The Shados-M were from Blackstone, Virginia. Drummer Michael Hurley gave me this information about the group:

The original band and the people on the record were Gary Taggart, guitar, me, drums, Gilliam Winn, backup vocals, Eddie Greene, bass, Wayne Goin, rhythm guitar, Neil Owens, organ.

The songs were played on the radio constantly. We were all like 15 except for the guitar player who was maybe 22 at the time. It was a time when bands had long hair and dressed in jeans with holes and that kind of stuff. We wore white tuxedos and that caught a lot of attention at the time.

The name was something we just came up with. It didn’t mean anything we just thought it looked cool. We did some radio shows and people would call in guessing what the name meant. It was funny because they thought of everything from the “M” being for Michael my name to a “W” upside down. We did a few reunions. The last one was probably 10 years ago and we raised over $10,000 in one night for a girl that had a bad accident.

Both songs, “Sweet Love” and “All the Time” both written by Gary Taggart.

Ken Friedman tells me that the Quintet label was a subsidiary of Justice Records of Winston-Salem, which meant the band traveled over 180 miles southwest to Winston-Salem instead of recording in Richmond, an hour’s drive away.

The other 45 on Quintet that I know of is D. Martindale & the Star Fires “Go Jenny”, which is more like amateurish rockabilly than garage.

The Shados-M had another 45 on the Colpar label, “She Loves Me (She Loves Me Not)” / “You Owe Me Nothing” from September 1969, almost three years after their first. Nick Colleran produced that second 45, and again Gary Taggart wrote both songs.

Thank you to Marty for loaning his rare 45, and to Michael Hurley for background on the group.

Does anyone have a photo of the band?

For more on Michael Hurley’s music, check out his site, michaelhurleyband.com