The Imperials – "C'mon Tiger (Gimme a Growl)" b/w "The Glory of Love" (1958)

Price guides and discographies often list this 1958 single by the Imperials as a Little Anthony & the Imperials record, but it's by a completely different group.

These Imperials were from Providence, Rhode Island, and were formed by Joseph DiBiase and Tom Battista, both of whom played in their school band.

DiBiase started playing piano at the age of 5 and later pursued studies in conducting and arranging. He and Battista formed the Imperials as teens, and the group appeared on radio and television. While touring in California, the group was picked up by Liberty Records.

Cash Box  –Mar. 22, 1958

The group's only single was "C'mon Tiger (Gimma a Growl)," a song written by Hal Winn. Winn was a British producer and songwriter who composed a lot of songs with interesting titles, such as "(Come on and) Join the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Girls in Love," recorded by the Cody Sisters in 1959, and "Rate-a-Date Book," recorded by Linda Star & the Starlets in 1963. In the 1970s, Winn produced and composed for the Mystic Moods Orchestra.


The B-side was "The Glory of Love," a pop oldie that has been recorded countless times. The song had been a #1 pop hit for Benny Goodman in 1936 and a #1 R&B hit for the Five Keys in 1951 and would become a minor hit for the Roommates in 1961.

The Imperials recorded their single with the Spencer-Hagen Orchestra, which also recorded separately for Liberty on albums such as Essence of Romance. (Hear the orchestra's recording of "Voodoo" here.)

The Imperials don't appear to have lasted long after "C'mon Tiger" was released. DiBiase became a professional organist and organ salesman, directed children's choirs, and composed and arranged MIDI church music that is used in churches nationwide. Battista went on to work in television, becoming an executive vice president at CBS before starting his own syndication and production company. He wrote a novel in 2011, The Company's Man, that includes a fictionalized account of the Imperials.

As a side note, although the Liberty advertisement above and discography sites such as Discogs and 45cat show "C'mon Tiger" as the top side of the single, the Cash Box clipping at the top of this page and Battista's novel mention only "The Glory of Love."