Category Archives: Oak Park

Categories: Detroit, Michigan, Oak Park, Palmer

The Trademarks “If I Was Gone” on Palmer

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I knew little about the Trademarks until drummer Jerry Warren’s son Zack commented below.

Members were:

Alan Nathanson – lead guitar and vocals
Neil Faigenbaum – bass guitar and vocals
Dave Levitt – organ, replaced by Eric
Jerry Warren – drums

According to Teen Beat Mayhem, the band was from Oak Park, Michigan.

“If I Was Gone” is superb performance, featuring a catchy guitar riff, good harmonies, fine drum and bass playing and a sharp solo. It was written by Alan Nathanson and Neil Feigenbaum, arranged and produced by Ed Nelson, and released on the great Palmer label out of Detroit in 1967.

The flip, “I Need You (By My Side)”, light pop with strings and horns, is labeled the “Action Side”, which couldn’t be further from the truth. If Palmer promoted “If I Was Gone”, the Trademarks would have had a better chance of a hit.

Producer Ed Kaplan’s name shows up on a number of Detroit rock and soul records, including the Chomps “Lookout World” on Kool Kat.

Other bands on Palmer include the Grifs, the Canadian Rogues, and the Moriticians.

The band played on Robin Seymour’s Swinging Time show, so there’s an outside chance video footage still exists. The Trademarks broke up in 1968, and Zack says his father Jerry passed away in 2012.

Anyone have a photo of the group?

Categories: Michigan, Oak Park, Palmer, Panik

The Shy Guys “We Gotta Go”

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Shy Guys Oak Park Photo

The Shy Guys from Oak Park, Michigan and their closest brush with fame was opening for a tour of the Dave Clark Five.

The Shy Guys consisted of Ron Nelson (previously known as Ron Lefko) – lead guitar and vocals, Stu “Hirshfield” Howard – rhythm guitar and vocals, Marty Lewis – bass and Mark Finn – drums. Both sides of this 45 are great garage pop with good harmonies. “We Gotta Go” certainly had the potential to break into the charts, but only had local success.

Scott Regen of WKNR had the Shy Guys adapt “We Gotta Go” into “The Burger Song” to promote his show. Hear it on the Motor City Radio Flashbacks site, along with a photo of the Shy Guys and a Scot Regen fan card.

The Panik label was started as JR by Joe Revaz out of Detroit, originally for soul artists. A couple other garage and pop bands like the Rainy Days and the Human Beings also have 45s on Panik.

These two tracks were also released on the local Palmer label, along with a second 45, “A Love So True”/”Where You Belong”. Their last release was a fine Ron Nelson original “Without You” on the Canusa label, with a cover of the Byrd’s “I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better” on the flip.

These are not the Shy Guys from Florida responsible for the incredible psych 45 “Black Lightning Light”.

Thank you to Ron Domilici for the news photo at top.