DAEDALUS (New Britain, CT)

Daedalus was a studio project dreamed up by New Britain, Conn., high school junior Henry Gwiazda, for the sole purpose of recording and releasing two of his compositions on a 45rpm record.

Henry met neighborhood kids Frank Rutkowski (bass) and Mike Spendolini (drums) the summer after 9th grade, in 1966. Mike attended St. Thomas Aquinas (Class of 1969), while Henry and Frank attended Pulaski High School (Class of 1970). Being from a well-to-do area, all of them had nice instruments (and Fender double-stack amps!), and Mike was the only guy in town with a brand-new Ludwig double-stack drum set. Henry, a serious “student of guitar,” according to Mike, was one of the first guys in town to play a 12-string guitar a la the Byrds. He was also deep into original blues records — i.e., the kinds of things the Rolling Stones would cover. The three of them, along with rhythm guitarist Jim Kloczko, lasted about a year and had a couple of gigs playing local high schools.

Henry left the band, while Mike, Frank and Jim continued on with additional musicians. Henry was enamored with three-piece bands like the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Cream, so he started jamming with Mike and Frank in this format. Mike and Frank preferred the fuller sound of a five-piece band, and kept both outfits going simultaneously.

The unnamed three-piece rehearsed throughout the summer of 1968 and played exactly one gig, at local dive bar Mr. Lucky’s in Southington, CT. During the set, some biker guys wandered in while they were playing a Hendrix-style version of “Mustang Sally.” One apparently impressed biker pulled out a switchblade knife and stuck it into the wooden table, and demanded that they “Play it again!” So they did — over and over and over — for an hour or so until the bikers were satisfied or finally lost interest. (Picture a Blues Brothers crossed with Roadhouse scenario!)

The guys made $300 for their efforts, and Henry had the idea to take the proceeds to buy a block of studio time to record two songs he had written. The songs, “Raga For A Mountain Man” and “Empty Streets,” were never performed in public, and Henry came up with Daedalus — a symbol of wisdom, knowledge and power in Greek mythology — as the band name. Mike and Frank thought it would be fun to do so they went along with the idea.

Henry’s guitar teacher, Joseph Lariviere (who went by the name Raney Rivers and released some 45s of his own), had just opened a recording studio called Audio Specialties. The trio booked three hours in the evening on a snowy, icy night. As Mike put it, “one hour to set up, one hour to record, and one hour to get the hell out of there!” They set up fast, did three takes of each song, wrapped up by 10pm and then dined at the pancake house down the street, giddy and excited. 

Henry kicked in the extra funds to have a couple hundred copies of the 45 pressed, and with that, the short tale of Daedalus concluded. 

Mike and Frank continued on with other bands, and Mike achieved fame in the business world with a groundbreaking book on benchmarking. Frank stayed active in the New Britain music scene and ran a successful business in the town for 50 years. Henry, a gifted musician, continued in a career of music composition, becoming a college professor in the field.

As Mike recalls, “He could make that Gibson wail.”

Thanks to Henry for the label scans and audio files.

Special thanks to Mike Spendolini for taking the time to share his detailed memories!

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DAEDALUS
Raga For A Mountain Man / Empty Streets
Audio Specialties Recording Studio (CO 2534)
© October-November 1968