‘Man, Dig That Crazy Chick!’

The Royal Teens’ Co-Founder Tom Austin on Their Hit ‘Short Shorts’

Frank Mastropolo
The Riff
Published in
9 min readDec 23, 2022

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Collectables

It was 1956. Drummer Tom Austin and keyboardist Bob Gaudio were talented New Jersey teenagers who recruited guitarist Billy Dalton and saxophonist Billy Crandall to form a band, the Royals.

Austin and Gaudio teamed to write “Short Shorts,” a number three hit in 1958. Tours, TV…

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Frank Mastropolo
The Riff

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