tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69670722011161197122024-03-21T13:13:07.971-07:00The Basement Walls - A New England 1960s Garage 45 DiscographyNightrockerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13088412526796167483noreply@blogger.comBlogger46125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6967072201116119712.post-5926851489343446052021-06-13T14:03:00.002-07:002021-07-24T10:33:33.782-07:00INFINITY'S END (Salem, NH)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%;"><tbody>
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<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><b>Dance hall at Chase's Grove on Big Island Pond in Derry, N.H., where Infinity's End played on Friday nights for two summers. From left: Curt MacKail (bass), Bob Burke (lead guitar), Tommy Burke (drums) and Doug Seed (rhythm guitar, lead vocals). Courtesy of Doug Seed.</b></td></tr>
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<br /><i>Infinity's End were a young band aged 13 to 15 from Salem, N.H., who would have remained virtually forgotten for, well, infinity, had they not chosen to record a couple of tunes over the border in Methuen, Mass., at Pat Costa's Eastern Sound Studios. We'll now turn this over to singer/guitarist Doug Seed, who provides us with anecdotes galore!</i><br />
<br />The very beginning was me, Gary Russell and brothers Bob and Tom Burke. We went through a big ordeal to come up with just the right name. Unfortunately we chose "You, Me and the Other Two". Because my grandmother's business gave out matchbooks, naturally I ordered matchbooks to advertise the band... just like any normal 14-year-old would! I remember agonizing over the words we would print. We settled on $8.00 And Under for Parties". Remember, we were aged 12-15 and had absolutely no experience. We soon changed our name to something more 60s rock & roll. There's a little newspaper article from 1966 captioned, "Ready to jive are the sensational 'Chaynes.'"
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Gary's dad worked in public relations at Raytheon and he had a professional photographer come to take photos of us in his basement. I still have that 8" x 10" of us wearing matching polka dot shirts, me singing into a tape recorder microphone, Tommy Burke sitting behind his snare drum and 10" cymbal and Bobby and Gary standing there with their six-string guitars.
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Gary and Bob Burke switched off playing bass and lead on their six-string guitars! It was an innocent time and we were just little kids who wanted to be Beatles.
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Our first-ever gig was at the teen coffee house called The Jug at my church in Methuen, Mass. I remember my mother taking me to Lafayette Electronics in Lowell, Mass., to spend $3.00 on a microphone and get a stand. The first song we ever played out was "Get off Of My Cloud" by the Rolling Stones. Our first ever paying job was at the grand opening of a car dealership in Nashua, N.H. $15 bucks, total … <i>and</i> we got interviewed on the live remote broadcast of a local radio station. We were clearly headed for the big time! (Bob and Tom's dad got us that first gig … and I think he drove us there in his big, green Pontiac Bonneville, too.<br />
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I don't even think any of us could drive. Bob was the oldest at 15 or 16, I was 15, Curt was 14 and Tommy was 13! My older sister, Katherine, used to drive us to Chase's Grove in the family station wagon on Friday nights.<br /><br />
Eventually, we had to replace original member, Gary Russell, because he was only 12 and his parents wouldn't let him stay out late enough to play gigs. After Bob Laroche joined, we came up with the name Infinity's End and I spray painted cut-out lettering onto paper for Tommy's bass drum. Bob had an honest-to-God Gibson Kalamazoo bass guitar which made him infinitely qualified — whether he could play it or not! (Which he could.)<br /><br />
We played in a couple battles of the bands, and we weren't very good … but we did it! Bob Laroche remembers that I was freaking over what to play at the Salem High School Battle of the Bands and we finally settled on "I'm Not Your Steppin' Stone" by the Monkees.
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In way over our heads, we got the opportunity to play at The Commodore Ballroom in Lowell, Mass., on a Friday evening. This is one of those venues where, for 40 years, big stars — from Benny Goodman to Vanilla Fudge and Cream … and everyone in between played. My grandmother knew the owner, Carl Braun, and got us the gig, sans audition. What a mistake for him <i>and</i> for us! We were out of our league and it showed. The audience threw pennies at us, trying to get us to leave the stage! Better than tomatoes, I suppose! In preparation for this big event in our lives, it was time to graduate from the polka-dot shirts to tan blazers with gold turtlenecks, which we bought the previous Saturday at North Shore Shopping Center. Man, did we look like a professional band! I don't think any of us ever wore those outfits again.
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In the beginning, Bob Burke had the Sears guitar that had the amp and speaker right in the case. I was jealous of that. Gary had an actual guitar amp. I had a Teisco, sunburst electric guitar and 5 watt amp that I bought at a store called The House of Hurwitz on Washington Street in Boston. I think the guitar was $35.00. Most of my future guitars came from Sears at the North Shore Shopping Center and were in the $69 - $89 price range. I had a fake Vox Phantom, and a Blackjack violin shaped 6-string which I bought at Lechmere Sales in Somerville, Mass. Later, Bob Burke got one of those more substantial grey-colored Sears amps that had a separate head. They were kind of a Fender Bandmaster wannabe. His dad wouldn't buy it for him until he proved he'd stick with guitar playing.
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I built three of my amps with absolutely no knowledge or understanding acoustics or electronics, and they all worked to some degree. The first, and coolest was built into a blue plastic, Samsonite-like suitcase. I dismantled my parents' old 1940s RCA radio/phonograph and mounted the amp and 12" speaker into the suitcase. Just for fun, I also mounted the radio tuner - knobs, art deco ivory bakelite bezel and all into the end of the suitcase... and everything worked! The next one was an old Bogen public address amp blasting through two wedge shaped Radio Shack wall speakers that I hinged together so they closed into a cube for transport. I upgraded and built my own Bandmaster-like speaker cabinet of 3/4" plywood. The sides were finished with woodgrain Formica by my dad and me. It had blue paisley cloth covering the four 12" Jensen speakers. Unfortunately the cloth wasn't sound-transparent. The whole thing was an unbelievably heavy, muffled, horrible mistake. I finally saved up and got a real Fender Bandmaster.
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At some point, Bob Laroche left the band and Curt MacKail took over the bass spot. Curt was the one who first hit the equipment big-time, when he surprised us by showing up at a high school dance gig with a Vox Essex bass amp. VOX????? The BEATLES use Vox amps!!!
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I have the receipt <i>(ed: see bottom)</i> for our recording session at Pat Costa's Eastern Sounds Recording Studios in Methuen, Mass. We were one of his earliest customers. I think he was 18 when he built the studio in his parents' basement. (Ampex 2-track.) We recorded two songs, of course. The record was played by me, Bob Laroche, Bob Burke and Tommy Burke.
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The A side was "Hey Lenna," written by a friend of the group, named Don Anderson. Don was a prolific songwriter and a whole bunch of his songs were good. A couple were great. Unfortunately for him, he was having US do the songs rather than getting them to bands with real potential … which we definitely weren't! The B side was a crappy, boring song I wrote called "I Don't Like The Way You're Talking To Me." It made it onto the record because I was the guy paying to have the records pressed!<br /><br />
<i>(Side note: Onyx spelled the band name wrong <u>and</u> put the incorrect date of 1968 on the labels! Per the actual recording receipt, it's from Jan. 19, 1967.)</i><br /><br />
We were so young and all could barely even play. We had no business being in a studio except that I was dying to record. More ridiculously, can you believe I walked into Roulette Records in NYC with that record? I actually had an appointment there!! Priceless. I took it to Roulette and got rejected (very nicely) there! The most mobbed-up record company ever and I walked in to an appointment with their A&R guy, Fred Baylin in 1967, with my dad waiting in the hall. <br /><br />
Infinity's End always ended a set with Sgt. Pepper. A week after The Who smashed their guitars and amps on TV, we were going to be playing the Football Queen dance at our high school. I spread the word around the school that at the end of the Friday night dance, I was going to smash my guitar. About 10 minutes before the end of the last set, I saw my dad out in the hall, talking to the cop who was on duty. OH NO! I can't smash that guitar with my father watching … he'll kill me! For some reason, he disappeared from the doorway as we went into Sgt. Pepper. Honest to God, the kids in the audience started to crowd around the staging we had brought in from the auditorium. I wanted to be as high up as possible when I chucked the guitar to the hard cafeteria floor. I raised my hands up until my knuckles hit the ceiling … the crowd screaming for me to throw it — and I did. No kidding, I'll never forget how they swarmed onto that guitar as if it actually belonged to a rock star. Funny though, for a red, solid body Sears electric guitar, the bugger was pretty strong: it barely cracked! The kids starting fighting over it and it was THEM who broke the thing into pieces. Well sort of … the strings were stronger than the kids, so it only ended up in a few pieces. But, amazingly, 40 years later, I had someone come up to me and say that they were there that night and still had a piece of that guitar!<br /><br />
The summer of 1968 saw a name change from Infinity's End to American Depression, and a lead guitar and drummer change from the Burke brothers to to lead guitarist, Paul Norgren and drummer, Joey Ciarella. I was a Top 40 pop kind of guy and the new guys liked heavier stuff like Vanilla Fudge, Dylan, Hendrix and some stuff I was barely familiar with. If Dale Dorman wasn't playing it on WRKO, it was pretty much off my radar.
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Come August 1968, at sixteen, I took up skydiving and lost interest in the band. Skydiving quickly consumed my interest and after that last night at Chase's Grove at the end of the summer of '68, I dropped out and the other guys went on playing as a Cream-like trio called Blue Plague. They no longer had to play my top 40 stuff… I'll bet they were relieved about that! I sold off my electric guitars, organ and Bandmaster amp to raise money to purchase a Paracommander parachute. That's the "jumping version" of the Parasail they tow vacationers behind a boat today. Musically, I bought a 1968 Gibson J-50 and went acoustic, playing duo harmony stuff through the 1970s with friends Norry Follett and Phil White. I'd like to mention that Phil's country-rock band, "The Treebeard Band" won the New Hampshire finals of a national contest called the Dodge-Wrangler Country Showdown in 1983, and got to compete in Nashville at the Grand Ole Opry. The finals show aired on the Nashville Network.
<br /><br />Here’s a note from our original bass player, Bob Laroche:
<br /><blockquote>I can remember when I hooked up with the band it was late 1966. I had bought my first bass, (1965 Kalamazoo), from Bruce Marshall, and an Ampeg Reverborocket amplifier. We practiced mostly in Bob and Tom's basement, with a lot of powwows at Doug's house on Main St. I remember painting my Kalamazoo with an American flag. Remember playing several gigs including the Battle of the bands at the French Social Club on Lowell St. in Lawrence, and the famous Salem Grange gig. But my all time favorite memory was recording the songs at Pat Costa's Eastern Sounds Recording Studios. I ended up selling my beautiful Kalamazoo to Curt MacKail when I left the band, and the rest is history.</blockquote><br />
Lead guitarist, Bob Burke remembers:<br />
<blockquote>"We were hired for a one-night gig to play at the North Andover (MA) Community Center. The following Saturday another band was to play and they were a little bit better than us. They turned out to be Aerosmith! I tell friends we opened for Aerosmith."</blockquote>
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Bob also recalls with a hearty laugh:<br />
<blockquote>"We were going to cut a record... after all we had visions of stardom. While recording Hey Lenna, the producer felt our lead singer, Doug, needed some backup singers. My brother, Tommy, and I were ushered into the isolation booth and when it came time to sing the chorus, we belted out our best voices. Immediately, the recording engineer came running out of the control room with his headphones askew, pointing at me and telling me to GET OUT of the booth and that I should never sing again! We told him up front I didn't sing. Oh well, we did have fun, though!"</blockquote>
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<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><b>Doug: "The guy in the light shirt is Gary Russell. He was only 12. His parents wouldn't let him stay out late to play gigs (like after 8:00 PM!,) so we had to replace him with Bob Laroche who had a snazzy Gibson Kalamazoo bass. Back right is Tommy Burke, front left is Doug Seed and front right is Tommy's older brother Bob Burke. When we started, Bob had the black & white masonite, sparkly Sears guitar with the amp in the guitar case. I had a $35 Teisco electric and Tommy had a minimal starter drum set." Courtesy of Doug Seed.</b></td></tr>
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<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><b>February 1968: “We were playing a party in the banquet room of the Howard Johnson's motel in Methuen, Mass.” Above: between sets in the dressing room (from left: Doug Seed, Bob Burke, Curt MacKail, Tommy Burke). Middle and bottom: “I made the drum head cover with a psychedelic poster and colored markers or pencils.” Courtesy of Doug Seed.</b></td></tr>
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<td><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/infinitysend/InfinitysEnd_Receipt.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/infinitysend/InfinitysEnd_Receipt.jpg" style="max-width: 325px; width: 100%;" width="100%" /></a></td>
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<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><b>Receipt: $110 for the recording session and 6 acetates!</b></td></tr>
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<b>INFINITIES END</b> [Infinity's End]<br /><b>Hey Lenna / The Way You're Talking To Me<br />Onyx </b>(ES85979 • AU-4961) <br />
<b>January 1967</b><br />
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</tbody></table>Nightrockerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13088412526796167483noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6967072201116119712.post-24025539906563650352020-10-20T12:19:00.010-07:002021-06-02T18:37:48.501-07:00THE MAUVE (Acton, MA)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%"><tbody>
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<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><b>I'm cryin' since I can finally see a band photo! Courtesy of Jim Ford.</b></td></tr>
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Like many record nuts who were in their twenties in the 1990s, I first heard “You’ve Got Me Cryin’” via the Cheater Slicks version on their “Destination Lonely” LP — a stellar example of “downer” garage. A couple of years later I finally heard the original on a New England Teen Scene compilation, though it would take another quarter century before I could actually <i>see</i> the heartbroken fellas. Well, wonder no more, as band leader Jim Ford finally came through with a couple of pictures in September 2020! And the images don't disappoint: no clean-cut lettermen here.<br />
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The Mauve was Jim Ford (vocals, occasional rhythm guitar); Eric Semple (lead guitar); Charlie Weeks (bass); and Paul Munroe (drums). Also credited in the copyright paperwork is manager Dave Smith: “He set up gigs and help load and unload equipment when enough teenyboppers weren't available,” according to Jim Ford.<br />
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All attended Acton Boxboro Regional High School (ABRHS) in Massachusetts. The Mauve shared bills with another Acton area band, The Retreds (of “Black Mona Lisa” fame), as well as the Boss Todes, fronted by Jim Ford’s brother Dick. The outfit played gigs at local high schools and rec centers, but also traveled into the city to The Rat (The Rathskeller). Anecdote from Jim: “We played there a few times, the bartenders used to feed us beer even though we were all underage. Anyway, they had a bomb scare, so as we were leaving out the back stage door Paul the drummer turns to me and says, <i>“What about my drums?”</i> He was a friggin’ riot!”
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Luckily in their short existence, The Mauve cut two original tunes at Continental Recording Studios in Framingham, Mass., released on the studio’s house label, Cori Records. The studio was doing some work with Jim’s brother’s band at the time as well, and this obviously caused massive confusion to the typesetter, as the labels were mistakenly printed with “Boss Todes” underneath The Mauve band name. The band crossed this out with black marker on most copies.
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The Mauve dissolved when Jim joined the Army, at which point Charlie and Eric joined the Boss Todes. The ‘Todes cut their own 45 the following year and gigged extensively, even as far as Iowa and Bermuda, and continued with music into the 1970s.
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<b>THE MAUVE<br />You've Got Me Cryin' / In The Revelation <br />Cori </b>(CR 31006 • UB 238/39)<b><br />
March 1966</b><br />
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Nightrockerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13088412526796167483noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6967072201116119712.post-58605172713624905062020-04-21T15:03:00.002-07:002021-06-02T18:41:16.981-07:00THE ROGUES (Marblehead, MA)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%;"><tbody>
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<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><b>From <i>The Evening News (Salem, Mass.)</i> - Saturday, August 6, 1966:<br />MUSICAL ROAD TO SUCCESS — Five band members of the "Rouges" have their fingers crossed and high hopes concerning recent cutting of a musical disc, which could lead to fame and fortune for all. Photographed during practice session, left to right are Terry Coogan, vocalist; Alan Healy, bass guitar; Willis Iannarelli, drummer; Bill Richards, rhythm guitar; and Greg Boardman, lead guitar. (Courtesy of Marie Printon & family.)</b></td></tr>
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Label misspellings are most often confined to the wrong use of an apostrophe, though in the unfortunate case of The Rogues, a sloppy typesetter inadvertantly altered their band name for decades to come. With two keyboard clicks, a once hip teen moniker was transformed into a shade of blush!
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The Rogues hailed from Marblehead, Massachusetts, a scenic coastal town about a half hour northeast of Boston. The initial lineup consisted of Greg Boardman (lead guitar), Terry Coogan (vocals), Bill Richards (rhythm guitar), Alan Healy (bass) and Willis Iannarelli (drums). Willis, Bill and Alan attended Marblehead High School — Willis class of '67 and Bill and Alan class of '68 — while Terry attended Biship Fenwick in nearby Peabody, Mass., and Greg attended St. John's Prepatory in Danvers.
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As a high school sophomore in 1966, Al Healy decided he wanted to start a rock and roll band, so he approached his good friend Bill. Bill then went to Greg, who in turn called on Terry, who lastly rounded up Willis to complete the lineup. The band played the popular hits of the time — Beatles and Rolling Stones, Rascals, Temptations "My Girl."
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The Rogues caught the ear of a friend of Terry's father from the local YMCA, Marie Printon. She played volleyball and taught swimming and calisthenics at the YMCA where the kids would hang out. She helped organize teen dances and parties, drove them to gigs, and the band would even practice at her house, to a captive audience of her daughters.
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Through a connection, Marie set up the recording session at Waverley studios in Watertown, about 45 minutes southwest of the band's hometown. In the summer of 1966, the crew recorded two Greg Boardman originals, released on the studio's own record label. Both sides are moody, folky winners, though "Next Guy" is the clear standout: down-on-your-luck lyrics, minor key guitars, rock solid yet lively drumming — and the crude recording quality delivers it all with a particularly desperate edge.
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"We always used to laugh about the fact that they called us the Rouges instead of the Rogues. Terry Jordon always took some kidding about that one," Willis recalls.
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Shortly after the record's release, Marblehead High School classmate Terry Jordan ('68) joined on keyboards and backing vocals. Greg Boardman left the band circa October/November 1966 and was replaced with new lead guitarist Scott Sumner (MHS '67).
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The band played teen hotspots throughout the surrounding towns: Marblehead, Salem, Swampscott, Beverly, and Thompson Country Club in Reading, Mass. Alan Healy: <i>"In Marblehead we played at the YMCA dances and you could feel the floor go up and down due to the suspension … the Boston Yacht Club, the CYO dances at Our Lady Star of the Sea (Marblehead), and a dance at Temple Emanu-El (Marblehead) … a nurses' graduation party at Salem Hospital … I also remember playing for the Senior Prom reception at the Corinthian Yacht Club (Marblehead) for the Class of 1967. In Swampscott we were more or less the house band, for a while, at the Ionic Club playing a lot of Saturday nights. We played the Rocky Post in Beverly and won a battle of the bands at a junior high over there with Dave Maynard from WBZ as host. We also played the King's Rook in Ipswich, which was big time back then."</i>
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<br />
On one memorable night, the Rogues won the battle of the bands at the Where It's At club in Boston, with celebrity DJ Arnie "Woo Woo" Ginsburg officiating (see picture below). And if the Rogues winning top band honors wasn't enough, drummer Willis was presented the "best musician" award! Alan Healy adds: "I remember we got a big boost in the ratings when Terry Coogan at the end of James Brown's “I’ll Go Crazy” stomped on the tambourine and it shattered into a million pieces." What a showman!
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Sometime in 1967, the Rogues won a battle of the bands at Marblehead High School with their version of the Rascals' "Good Lovin'." The prize was recording time at Decto Recording Services in Salem (the studio was actually in a basement on Pleasant Street in Marblehead), where the band laid down two new cuts, "Did You Ever Get The Feelin" and "Noise." Unfortunately, only two of the members even remember that session, and nobody remembers who wrote the songs! Luckily, one demo acetate disc survived — albeit noisy, super low fidelity, and with a number of skips — and it shows their fuller sound showcasing Terry Jordan's organ and backup vocals and Scott Sumner's fuzz guitar shredding.
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The Rogues performed together for the last time at a graduation block party in the summer of 1967.
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<b>Where they are now:</b> Willis Iannarelli served 26 years in the Navy and is retired as fire captain in Marblehead. Alan Healy is an accountant; Bill Richards works in the corporate business world; Scott Sumner works in the Marblehead school department and still plays some guitar; Terry Jordan resides in England; and Greg Boardman continued on with a storied musical career. Listen to a sampling of his songs <a href="https://soundcloud.com/bowandstring" target="_blank">here</a>!
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From Greg: <i>"For what it's worth, after leaving the Rogues I went to France for a year and played acoustic folk and blues with my friends there. Came back, finished high school, then followed Greg Barry to Colby College. Got real deep into traditional folk, blues, bluegrass, and fiddling in the Maine style, kind of Irish and French and Scandinavian, then got smitten with classical music, majored in viola performance at USM, became a strings teacher in public schools and continued performing and recording. Never went far with it, but dare I say very deep in the local sense."</i>
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<b>Special thanks to Willis Iannarelli and Marie Printon!</b>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/rogues/rogues_waverley1.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/rogues/rogues_waverley1.jpg" width="650" style="width:100%; max-width:650px;" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><b>Recording "Next Guy" and "Faces On The Wall" at Waverley studio, a converted attic in Watertown, Mass., summer 1966. From left: Greg Boardman, Bill Richards, Terry Coogan. Photos courtesy of Greg Boardman & Mike Markesich.</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/rogues/rogues_waverley3.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/rogues/rogues_waverley3.jpg" width="650" style="width:100%; max-width:650px;"/></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><b>Alan Healy with band manager Marie Printon supervising, Waverley studio.</b></td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/rogues/rogues_waverley2.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/rogues/rogues_waverley2.jpg"width="650" style="width:100%; max-width:650px;"/></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><b>Willis Iannarelli contemplating his next manic drum fill, Waverley studio.</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/rogues/rouges_6.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/rogues/rouges_6.jpg" width="650" style="width:100%; max-width:650px;"/></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><b>Teen Town at the Salem YMCA, October 1966. Greg Boardman (lead guitar, vocals), Willis Iannarelli (drums) and Terry Coogan (lead vocals, tamborine). Courtesy of Willis Iannarelli.</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/rogues/rouges_2.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/rogues/rouges_2.jpg" width="650" style="width:100%; max-width:650px;"/></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><b>Victorious battle at the Where It's At club in Boston! Standing, left to right: Bill Richards, Terry Jordon, Scott Sumner (holding the first place trophy), Willis Iannarelli (winner of the night's "best musician" award). Kneeling, from left: Terry Coogan, Alan Healy. Standing next to Bill Richards is Dave Maynard, longtime Boston radio and television host. Presenting the trophy to Scott Sumner is famous WMEX Boston radio host Arnie "Woo Woo" Ginsburg.<br>Courtesy of Marie Printon & family.</b></td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/rogues/rouges_4.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/rogues/rouges_4.jpg" width="650" style="width:100%; max-width:650px;"/></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><b>From left: Scott Sumner, Terry Jordan, Terry Coogan (standing), Willis Iannarelli (sitting), Bill Richards, Alan Healy. Courtesy of Marie Printon & family.</b></td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/rogues/rouges_7b.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/rogues/rouges_7b.jpg" width="650" style="width:100%; max-width:650px;"/></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><b>Teen Town at the Salem YMCA, October 1966. Courtesy of Willis Iannarelli.</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/rogues/rouges_3.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/rogues/rouges_3.jpg" width="650" style="width:100%; max-width:650px;"/></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><b>Swampscott YMCA pre-Thanksgiving Dance on Nov. 23, 1966. At least the paper spelled half of the members' names correctly! Courtesy of Marie Printon & family.</b></td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/rogues/rouges_5.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/rogues/rouges_5.jpg" width="600" style="width:100%; max-width:600px;"/></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><b>Victorious again at Marblehead High, at the Combo Competition sponsored by the Swampscott-Marblehead Chapter of Hadassah. The Rogues were in competition with five other combos and runners up were Danny and the Dreamers. Courtesy of Marie Printon & family.</b></td></tr>
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<b>THE ROUGES (a.k.a. THE ROGUES)<br />Next Guy / Faces On The Wall<br />Waverley Records </b>(108-03 / 109-04) <br />
<b>© September 1966</b><br />
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<td style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/labels/rouges1.jpg" width="325" style="width:100%; max-width:320px"/>
<img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/labels/rouges2.jpg" width="325" style="width:100%; max-width:320px" />
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<td style="text-align:center;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/audio/ma/rouges1.mp3" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/turntable.png" style="max-width:100%; padding-left:135px; padding-right:135px;"/></a>
<a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/audio/ma/rouges2.mp3" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/turntable.png" style="max-width:100%; padding-left:135px; padding-right:135px;" /></a>
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<b>THE ROGUES<br />Did You Ever Get The Feelin / Noise<br />Decto Recording Service </b>(unreleased acetate) <br />
<b>Circa 1967</b><br />
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<td style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/labels/rouges_a1.jpg" width="325" style="width:100%; max-width:320px"/>
<img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/labels/rouges_a2.jpg" width="325" style="width:100%; max-width:320px" />
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<td style="text-align:center;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/audio/ma/roguesa1.mp3" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/turntable.png" style="max-width:100%; padding-left:135px; padding-right:135px;"/></a>
<a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/audio/ma/roguesa2.mp3" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/turntable.png" style="max-width:100%; padding-left:135px; padding-right:135px;" /></a>
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<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><b>A round of applause is in order for our man <a href="http://www.breakmyface.com/" target="_blank">Ryan Richardson</a>, who put his microscope and extra-fine sewing needle to use (no, seriously) and removed a cluster of skips from the last 30 seconds of the A-side, making for a far more enjoyable listen.</b></td></tr>
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<br>
Nightrockerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13088412526796167483noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6967072201116119712.post-34112249281436306942019-06-09T20:58:00.004-07:002021-06-02T18:44:07.661-07:00THE DELRAYS, INC. (West Roxbury, MA)The Delrays Inc. were a short-lived band of high school kids from West Roxbury, Mass., who played the Surf Nantasket club in Hull, Mass. The lineup consisted of Jay Kenney on lead guitar and lead vocals (Roslindale High School Class of 1965); Tom Power on rhythm guitar (Roslindale High School Class of 1967); Billy O'Donnell on drums (Boston Technical High School Class of 1966); and Keith DeLisle on bass (Xaverian Brothers High School Class of 1967). <br />
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Luckily for us, the crew recorded two tough, rockin’ original tunes in early 1965 at the famed Continental Recording Studios in Framingham, Mass., which were released on its house “Salem” label.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/delrays/delraysinc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/delrays/delraysgroup.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b>I'm a-lovin’ the pompadour! From left: Jay Kenney (lead vocals, lead guitar); Tom Power (rhythm guitar); Keith DeLisle (bass); Billy O’Donnell (drums).</b></td></tr>
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Jay Kenney recalls: ““I'm A Lovin’” was planned, but the flip side was made up right there in the studio. The producer said, ‘What do you want to put on the B side?’ We looked at each other and said, ‘Other side?’ So we just winged it.” [And so “Billy’s Beat” was named after their drummer.]<br />
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“I remember we had about 100 or so pressed (we had no money, nor our parents), all we could afford. I really don't remember any distribution. In those days ‘payola’ was a big thing with radio stations.”<br />
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And Tom Power checked in with some anecdotes from his busy teenage gigging days:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Basement Walls was sure it!! I could bust the concrete on the walls of my parents basement in West Roxbury with my Fender Jazz bass and Marshall amp. So bad I had to move out to a band apartment on Beacon Hill in Boston when I was 15. I started playing out with the Novas when I was 12 (1961).<br />
<br />The bands that I played with were as best as I can recall … The Novas … The Delrays … The Yankee Clippers … and the best was the Shillings. </i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>We played most of the venues that you list on your site … Opened many times for Moulty and The Barbarians at the Surf Nantasket. Won the battle of the bands many times at Pleasure Island in Wakefield, Mass. Played all the high schools and colleges from Maine to New Jersey. I also had a “union card” and worked the Revere Beach clubs when the mob owned them. I played bass with Ike & Tina once in Revere (best gig ever). The Shillings opened for Cream on their first American tour at the Psychedelic Supermarket in Boston. I got to play through Jack Bruce’s Marshall stack!!! </i></blockquote>
Jay Kenney and Keith DeLisle both now live in Tennessee; Tom Power resides in Texas; and sadly, Billy O'Donnell passed away in Massachusetts in 2015.<br />
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<b>THE DELRAYS, INC.<br />I'm A Lovin' / Billy's Beat<br />Salem </b>(SR-002 • TB-350/351)<b><br />
March 1965</b><br />
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<td style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/labels/delraysinc1.jpg" width="325" style="width:100%; max-width:320px"/>
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<td style="text-align:center;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/audio/ma/delrays1.mp3" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/turntable.png" style="max-width:100%; padding-left:135px; padding-right:135px;"/></a>
<a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/audio/ma/delrays2.mp3" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/turntable.png" style="max-width:100%; padding-left:135px; padding-right:135px;" /></a>
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<br />Nightrockerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13088412526796167483noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6967072201116119712.post-78393329957123609002018-02-14T09:22:00.016-08:002021-06-09T08:31:08.997-07:00THE SHILOS (Pembroke / Hanover, MA)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/shilos/shilospromo.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/shilos/shilospromo.jpg" width="350" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b>Memorabilia courtesy of Tom MacEachern and Diana Foster.</b></td></tr>
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On the flipside of their low-key surf ballad "Lonely Town," The Shilos cut loose with the jumpy, Kinks-inspired workout, "Cause I Love You." And bubbling beneath the surface, waiting to explode, is 20 seconds of one of the wildest, crazy-assed guitar solos <i>ever</i> from Massachusetts teens!
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<br />
The band consisted of brothers George MacEachern (drums and lead vocals) and Tom MacEachern (lead guitar), with Bill Mark on rhythm guitar and Paul McWhinnie on bass (played by Don Bishop in the band's early incarnation). The outfit was managed by C.W. Wing Jr. of Hanover.
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<br />
Details of the band's story are slim, but thanks to the few surviving newspaper clips we get a glimpse into their busy schedule. The Shilos performed at the Battle of the Bands at New Weymouth High School cafeteria in February 1966, sponsored by the Weymouth Jaycees. Another battle took place at the Stoughton Armory in April 1966.
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<br />
The Shilos also performed at the Eastern Regional Jaycees Battle of the Bands in April 1967 in Waltham, shortly after the 45 was released. An accomplished drummer, George previously had won "best talent" award in the Braintree Jaycee Battle of the Bands, which they won and secured eligibility for the Eastern Regional battle.
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Sadly, Bill Mark passed away in 2011.
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<i>Special thanks to Diana Foster. In memory of her dad Bill Mark.</i>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/shilos/shilosclip4.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/shilos/shilosclip4.jpg" width="650" style="width:100%; max-width:650px"/></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><b><i>Silver Lake News</i> (Pembroke, Mass.), March 11, 1965.</b></td></tr>
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<td style="vertical-align: top"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/shilos/shilosclip3.jpg"><img border="0" width="100%" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/shilos/shilosclip3.jpg" style="width:100%; max-width:325px"/></a></td>
<td style="vertical-align: top"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/shilos/shilosgym.jpg"><img border="0" width="100%" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/shilos/shilosgym.jpg" style="width:100%; max-width:325px"/></a></td>
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<td style="vertical-align: top"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/shilos/shilosstudio.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/shilos/shilosstudio.jpg" width="325" style="width:100%; max-width:325px"/></a></td>
<td style="vertical-align: top"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/shilos/bandcards.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/shilos/bandcards.jpg" width="325" style="width:100%; max-width:325px"/></a></td>
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<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><b>In AAA Studios in Dorchester, Mass., recording their 45, February 1967.</b></td></tr>
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<td style="vertical-align: top"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/shilos/shilosclip2.jpg"><img border="0" width="100%" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/shilos/shilosclip2.jpg" style="width:100%; max-width:650px"/></a></td>
<td style="vertical-align: top"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/shilos/shilosclip1.jpg"><img border="0" width="100%" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/shilos/shilosclip1.jpg" style="width:100%; max-width:300px" /></a></td>
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<td style="vertical-align: top"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/shilos/shilos2.jpg"><img border="0" width="325" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/shilos/shilos2.jpg" style="width:100%; max-width:325px"/></a></td>
<td style="vertical-align: top"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/shilos/shilos1.jpg"><img border="0" width="325" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/shilos/shilos1.jpg" style="width:100%; max-width:325px" /></a></td>
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<b>THE SHILOS<br />Lonely Town / Cause I Love You<br />Norfolk Record Productions </b>(201,268/69) <br />
<b>April 1967</b><br />
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<td style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/labels/shilos1a.jpg" width="325" style="width:100%; max-width:320px"/>
<img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/labels/shilos1b.jpg" width="325" style="width:100%; max-width:320px" />
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<td style="text-align:center;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/audio/ma/shilos1.mp3" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/turntable.png" style="max-width:100%; padding-left:135px; padding-right:135px;"/></a>
<a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/audio/ma/shilos2.mp3" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/turntable.png" style="max-width:100%; padding-left:135px; padding-right:135px;" /></a>
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<td style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/shilos/shilosacetate1.jpg" width="325" style="width:100%; max-width:320px"/>
<img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/shilos/shilosacetate2.jpg" width="325" style="width:100%; max-width:320px" />
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<br />Nightrockerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13088412526796167483noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6967072201116119712.post-7705120770211553352018-01-24T09:17:00.004-08:002021-06-09T08:30:08.021-07:00BOBBY JAMES & THE DRISTELLS (Newburyport, MA)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/bobbyjames/bobbyjamespromo.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/bobbyjames/bobbyjamespromo.jpg" width="300" style="width:100%; max-width:300px"/></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b>All memorabilia courtesy of Jim Coyle.</b></td></tr>
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<i>While Bobby James and his backing band The Dristells’ sole outing may have sounded a few years dated upon release in 1966, we here at The Basement Walls feel it's really never too late to let loose with an unrelenting full-throttle instro. Unfortunately Bobby (a.k.a. Robert J. Coyle) has passed on, but his brother Jim provided pics and info to help flesh out the personality behind the disc. Let's go!</i><br />
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Newburyport, Mass.-based Bobby James had been performing in various capacities since 1959. In the mid-Sixties he hooked up with Springfield-area band The Dristells and recorded two tracks at Universal Recording Studios in West Springfield, Mass.<br />
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Whereas the a-side, “True Blue,” showcases Bobby's voice with an early ’60s teen ballad, the flipside storms ahead with a “Stronger Than Dirt” / “You Can't Sit Down” style riff and Bobby's exclamations of “Let's go!” as the only vocals.<br />
<br />
According to Jim Coyle, Bob and the band played a free concert on the roof of the clipper ship <i>Flying Cloud</i> while it was docked during Newburyport's annual Homecoming Day celebration. In addition to local gigs, Bobby James also performed in Maine, New Hampshire and New York and New Jersey.<br />
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Jim reflects: “There is one thing I can say about Bob; at the time, he was driven to be somebody. He lived his dream, if even for a short time and with limited success. He wasn't afraid to try and that was one of many admirable traits we all saw in Bob. I have never personally known anyone who went as far as he did to chase the dream of becoming a widely known entertainer. Of course, his style of music had limited appeal and along with other not-so-great acts, his just faded into history.”<br />
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In the early 1970s, Bobby James shifted gears and went into law enforcement, where he remained for the rest of his career. He passed away in September 2010.<br />
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<td style="vertical-align: top"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/bobbyjames/bobbyjamesclip.jpg"><img border="0" width="325" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/bobbyjames/bobbyjamesclip.jpg" style="width:100%; max-width:325px"/></a></td>
<td style="vertical-align: top"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/bobbyjames/bobbyjamesarticle.jpg"><img border="0" width="325" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/bobbyjames/bobbyjamesarticle.jpg" style="width:100%; max-width:325px"/></a></td>
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<b>BOBBY JAMES & THE DRISTELLS<br />True Blue / Let's Go<br />Lant Records </b>(66009 • 15993/94) <br />
<b>February 1966</b><br />
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<td style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/labels/bobbyjames2.jpg" width="325" style="width:100%; max-width:320px"/>
<img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/labels/bobbyjames1.jpg" width="325" style="width:100%; max-width:320px" />
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<td style="text-align:center;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/audio/ma/bobbyjames1.mp3" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/turntable.png" style="max-width:100%; padding-left:135px; padding-right:135px;"/></a>
<a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/audio/ma/bobbyjames2.mp3" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/turntable.png" style="max-width:100%; padding-left:135px; padding-right:135px;" /></a>
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<br />Nightrockerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13088412526796167483noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6967072201116119712.post-37296072337080413502017-12-23T10:24:00.000-08:002021-06-09T06:21:44.966-07:00THE STRANGERS (Boston, MA)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/strangers/strangerslive.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/strangers/strangerslive.jpg" width="650" style="width:100%; max-width:650px"/></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><b>What a life! Photo courtesy of Dan Gioioso & Mike Dugo.</b></td></tr>
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<br />
<i>The Strangers from Boston confess the tribulations being a teenager in a square world: hassles of parents, school and girls. Not to mention the flack the singer gets for his “long, long, long, long” hair! Lead guitarist Dan Gioiso provided The Strangers history years ago to Mike Dugo's now-defunct 60sGarageBands site, and here it is “reprinted.”</i><br />
<br />
I first got interested in music sitting at my uncle's piano when I was around six-years old. I heard the bass resonate from the piano's foot pedals and I was hooked.
<br />
<br />
The Strangers was my first band and they were together for three years, from 1964 through 1966. We were school buddies — that's how we got together. The band members were Dan Gioioso, Joe Beddia, Tony (Pires) Baglio and Jimmy Chicos.<br />
<br />
I played lead guitar, Joe played drums, Tony played bass (and sang lead vocals) and Jimmy played rhythm guitar. Tony's younger brother was always at our rehearsals. He had to be eight or nine years old. His name is Sal Baglio, and went on to start the band The Stompers. At the same time, Jimmy Chicos dated Nancy Demurio, the drummer for The Pandoras.
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<br />
We played college mixers for M.I.T. Northeastern and Boston University — once opening for James Brown. I remember one Battle of the Bands with the band The Pilgrims, with Lenny Baker on sax. He's in a lesser known band, Sha Na Na.
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<br />
My influences were The Ventures, Beach Boys and, eventually, The Beatles. The Strangers sounded like a mixture of each. We played the Ebb Tide with Moulty and The Barbarians, The Novelty Lounge in Boston, and there were others places that I can't remember.
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<br />
My Godfather, Rip Rapolla, was the manager — and my uncle John helped with connections to Bill Marlow, which led to Johnny Townes. Townes started playing “What A Life” on WORL, and in turn introduced us to Ken Carter. Carter started booking us at the college mixers. We were popular with the high school kids while playing the school dances and such. We even played on the U.S.S. Provincetown on one occasion with hometown celebrity Rex Trailor.
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<br />
Bands I remember were The Rockin' Ramrods, Teddy and The Pandas and a favorite — The Shadows Four. I even took lessons with Billy Trainor.
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<br />
We recorded at Oriel Records. I think there was one mic recording vocals and music at the same time. I wrote “Lonely Star’ and Tony and I wrote “What A Life.” “What A Life” took about 20 minutes to write; it was intended to be the B-side. I also have an acetate recording of “I Like It Like That” (Dave Clark Five cover), which was recorded the same day as “What A Life.”<i> [Note: the cover tune was supposed to be the flipside, but at the last minute the band decided that they should have two originals on the record, so they quickly wrote “What A Life” as the b-side.]</i><br />
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The Strangers broke up when Tony went to college. It proved to be a smart move as he is now Production Director for Greater Media/Boston, a five-station group that includes WROR. I met The G-Clefs through a friend and have now been with them for twenty years. We also have a club band with the lead siger called The Ray Gipson Band. The Clefs play five gigs a year but at some pretty nice venues such as Symphony Hall, The Hatch Shell, and all the big oldies shows.
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<br />
When I think of The Strangers — kids with pure energy and desire — I ask myself, “How good could we have been?” But look at the attention the 45 has gotten nearly 40 years later. Maybe we haven't given ourselves enough credit.
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<i>— Dan Gioioso, mid 2000's</i><br />
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<i>Originally published on www.60sgaragebands.com by Mike Dugo. Used with permission.</i>
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<b>THE STRANGERS<br />Lonely Star / What A Life <br />Oriel </b>(341)<b><br />
October 1965</b><br />
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<td style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/labels/strangers1.jpg" style="max-width: 320px; width: 100%;" width="325" />
<img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/labels/strangers2.jpg" style="max-width: 320px; width: 100%;" width="325" />
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<td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/audio/ma/strangers1.mp3" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/turntable.png" style="max-width: 100%; padding-left: 135px; padding-right: 135px;" /></a>
<a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/audio/ma/strangers2.mp3" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/turntable.png" style="max-width: 100%; padding-left: 135px; padding-right: 135px;" /></a>
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<b>THE STRANGERS<br />Lonely Star / I Like It Like That<br />Petrucci & Atwell </b>(unreleased 12" demo acetate)
<br />
<b>October 1965</b><br />
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<td style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/labels/strangers3.jpg" style="max-width: 320px; width: 100%;" width="325" />
<img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/labels/strangers4.jpg" style="max-width: 320px; width: 100%;" width="325" />
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<br />Nightrockerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13088412526796167483noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6967072201116119712.post-51627840674854168232017-12-19T12:00:00.000-08:002021-06-09T09:14:12.462-07:00THE YOUNG SOULS (Marlboro, MA)<i>The Young Souls hailed from west-of-Boston suburb Marlboro, Mass., and their lone 45 redefines the boundaries of low fidelity (i.e., they might as well have shared studio time with The Modds and Randy Alvey & The Green Fuz). But what a tune! “You're Gonna Need Love” ranks up there in the upper echelon of moody New England garage, complete with a searing fuzz guitar break. We tracked down songwriter Ken LaBossiere a few years back, and here in his own words are the recollections of his high school band The Young Souls:</i><br />
<br />
In 1968, Ken LaBossiere (vocals, guitar) Noel Evers (vocals, guitar) Jim LaPlante (drums) Mickey Grasso (lead guitar) and Mike Olarey (bass) started the Young Souls, playing parties, rehearsing and doing whatever we could. It seemed to die off for us and we weren’t doing much.<br />
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I wrote the song “It’s A Beautiful World” and played it for Noel and my guitar teacher, Ken Carlson, who had a small recording studio in Shrewsbury, Mass. [<i>Editor's note: Carlson released 45s on his own C.A.V.U. (Ceiling And Visibility Unlimited) label — a military term meaning perfect flying conditions. Ironic, as the sound quality on these releases was anything but!</i>] He said we could put it on vinyl, so we teamed back up, pooled our money — all $180 dollars — and recorded it. (Never really satisfied with the quality but it was a very small studio.) It did get some air time.<br />
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We went on to play summer happenings and a battle of the bands and did very well, and had a great time doing the whole project. Most of us ended up in some branch of the military and that was it.<br />
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For me, like the others, it was a great experience, something I can keep with me forever. I’m sure the other four feel the same.
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<i>— Ken LaBossiere, January 2014</i><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/youngsouls/youngsouls_bizcard.jpg" style="max-width: 450px; width: 100%;" width="450" /></td></tr>
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<b>THE YOUNG SOULS<br />You're Gonna Need Love / It's A Beautiful World<br />C.A.V.U. </b>(21867/68) <br />
<b>May 1968</b><br />
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<td style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/labels/youngsouls1.jpg" style="max-width: 320px; width: 100%;" width="325" />
<img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/labels/youngsouls2.jpg" style="max-width: 320px; width: 100%;" width="325" />
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<td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/audio/ma/youngsouls1.mp3" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/turntable.png" style="max-width: 100%; padding-left: 135px; padding-right: 135px;" /></a>
<a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/audio/ma/youngsouls2.mp3" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/turntable.png" style="max-width: 100%; padding-left: 135px; padding-right: 135px;" /></a>
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<br />Nightrockerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13088412526796167483noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6967072201116119712.post-84315859995248122852017-11-03T09:19:00.001-07:002021-06-09T06:26:43.241-07:00NO WAY (Norwich, CT)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/noway/noway.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/noway/noway.jpg" width="350" style="width:100%; max-width:350px"/></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b>Poster photo courtesy of Bill Kane. (Click to enlarge.)</b></td></tr>
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The short-lived and oddly named No Way dropped two singles simultaneously in late 1970 — both sounding as if the years 1968-1970 didn't even exist. No Way consisted of Norwich Free Academy students Bob Homiski (Stratocaster, harmony vocals), his cousin Bill Kane (Telecaster, lead vocals), John Hayes (drums) and Mike Wodopian (bass).
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<br />
According to Bill Kane: “The band was forced to break up when my cousin, Bob Homiski, was drafted as a senior in high school during the Vietnam war. He wrote most of the songs and sang the harmony with me on lead. I was still in high school when the songs hit the local radio stations, as he was a year older than me, so he was not around to do any of the promos we did at W.T. Grant department stores when the singles were released. The song “I Can't Stop Loving You” was the one played the most. I remember we sold out of the first production run at Grant‘s but without a band to promote and tour, our recording career essentially ended before our music ever got released.“
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<br />
It's too bad, since "A Look She Couldn't Hide" is a fantastic, almost late-‘70s powerpop sounding track propelled by driving drum fills and fuzz guitar soloing which fades out right when the fun begins … hey, who was the brainiac in the engineering booth that day? (And kudos to Mr. Hayes, who, besides manning the drum kit also provided said lead guitar for the recording. He later went on to study at Juilliard.)
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<br />
Bill reflects on the bands's seemingly out-of-time songwriting: “The music trend changed dramatically from pop to the Woodstock sound. We had over 100 original pop songs that were now basically obsolete. I remember a producer from Warner Brothers telling us that while we were very average vocally and instrumentally, had we come to them three years earlier we would have made a lot of money because they could have easily sold our portfolio to established groups like the Monkees who were on TV and needed to crank out new material weekly.”
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<b>NO WAY<br />Decisions, Decisions / A Look She Couldn't Hide<br />A-Hom Records </b>(235 • CO 3492) <br />
<b>December 1970</b><br />
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<td style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/labels/noway1a.jpg" style="max-width: 320px; width: 100%;" width="325" />
<img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/labels/noway1b.jpg" style="max-width: 320px; width: 100%;" width="325" />
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<td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/audio/ct/noway1a.mp3" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/turntable.png" style="max-width: 100%; padding-left: 135px; padding-right: 135px;" /></a>
<a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/audio/ct/noway1b.mp3" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/turntable.png" style="max-width: 100%; padding-left: 135px; padding-right: 135px;" /></a>
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<br />
<b>NO WAY<br />I Can't Stop Loving You (Until You Stop Loving Me) / A Kiss<br />A-Hom Records </b>(236 • CO 3493) <br />
<b>December 1970</b><br />
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<td style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/labels/noway2a.jpg" style="max-width: 320px; width: 100%;" width="325" />
<img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/labels/noway2b.jpg" style="max-width: 320px; width: 100%;" width="325" />
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<td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/audio/ct/noway2a.mp3" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/turntable.png" style="max-width: 100%; padding-left: 135px; padding-right: 135px;" /></a>
<a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/audio/ct/noway2b.mp3" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/turntable.png" style="max-width: 100%; padding-left: 135px; padding-right: 135px;" /></a>
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<br>Nightrockerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13088412526796167483noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6967072201116119712.post-56406387196229304572017-10-26T11:01:00.000-07:002021-06-09T06:28:24.293-07:00JAVA MEN (Stratford, CT)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/javamen/javamen1.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/javamen/javamen1.jpg" width="650" style="width:100%; max-width:650px"/></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><b>Wake up with the Java Men! From left: Edward Montagnino, Dave Harrison, Chris Kost and Jules Toraya. All photos courtesy of Jules Toraya.</b></td></tr>
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<br />
The Java Men were a caffeinated crew of Bunnell High School (Stratford, Conn.) students led by Cordovox accordian-weilding Jules Toraya. Band members included Jules Toraya on Cordovox accordian and lead vocals; Edward Montagnino on lead guitar; Dave Harrison on rhythm guitar; and Chris Kost on drums.
The Java Men started out in 1965 and recorded their sole 45 in April 1967 — a double-sided espresso jolt of original material.
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<br />
Their most memorable performance was on a float in a 4th of July parade in 1966, complete with caged go-go dancers! According to a <i>Bridgeport Post</i> newspaper account: <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>“The Java Men,” a combo of Bunnell high school students in Stratford, will “Rock ’N Roll” in the Barnum Festival parade July 4 on one of the many floats, which have been entered in the colorful cavalcade.</b> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>With two “Go Go” girls dancing in cages on the float, “The Java Men” will provide the “beat” for them; “Music Makes The World GO GO.”</b></blockquote>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/javamen/javamen2.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/javamen/javamen2.jpg" width="650" style="width:100%; max-width:650px"/></a></td></tr>
<tr><td style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/javamen/javamen3.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/javamen/javamen3.jpg" width="650" style="width:100%; max-width:650px"/></a></td></tr>
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<td><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/javamen/javamen06.29.66.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/javamen/javamen06.29.66.jpg" width="315" style="width:100%; max-width:315px"/></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b><i>The Bridgeport Post</i>, June 29, 1966.</b></td></tr>
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<td><img border="0" width="2" /></td>
<td><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/javamen/javamenclips.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/javamen/javamenclips.jpg" width="315" style="width:100%; max-width:315px"/></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b><i>The Bridgeport Post</i>, Nov. 28, 1966 (top); and July 5, 1966</b></td></tr>
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<b>JAVA MEN<br />Just Being With You / Don't Lead Me On<br />Plaza </b>(1001/1002 • 4-25-67) <br />
<b>April 1967</b><br />
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<td style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/labels/javamen1.jpg" style="max-width: 320px; width: 100%;" width="325" />
<img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/labels/javamen2.jpg" style="max-width: 320px; width: 100%;" width="325" />
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<td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/audio/ct/javamen1.mp3" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/turntable.png" style="max-width: 100%; padding-left: 135px; padding-right: 135px;" /></a>
<a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/audio/ct/javamen2.mp3" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/turntable.png" style="max-width: 100%; padding-left: 135px; padding-right: 135px;" /></a>
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<br />Nightrockerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13088412526796167483noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6967072201116119712.post-44306144406349901012017-10-08T19:37:00.005-07:002021-06-09T08:29:02.291-07:00THE ALLIANCE (Portland, ME)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/alliance/alliancepic1.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/alliance/alliancepic1.jpg" width="650" style="width:100%; max-width:650px"/></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><b>From left: Chico Blumenthal (bass), Vinny Bruni (drums, lead vocals), Mike Foster (organ), Rick Balzer (guitar).</b></td></tr>
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<br />
<i>The Alliance recorded the soul-influenced dance mover “I'll Be Kind” back in 1968, punctuated with liberal fuzz guitar noodling throughout</i><i>. A search for the band behind the record leads us to Windham, Maine, artist Vincent Bruni, who provided info and pics of The Alliance.</i><i> </i><br />
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The Alliance started off in April 1966 as the The Bobby Dean Combo, named for original frontman Bobby Dean. The band consisted of Bobby Dean on guitar and vocals, Rick Balzer on guitar, Charles “Chico” Blumenthal on bass and Vinny Bruni on drums. As the moniker “Combo” fell out of vogue, it was replaced with the hipper “Alliance.” This lineup as the Bobby Dean Alliance opened up for the Young Rascals at City Hall Auditorium in late 1966.<br />
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Bobby eventually decided to focus on his career and left the band, at which point they shorted the name to simply “The Alliance.” Drummer Vinny took over on lead vocals, and Mike Foster joined on keyboards in early 1967. The Alliance played 50% Beatles covers, and also played a handful of girl group tunes such as Dionne Warwick’s “Walk On By” and the Supremes’ “Come See About Me.” According to Vinny, they were the only guys in town doing girl group songs, and the girls in the audience loved it.<br />
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The two songs on the 45 were the only original numbers in the band's live set. The songs were recorded at Event Studios in Westbrook, Maine, and Carl Strube of the Critique label financed the session.<br />
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After The Alliance ran its course, Vinny and Rick continued on with music in the long-running High Ryder Golden Oldies Show. Vinny is an artist/writer and his work can be found at <a href="http://www.cobblehollowpublishing.com/" target="_blank">Cobble Hollow Publishing</a>.<br />
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<td style="vertical-align: top"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/alliance/alliance01.jpg"><img border="0" width="100%" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/alliance/alliance01.jpg" style="width:100%; max-width:325px"/></a></td>
<td style="vertical-align: top"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/alliance/alliance04.jpg"><img border="0" width="100%" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/alliance/alliance04.jpg" style="width:100%; max-width:325px"/></a></td>
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<tr><td style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/alliance/alliance03.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/alliance/alliance03.jpg" width="650" style="width:100%; max-width:650px"/></a></td></tr>
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<td style="vertical-align: top"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/alliance/alliancepic2.jpg"><img border="0" width="100%" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/alliance/alliancepic2.jpg" style="width:100%; max-width:325px"/></a></td>
<td style="vertical-align: top"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/alliance/alliancepic3.jpg"><img border="0" width="100%" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/alliance/alliancepic3.jpg" style="width:100%; max-width:325px"/></a></td>
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<br />
<b>THE ALLIANCE<br />I'll Be Kind / Listen Girl<br />Critique </b>(45-1074 • 4924/25) <br />
<b>February 1968</b><br />
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<td style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/labels/alliance1.jpg" style="max-width: 320px; width: 100%;" width="325" />
<img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/labels/alliance2.jpg" style="max-width: 320px; width: 100%;" width="325" />
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="width: 100%;">
<td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/audio/me/alliance1.mp3" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/turntable.png" style="max-width: 100%; padding-left: 135px; padding-right: 135px;" /></a>
<a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/audio/me/alliance2.mp3" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/turntable.png" style="max-width: 100%; padding-left: 135px; padding-right: 135px;" /></a>
</td>
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<br />Nightrockerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13088412526796167483noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6967072201116119712.post-76159300750619905072017-04-18T08:25:00.021-07:002021-06-02T18:16:10.216-07:00THE END (Worcester, MA)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/end/endpic1.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/end/endpic1.jpg" width="650" style="width:100%; max-width:650px"/></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><b>Practicing in the Evans’ rumpus room, from left: Jimmy D'Angelo, Jim Evans, John Solaperto, George Evans, John Witti.</b></td></tr>
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<br />
This short-lived group of youngsters (aged 14-16) from the Burncoat section of Worcester, Mass., released two different versions of their original tunes within seven months of each other. The band consisted of Jimmy D'Angelo on guitar, John Witti on bass, brothers George Evans on keyboard and Jim Evans on drums, and John Solaperto on vocals. The crew practiced in the Evans’ house, previously owned by a handicapped man who had an elevator installed, which made it easy for moving equipment in and out. John Witti's dad, Steven A. Witti, managed the band, and the publishing company credited on both records’ labels was made from his initials (S.A.W.). The End played mostly dances at their own Burncoat High School, though on one occasion the senior Witti brought them up to New Brunswick, Canada. He rented a huge venue and tried to build excitement and coax attendees by billing them as being “from the U.S.” — but alas, only about a hundred people showed up. <br />
<br />
The first versions of the tracks “Can't Get Free” and “Movin’ Out” were recorded at Hills Sound Service (same studio as <a href="https://thebasementwalls.blogspot.com/search/label/Mickey%20And%20The%20Motions%20%28MA%29" target="_blank">Mickey & The Motions</a> and <a href="https://thebasementwalls.blogspot.com/search/label/Specters%20%28MA%29" target="_blank">The Specters</a>) and was pressed at the Rite plant in Ohio in September 1966. Co-writer Jimmy D'Angelo said he thought that he sang on the a-side, so perhaps it was before vocalist John Solaperto joined the band. (For what it's worth, the performance is barely held together and the vocals are more desperate than then the subsequent version … I prefer it.) An oversized picture sleeve on very thin, shiny paper with a posed band photo exists for this release.<br />
<br />
The End re-recorded their two compositions at Northeast Recording in Worcester in April 1967, showcasing a tighter, faster unit. This version was housed in an updated picture sleeve using the same design, but with a live photo from the band's practice space, and on thicker cardstock.<br />
<br />
Jimmy left the band in 1967 to join his brother Joe's band, The Joneses (one 45 on MGM with the songs “Washington Square” and “Baby”). Jimmy pursued a career in music with the acts Mad Angel and August, and still performs with his band Deep 6. John Witti went on to the American Standard Band in the mid-’70s, who in 1978 were recruited by Joe Cocker for his backup band.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/end/endpic2.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/end/endpic2.jpg" width="650" style="width:100%; max-width:650px"/></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><b>From left: John Solaperto, Jim Evans, John Witti, Jim D'Angelo, George Evans.</b></td></tr>
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<td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/end/endsleeve2a.jpg"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/end/endsleeve2a.jpg" width="320" style="width:100%; max-width:320px"/></a>
<a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/end/endsleeve2b.jpg"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/end/endsleeve2b.jpg" width="320" style="width:100%; max-width:320px" /></a>
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<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b>1966 picture sleeve on thin shiny paper.</b>
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<table cellspacing="0" style="padding-bottom:30px;">
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<td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/end/endsleeve1a.jpg"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/end/endsleeve1a.jpg" width="320" style="width:100%; max-width:320px"/></a>
<a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/end/endsleeve1b.jpg"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/end/endsleeve1b.jpg" width="320" style="width:100%; max-width:320px" /></a>
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<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b>1967 picture sleeve on thick cardstock.</b>
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<br />
<b>THE END<br />Can't Get Free / Movin' Out<br />Saw Publishing Co. </b>(17657/58 • Rite 1245) <br />
<b>September 1966</b><br />
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<td style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/end/end1a.jpg" width="325" style="width:100%; max-width:320px"/>
<img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/end/end1b.jpg" width="325" style="width:100%; max-width:320px" />
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<td style="text-align:center;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/audio/ma/end19661.mp3" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/turntable.png" style="max-width:100%; padding-left:135px; padding-right:135px;"/></a>
<a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/audio/ma/end19662.mp3" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/turntable.png" style="max-width:100%; padding-left:135px; padding-right:135px;" /></a>
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<br />
<b>THE END<br />Can't Get Free / Movin' Out<br />Northeast Recording </b>(NE 207 • 1657 4-67) <br />
<b>April 1967</b><br />
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<td style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/end/end2a.jpg" width="325" style="width:100%; max-width:320px"/>
<img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/end/end2b.jpg" width="325" style="width:100%; max-width:320px" />
</td>
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<td style="text-align:center;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/audio/ma/end19671.mp3" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/turntable.png" style="max-width:100%; padding-left:135px; padding-right:135px;"/></a>
<a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/audio/ma/end19672.mp3" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/turntable.png" style="max-width:100%; padding-left:135px; padding-right:135px;" /></a>
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Nightrockerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13088412526796167483noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6967072201116119712.post-34305297014044225302017-03-01T18:58:00.008-08:002021-06-09T08:28:08.274-07:00TRANS-ATLANTIC SUBWAY (Cambridge, MA)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: left;"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/tas/tas7.jpg" style="max-width: 650px; width: 100%;" width="650" /></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><b>The pensive Prophets, July 1965. From left: Tom Hesse (lead vocals), Paul "Mac" MacDonald (drums), Steve Ning (bass), Ken "Skip" Curry (rhythm guitar), Mark Byrne (lead guitar). All photos courtesy of Mark Brine.</b></td></tr>
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<br />
Trans-Atlantic Subway were five high school pals from Cambridge, Mass., who set out to perform rhythm & blues and rock and roll. The lineup featured Mark Byrne (lead guitar), Tom Hesse (lead vocals), Steve Ning (bass), Ken “Skip” Curry (rhythm guitar) and Paul “Mac” MacDonald (drums). All lived in the Agassiz School area except for Mac, who was from nearby Somerville.<br />
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The band was originally called The Prophets and Mark made up business cards freshman year at Rindge Technical High School (see photos below).<br />
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In late 1966, The Prophets went into Lightfoot Studios in Jamaica Plain, Mass., and recorded two original Hesse/Byrne compositions: the upbeat “Servant Of The People” and the somber “Winter Snow.” According to Mark, the band originally planned another slower/moody song to back “Winter Snow,” but the studio executive wanted an upbeat one instead. The band considered “Servant” more of a novelty — their take-off on the Kinks’ “A Well Respected Man,” about a cop named Tony who used to bug them at their local hangout — but obliged and recorded it for the A-side. <br />
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(Lightfoot Studios was owned by and operated by Gordon G. Lightfoot, no relation to <i>the</i> Gordon Lightfoot. The studio became Third World Recordings, infamous for recording and releasing The Shaggs “Philosophy Of The World” LP.)<br />
<br />
Mark's recollections of that day:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Lightfoot Recording Studio was located on Centre St. in Jamaica Plain.. ‘n though I can’t recall how Tom ‘n I got there that day (Probably via bus-line), I do remember standing in the doorway (it might’ve been raining..?) waiting for Gordon Lightfoot (Not the same as the famed artist, but a lesser ‘Country’ music one .. with a small-time hit called “Drugstore Cowboy”, I believe it was?) to appear. We had called ‘n made an appointment with him (I assume) to check out his set-up. I remember the little office in the front with its desk and slight-of furniture.. as well, as the doorway ‘n the beyond-it big back studio ‘n (street-side..) bordering control room. I say ‘big’ (as it was very impressive to a young kid then!), but it was not as huge as the many older ones that I’ve seen or worked in since! I don’t recall if it was that day or soon after, but we discovered that the engineer that worked there (‘n would also handle our session) was Ed Welch.. a former neighbor of mine on Crescent St. He & his band used to sit around in the backyard in the Summertime (only a few houses down from mine) ‘n pick their electric guitars. I, of course, was a big fan of theirs (they all being a bit older than me..’n much more proficient!) .. so, it was exciting to know that he’d be involved!<br /> <br />Either way, a date was secured.. ‘n when, at last, it came.. we were all pretty hyped-up to go! We had originally hired the studio, but by the time we finished, Gordon offered us a contract to record 6 more sides for his Lightfoot Record label. But, I’m getting ahead of myself here. </i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>I can still see it all in my head now.. the exact band set up ‘n our placement in that room.. ‘n what transpired. Originally, we had rehearsed ‘n planned for two original numbers.. “Winter Snow” (a song lyric of Tom’s, that I had added music to) and “Undoubtedly, Mr. Smith” (a song I had written by myself, words ‘n music.. Though, as a team we had always shared credits despite!). But, being that “Winter Snow” was the first recorded that day.. ‘n Gordon having a friend/record executive visiting from Nashville ‘n attending the session.. the latter pointed out that these two numbers had basically the same mid-to-slow, ballad-like tempos. So he asked if we had anything more ‘up’. And, randomly grabbing “Servant of the People” ‘n playing it for them, the exec said.. “There’s your Hit!”.. ‘n (on his advice), Gordon pushed it ‘n won out. </i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>I still can’t help wonder to this day though, just ‘who’ that Nashville Exec was… ‘n greater, if (when I grew older) I might’ve known or even worked for him..? </i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>— excerpted from an unpublished, private memoir by Mark Brine (© 2017)</i></blockquote>
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The 45 was released in Spring 1967 under the name Trans-Atlantic Subway, as Lightfoot suggested they come up with a new name on account of another, more well-known group calling themselves The Prophets. But within six months the band would dissolve, playing their final gig in October or November of that year. Friend Donny Coughlin joined the band as organist for the show.<br />
<br />
Mark and Mac went on to a heavier outfit called Instant Up, who opened up for Procol Harum and Moby Grape, but never released any records.<br />
<br />
Mark switched around his last name from Byrne to Brine and moved to Tennessee to pursue a career in country music, with numerous releases under his belt to date and critical acclaim. In 2012 he published a book, <i>The Book Of Odes (Factory Boy)</i>, a not-so-thinly-veiled account of his time with Trans-Atlantic Subway. It can be found <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Book-Odes-Factory-Boy/dp/0615625657" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
<br />
Sadly, Steve Ning died of a brain aneurysm in 1989 at the age of 38, and Tom Hesse, a U.S. Army veteran, passed away in May 2016 at age 67.<br />
<br />
Visit Mark Brine's website at <a href="http://www.markbrine.com/" target="_blank">markbrine.com</a>.<br />
<br />
<i>Dedicated to the memory of Tom Hesse.</i><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/tas/tas14.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/tas/tas14.jpg" width="650" style="max-width: 650px; width: 100%;"/></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b>Jan/Feb 1967, from left: Paul MacDonald, Steve Ning, Tom Hesse, Mark Brine, Skip Curry.</b></td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/tas/tas10.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/tas/tas10.jpg" width="650" style="max-width: 650px; width: 100%;"/></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b>July 1965</b></td></tr>
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<td style="vertical-align: top"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/tas/tas1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/tas/tas1.jpg" width="325" style="width:100%; max-width:325px"/></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b>July 1965</b></td></tr>
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</td>
<td style="vertical-align: top"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/tas/tas9.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/tas/tas9.jpg" width="325" style="width:100%; max-width:325px"/></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b>March 1965</b></td></tr>
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<td style="vertical-align: top"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/tas/tas3.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/tas/tas3.jpg" width="325" style="width:100%; max-width:325px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b>February 1965: earliest band picture</b></td></tr>
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</td>
<td style="vertical-align: top"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/tas/tas11.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/tas/tas11.jpg" width="325" style="width:100%; max-width:325px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b>1965 basement practice</b></td></tr>
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</td>
</tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%"><tbody>
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<td style="vertical-align: top"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/tas/tas12.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/tas/tas12.jpg" width="325" style="width:100%; max-width:325px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b>"Rindge A Go Go" rehearsal, Winter 1965</b></td></tr>
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</td>
<td style="vertical-align: top"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/tas/tas8.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/tas/tas8.jpg" width="325" style="width:100%; max-width:325px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b>March 1965 practice</b></td></tr>
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</td>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%"><tbody>
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<td style="vertical-align: top"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/tas/tas6.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/tas/tas6.jpg" width="325" style="width:100%; max-width:325px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b>Final gig, Oct/Nov 1967. Donny Coughlin on organ.</b></td></tr>
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</td>
<td style="vertical-align: top"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/tas/tas2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/tas/tas2.jpg" width="325" style="width:100%; max-width:325px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b>1965</b></td></tr>
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</td>
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<td style="vertical-align: top"td><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/tas/tascard1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/tas/tascard1.jpg" width="325" style="width:100%; max-width:325px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b>First business card, printed in Rindge Tech printing class.</b></td></tr>
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</td>
<td style="vertical-align: top"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/tas/tascard2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/tas/tascard2.jpg" width="325" style="width:100%; max-width:325px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b>Later card design</b></td></tr>
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</td>
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<hr />
<br />
<b>TRANS-ATLANTIC SUBWAY<br />Servant Of The People / Winter Snow<br />Lightfoot </b>(100,333/34) <br />
<b>Spring 1967</b><br />
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<td style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/labels/transatlanticsubway1.jpg" style="max-width: 320px; width: 100%;" width="325" />
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<td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/audio/ma/tas1.mp3" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/turntable.png" style="max-width: 100%; padding-left: 135px; padding-right: 135px;" /></a>
<a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/audio/ma/tas2.mp3" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/turntable.png" style="max-width: 100%; padding-left: 135px; padding-right: 135px;" /></a>
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<br />Nightrockerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13088412526796167483noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6967072201116119712.post-16380635544537187292017-02-25T22:03:00.003-08:002021-06-09T06:44:29.612-07:00THE COBRAS (Newton Centre, MA)Totally unaware of the <a href="https://thebasementwalls.blogspot.com/search/label/Cobras%20%28ME%29" target="_blank"><i>other </i>Cobras</a> who slithered down to Beantown from northern Maine, this crew of Newton high schoolers played together for three years, cut a cool 45, and promptly vanished.<br />
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The class of 1967 combo was comprised of David Rosen on lead guitar and background vocals (Newton South High School); Dennis Hannon on lead vocals and rhythm guitar (Newton North High School); Richard Mushlin on bass (Newton South High School); and Tommy Thompson on drums (Newton North High School). Their first gig was at David's brother's New Year's Eve party at a hotel on Route 9 in Framingham, Mass. Friends had adjoining rooms and the band set up in the hallway!<br />
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The Cobras played frats and mixers at colleges such as Boston University and MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). At one fortuitous gig at Lesley University in Cambridge, an A&R scout from AAA Recording Studios was impressed enough to set them up with a record deal. But by the time they got around to their studio date, the guy no longer worked there. Luckily, studio owner Joe Saia said they'd put out the record anyways. The band didn't have to pay for recording, however they wound up stuck with boxes of records and none of the promotion promised in the initial proposal. The record featured one David Rosen original, backed with a version of the standard "Summertime." Both sides showcase the surprisingly professional-sounding vocals of singer Dennis Hannon.<br />
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As for the band name, David recalls they made a list of potentials, then called up people to see what names they liked most, and the Cobras won!<br />
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Though unfortunately no photos turned up yet, you can visualize the band in their matching outfits of yellow jackets with black velvet collars and skinny ties.<br />
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Band members, relatives and old friends: We'd love more info and photos. <a href="mailto:JayLitch@gmail.com" target="_blank">Please get in touch</a>!<br />
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<b>THE COBRAS<br />Come On Back / Summertime<br />Feature Record Productions </b>(201,264/65)<b><br />
April 1967</b><br />
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<td style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/labels/cobrasma1.jpg" style="max-width: 320px; width: 100%;" width="325" />
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<td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/audio/ma/cobras1.mp3" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/turntable.png" style="max-width: 100%; padding-left: 135px; padding-right: 135px;" /></a>
<a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/audio/ma/cobras2.mp3" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/turntable.png" style="max-width: 100%; padding-left: 135px; padding-right: 135px;" /></a>
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<br />Nightrockerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13088412526796167483noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6967072201116119712.post-16519910850640865862016-11-17T19:28:00.005-08:002021-06-09T06:48:10.680-07:00THE ILLUSIONS (Randolph, MA)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%;"><tbody>
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<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><b>From left: Carmen Russo, Mark Spencer, Ron White, Harry O'Loughlin. All memorabilia courtesy of Harry O'Loughlin.</b></td></tr>
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<i>With a songwriting pseudonym of “Eyhate Werk,” you know this record has to be good! The Illusions hailed from Randolph, Mass., and featured Ron “Eyhate Werk” White (rhythm guitar/organ), Mark Spencer (lead guitar), Harry O'Loughlin (bass) and Carmen Russo (drums). Ron, Harry and Carmen had been friends since junior high. Harry recalls the days of The Illusions:</i><br />
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Carmen vacationed in Plymouth, Mass., where he met Mark Spencer. We were all inspired by The Beatles, like a lot of people were.<br />
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To make a long story short, we all could sing so we decided to form a group. I can’t remember who came up with The Illusions but it worked for all of us. Carmen knew how to play the drums and Mark knew how to play guitar. Ron and I took a crash course on how to play the guitar and bass. We practiced in Carmen’s parents’ cellar in Randolph and sometimes at Mark’s parents in Hanson, Mass.<br />
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Our first gig was a Bar Mitzvah/reception in a hotel in Braintree, Mass. We played many school dances in Randolph, Stoughton and Braintree. Braintree because Ron went to Arch Bishop Williams High School. We played at the Surf Nantasket in Hull and Broad Cove in Weymouth. We played CYO dances at St. Bernadette’s in Randolph. We played a lot of Beatles and old rock ’n roll (Animals, Stones, Roy Orbison).<br />
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Ron was the songwriter of the group. He wrote about four songs and we picked two to make a recording. We chose “Burning Embers” and “Tell Me No.” We actually recorded “Tell Me No” a little bit slower than how the final product came out. We recorded at Ace Recording Studio in Boston. I remember the name of the guy who did the recording for us, Herb Yakus. Ron’s parents’ names were Barney and Mary, hence the record label name, BAR-MAR.<br />
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<i>— Harry O’Loughlin, September 2016</i><br />
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<i>And from Carmen:</i><br />
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On our first gig we only knew about 5 songs and we played them over and over. Ron played as well as he could. Harry was on bass which he couldn't play so he was UNPLUGGED the whole night. We laughed.<br />
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Harry did most of the vocals and the crowd loved it. We got paid $20 and were ecstatic. Fame and excess fortune soon followed and the rest is history.<br />
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<i>— Carmen Russo, September 2016</i><br />
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<td style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/illusions/illusionscard.jpg" style="max-width: 320px; width: 100%;" width="325" />
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<b>THE ILLUSIONS<br />Tell Me No / Burning Embers<br />Bar-Mar </b>(200,572/73) <br />
<b>August 1965</b><br />
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<td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/audio/ma/illusions1.mp3" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/turntable.png" style="max-width: 100%; padding-left: 135px; padding-right: 135px;" /></a>
<a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/audio/ma/illusions2.mp3" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/turntable.png" style="max-width: 100%; padding-left: 135px; padding-right: 135px;" /></a>
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<br />Nightrockerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13088412526796167483noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6967072201116119712.post-10723116131546888282016-08-30T19:15:00.006-07:002021-06-09T06:57:32.809-07:00THE INSANE (Southington, CT)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%;"><tbody>
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<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><b>The insanely rare, only existing band photo looks like it survived electroshock therapy. From left: Gary Shea (bass), Jerry Talbot (lead guitar), Bill Tomlin (rhythm guitar), Pete Brown (keyboards). All memorabilia courtesy of Gary Shea.</b></td></tr>
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“Lose Your Mind With The Insane” was the motto of these Connecticut madmen who released one top-tier two-sider during their year-and-a-half existence. With a home base of Southington, the band was actually made up of guys from three different towns and high schools. The lineup featured Jerry Talbot (Southington High School) on lead guitar; Gary Shea (Southington High School) on bass; Peter Brown (Plainville High School) on keyboards; Bill Tomlin (Plainville High School) on rhythm guitar; and Bill Buckland (Bristol Eastern High School) on drums.<br />
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The band started rehearsing on New Year’s Day, 1967 (initially calling themselves The Wrong Bunch). Gary's guitar teacher, Jerry Talbot, approached him about playing bass in a band he was putting together. The bass player for local stalwarts The Blue Beats was Gary's inspiration — and coincidentally, The Insane would be booked by the Blue Beats' manager, Hartford radio personality Ken Griffin of WDRC, through his Christopher Productions agency.<br />
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The band gigged steadily in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island — and were even favorites at the three gay bars in Hartford. Typical sets included a mix of rock and roll and soul hits (check out a vintage set list below), with an emphasis on The Who. Shea recalls that Michael Bouyea, drummer for Bristol, Conn., major label act The Squires, told him he nailed John Entwistle’s bass solo in their version of “My Generation.”<br />
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In an unfortunately unrealized gimmick, manager Gary Przybylski wanted the Insane members to walk on stage in straitjackets, and then he'd shoot each member one by one and they'd start playing!<br />
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On May 1, 1967, the crew set up with mobile recording unit Allen Associates in a Thomaston high school gymnasium and laid down two Pete Brown originals for their 45, with Pete singing lead on both tracks. The cost: $500 for 1,000 records.<br />
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The Insane went for a second recording session in spring 1968, yielding a Jerry Talbot original “Out On A Limb” for the a-side and a cover of “Parchment Farm” for the flip. Jerry sang lead on these two sides. But with college and the draft looming, the band called it quits in the summer of 1968 and the two tracks only remained on an acetate which has yet to surface.<br />
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Gary Shea went on to a successful career in music, supporting countless musicians and touring worldwide with hard rock bands New England and Alcatrazz. Check out his <a href="http://www.garyshea.net/" target="_blank">website</a> and a couple of interviews <a href="http://bravewords.com/news/alcatrazz-new-england-bassist-gary-shea-recalls-being-kicked-off-1979-kiss-tour-gene-simmons-announced-that-we-were-not-happening-and-we-were-off-the-tour-that-was-it-video" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="http://www.legendaryrockinterviews.com/2011/12/30/legendary-rock-interview-with-gary-shea-of-alcatrazz-warrior-and-new-england/" target="_blank">here</a>. <br />
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Pete Brown still writes music — instrumental backgrounds and theme tracks for film and video — and over 180 compositions can be heard on his website <a href="http://trakhause.net/">trakhause.net</a>. <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>“A few years later I joined a band from Winsted, CT called 'Snoopy's Crew,’ later to be called 'Burgundy Sunset.’ We also played all throughout New England and in 1969, moved to the West Coast in California. The two guys that set up our gigs and and located us out there were Bob and Fred who, many years earlier, used to choreograph dancers for the Ed Sullivan show and many others in Hollywood TV at the time. We signed with Herb Albert's label for a short while (A&M Records). That led us to more gigs in Las Vegas, 'The Whiskey,’ 'The Troubadour' in LA and many clubs around San Francisco and San Diego. Dennis Langevin, our guitar player who died in 2013, later went on to record in the Van Morison band and I collaborated with Tim Hardin at the time we played the Troubadour in LA.”</i></blockquote>
Sadly, Jerry Talbot passed away in 2014.<br />
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<td width="62%"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/insane/insanegaryshea.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/insane/insanegaryshea.jpg" style="max-width: 650px; width: 100%;" /></a></td>
<td width="38%"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/insane/setlist.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/insane/setlist.jpg" style="max-width: 325px; width: 100%;"/></a></td>
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<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><b>Bassist Gary Shea in the midst of growing his hair out, and an Insane set list. Note the 45 tracks at numbers 3 and 9.</b></td></tr>
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<td><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/insane/giglist1.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/insane/giglist1.jpg" width="325" /></a></td>
<td><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/insane/giglist2.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/insane/giglist2.jpg" width="325" /></a></td>
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<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><b>Some gems in this gig diary! “Let Bitter Sweet use our stuff. They stink.” “Fight with Romano for 10% of take. Thieves. Called cops.” “Dud in Bristol. Everyone over 21-25.” “Played all night. Free booze. Buckland got banged up.”</b></td></tr>
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<b>THE INSANE<br />I Can't Prove It / Someone Like You<br />Allen Associates </b>(201,347/48) <br />
<b>July 1967</b><br />
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<td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/audio/ct/insane1.mp3" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/turntable.png" style="max-width: 100%; padding-left: 135px; padding-right: 135px;" /></a>
<a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/audio/ct/insane2.mp3" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/turntable.png" style="max-width: 100%; padding-left: 135px; padding-right: 135px;" /></a>
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<br />Nightrockerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13088412526796167483noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6967072201116119712.post-47926838059342085702016-07-05T11:19:00.006-07:002021-06-09T08:23:49.324-07:00THE BLUE MIST (Devon/Milford, CT)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%;"><tbody>
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<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><b>Standing tall in Milford, from left: Steve Brunelle, Dick Brunelle, Nick Demet, Chris Nastu, Steve Murphy, Bob Schwartz. All photos courtesy of Steve Brunelle. Electric Grape poster courtesy of Jamie Barbetti.</b></td></tr>
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The Blue Mist would have been just a fond, fuzzed-out memory of the band members and their Milford-area fans had they not recorded a barely released demo 45 back in 1969.<br />
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The young crew's original lineup featured Steve Brunelle (guitar, vocals), Richard Brunelle (bass, vocals), Nick Demet (guitar), Chris Nastu (drums) and Bob Schwartz (lead vocals). They started in late 1967, when Bob Schwartz, Nick Demet and Richard Brunelle were in junior high at Lenox Avenue School, and the rest of the band attended Jonathan Law High School. Guitarist Steve Murphy was brought into the band when Steve Brunelle was briefly hospitalized for an illness, and then they kept him on as 12-string guitarist afterwards.<br />
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The band was managed by Dean Bibens and they secured a steady stream of gigs at local dances, nightclubs and events. They also made a television appearance on the Brad Davis Show, and did a “three-state tour” of Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York.<br />
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Chris Nastu: “We sure had a big following, and did a lot of free concerts. We were also on TV with the Carpenters, played in front of 1,000 people at Palisades Park in New Jersey, and also the Cheshire Reformatory Prison in Cheshire, Conn. That was scary, and the warden told us we would get booed out like all the other bands, but quite the reverse — a standing ovation, and the inmates that needed their medications wouldn’t leave, they wanted to hear us play.”<br />
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Richard Brunelle: “I can remember my brother telling me ‘You're playing bass.’ I didn't want to be left out so my mother bought me my first bass guitar. One of the first gigs was the Essex coffee shop. We played songs like Young Rascals tunes, ‘Hang on Sloopy,’ early 60's stuff. A short time later Steve Murphy joined with the 12 string sound. The more we practiced, and that was a minimum of two nights a week, the better the band got. Dean Bibens opened up his home to us and let us fix up his basement so we had a permanent spot to practice. We were there pretty much every day. It was like a second home to us. ‘Juan Cool’ is what we nicknamed him. He was like a second father to us. He kept us on the straight and narrow, or so he thought. We were not little angels. Once after a gig we played at the Blue Sands night club in Westerly, R.I., we had our own room and the next day it was trashed. I think Juan's statement was, ‘You guys are through.’ But he loved his boys and couldn't let it go down the drain.”<br />
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The band played tunes by the Rolling Stones, The Who, The Beatles, Neil Young (“Cowgirl In The Sand,” “Wooden Ships”), Led Zeppelin “Whole Lotta Love,” and when the early Seventies rolled around, Deep Purple “Highway Star.”<br />
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Richard: “We were regulars at the Electric Grape in Milford center, which was a psychedelic night club. We played every weekend 52 weeks a year. We were booked months ahead. Sometimes the bookings were a year in advance. We also were regulars at The Adam’s Apple in Milford.”<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/bluemist/BlueMist04.18.69.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/bluemist/BlueMist04.18.69.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>The Bridgeport Post</i>, April 18, 1969</b></td></tr>
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In April 1969, The Blue Mist set up at Syncron Sound Studios (later Trod Nossel) in Wallingford, Conn., and laid down two tracks for a demo single. A killer two-sider, it's a shame this was never officially released. Bob Schwartz sang lead on “Twice Before The Ministry” while Steve Brunelle sang on “I Can't Find A Place.” Brunelle recalls that he and Murphy wrote the b-side in his bedroom one night after school. “Our manager ran it up to a few record companies but no one was interested in putting us under contract,” Steve Brunelle recalls. Richard adds, “One of them told Dean that the songs were not what they were looking for at the time but if we recorded any other songs that they wanted to get the first shot to listen to them. He was told that we were ahead of our time.”<br />
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The band pressed 100 copies of the 45 with blank white labels, with the song titles and band name handwritten by the manager's family (which included two daughters — hence the ornate handwriting gracing some of the labels). Jamie Barbetti, roadie and the band's light-show designer: “I remember the whole family sitting around the dining room table writing song titles on the records.”<br />
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When asked if the mysterious song title had anything to do with getting in trouble at a Catholic high school, Steve clarified: “‘Twice before the Ministry’ had to do with being married twice under the thumb of the Catholic way at that time. A couple of us in the band were in families that were dealing with parents being divorced and then remarrying. If it was because of getting in trouble, I'd say it would be more like a COUPLE DOZEN TIMES before the ministry!”<br />
<br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />
Bob Schwartz and Steve Murphy left the band sometime after the recording and Mike Powers joined on as the new singer. Powers left for a stint with the National Guard and in the meantime was replaced by Eddie Young. The Blue Mist soldiered on until the mid-1970s, with ultimately Richard Brunelle and Chris Nastu the only two original members left.<br />
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Steve Brunelle states humbly: “We were just a regular neighborhood band having fun in our teenage years.”<br />
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<i>Thanks to Jamie Barbetti for clean rips of the 45 tracks.</i><br />
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<td><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/bluemist/bluemistlive1.jpg"><img border="0" width="325" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/bluemist/bluemistlive1.jpg" style="max-width: 325px; width: 100%;" /></a></td>
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<a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/bluemist/bluemistclip1.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/bluemist/bluemistclip1.jpg" width="650" style="max-width: 650px; width: 100%;" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/bluemist/bluemist2.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/bluemist/bluemist2.jpg" width="650" style="max-width: 650px; width: 100%;" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/bluemist/bluemist3.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/bluemist/bluemist3.jpg" width="650" style="max-width: 650px; width: 100%;" /></a><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b><i>The Bridgeport Post</i>, Jan. 11, 1970</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b><i>The Bridgeport Post</i>, May 10, 1970</b></td></tr>
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<b>THE BLUE MIST<br />Twice Before The Ministry / I Can't Find A Place<br />no label </b>(CO-2773) <br />
<b>April 1969</b><br />
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<td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.thebasementwalls.com/audio/ct/bluemist1.mp3" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/turntable.png" style="max-width: 100%; padding-left: 135px; padding-right: 135px;" /></a>
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<br />Nightrockerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13088412526796167483noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6967072201116119712.post-48616067207940441222016-05-12T19:00:00.003-07:002021-06-09T07:30:20.342-07:00THE CAVEMEN (Leominster, MA)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%;"><tbody>
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<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><b>The primitives in red suede with leopardskin collars. From left: Renato Mascitti, Pete “Mongo Lloyd” Schumann, Paul Salvatore, Nunzio “Nunz” Nano, Mike Cannavino. All photos courtesy of Nunzio Nano.</b></td></tr>
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Sometimes rock and roll fame never reaches beyond the town lines, or in this case, the local bowling alley. Such was The Cavemen from Leominster, Mass., who cut a catchy pair of crudely recorded tunes back in 1965. Founding members included Nunzio “Nunz” Nano (guitar, vocals), Pete “Mongo Lloyd” (!!!) Schumann (guitar, vocals), Mike Cannavino (guitar, vocals), Eddie “Zing” Hendershaw (bass) and Paul Salvatore (drums). Hendershaw left to further music studies at Berklee College of Music in Boston and was replaced by Renato Mascitti prior to the recording.<br />
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The Cavemen were “older” at the time, meaning members ranged 18-20 years old and were out of high school. Nunz described the group as basically a Beatles cover band, with many originals as well as Roy Orbison, Gerry & The Pacemakers and various other popular bands of the time thrown in. To reinforce the Caveman theme, these Neanderthals even donned custom-made leopardskin outfits! Says Nunz, “Those suits you see [above] are the red suede with leopardskin collars. We also designed complete leopardskin, collarless jackets [below]. A local, very talented Italian seamstress named Lena made all of the jackets to our specifications.” But despite the outward connotation of primal thunk, these Flintstonian fellows worked the pop end of the spectrum (i.e., no Stones, Animals, etc.).<br />
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Perhaps fittingly, the band's sole record sounds like it was literally recorded in a cave. A high school English teacher, Don Malley, and his partner decided to cash in on the new rock and roll craze and release a single by Leominster's hot local band. In August 1965, they brought reel-to-reel recording equipment to Mason’s Bowling Alley, where the Cavemen played every Thursday (in their brand-new red suede jackets). Tracks were laid down amongst the spares, strikes and gutterballs, and then vocals were recorded in a garage and even <i>inside a Volkswagon</i>!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;" width="200"><b>Excerpt from The Sound Track by <br />Evelyn Piano, <i>Fitchburg Sentinel</i>,<br />Sept. 8, 1965</b></td></tr>
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Nunz recalls: “As for the 45 rpm record … it is not a very good, representative recording. Unfortunately, the recording equipment was primitive, the guys that did the engineering were school teachers, it was done at a bowling alley and in a construction garage (vocals done in a Volkswagen bug!!), and the company that pressed the records wasn't exactly top shelf.”<br />
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The a-side was written by Mike Proietti, who was 13-14 years old at the time and in a band with Paul Salvatore's younger brother. Paul would hear them practicing "Sandy" and liked it so much that he brought it to the Cavemen, who started playing it at all their gigs. The flip side is spelled incorrectly on the record label: the correct title is “Postpone Arrangements.” (Side note: On the record label, the band gave a songwriting credit to their pal J. Moore [Johnny Moore], member of the other big local act, The Del-Mars — who were later hired to become Michael And The Messengers in Chicago. Johnny contributed to the outro.) Nunz sang lead on both tracks, with Mike Cannavino providing backup harmonies.<br />
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Mike Proietti: “I used to play in a band with Paul Salvatore's (Cavemen drummer) younger brother Marty and we used to play the song Sandy. I was like 13 or 14 at the time and Paul who was 5 or 6 years older would hear us practicing and say, ‘What's that song you guys are playing?’ and Marty would tell him it's a song that Mike wrote. Well I guess he liked it cause they started playing it at all their gigs and then ending up recording it. It was a lot of fun and The Cavemen were a great bunch of guys.”<br />
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The record was sold at gigs and at the one record store in town, Metro Music, that Paul Salvatore managed — no doubt guaranteeing prime exposure.<br />
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The Cavemen wrote more originals which were slated for release, but nothing ever materialized.<br />
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Eventually … Nunz, Pete Schumann and Renato Mascitti left the band, with John Tata, Lenny Bisceglia and Dennis Mazzafero stepping in. (The last picture below is taken from the late Mike Cannavino's memorial page.) No recordings were made by this second-generation lineup.<br />
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Former Cavemen Nunzio and Paul Salvatore currently play in a band with two other lifetime rockers under the name The Relaxatives. Their motto? “Join the movement, and enjoy the moment.” (All puns intended.) Mike Proietti still writes and records music under the name Mike Jons, which can be found on his YouTube channel <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/JamZorro" target="_blank">JamZorro</a>. Ed Hendershaw joined Tower Of Power as a studio musician for a couple of years after Berklee. Mike Cannavino passed away in 2014.<br />
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Nunz sums up his Cro-Magnon experience: “We had a dynamic, crisp sound and had quite a large local following back in the day. I miss those days in a big way. Best years of my life!”<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b>Troglodyte chic! From left: Nunzio Nano, Paul Salvatore, Pete Schumann, Eddie Hendershaw, Mike Cannavino</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b>From left: Paul Salvatore, Eddie Hendershaw, Nunzio Nano, Pete Schumann, Mike Cannavino</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b><i>Fitchburg Sentinel</i>, July 20, 1965</b></td></tr>
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<b>THE CAVEMEN<br />Sandy / Postponed Arrangements<br />Micro </b>(no catalog number) <br />
<b>October 1965</b><br />
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<br />Nightrockerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13088412526796167483noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6967072201116119712.post-38993107754174142332016-04-17T19:41:00.006-07:002021-06-09T07:35:14.981-07:00THE HANGMEN OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY (Fairfield, CT)I first heard “Stacey” back in the early 1990s when The Lyres from Boston <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKZ2MplsmVQ" target="_blank">covered it</a>. The song was a live staple and recorded on one of their singles. But since I never paid much attention to the words, the full effect of the song never hit. It wasn't until Tim Warren of <a href="https://www.cryptrecords.com/" target="_blank">Crypt Records</a> started quoting the pharmaceutically-incorrect lyrics (with much hootin’ and knee slappin’!) when he passed through the Northeast on a 2014 U.S. road trip that I revisited the original Hangmen version. And sure enough, underneath a clean, bouncy melody — about the furthest thing from mind-altering psychedelia as you’d get — lay a veritable who's who off of Nancy Reagan's naughty list.<br />
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Singer and guitarist Mike “Zel” Zelich claims the monumental “ground zero” moment of The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show prompted neighborhood pal Mike Montanaro to call him up the very next day saying, “Let's start a band!” The two Mikes previously played folk music together, but had no experience with rock and roll. Montanaro’s parents had friends whose son played drums, so they arranged for him to get together with Rick Castaldo. Rick, in turn, had a friend who played bass, John Denike, and now all the components for a full-fledged rock and roll band were in place. The Hangmen’s first gig was a dance at Fairfield University, and they soon went on to other venues including Sacred Heart University mixers, regional music festivals, and also an opening slot for The Strangeurs (with pre-Aerosmith Steven Tyler) at a local teen club. They concentrated mainly on British Invasion-era covers with some originals mixed in.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b>From left: Mike Zelich (lead vocals, lead guitar), Richard Castaldo (drums), Mike Montanaro (rhythm guitar, 12 string), John Denike (bass), and last but not least, the “Fifth Hangman,” Louis Castaldo (master linguist, financier).</b></td></tr>
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Rick's older brother Lou wrote “Stacey” for the band, with verse after brilliant verse about a chick more addictive than any combination of illegal substances you can match her up against. Lou financed the record, which was recorded in New York City, and pressed it up on his own High Castle label. The flipside, “I Don't Want You Around,” is a moody monster written by Zelich and opens with Montanaro’s ringing 12-string guitar and features vocal harmonies by Zel and Rick.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/hangmen/zelichlive.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/hangmen/zelichlive.jpg" width="400" style="max-width: 400px; width: 100%;"/></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b>“Zel” at the helm during an Andrew Warde High School dance.</b></td></tr>
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Zelich left the band in 1967 and hooked up with other local musicians including former Mojo (The Mojos “Love Does Its Harm” 45) Matt Lewis. He spent time in The Fun Band, whose “Welcome To The Circle / It’s Good” 45 was released on the ABC label in 1968, with Zelich again writing the b-side. Members of The Hangmen continued to play together in different configurations in the southern Connecticut and New York City region.<br />
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In the 1980s, during the height of the “televangelist” phenomenon, Mike Montanaro and Rick Castaldo whipped up an updated version of “Stacey” with the lyrics changed to <a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/audio/ct/hangmenjesus.mp3" target="_blank">“Jesus.”</a><br />
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We'll leave you with the twisted genius of Lou Castaldo!<br />
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<b>To heck with pot and LSD too</b><br />
<b>I’d rather take a trip with you - Stacey</b><br />
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<b>Goodbye to shots of white cocaine</b><br />
<b>You have put them all to shame - Stacey</b><br />
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<b>I’ve sniffed glue right from a bag</b><br />
<b>Compared to you it’s really a drag - Stacey</b><br />
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<b>Stacey - You’re quite a child</b><br />
<b>Stacey - You drive me wild</b><br />
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<b>Lovin’ you is really in</b><br />
<b>You’re better than Coke with aspirin - Stacey</b><br />
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<b>I’ve heard of the high from Dexedrine</b><br />
<b>But you’ve got a kick like a 20-mule team - Stacey</b><br />
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<b>I don’t need tea or the poppyseed</b><br />
<b>Cause with you I can do the good deed - Stacey</b><br />
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<b>Stacey - You’re quite a child</b><br />
<b>Stacey - You drive me wild</b><br />
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<b>Some go far on magic mushrooms</b><br />
<b>But with you I’m first to the moon - Stacey</b><br />
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<b>Trading your love for a million bennies</b><br />
<b>Is like selling New York for a few pennies - Stacey</b><br />
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<b>People go nuts from taking goofballs</b><br />
<b>But after you I’m climbing the walls - Stacey</b><br />
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<b>Stacey - I shoulda had warning</b><br />
<b>Stacey - You’re habit forming</b><br />
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<i>Thanks to Mike Montanaro for help with the lyric deciphering</i>.<br />
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<b>THE HANGMEN OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY<br />Stacey / I Don't Want You Around<br />High Castle </b>(HC-401) <br />
<b>1966</b><br />
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<br />Nightrockerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13088412526796167483noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6967072201116119712.post-40432888037033201442016-04-02T11:45:00.003-07:002021-06-09T07:44:19.955-07:00THE BACK BEETS (Wilmington, MA)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%;"><tbody>
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<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><b>That's the way life was in the woods of Wilmington. From left: John Given (vocals), Frank Sasso (bass), Ricky Goodrow (rhythm guitar), Lenny Zaccagnini (drums), Larry Zaccagnini (lead guitar). Photo courtesy of Frank Sasso.</b></td></tr>
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The nucleus of the Back Beets consisted of Wilmington, Mass.-based identical twin brothers Larry and Lenny Zaccagnini, along with their cousin Frank Sasso from Cambridge. The boys started way back in 1963 playing all instrumentals a la The Ventures. The Zaccagninis’ dad was a guitar player and instilled music in his sons. Early on they couldn't afford a drum set, so Lenny played on turned-over potato chip cans (in the pre-bag era)! The brothers wanted their cousin to play bass, so they taught him “Satisfaction” and that was the first song he ever played.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b>Wilmington Town Crier, Dec. 21, 1967</b></td></tr>
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The band was rounded out with two other Wilmington kids, singer Johnny Given and rhythm guitarist Ricky Goodrow. Originally calling themselves The Fourth Dimensions, they settled instead on The Back Beets when the Fifth Dimension came out with a hit song the week after one of their recording sessions. The Back Beets played all top hits of the day, heavy on the Animals and Beatles — and even a cover of Boston stars The Remains “Why Do I Cry.” Johnny remembers the neighborhood kids coming by to watch them practice in the basement. The ’Beets played mostly in the Wilmington area, and ventured down to Frank's hometown of Cambridge a couple of times. They played anywhere for free at first, then started to get some paying gigs.<br />
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The crew hooked up with Boston area radio personality/promoter Marv Cutler and his own Marc Enterprises. (Despite the Tufts address on the record label, neither the band nor their manager was affiliated with the university. Cutler lived in Medford and the local PO boxes all had Tufts addresses.) Marv sent them to Ace Studios in Boston where they recorded two original tracks in December 1967 for Cutler's first and only Marc label release. However, Uncle Sam came calling for Frank, so he joined the Air Force rather than get drafted and left the band just as the single was coming out. As a result, the band dissolved and the 45 received little promotion or distribution.<br />
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Prior to the Ace session and resulting Marc single, The Back Beets recorded the same two tracks at Five Star Music Productions, a studio famed for its song poem output. And even before this, an acetate was cut with their original name, The Fourth Dimensions. All of these versions can be heard below.<br />
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A post-Back Beets anecdote, courtesy of Frank: While stationed in Alaska, Sasso joined up with other musicians to form popular club band 7 O’Clock Solution, playing covers of Cream, Jimi Hendrix, Procol Harum, etc. “We would play till 2-3 in the morning and then be at work at 7 a.m. One time I fell asleep at my desk and got chewed out by my superior, and got put on confinement to the base for one month. We had a big-paying gig so I snuck off base and played facing away from stage so my face could not be seen. Two hours in, I decided it was safe and turned around — and just then the first sergeant with the military police came in and dragged me right from the stage and arrested me!”<br />
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<b>THE BACK BEETS<br />That's The Way Life Is / Sandy<br />Marc </b>(45-0001 • 21173/74) <br />
<b>December 1967</b><br />
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<br />Nightrockerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13088412526796167483noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6967072201116119712.post-71350491981723929632016-03-28T11:57:00.003-07:002021-06-09T07:51:32.608-07:00WE THE PEOPLE (New Bedford, MA)In the southern coast of Massachusetts, the city of New Bedford had a thriving music scene in the 1960s. In fact, the city was home to prolific record label Arco Records / Stereophonic Corp. as well as Metcalf Recording Studio. Despite the volume of output from this area, one band's recorded legacy remained buried for decades after the fact outside of their home city: We The People.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;" width="324"><b>We The People at one of their first gigs during the 1965 New Bedford High School senior get-togther event at the Jewish Community Center. From left: Jarry Shervo (bass), Manny Fagundes (lead guitar), Ally Levin (drums), John LaBrode (rhythm guitar). Cropped out of the photo is Bruce Entwistle (keyboards).</b><br /><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b>Manny Fagundes (left) and “Peter Weeple” Jarry Shervo</b>
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No relation to the major label Florida band active at the same time, this outfit featured leader Manny Fagundes on lead guitar, Jarry Shervo (“Peter Weeple”) on bass, Bruce Entwistle on vocals and keyboards, John LaBrode on rhythm guitar, and Alan Levin (“Ally”) on drums. Manny actually jammed one practice session with <a href="https://www.ripitupri.blogspot.com/search/label/Stonemen*" target="_blank">The Stonemen</a> prior to We The People — both bands were managed by Fall River-based promoter Don Perry.<br />
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Like The Stonemen, Don took We The People to New York City to record. It is interesting to note that the matrix numbers of “Always Lies” are in exact succession to The Stonemen’s “No More” 45: both were apparently sent in to be pressed up at RCA Custom at the same time. (The following year, Don would release records by the Darkest Our from Fall River and the Underground Railroad from Brockton, Mass., under his Littletown label.)<br />
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High school sophomore Jarry sang lead on the desperate “Always Lies” — and <i>yow</i>, check out those screams at the end! —while Bruce sang the upbeat flipside, “I'll Get You Yet.”<br />
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As for the classic pseudonym on the record label, Jarry explains: “How I became Peter Weeple was Manny’s idea during the recording session and I think it had something to do with having a name that had a hook to hang the song on before we went to New York City to record. But it was a real laugh in the studio and being young and full of future stardom I enjoyed the role.”<br />
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John LaBrode, Bruce Entwistle and Alan Levin passed away in 2010, 2015 and 2017, respectively.<br />
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<i>“Always Lies” was just included on the “Last Of The Garage Punk Unknowns Volume 8” LP (the “Heartbroken American Garage Jangle Misery” volume). Buy it <a href="https://www.cryptrecords.com/last-of-the-garage-punk-unknowns-8-lp.html" target="_blank">here</a>!</i><br />
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<b>WE THE PEOPLE<br />Always Lies / I'll Get You Yet<br />Seventeen Records </b>(263/64 • T4KM 4253/54) <br />
<b>March 1966</b><br />
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<br />Nightrockerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13088412526796167483noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6967072201116119712.post-84434519762191895312016-03-04T18:03:00.008-08:002021-06-09T08:04:06.024-07:00THE ALRIGHT FIVE (Eliot, ME)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%;"><tbody>
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<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><b>Flanked by their own go-go dancers, Little Don & The Roulettes featured all of the Alright Five players (plus two). From left: Peg Dame, Elroy Dame, Rod Lavigne (kneeling), "Little" Don Kimball, Ralph Dame, Don Cail, Gary Walker, Janie Putnam. All photos and memorabilia courtesy of Gary Walker.</b></td></tr>
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The Alright Five was a group of young neighborhood pals from Eliot, Maine, who performed with and without Alan Burn under different configurations for more than three years. The crew started off as The Agents in late 1965, with lead guitarist Ralph Dame and rhythm guitarist Gary Walker. Gary recalls: “The Agents performed on Portland Maine’s WCSH “Club 13” TV show as well as WTSN Radio’s Friday Night Dance, aired from Dover, N.H. I was in eighth grade at Eliot Elementary School and Ralph was a freshman at Eliot High School.”<br />
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Ralph's brother Elroy joined on bass, and Rod Lavigne took over on drums, and at this point the band changed their name to The Stars, named by their “music mentor” Bobby Herne, who was a cousin by marriage to Ralph and Elroy. To further the family connection, the Dames’ mom, Sis, functioned as the band's manager!
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(The surname Dame should sound familiar, since extended family member Freddy Dame had a solo career — a major label 45 on Reprise — and also sang for <a href="https://thebasementwalls.blogspot.com/search/label/Outside%20In%20%28ME%29" target="_blank">The Outside In</a>, who released a noteworthy garage 45 in 1967. And to boot, Freddy's brother Greg played with The Agents for a while…)
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Alan Burn got hooked up with The Stars via Bobby Herne, and at this time their name changed again, to The Alright Five. Despite the age difference — Alan being in his early twenties with a major label release under his belt, and his new backing band being 8th and 9th graders! — the band gelled and recorded upwards of 10 tracks in the studio at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) in 1966. Two of these tunes were selected for release in September 1966 on Alan's own Tuesday label, the poppy “Tiny Tagalong” and a no-frills British Invasion style rocker, “Turn Off, Next Exit.” Ralph and Gary wrote the music, presumably after listening to “Gloria” a few times, and Alan supplied the cryptic verses. Says Gary, “Tiny Tagalong was the a-side and received the most air time on the radio stations. But I do remember hearing some of the DJs playing “Turn Off, Next Exit.” It is definitely cool to hear your own record on the radio.”
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The band’s live repertoire ranged from early rock and roll (“Land Of 1,000 Dances,” “Alley Oop”) to soul (“My Girl,” “To Love Somebody”), to teen dance staples (“Twist And Shout,” “Louie Louie”) and even the now-sounds of 1966/67 (“Mr. Spaceman,” “I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night” and one of the band's favorites, Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It's Worth”). And what venue could in good conscience turn down an outfit with <i>these</i> credentials? <i>Personality-wise, this is the friendliest group going. They like and appreciate audiences of all ages, and always set a good example. They always dress properly for the stage.</i> (Courtesy of an Island Enterprises promotional booking letter.)
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<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><b>December 1965: Ralph Dame, Gary Walker, Jimmy Satalino, Dwight Satalino, Danny Maynard, Greg Dame.</b></td></tr>
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Alan departed in early 1967 and The Alright Five hired a new lead singer and a sax player, coincidentally both named Don — vocalist/guitarist Don Kimball and saxman Don Cail — and rechristened themselves as Little Don & The Roulettes. Gary remembers a busy schedule: “We played for over a year at the EM club at Portsmouth Naval Base on Thursday and Sunday nights. About six months on Saturday nights at the Little Shanty Night Club in Salisbury Beach, Mass. We played a lot of frat houses as well as high school dances and other venues.”<br />
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Now, about the Alright Five band name … turns out there is an amusing story behind it that only could have evolved through the thought processes of 14-15 year-olds.
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Ralph Dame: “The band was sitting around and trying to figure out what we would call ourselves and were talking about the Dave Clark Five. Someone wondered aloud how we compared to the Dave Clark Five. One of us responded, ‘Well, I guess we are all right’ … Someone else piped up, ‘We should call ourselves The Alright Five’ — And we did.”
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<i>Special thanks to Gary Walker and Peg Dame.</i><br />
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<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><b>Gary: “All of the Roulettes business cards were printed in the Marshwood High School Industrial Arts Shop – on the manual printing press. I printed them as part of a project my freshman year.”</b></td></tr>
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<b>THE ALRIGHT FIVE<br />Turn Off, Next Exit / Tiny Tagalong<br />Tuesday </b>(No. 7 / No. 8 • TK4M-1985/86) <br />
<b>September 1966</b><br />
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<br />Nightrockerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13088412526796167483noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6967072201116119712.post-43707357950446608542016-02-01T06:39:00.000-08:002021-06-09T08:20:27.831-07:00THE NEW FUGITIVES a.k.a. THE FUGITIVES (Meriden, CT)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;" width="320"><b left="" text-align:="">Catch the Fugitives! From left, standing: Craig Sargent (bass), Ron Blouin (organ). Sitting: Pete Panciera (drums), Gary Hass (lead guitar).</b></td></tr>
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The Fugitives were a group of accomplished musicians with a combined total of no less than 37 years of playing their instruments as of the time their sole single came out. The lineup consisted on Ron Blouin on organ, Craig Sargent on bass, Pete Panciera on drums and Gary Hass on lead guitar.<br />
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Ron and Craig went to Cheshire Academy, Pete went to Maloney High School, and Gary attended the University of Hartford. In mid-1966 the Fugitives added Paul Ossola of Cheshire Academy, formerly the bass player of another local outfit, the Talismen. Paul played bass on “That's Queer” while Craig played tambourine, and then for the flip Craig played bass on “She's My Baby” while Paul handled tambo duties. Pete — star quarterback of the Maloney High football team and also captain of the basketball and golf teams! — sang lead vocals on both sides of the 45.<br />
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We'll defer to Crypt Records madman Tim Warren, who gave the lowdown on the New Fugitives in the liner notes for “Back From The Grave Volume 7,’ on which both tunes appeared:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Hilarious Meriden, Connecticut organ punker ished in Oct ’66 on the GLO label, mostly known for polka releases! Formed in early ’65 by two high school pals who had previously tried their hand at R&R as a duo, playing homemade, primitive instruments. The drummer, who sang lead on both sides of this 45, was the star quarterback on the football team — RARE, as usually these teen bands were comprised of the “outcasts” or “losers” (in the SQUARE world’s eyes, of course!) of the school “society.” They played all over CT/MA, sharing many a bill with their pals, the pre-SQUIRES (“Going All The Way”) combo, THE ROGUES. At the suggestion of the Rogues’ label boss they hit Soyka Studios in Somers, CT in late summer ’66 and cut four tunes, and started shopping the tape around. RCA offered to sign them if they dropped their lead singer, but they bailed on that jive. Their manager worked a deal with the studio owner to press up 300 of the 7" but they had to add “NEW” to their name because some NYC lawyers representing one of the other 1,328 groups named the Fugitives threatened to sue if they used that name. “That’s Queer” was written by the singer/drummer in Math class as a joke, and “She’s My Baby” was written for his FORMER girlfriend, Dorrie, in hopes that she’d get back together with him. Instead, she hired a lawyer and threatened to sue, but couldn’t because no last name was mentioned in the lyrics. The group split up in mid-1967 when the guitarist was drafted and the rest went off to college.
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<i>—Tim Warren, “Back From The Grave Volume 7” liner notes, 1996</i></blockquote>
Ron shares a few thoughts on the recording of their single: <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
GLO Records was a subsidiary of RCA. After recording our songs at Al Soyka's Recording Studio in Somers, CT, the tape was sent to RCA in New York City where it was remastered. Then RCA pressed 300 records using the GLO label. I remember the recording engineer telling us that we could make up a label name if we wanted to, but we said that GLO was fine. When we got the records back, I was disappointed in the quality — it was because right around that time the record industry was experimenting with a new sugar base that they were adding to the vinyl records. The result was an inferior quality sound, which they did away with in less than a year's time. I wish you could have heard the playback that we heard when we listened to the tape in the studio!</blockquote>
On a sad note, this entry is dedicated to the memory of Peter Panciera, who died in May 2015 in Hilton Head, S.C., at the age of 66.<br />
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<b>All news clips courtesy of Ron Blouin (click to enlarge).</b><br />
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<b>THE NEW FUGITIVES<br />That's Queer / She's My Baby<br />Glo Records </b>(5241) <br />
<b>October 1966</b><br />
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<td style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/labels/newfugitives1.jpg" style="max-width: 320px; width: 100%;" width="325" />
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<td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/audio/ct/newfugitives1.mp3" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/turntable.png" style="max-width: 100%; padding-left: 135px; padding-right: 135px;" /></a>
<a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/audio/ct/newfugitives2.mp3" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/turntable.png" style="max-width: 100%; padding-left: 135px; padding-right: 135px;" /></a>
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<br />Nightrockerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13088412526796167483noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6967072201116119712.post-88995908384097756762016-01-22T21:04:00.004-08:002021-06-09T08:43:56.298-07:00THE CHECKMATES (University of New Hampshire - Durham, NH)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%;"><tbody>
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<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><b>Gearing up for the fall party season, summer 1965. From left: Jim Wood (lead guitar), Steve Oaks (drums), Gardner Spencer (lead vocals, guitar) and Andy Merton (bass). Says Gardner: “I just got back from ROTC Summer Camp at Fort Devens, hence the inappropriate (for the time) haircut.”</b></td></tr>
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Any semi-hip attendee of the University of New Hampshire in the mid-1960s surely remembers dancing to The Checkmates. You know, Animal House <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MG7KCOO76Wc" target="_blank">“Otis Day & The Nights”</a> style (togas encouraged). The long-running band lasted from 1962-1967 and entertained co-eds all over northern New England. Members checked in and out over the years, but the one constant throughout was vocalist, guitarist and founder Gardner Spencer. In the spring of 1964, Gardner, along with core ’mates Andy Merton, Jim Wood and Steve Oaks, hijacked the UNH radio station to record a couple of tracks, the popular cover tune “Midnight Special” and an original composition, “Eyes On You, Baby,” to garner interest for their upcoming busy summer schedule. The frequent gigging proved lucrative as well, Andy recalls: “I made my entire college tuition playing for that band.”<br />
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Interestingly, in 1966-67, Andy traded places with Dave Clapp, bassist for the York, Maine-based band The Outside In, and played on their 45 (read the <i>Basement Walls</i> <a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.blogspot.com/search/label/Outside%20In%20%28ME%29" target="_blank">feature</a>).<br />
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Gardner gives the complete lowdown on UNH's <i>true</i> “frat rockers”:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The Checkmates were formed in the spring of 1962 at the University of New Hampshire in Durham by three freshmen and a sophomore, myself as vocalist/guitar, Dave Seavey on drums, Jim Wood on lead guitar, and Spencer Michelin on piano. We played the fraternity circuit in northern New England from 1962 through 1967. I was the only member who was involved the entire period. The lineups over the years were:<br />
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Lead Vocalist and Guitar:<br />
Gardner Spencer (1962-1967)<br />
Lead Guitar:<br />
Jim Wood (1962-1965)<br />
Tom Wright (1965-1966)<br />
Ken Baker (1966-1967)<br />
Bob Fellows (1967)<br />
Drums:<br />
Dave Seavey (1962-1963, 1966-1967)<br />
Steve Oaks (1963-1966)<br />
Bass:<br />
Gardner Greene (1962-1963)<br />
Andy Merton (1963-1966)<br />
Dave Clapp (1966-1967)<br />
Charlie McDonnell (1967)<br />
Keyboards:<br />
Spencer Michelin (1962)<br />
Paul Nizza (1965-1966)<br />
Jim Perkins (1966-1967)<br />
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The band was known as the Checkmates until 1965 and then was changed to the Soul Survivors for the college circuit because there was a nationally known Checkmates band that emerged that year. Of course, another band emerged in 1967 with the Soul Survivors name. The Checkmates name was retained for our summer circuit where we well established. From 1964 to 1967 we played at Newell's Casino in Whitefield, N.H., and Serenity Hill in Naples, Maine, and other summer dance halls in northern New England.<br />
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The record was recorded at the college radio station at UNH in the spring of 1964 as a promotion idea for our summer gigs. Andy Merton, the bass player, arranged to have the record pressed. When we received the records, we realized they were intended to be ‘demos’ because they had Andy's and my name in big print and the band in small print. Of course we didn't write “Midnight Special” but we did write the flip side. [<i>Note that on the label, the “written by” text is crossed out on the “Midnight Special” side. Andy says the songwriting credit was “an embarrassing error by whomever created the label. Spence and I never intentionally claimed authorship.”</i>] We sold them at one of the college stores and at our gigs during the summer of 1964.<br />
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We disbanded in 1967 because I had finished graduate school and had go out and get a real job. I still entertain here in Florida, playing tunes from the 50's through the 80's two or three times a month.<br />
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<i>— Gardner Spencer, May 2015</i></blockquote>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Gardner Spencer</b></td></tr>
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Andy Merton went on to a 43-year career as an English professor at UNH and in 2015 published his second book of poetry. Read Andy's interview with the <i>Portland (Maine) Press Herald</i> <a href="http://www.pressherald.com/2016/01/17/a-writers-life-chapter-three/" target="_blank">here</a>. <br />
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Gardner Spencer continued to play music his entire life. Tragically, he succumbed to injuries sustained in a bike riding accident in Ocala, Fla., in January 2016. (His obituary can be viewed <a href="http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/ocala/obituary.aspx?n=gardner-spencer&pid=177368759" target="_blank">here</a>.) This entry is dedicated to his memory. Rock on, Gardner.<br />
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<i>Thanks to George Gell for the initial label scans and mp3s before the record turned up!</i><br />
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<b>THE CHECKMATES<br />Eyes On You, Baby / Midnight Special<br />no label </b>(RK4M-0087/88) <br />
<b>Spring 1964</b><br />
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<td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/audio/nh/checkmates1.mp3" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/turntable.png" style="max-width: 100%; padding-left: 135px; padding-right: 135px;" /></a>
<a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/audio/nh/checkmates2.mp3" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/turntable.png" style="max-width: 100%; padding-left: 135px; padding-right: 135px;" /></a>
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<br />Nightrockerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13088412526796167483noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6967072201116119712.post-45153493123315754162016-01-13T07:43:00.002-08:002021-06-09T09:16:17.217-07:00THE OUTSIDE IN (York, ME)On paper, The Outside In should have been a household name in southern Maine. Featuring lead singer Freddy Dame, who had already boasted a major-label single, and hometown guitar hero Bobby Herne, the band busted out a tough rocker with unrealized breakout potential. (Songwriter and label head Brandon Harris claims his inspiration for the tune was the Young Rascals “You Better Run.”)<br />
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<b>The Citations, featuring two future Outside-Inners. Standing, left to right: Dave Hopping, lead guitar; Rick Littlefield (Outside In keyboardist / vocalist), rhythm guitar and vocals; Andy Merton (Outside In bassist), bass guitar. Photo taken at a dance in the UNH Memorial Union Building, spring 1963. Courtesy of Andy Merton.</b></div>
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The short-lived group — which combined three York, Maine-area locals with two University of New Hampshire students — included Freddy Dame (lead vocals), Bobby Herne (lead guitar), Rick “Fireball” Littlefield (keyboards, vocals), Andy Merton (bass) and Monie Hobbs (drums).<br />
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Monie and Freddy both worked at the Portsmouth Navy Yard as civilian employees. And Bobby, well, was a local legend even at that point. Four years earlier, in 1962, Bobby backed Freddy on a recording which was picked up for national release by Reprise. The a-side is labeled as <b>Freddy And Claire</b> “(Right) After School” while the flip is credited as <b>Freddy Dame </b>“Love Is A Game,” both backed by Bobby's Trailers (a.k.a. Bobby Herne and studio musicians). And considering this was <i>1962</i>, the guitar solo is frankly out of time, approaching Cobras-esque. The single was self released locally on the Nic-Nac label and then picked up by Reprise. Unfortunately, Freddy got drafted and his recording career and record deal effectively petered out. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;" width="180"><b>Freddy Dame in 1962, proudly displaying the brand-new Freddy And Claire single.</b></td></tr>
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Andy Merton was playing in popular UNH band The Checkmates (read the <i>Basement Walls</i> <a href="https://thebasementwalls.blogspot.com/search/label/Checkmates%20%28NH%29" target="_blank">feature</a>), but traded places with then-Outside In bass player David Clapp for a spell before finishing up with The Checkmates. <br />
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Rick Littlefield previously played with Andy in another UNH band, the Citations, a few years earlier in 1963. The outfit never recorded, but Littlefield commandeered the name the following year during summer vacation back in Maine. This Citations released the “Phantom Freighter” 45 in 1965 (a <i>Basement Walls</i> feature is in the works).<br />
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The 45 recording came about in the fall of 1966 when school was in session. Rick and Andy knew UNH engineering student Russ Hamm, who had partnered with Brandon Harris to form the Right! record label. Like the other releases on the label, the two tracks were recorded at the UNH radio station.<br />
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Brandon nicknamed Rick “Fireball” after his Jerry Lee Lewis schtick at the piano. Rick recalls: <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>“I essentially ‘opened’ for [lead singer Freddy Dame], doing a few tunes before he came up on stage. Once he was on, he was the front man for the rest of the set and the center of attention. I did standard frat-party dance tunes from the ’60s — </i><i>“</i><i>Mustang Sally,</i><i>”</i><i> Rascals, stuff like that. Fred's singing style was a lot more melodic, so he did things like </i><i>“</i><i>Pretty Flamingo,</i><i>”</i><i> </i><i>“</i><i>Let Your Conscience be Your Guide</i><i>”</i><i> (Neville Bros), James and Bobby Purify </i><i>“</i><i>I'm Your Puppet,</i><i>”</i><i> Righteous Brothers, and a lot of R&B. Freddy had a wide vocal range and could sing runs, so he did soulful material really well.”</i></blockquote>
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<tr><td style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/outsidein/hammharris.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/bands/outsidein/hammharris.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;" width="200"><b>The Right! stuff: Russ Hamm (left) and Brandon Harris (right) of Hamm & Harris Productions.</b></td></tr>
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Rick growled lead on “You Ain't Gonna Bring Me Down To My Knees” while Freddy showcased his vocals on the ballad flipside, “Sometimes I Don't Like Myself.”<br />
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The Outside In played gigs in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, and quietly vanished into the seacoast. Freddy released another Brandon Harris-penned tune in 1969 under the moniker <b>Freddy & The Fables</b> “Kissin’ Me, Huggin’ Me” (on the Heritage label) which also featured Bobby Herne on guitar. Herne, of course, went on to garage and hard rock infamy with his involvement in The Cobras and Euclid.<br />
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<i>Both songs were compiled on the 1996 CD “You Ain't Gonna Bring Me Down To My Knees: The Strafford/Right! Records Story (1965-69)” on the Collectables label. This disc documents those labels' releases by the Outside In, the Tidal Waves, the Falcons and the 90th Congress.</i><br />
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<b>THE OUTSIDE IN<br />You Ain't Gonna Bring Me Down To My Knees / Sometimes I Don't Like Myself<br />Right! </b>(RRM-6612) <br />
<b>December 1966</b><br />
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<td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/audio/me/outsidein1.mp3" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/turntable.png" style="max-width: 100%; padding-left: 135px; padding-right: 135px;" /></a>
<a href="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/audio/me/outsidein2.mp3" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thebasementwalls.com/images/turntable.png" style="max-width: 100%; padding-left: 135px; padding-right: 135px;" /></a>
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<br />Nightrockerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13088412526796167483noreply@blogger.com0