Three Suns

Moonlight and Roses

      The postwar-era pop trio the Three Suns comprised vocalist/organist Artie Dunn, guitarist Al Nevins and accordionist Morty Nevins. Although formed in 1939, the group did not achieve widespread success until their 1944 Top 20 rendition of "Twilight Time," co-written by the trio with Buck Ram, sold over a million copies. In 1947 the Three Suns topped the charts with "Peg o' My Heart," but by the 1950s line-up shuffles plagued the group -- first Al Nevins was replaced by Johnny Buck, who later gave way to Joe Negri, while brother Morty Nevins was replaced by accordionist and pianist Joe Vento in 1955. After disbanding, Dunn reformed the trio in 1957 with guitarist Johnny Romano and accordionist Tony Lovello; a largely-forgotten curio for several decades, by the 1990s the Three Suns had accrued hipster cache thanks to the lounge-music revival, and their original recordings resurfaced on any number of exotica and "space-age bachelor pad" reissues. Al Nevins also etched his name in pop history as the co-founder, with Don Kirshner, of Aldon Music, the songwriting house which served as the epicenter of the Brill Building music factory.