I picked up Dee Robb & the Robbins’ “Say That Thing” not realizing this was the Robbs in an earlier incarnation. This 1964 Score single is much different from the sound of their Mercury singles and LP from a couple years later.
Early versions of the group included:
Dee Robb (David Donaldson) – guitar & vocals
Joe Robb (George Donaldson) – saxophone, bass guitar & vocals
Bruce Robb (Robert Donaldson) – keyboards & vocals
Dick Gonia – rhythm guitar
Craig Krampf – drums
They released three singles before their stint with Mercury. First came Dee Robb’s “Bye Bye Baby” / “The Prom” on Argo 5439 from 1963. Later that year as Robby and the Robbins they cut “Surfer’s Life”, a song written by Dee Robb with the group’s manager, Con Merten, b/w “She Cried” on Todd 45-1089. “Say That Thing” seems to be from 1964, judging by the Score release number.
“Say That Thing” sounds much like “What’d I Say” and has great lead guitar in Lonnie Mack’s style. The flip is a rocked-up version of “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands”.
Lenny LaCour’s Score label also put out a couple singles by the Texas/Chicago band the Bossmen, plus Oscar Hamod and His Majestics’ cool “Come On Willie” / “Top Eliminator.”
the Stereo Sound matrix on the right (3952-01B) reveal that this 45 was pressed up in Feb 1965 and Say That Thing was the B side.
Of all the artists that never made the Hot 100, the Robbs were the king of the Bubbling Under charts, with more bubbling under records than anyone else, a total of 6, including their 45 as Cherokee. They were later successful as the owners of Cherokee Studios in L.A. Our band was on 1 show with the Robbs at WI State Fair Park in ’65. Dee Robb died 2/17/08. (The Robbs are included in my WI books).
LaCour’s Score lbl also had Dino & the Suspicions, one of many names used by Sam Perrone who had several 45s on various LaCour lbls.