The Viscounts, an instrumental group formed in New Jersey in 1958, hit the charts twice with their version of Earl Hagen's bluesy Harlem Nocturne.
The Viscounts, fronted by saxophonist Harry Haller, first recorded the tune for Madison in 1959.
The single rose to No. 52 on the Billboard pop chart and was followed by an album.
In 1965 both the single and album recorded for Madison were reissued on the Amy label.
This time the Viscounts' recording of Harlem Nocturne went to No. 39 on the Billboard chart. The reissued album had a slightly different track listing than the Madison release.
Most of the Viscounts early recordings, including all the tracks on both versions of the album, were collected on a 1998 CD release, Harlem Nocturne: Lost Instrumentals, Vol. 1. It's pictured at the top of this post
One of the tracks on the vinyl LP (both versions) was Viscount Rock. The link below will get you the MP3 of that tune.
Viscount Rock
The Vulture CD has long been out of print, although there are a few copies for sale on eBay for about $17. That's about the cheapest you'll find it. A word of warning: The sound quality is far from pristine and the packaging is slipshod, so it's possible this is a bootleg.
With the exception of Harlem Nocturne, none of the Viscounts' recordings appear to be available as legal downloads.
From YouTube, here's the Viscounts' big hit.
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