- Their name was a combination of the nickname of leader Domingo Samudio ("Sam"), the little dance routines he would do during the group's act (which was called "shamming") and their watching the film The Ten Commandments (1956) one night and thinking that the costumes worn by Yul Brynner, who played the Egyptian pharaoh, looked cool and would make them stand out.
- The band's biggest hit came in in 1965 with "Wooly Bully", which sold 3,000,000 copies and made it to #2 on the Billboard charts. The next big hit came in 1966 with "Lil Red Riding Hood". However, by that time all the original members except Domingo Samudio had left and been replaced, so the only original "Pharoah" on that song was Samudio.
- Members have included Domingo Samudio, Frank Carabetta, Tony Gerace, Andrew Kuha, Billy Bennett, Louis Vilardo, Ronnie Jacobsen, Fran Curcio, Jane Anderson, Lorraine Genero, Dave Martin, Ray Stinnett, Jerry Patterson, and Butch Gibson.
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