on the 20th and bring them back to life.”

Butler said he was grateful to Frederick J. Balboni Jr., Reed’s hand-picked manager for the modern iteration of The Platters, who helped bring them to East Providence. He also thanked Alba Curti for her continued friendship and help bringing these kinds of acts to the city.

“There’s going to come a day when Alba and I are gone and it will probably fall to the wayside, but until then we’re going to try to keep this going,” he said. “It’s great to have them here and it’s something I think really adds to Christmas time and the Christmas spirit.”

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