The Chords formed in 1951 in the Bronx, but weren't discovered until three years later when they were spotted singing in a subway station, a performance that ultimately landed them a recording contract with Atlantic Records. Atlantic had the Chords cover a Patti Page hit, "Cross Over the Bridge," but it was the B-side, "Sh-Boom," a swinging R&B vocal tune with a catchy intro made up of seemingly nonsensical syllables that caused considerably more commotion. By the end of June 1954, "Sh-Boom" had climbed up the charts nationwide, charting on both R&B (number five) and pop (number two), a nearly unprecedented feat for its time. Atlantic later moved the Chords over to their Cat Records subsidiary, releasing numerous additional singles which mostly failed to chart. They went through several personnel changes during the late '50s before slipping away into the ether.