Bob Holcepl – vocals
Terry Paul – guitar
Joe Rose – bass
Frank Rose – keyboards, and recorder on “Erebian-Borialis”
Greg Paul – drums, and bongos on “Erebian-Borialis”
The Night People formed in 1965 at St. Edwards High School in Lakewood, Ohio, just west of Cleveland, where all the original members lived.
The band recorded their 45 at SIR Recording Studio, released on Del-Nita 1002 in May of 1967.
There’s a lot to like about “We Got It”: the swirling organ over the pounding tom-toms and bass, Bob Holcepl’s snarling vocals, a theramin intro and solo. Joe Rose and Bob Holcepl wrote the song. I’m not sure who was playing the theramin.
The instrumental “Erebian-Borialis” is one of the strangest b-sides by any mid-60s group, featuring a simple melody played by Frank Rose on recorder while Greg Paul handles the bongos and the guitarist goes for psychedelic. It’s credited to Frank Rose and Terry Paul. Both songs were published by Hicks Music, ASCAP.
Bob Holcepl answered my questions about the band:
Greg Paul (drummer) and I were grade school friends. His younger brother, Terry was a guitar player. The Paul brothers had a father who was very into music (jazz and big band mostly) and they were soaked in it their whole lives. Both were very talented musicians. I on the other hand was more of an ‘idea, big plan, big dream’ kind of a guy. – With (obvious) limited musical talent.
We all were very influenced by blues, jazz and the entire British Invasion sound, a bit more Rolling Stones and Van Morrison than the Beatles tho. Later we also embraced a lot of the west coast (San Francisco) influences (everything from the Seeds to Zappa).
We recruited classmates Joe and Frank Rose into the band early on. Frank and Joe were natural musicians. Joe could play any instrument well within hours of picking it up the first time.
Where did we play? Well not very often but the usual places: school dances, battle of the bands, Wherever anyone would let us to be honest. We played on a local TV show once or twice I believe. We weren’t very polished and we were out of step with most of the music scene in Cleveland. We were ‘explorers’ more than entertainers.
We (in)famously once used the very irritating ‘phone off the hook-cat screeching‘ tone they used to use when you left a phone off the hook as a background ‘drone’ on a song.
I don’t recall exactly how we met Mr Hicks. It may have been thru the recording studio (SIR recording in Cleveland). Mr Hicks was one of several people at the time providing what were essentially vanity records. It was a pretty straight forward deal. He did the ‘paperwork’ did the pressing and delivered the 45s to us. I don’t recall any sort of promises made by him. But we were kids (16 year old kids mostly).
I actually do have a track from the demo acetate we cut, a cover of “One Two Brown Eyes” by Van Morrison with Them.
I normally played the theremin. In fact I bought it (as a kit) from Robert Moog, actually spoke to him when I called him because he didn’t send it quickly (he was very nice, he was waiting on parts). But I think Joe or Frank Rose may have played it on the record. I think I sold that thing to someone from Pere Ubu years later.
Bruce joined after I left the group. I knew him tho. He tended to use the Bruce Parsons name far more often than Boehm. I always thought of him as Bruce Parsons. I remember he lived in Parma … so that may have been the Parma connection. The name was changed to Parsons Wild West Show long after I left. I believe they also went by the Uglies or the Harpies. But all that was post me. I became a photographer for 20 years (1970-1990), then I moved on to the coffee business.
The Night People’s version of “One Two Brown Eyes” has a very basic sound. The band made additional recordings that weren’t released of “Signed D.C.” and “Hey Joe”.
According to Buckeye Beat, John Hicks, the owner of Del-Nita, persuaded the band he had Motown connections. It’s difficult to imagine Motown would be interested in a band with such an uncommercial single but that’s the story!
Bruce Boehm, guitarist for the Alarm Clocks was also a member for a time. The group continued until 1970, changing their name and making some demos for Capitol that never saw light of day. Parma may have been a base for the group later on.
Anyone have a photo of the group?
The Night People singles on Tuggie and Nite Life are by different groups, from Illinois and California, respectively.
Baron Thomas & the Blue Crystal’s “Tension” is a song that I never get tired of. The bass gives the song a great propulsion, the drumming sounds fantastic with all the reverb on it, and Baron Thomas’ vocals cut through the hiss of the ride cymbal and the compression of the recording. The two guitars have distinct sounds and roles in the song, and everything comes together so nicely on the chorus, as the finger-picked rhythm switches to slashing chords.
