{"id":122801,"date":"2026-02-04T17:15:27","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T17:15:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/122801\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T17:15:27","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T17:15:27","slug":"jimmy-moschello-an-original-member-of-vito-picone-the-elegants-whose-record-little-star-went-gold-in-1958-dies-at-88","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/122801\/","title":{"rendered":"Jimmy Moschello, an original member of Vito Picone & The Elegants, whose record \u2018Little Star\u2019 went gold in 1958, dies at 88"},"content":{"rendered":"

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Vincent (Jimmy) Moschello, the bass\/baritone singer who was an original member of Vito Picone & The Elegants \u2014 and whose mega hit \u201cLittle Star,\u201d topped the charts and earned a gold record in 1958 \u2014 died in Staten Island University Hospital on Monday, according to his family who were by his side. He was 88.<\/p>\n

Born in New Brighton on May 10, 1937 to Angelina and Michael Moschello, Mr. Moschello was one four children, three boys and a girl.<\/p>\n

A singer with a passion for his craft, he joined Vito Picone & The Elegants in 1957, and remained an integral part of the doo wop group for more than six decades \u2014 until his death.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone who grew up in that era, knew young kids hung out in South Beach on the boardwalk,\u201d noted Picone.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had over 100 kids on the boardwalk at times. We brought in singer Artie Venosa, who brought singer Jimmy Moschello to the table and Frankie Tardogna. And that\u2019s how Vito Picone & The Elegants was formed. And once we had the nucleus of the group we sang at church dances and we started live auditions at the record companies all over the city.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJimmy was a character,\u201d added Picone. \u201cWe literally were closer than brothers. And all the guys in the group we bonded the closest \u2014 especially in the last 15 years that we were together. He was very friendly and outgoing and everybody loved him. He would say things that were very funny and break up the monotony. He was the center of attention. I teased him my whole life. It was a friendly thing. Everyone knew him. He was friends with everybody. I could name 15 top artists from the era who loved him with kind words to say. He would do anything for anybody. It didn\u2019t make a difference in time \u2014 he would be there.”<\/p>\n

\"Moschello\"The original Vito Picone & The Elegants, JImmy Moschello, on the bottom, Vito Picone on the upper left, Frankie Tardogno, in the middle and Carman Romano on the right. Artie Venosa took the photo. Group members were on their way to appear on American Bandstand for their first appearance. (Courtesy\/Moschello family)Staten Island Advance<\/p>\n

MORE ON THE THE GROUP<\/p>\n

Vito Picone & The Elegants signed with ABC\/Paramount on their subsidiary label APT, the label on which \u201cLittle Star\u201d was released.<\/p>\n

\"Moschello\"Vito Picone, right, and The Elegants in 1958. From the left, the original Elegants, Artie Venosa, Frankie Tardona, Carmine Romano, and Vincent (Jimmy) Moschello. (Courtesy\/Vito Picone)Staten Island Advance<\/p>\n

Picone said 80,000 records were sold in New York in one week alone.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey flew us to Hawaii,\u201d Picone added. \u201cAnd it was the biggest selling record in the history of the Hawaiian Islands at the time of its release in 1958. They welcomed us with thousands of kids as we followed Elvis into the civic auditorium.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Jimmy\"A clipping from a page of Music Vendor, July 1958. (Courtesy\/Moschello family)Staten Island Advance<\/p>\n

The song\u2019s popularity led to school closures and a police motorcycle escort for the group upon their arrival in Hawaii.<\/p>\n

\"Jimmy\"Jimmy Moschello with his ukelele. (Courtesy\/Moschello family)Staten Island Advance<\/p>\n

MR. MOSCHELLO MARRIES <\/p>\n

Mr. Moshcello, who met his wife, Elena (Fran) when they were just 14, enjoyed recounting the story of how they met. The couple attended McKee High School. She threw a ball \u2014 a dodgeball or something similar \u2014 and the ball hit Moschello.<\/p>\n

From that day on he knew he would marry her.<\/p>\n

The couple married in 1960, and became the parents of five sons, Vincent, twins Michael and Gregory, Joseph, who died 2016, and John, the youngest born in 1967; grandparents to four, Carina, Tina, twins Michael and Nicholas, and two great-grandchildren, Ryder and Teddy.<\/p>\n

The Moshcello\u2019s were married for 57 years until Mrs. Moschello\u2019s passing in 2017.<\/p>\n

When Mr. Moschello wasn\u2019t entertaining audiences on tours and on cruises, he was a bus operator for the New York City Transit Authority from the early 1970s through the 1990s. <\/p>\n

\"Jimmy\"Jimmy Moschello performs before an audience. (Courtesy\/Moschello family)Staten Island Advance<\/p>\n

In addition to singing, he enjoyed painting and hunting, but singing always remained his passion.<\/p>\n

\"Jimmy\"Jimmy Moschello, left, performs on stage with the Elegants. (Courtesy\/Sonny Maxon)Staten Island Advance<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will miss his voice, his love and his presence, but we will carry him with us in music, shared meals and laughter. We love you, Dad, and we will miss you every day. You will always be in our hearts, and will always be our shining star,\u201d said Mr. Moschello\u2019s family, collectively.<\/p>\n

\"Jimmy\"Jimmy Moschello, second from right, and Vito Picone receive awards during a performance. (Courtesy\/Sonny Maxon)Staten Island Advance<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Jimmy came through the door, you heard that familiar strong voice that would fill the house,\u201d added his daughter-in-law, Arlene Moschello. \u201dThe house felt fuller, louder, warmer, and more alive. After all, he is a singer and a very lively, animated person who enveloped you. He was a devoted family man who raised five sons with strength, pride and love. He adored his grandchildren who brought him so much joy. He was truly happy when he was singing and music lived in Jimmy\u2019s soul.”<\/p>\n

She added, \u201cSome of the family\u2019s favorite memories are the simple ones, watching him sing, cook at home, watch movies and just be together.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to his sons and daughter-in-law, Mr. Moschello is survived by sister, Marie Peteroy (Willie). He was predeceased by his brother, Sonny Moschella.<\/p>\n

Funeral arrangements are being handled by Hanley Funeral Home in New Dorp.<\/p>\n

Visitors will be received on Thursday from 4 to 8 p.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Vincent (Jimmy) Moschello, the bass\/baritone singer who was an original member of Vito Picone…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":122802,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-122801","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-staten-island","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-staten-island","12":"tag-staten-island-headlines","13":"tag-staten-island-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122801\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}