Raunch live at the Cellar in Ossining, 1966. From left: Tommy Walker (on drums), Jay Manning, Sandy Katz (playing the Vox Mark VI “Teardrop”) and Frank Taxiera on bass
Sandy Katz – rhythm guitar and vocals Jay Manning – lead guitar Frank Taxiera – bass Tommy Walker – drums
Raunch were from Ossining with the exception of Sandy Katz, their lead vocalist and songwriter, who was from Briarcliff Manor. Raunch’s great cover of Paul Revere & the Raiders’ “Hungry” leads off the fabulous Ren-Vell Records Presents Battle of the Bands Vol. 1 LP.
Raunch recording at Ren-Vell Studio 317 N. Central Ave, White Plains Even better is a 45 they cut for Bazaar Records, “A Little While Back” / “I Say You’re Wrong”. The A-side is a great song featuring heavy fuzz guitar and a blistering solo by Jay Manning. Jay kindly provided the photos here, including the first I’ve seen of Ren-Vell’s studio, and the story behind the band:
The Synners was the first band I had, while still in high school. It was myself (lead guitar) and my two best friends David Perugini (rhythm guitar) and Alan Raycraft (drums), and later another high school friend, Curt Mienel(bass guitar). We played at our high school a couple of times and parties. I don’t think we ever got paid, but in those days the motivation was impressing girls, not financial rewards.
I have a recording from 1965 of us playing at an Ossining High School Spanish Club banquet. Dave’s dad got a hold of an old Wollensak reel to reel and, unbeknownst to me, recorded three songs.
We graduated in 1965 and in the fall David went to college, in New Paltz, New York, so the band evolved. Alan and Curt stayed, I think we called ourselves the Invaders. I don’t really remember all the iterations of the bands. I do remember that Alan was still playing drums when we met Sandy Katz. I don’t remember how we found him, but he and I clicked. He had a great voice and wrote decent songs. His dad was in business for himself so was very savvy about copyright and publishing rights, so all of Sandy’s songs were copyrighted.
Alan finally quit, we replaced him with another Sandy, whose last name I don’t remember. Curt left and eventually we added Frank Taxiera as bass player. He couldn’t play and didn’t have equipment, he was just cool and he fit. He became a really good bassist and now plays some great blues lead, in Colorado, with some renowned bluesmen.
That’s when Raunch was born. Sandy’s dad wanted us to be The Four Seasons (clean cut, stylish), I had very long hair for 1966 and was not interested in being clean cut.
Raunch played all over Westchester County. Ossining, of course, Tarrytown, Yonkers, White Plains, Armonk, Briarcliffe Manor (that’s where Sandy lived). “The Cellar”, the Ossining Recreation Department’s teen hangout had live music almost every weekend. I can’t remember all the places we played, but it was a lot. Just about every weekend and some weeknights all over the place. I don’t remember playing any bars at that point, but we did banquets and lots of dances and teen clubs.
We were very egocentric. We considered ourselves the best band in the area and thought of all the others as pretenders to the throne, at least I did.
There were a lot of “battle of the bands”, at high schools. recreation departments, clubs, all over the place. We won most of the ones we were in, so didn’t really pay attention to second place.
The two I remember not winning was one for all of Westchester County, NY in the summer of 1966, at the base of Kensico Dam, in Valhalla, NY, we came in 4th. Not really a “battle of the band” but a tryout to open for the Beach Boys, at Iona College in New Rochelle. The best bands in Westchester, New York City and from Connecticut were there. We lost out to a band called The Young Savages, really great band and they lost out, in a second round of tryouts, to a band called Chain Reaction. The lead singer was Steven Tallarico (later Steven Tyler – Aerosmith). I remember them playing “I’m Not Talking”, by the Yardbirds.
Marty Katz, Sandy’s dad, really got into it. He knew his kid was good, but he had never been in a really good band before that could showcase his music. Marty Katz owned a corporation already, so he just created a record label, Bazaar Records, he paid for everything. The actual name of the band was Raunch Inc. and we really were part of a small corporation.
Raunch at Ren-Vell StudioWe recorded everything at Ren-Vell. We were, I believe, Joe Renda’s first project. I really don’t remember the other bands on the album, there were so many bands at that time and so many places to play.
Sandy Katz wrote “A Little While Back”, and on the record, sang the harmonies. I sang the harmony when we played it live.
Sandy is playing the Vox [in the photos], he also had the 12-string model. I had a Phantom, the odd, irregular hexagon shaped guitar, but it was a real pig. Thick neck, weak pickups, tinny sounding. Unfortunately that’s what I played at the battle of the bands, because it was “cooler” than my Hagstom, which was a much better guitar.
I was a terrific guitarist, for the time, if I do say so myself. That was really all I lived for, that and girls of course. I learned everything by ear and watching better players, never had any lessons, still haven’t and I still play quite a bit. Now it’s classical and fingerstyle jazz.
Jay Manning
Update April 2016: Jay Manning reports that Tommy Walker died in 2014, and that recently Sandy Katz’s father Morris “Marty” Katz also passed away.
Thank you to Jay for his help with this article. Scan of the Raunch 45 from David Perugini. Thanks to Patrick Lundborg for his help.
Back row: Tom Cosgrove, Billy Dennis and Pete Santora. Front row: Dennis Sousa and John Tomany
From the Bronx, the Elegant Four were also known as the Elegants. Tom Crosgrove was lead guitarist and vocalist, and wrote both songs on their only 45. Other members included Bill Dennis and Pete Santora.
The chanted vocals and echoing chords give “Time to Say Goodbye” a downcast mood, brightening momentarily during the chorus where the singer gives the boot to the girl holding out on him.
On the flip is the uptempo “I’m Tired”, with more fine harmonies and a good guitar solo.
These songs were originally released on the Cousins label, produced by Mike Barbiero. It was picked up for a December ’65 release on Mercury, but doesn’t seem to have made much chart impact.
Sources: photo from Pete Santora’s site. Thanks to Tom for clarifying the photo IDs.
A couple other photos are available on Tom Walsh’s site Bronx Bands of the Past (warning: Angelfire sites like this one always have pop-up ads).
The Reptiles, 1967, photo by Robin LeachRen-Vell Battle of the Bands vol. 1 Side A
The Reptiles have one cut on the Ren-Vell Battle of the Bands LP, “The Glass Toy”. It could have been a fine pop single with more polish, but the Ren-Vell studio wasn’t prepared to offer that kind of guidance or production quality.
Steve Worthy related the story of the Reptiles recording of Glass Toy to Bassman Bobb Brown:
Ron Macera was the drummer, Paul Slavin on bass, Mark Worthy on rhythm guitar and high harmony vocal on the chorus (a reversal of how we usually worked-me high harmony, him low). I played upper register rhythm guitar, because if I was doing the singing I couldn’t do any leads on guitar.
I wrote the song (probably my 3rd or 4th song ever written), full of teenage angst, and having to rhyme the works criticize, minimize and brutalize in the one bridge, shows my poetic and English major leanings. Subconsciously, I imitated my heroes the Beatles by doing something I heard said later about their songs – sad lyrics with happy music!
The only other recording session for the Reptiles was with a friend of my father named Bert Haber, who worked with Famous Music Publishing, and they were looking to get some young bands on one of their record company rosters. Bert gave us this song called “Come Take A Taste” to learn, and we so despised it, but really wanted to get in on the ground floor so we did it. I was so depressed learning it, that I wrote a song called “The Moustache Song” as a joke (“Please little girl with the moustache, blah blahh, Please don’t shave your little moustache, You’re only girl I kissed with one before”), which went on the 45 b-side. No one else had a song, so I had to sing that one as well.
Needless to say, their Broadway-type song was like a Spanky and Our Gang type tune, and our hearts weren’t in it, so it went nowhere further. The chorus sounded like “Sunday Will Never Be The Same”.
The Reptiles prided itself on always being true to the song and getting all the chords right! One of our pet peeves would be songs by bands who couldn’t get the bridge right- on “For Your Love” for example- the last two chords –they would do “A followed by Am” at the end of it, instead of C#m to B. Most bands were a little lazy that way. We used sharps and flats and major seventh chords because of our Beatle training. Me and my brother would listen to records over and over until every chord was perfect, especially with the Beatles stuff, which was our supreme role model. We even did Sgt. Pepper Stuff live like “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds”, “It’s Getting Better”, “A Day In The Life”, “Lovely Rita”.
Steve also wrote about the Reptiles’ rival bands, The End and The Aliens:
“The End” had Allen Spink and guitar and lead vocals, Jimmy Indusi on Guitar, Timmy Smith on console organ-sounded almost like a Hammond, Rick Selby on left-handed drums, and Pat Giordano on bass guitar. They were the second most ferocious competitors to the Reptiles after “The Aliens”. We made a comeback and beat them in a Battle of the Bands at St. Augustine’s High School finally, after a humiliating defeat at St. Ann’s when Spink stacked the deck with all of his friends. One reason the rivalry was so raw, even though personally I was great friends with the leader Allen Spink, was young testosterone when the nine of us were in a room together. We were like the Jets and the Sharks circling each other, I swear!
The Aliens were composed of Ray Marion on lead guitar and lead vocals (playing a Gibson cherry red ES335), Curt Meinel, bass (Hagstrom?), Glen Kane on drums, and a guy named Howie on Farfisa organ. They were very popular because they could be counted on to play all the standard rock ‘n’ roll songs like “Louie, Louie”, “Wipe Out”, “Bang Bang” (Joe Cuba, not Sonny and Cher), and were not adventurous at all, which is why the Reptiles and Aliens were sworn mortal enemies. Ray would do this swagger like he was so cool and shake his ass, which drove us crazy, because our impression of music at the time did not include ass shaking! Maybe he thought he was Elvis, who I both appreciate and love now, but at the time he was kind of old news to us in 1967.
Thanks to Bassman Bobb Brown for forwarding me the comments of Steve Worthy, along with the photo and the scans and transfers of the Aliens 45.
Early photo of the Staunchmen with Silvertone Bobkat guitars, from left: Paul Nagle, Don Cox, George Harvey (drums), Paul Beecher (with tambourine), Barry McLean, and Doug Smith (sax)
P.B. & the Staunchmen cut this rare 45 on Lee, the same label as the Ascendors “I Won’t Be Home” in 1966. The label was located out of Hornell, New York, 40 miles south of Rochester but the band was from Dansville, another 20 miles south/southeast.
P.B. is Paul Beecher, credited along with the Staunchmen for writing both sides of the 45. Members were:
Paul Beecher – lead vocals Doug Smith – sax Paul Nagle – lead guitar Barry McLean – rhythm guitar Eric Young – organ Don Cox – rhythm and bass guitar George Harvey – drums
“Mean Willy” is a driving track with some wild guitar breaks and screams between repetitive lyrics and droning saxophone.
All the girls they can’t sympathize, They know that he goes around telling ’em lies, When he looks into their big brown eyes.
The flip, “Lost Generation”, sounds like it has roots in “Eve of Destruction” (though it actually came out earlier – see Don Cox’s comment below). The lyrics are defeatist and downright depressing, if I am reading them right:
This poor war is here to say, There’s nothing you can do to keep it away, My brother’s dead, there’s no denying, This lost generation has me cryin’. ‘Cause it’s lost, this generation, it’s gone away, It’s lost no matter what you say.
The kids are turnin’, their cards are burnin’, Trying to escape this war, The game they’ve lost and now they’ve found, It doesn’t matter anymore.
Left to right: Barry McLean, Paul Nagle, Paul Beecher, Eric Young, Don Cox, and George Harvey. Not pictured: Doug Smith. Photo courtesy of George Harvey.
Thanks to Don Cox for the lyric correction. Band photos courtesy of George Harvey, and Don Cox (top photo).
If anyone has more photos of the group, please contact me.
from left: Paul Beecher, Paul Nagle, George Harvey, Barry McLean, Don Cox, and Doug Smith. Eric Young absent.
The Yorkshire Puddin, from left: R. Ponce de Leon, Danny Jolin, Bob Heinich, and Bob Cotherin
The Yorkshire Puddin cut two 45s on Dellwood Records in ’67 and ’68. Their first 45 is the fine “Good Night Day” backed with “Ain’t Gonna Love Ya No More”. They updated their sound for the second release, “Keep Me In Mind”.
“Keep Me in Mind”, like both sides of their first 45 were written by Cotharin – De Leon and produced by Woody Gardella. “Black Jacket Woman”, the flip of “Keep Me in Mind”, is the same moody pop number also done by the Zone V and the Tropics (the original?). I hear a female voice on the harmonies on this song only.
Dellwood was based in first Hackensack then nearby Saddle Brook, New Jersey.
Rhythm guitarist and vocalist Frank DePauw left a detailed comment about the band below, that I’ll repeat here:
Bob Cotharin, left hand Hofner bass player, and head singer and spokesman of the group. Reynold Ponce De Leon, keyboards, (harpsichord), rhythm guitar, and harmonies. Robert Heinick, lead guitar, and vocalist. Gail Koennemann did some backup singing, and wed Bob Cotharin in ’69 or ’70. No longer together. Daniel Jollen, drummer, drafted into the Army in the summer of ’68 Frank DePauw, second guitar, harmonies, backup keyboards, and in spare time, light show producer.
The group was the “house band” for the “Castaway” in Hampton Bay, Long Island, N.Y. in the summer of “68, when the drummer was drafted. A mad search went out, but no one could fill Dan’s job, and the group, after trying to get the “sound” back, broke up.
The photo of the group gives Danny Jollen’s name as Danny Jolin, I’m not sure which is correct. Also it’s hard to read the hand writing, but is it Bob Heinick or Bob Heinich? The photo also has what may be a manager’s name, George Appleyard, as well as a second address for Dellwood at 10 Banta Place in Hackensack.
Can anyone fill in more history on how they came to record for Dellwood and play at the Castaway?
Thanks once again to JP Coumans for the scan of “Keep Me in Mind” and transfer of “Black Jacket Woman”.
Special thank you to Harvey Kornbluth for sending the photo of the group.
Back of 8 x 12 glossy photo of the band with Dellwood Music info
This 45 has great atmosphere and unusual production. It’s the work of several talented people who were usually involved in much more commercial music.
Singer and songwriter Stephen Hartley is Stephen Hartley Dorff, a composer of songs and movie & TV soundtracks. The producer Walt Levinsky was an old-time swing clarinet player, composer and arranger who is most well known for writing theme songs for television, including the old CBS evening news theme. The arranger Steve Cagan worked for years with Melissa Manchester. MB Records is also the label that released Manchester’s first record, again with Cagan and Levinsky’s production.
“Have You Seen Her” did make the charts of WOR-FM in New York for a few weeks in July and August of 1967. I prefer “The Other Side” for the moodiness of the music and obsessive lyrics.
“Save Me” is a slow and intense psychedelic 45 featuring the anguished vocal of Richy Pecchio over the Brotherhood of Soul’s repetitive vamp. The flip is a shorter instrumental version of “Save Me”, retitled “The Morning After” with the bass guitar right up at the edge of the red on the meters.
Released on the Goldbug label, the RCA custom press number ‘UK4M’ indicates this was released in 1967. Both sides were written by Rich Pecchio and B. Sell. The 45 was produced by Ron Gittman, who was the agent that brought the Magnificent Men to Capitol Records.
This session was engineered by Abe Steinberg at Abtone Recording Studio. Abtone was located at 1733 Broadway in New York City, and in 1966 had been the site of some sessions featuring Lonnie Youngblood, Jimi Hendrix, Lee Moses and Herman Hitson, as well as other r&b artists like Ronnie Forte.
I couldn’t find any further info on this record until Richard Pecchio himself contacted me:
I was recruited by an ex-DJ turned manager when he saw me singing at a nightclub. He was or still is the owner of a trucking company in Manhattan, New York, his name is Lonnie Kaufman. He eventually got me signed to a record label called Kip Records in ’61. At that time I did not write songs, so we went with a cover for fast results: “Dream Lover” a cover of Bobby Darin’s hit record. The other side was a song called “Cherrie” by Bobby Rydell.
He also signed Nate Bouknight, also known as “Little Nat” from the Shells. Their hit song was “Baby Oh Baby” (late 50’s fame). Nate wrote a real good song called “Do This Do That,” that made some noise. Certainly I learned a lot from him.
I also went on a tour and performed on television programs, one called Boston Ballroom – the other guest was Brenda Lee. Being only 17, I was thrilled. Our make-up was put on in the same room. Lonnie Kaufman also managed Tony Darryl, who was on the Ed Sullivan show. It was a great start to my recording career.
[For the next] four years I was with various different genre bands trying to find a fit for what type of music I wanted to sing: City Magic – “Going Back to Florida” [b/w] a slow cover of the Loving Spoonful’s “Do You Believe in Magic”, and the Minutemen “A Little Too Much.”
The Brotherhood of Soul was started by a Stan Summers, (real name of group: Stan Summers and the Unsual) who was in a group (don’t remember the name) that did the backups for Dion on “The Wanderer” and “Ruby Baby”.
I don’t remember my group’s last names, but I believe I remember their first names: another Richard: a B3 Hammond Organ player; Andre: bass & sax player, tenor vocals; Steve was the drummer; Stan just sang; finally, I played rhythm guitar, and sang lead and harmonies.
We played our first job on Long Island, NY, we only knew 13 songs at the start, needless to say, we played each song for a very long time. We progressed and the sax player’s father was a policeman who introduced the band to a club owner named Charlie Bates who owned clubs in Manhattan and Westhampton Bay, NY. The club owner liked our music and hired us in 1967 to play the total summer on the shore of Westhampton Bay.
He supplied the band with a large home to stay at, it was part of the package; it was called “Captain’s Lodge.” It was a sweet deal. The name of the club we played at was called “Charlie Bates”. The prior summer the Young Rascals came to fame at a club called The Barge. We played adjacent to a club called The Eye who was featuring the soon to be famous Leslie West. The crowds were enormous throughout the summer; needless to say it was a very successful summer and one to remember.
After that we went searching for “fame” and meet Ron Gitman, who produced the song (“Save Me”) and managed the band. Our tours were great, of course it all went down-hill after that. I still sing & write every so often, here is a link of a song that is on Youtube, called: “The Mojito Song”, also known as “Idle” www.youtube.com/user/rpecchio
PS: this was a long time ago, some of the facts might not be accurate.
The MTA label was a faceless New York corporation primarily licensing recordings from both the East and West Coasts. Most of their California bands were signed through Leo Kulka at San Francisco’s Golden State Recorders. Their East Coast material seems to come from a variety of sources, and some bands seem to be purely studio concoctions.
One such shadowy group are the All 6, with this 1967 release. For years I thought they were a studio group like the Powers of Blue on the same label, as the only names I could ascribe to them come from the songwriters, Paul Leka (well known for writing “Green Tambourine” for the Lemon Pipers, among other hits) and Joseph Messina (credited on the label as J. Mesina).
Both are commercial pop of the time. Of the two I prefer “You Call It Love” for it’s arresting intro and consistent energy, while the A-side “Baby Hold On” has some fine organ playing. Production is credited to Cynthia and A.B. Jet Productions.
Tom Southwell and Andy StoneTom Southwell, Joe Messina and Eddie Rigano
As it turns out, they were a real group, a quintet despite their name. Tom Southwell commented below: “This was a real group from Mamaroneck, Larchmont, and New Rochelle, New York. The odd thing about All 6 is that there were only five members Their names are in the anagram A.B. JET: Andy Stone (drums), Bill Hanff ( lead vocal, electric piano), Joe Messina (organ, principal writer/leader), Eddie Rigano (guitar, vocal), and Tom Southwell (lead guitar, vocal). While All 6 were promoting this record they often were the opening act for The First Edition, B.J. Thomas, The Association, and The Four Seasons. All 6 performed in the area thru high school and college but went into other specialties: journalism, medicine, law, business, and motion pictures, respectively.”
The All 6 also backed Terry Randazzo on a 45 for MGM, “Trick or Treat”.
I asked Tom some questions about the band and he kindly answered with a short history of the group and the photos posted here.
Tom SouthwellWe really were a true performing band with costumes and routines and not just studio musicians. Our band was often hired to record the instrumental part of a vocal groups record. Some were master recordings and others were demos for writers to place songs with artists. We did quite a lot of these for Teddy and other writers. I was surprised when he put our name on that record (“Trick or Treat”). I think it may have been an accident (with our name on the envelope with the tape as it went to the place where the records are pressed… or a deal with our label MTA.)
We recorded an entire album (instruments only) for (Little) Anthony And The Imperials. All this studio work was after years of performing as a band in clubs and school dances. This was a way to gain experience for our own records when the time came. Sometimes I was in the studio working with some jazz legends.
The recordings were mostly done on Broadway across from The Winter Garden Theater, on Saturday or Sunday mornings. We would perform live the weekend evenings, and summers. I think it was Joe Messina who got us in front of MTA. Their A&R man had used us on a record or two and once Joe had a few songs they liked we recorded them. This is the way we worked, since we were all still students.
We played lots of senior proms and dances in the area (including Scarsdale High, Sleepy Hollow High, among others.) During the summers we played at the beach clubs, country clubs , and finally the New York night spots The Phone Booth, Joel Heller’s Eighth Wonder in the village, and often we were regulars at The Canada Lounge in Mamaroneck, NY. I studied guitar with Linc Chamberland from Norwalk, Connecticut, who also was a regular attraction at The Canada Lounge. Spectacular guitarist.
We were friends with Don McLean who lived a couple blocks from me (he was a graduate of Iona Prep school where Joe, Bill, and I briefly went). Don hit it big about 1969 but he was always building a guitar or playing his individual style of music. I was a class mate of Tommy Mottola who lived down the street and we would play guitars together. This was long before he became a legend in the music business. I was already in Hollywood when he got famous.
By the way, that James Burton record (Powers of Blue) really rocks! (too bad I wasn’t at his session.)
Tom Southwell
Ed Rigano added:
This band was formed by Joe Messina. Joe was a great musician besides the organ he was as accomplished drummer and of course a great song writer. Bill H. our lead singer had a incredible voice could sing with the best of them. Andy could play drums like no one else and Tom Southwell played lead guitar, wow could he play. I backed everybody playing rhythm guitar, bass on the recordings and backing vocals to bill. We did other recordings but they were never released, I’m sure Joe has copies.
The Mystics came from either Valhalla or White Plains. Members were Jimmy Carpenito vocals and guitar, Charlie Sinerate guitar, Bob Fresta organ, Dan Liberati bass and Mike Mruz on drums.
Their first 45 from April, 1966 has two original songs by Jimmy Carpenito on their own Mystic label, the excellent jangling-guitar “Orphan” backed with “Bad to Me”, which I haven’t yet heard. These were recorded at White Plains Recording Studio. The group played on the Zacherle show at some point.
They cut a decent cover of the Peppermint Trolley Company’s “Lollipop Train” on the Ren-Vell Battle of the Bands album.
For their next single in August 1967, they recorded an original called “Ride My Pony (Come)”, featuring calliope organ playing, and written by James Carpenito and Bob Fresta.
The flip is an excellent cover of the P.F. Sloan & Steve Barri song “This Is What I Was Made For”, which had been previously been done by the Grass Roots (on Dunhill records) and Wild Life (on Columbia). All copies of the Mystics’ version have a short audible glitch that comes in about 45 seconds into the song, probably dirt or damage to the master stamper.
Jimmy Carpenito stayed active in music. I’m sorry to hear that Charlie Sinerate passed away in October 2018.
Interestingly in late 2018 I found a 45 I hadn’t known about credited to the Mystics, “Mystic” / “Laryngitis”. Both songs are instrumentals and would seem to be from about 1963 from the sound of them. The B-side, “Laryngitis” is especially good, with a menacing opening riff and good playing throughout.
Louis Viscusi wrote both songs, and arrangements are given to G. Arbach, B. Fresta, F. McConville. Besides the Westchester origin, Bob or Robert Fresta is the only name that connects this to the Mystics who played on their Ren-Vell records.
These were released on SD Records SD-16, which stood for Sön-Deane Records, with an address in a residential neighborhood at 25 Jennifer Lane, Hartsdale, NY. I found a Library of Congress listing for “Laryngitis” credited to Louis Robert Viscusi in February, 1965.
SD Records had a range of releases, including religious, school band and theater productions, and funk, most of these from the 1970s. There is an early single with a different label design by the Galaxies, “Ad Lib” / ” Laurie” on Son-Deane Records, RB-105. Jeffrey Baker wrote these Galaxies songs, copyrighted in January, 1964, and there are two others copyrighted in September, 1964, “Tranquility” and “E to G” but I don’t know if these were recorded or released.
Sön-Deane was listed as an ASCAP publisher in Cash Box in 1967 and ’68, as a mastering and reference cutter in DB Sound Engineering Magazine in 1968.
Thanks to Ron for the label shots of “Orphan” / “Bad to Me”.
From Rochester, Little Peppy is Marlene Torre, writer and singer on both these sides. She and the band turn in a spirited performance on “It Can Happen!!” The designated a-side, “Since You’ve Gone Away” is a slow ballad about missing her lover drafted overseas.
This was a custom press recorded at Fine Studios in September, 1966, and released with their house label. The master tape that turned up with the remains of the studio has alternate takes of each song.
One mystery is who was the band backing her as the Bare Existence.
If anyone has a photo of Little Peppy aka Marlene Torre, or the Bare Existence please contact me.
This site is a work in progress on 1960s garage rock bands. All entries can be updated, corrected and expanded. If you have information on a band featured here, please let me know and I will update the site and credit you accordingly.
I am dedicated to making this site a center for research about '60s music scenes. Please consider donating archival materials such as photos, records, news clippings, scrapbooks or other material from the '60s. Please contact me at rchrisbishop@gmail.com if you can loan or donate original materials
Sandy Katz – rhythm guitar and vocals
We graduated in 1965 and in the fall David went to college, in New Paltz, New York, so the band evolved. Alan and Curt stayed, I think we called ourselves the Invaders. I don’t really remember all the iterations of the bands. I do remember that Alan was still playing drums when we met Sandy Katz. I don’t remember how we found him, but he and I clicked. He had a great voice and wrote decent songs. His dad was in business for himself so was very savvy about copyright and publishing rights, so all of Sandy’s songs were copyrighted.
From the Bronx, the Elegant Four were also known as the Elegants. Tom Crosgrove was lead guitarist and vocalist, and wrote both songs on their only 45. Other members included Bill Dennis and Pete Santora.
P.B. & the Staunchmen cut this rare 45 on Lee, the same label as the Ascendors “I Won’t Be Home” in 1966. The label was located out of Hornell, New York, 40 miles south of Rochester but the band was from Dansville, another 20 miles south/southeast.
The Yorkshire Puddin cut two 45s on Dellwood Records in ’67 and ’68. Their first 45 is the fine “Good Night Day” backed with “Ain’t Gonna Love Ya No More”. They updated their sound for the second release, “Keep Me In Mind”.
“Save Me” is a slow and intense psychedelic 45 featuring the anguished vocal of Richy Pecchio over the Brotherhood of Soul’s repetitive vamp. The flip is a shorter instrumental version of “Save Me”, retitled “The Morning After” with the bass guitar right up at the edge of the red on the meters.
He also signed Nate Bouknight, also known as “Little Nat” from the Shells. Their hit song was “Baby Oh Baby” (late 50’s fame). Nate wrote a real good song called “Do This Do That,” that made some noise. Certainly I learned a lot from him.
