David Brigati is the older sibling of Eddie Brigati, of Rascals fame. But the elder Brigati is no mere footnote in music, having enjoyed his first recording success long before brother Eddie turned professional, and serving as lead singer of Joey Dee the Starliters during their heyday, as well as playing an important role in the music of the Rascals in their most successful years. David Brigati loved to sing, and in 1958, at age 18, he had the lead spot in the Hi-Fives, a New Jersey-based group who were signed to the Decca Records label and enjoyed a regional hit with Dorothy. It was around this time that he started collaborating as a songwriter with Joseph DiNicola, a resident of Passaic, NJ, who had sung on some of the Hi-Fives' sides. DiNicola, working under the name Joey Dee, invited Brigati to join his group, called the Starliters, as lead singer, and the following year, the group became the resident band at the Peppermint Lounge in New York City. They rocketed to international fame in early 1962 with their hit The Peppermint Twist, which topped the Billboard charts that year. Brigati left the Starliters in 1964 and was succeeded by his younger brother Eddie Brigati who, with fellow Starliters Gene Cornish and Felix Cavaliere, left to eventually form the Rascals. David Brigati was an uncredited if integral part of the Rascals' recording activities for the next five years, even singing lead on the title track from the Once Upon a Dream album. He exited when Eddie quit the group in 1970. Two years later, he resurfaced as an arranger and singer on King Harvest's Dancing in the Moonlight, and four years after that he and his brother did the album Lost in the Wilderness album together, under the name Brigati. He and Eddie also participated together in +The New York Rock and Soul Revue: Live at the Beacon in 1992, and five years after that, they were together with the other ex-Rascals for a performance on the occasion of the group's induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. In more recent years, he has returned to working with Joey Dee as a member of the latter-day Starliters. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi