The Chomps were a group from Ypsilanti, Michigan, near Ann Arbor. The Chomps released one single with a pop side, “Kiss My Lips (One More Time)” backed with a nifty, tongue-in-cheek biker tribute, “Lookout World” on Kool Kat KK-1002 in 1968.
Members were:
Ray Shingledecker – guitar
Mike Shingledecker – drums
Darrell Wilkins – guitar
Vincent Heatlie – bass
Credits show “Kiss My Lips (One More Time)” by Kaplan, Rabinowitz for Chetkay, BMI and Floss, BMI, and “Lookout World” by Wilkins, Kaplan for Chetkay, BMI.
Copyright records show the names as Steve Rabinowitz and Eddy Marvin Kaplan, a songwriting team who sometimes used the aliases Steve Robins and Eddy Kay. Eddy Kaplan produced and arranged the Chomps single, and produced other area singles, like the Trademarks “If I Was Gone”.
Kool Kat is otherwise a soul label, run by M.S.K. Productions, Detroit, Michigan. The Chomps was a Columbia custom pressing, ZTSC 127041/2
Kool Kat 1001 – Joe Matthews – “(You Better) Check Yourself)” (C. McMurray, W. Hampton) / “Ain’t Nothin’ You Can Do”
Kool Kat 1003 – Hindal Butts – “Giggin” (Butts, Hicks, Block, instrumental, ZTSC 107007) / “Happiness (Is So Far Away)”
Kool Kat 1004 – Virgil Murray’s Tomorrow’s Yesterday – “I Still Care” (Huff, Murray, McGuire) / “Summer Dreamin'” (also released on Airtown A-015)
Thank you to Trudy Kinard for providing the photo and names of the members of the Chomps.
The Soul Source site gives some background on these names:
MSK stands for Martin, Schneider and Kajeski, who owned M-S records, Detroit. Chester J Kajeski owned the music publisher Chetkay, that published the Silky Hargraves tracks (DBA CHETKAY Music Pub, 15401 Tirman, DEARBORN, MI) Kool Kat records were a division of MSK productions, Detroit. Martin & Schneider also owned Marquee records, distributed by MSK productions. Marquee & Dearborn were run out of the same building in Dearborn.
Marquee put out the Free’s “Decision For Lost Soul Blue”. Dearborn is a cool label that had some in-demand soul singles, as well as rock stuff by Tino & the Revlons, the Undecided, H.T. & the Green Flames, the Jammers, Me & Dem Guys, and the Detroit Riots.
