A couple months ago I wrote about the Go Nuts, a short-lived group from Brooklyn, NY. Their 45 “Flower” is an idealistic tribute to the Summer of Love youth that has been compared to the Seeds for its organ sound and vocals.
Soon afterwards, Jared K. sent me a scan and mp3 of a quite different record by Patrolman Vic Virzera with the Premiers. It seems that when they weren’t waxing eloquently about the flower children, the Virzera brothers were trying to convince the kids to trust the cops!
Jared wrote: “Sounds like he may have been the coolest cop of all time. ‘He’s On Your Side’ is the a-side and is another organ driven rocker (with none of the psych flourishes of ‘Flower’) about getting along with the police, because they’re here to help. Flip is a doo-woppy group vocal.
“Both sides have songwriting credits to brothers Vic and Michael Virzera with the b-side additionally crediting P. Drift. Michael produced the b-side (‘Two Hearts’) and Elliot Chiprut produced ‘He’s On Your Side’.”
Recently I heard from Vic Virzera himself, who have me the history of his groups, and sent me two early song they cut, the 50’s rocker Nina that I’m featuring here, and a ballad called Mystic Mirror. In Vic’s own words:
In 1962, Nina and Mystic Mirror were local grass roots Flatbush hits….our demos were being played in quite a few juke boxes. At that time we were The Premiers with the sub theme “Music with a New Sound”.
Elvis’s early producers, Wally Gold and Araon Schroeder (they wrote Elvis’ 1960 #1 hit “It’s Now or Never”, and Wally Gold co-wrote “It’s My Party”) offered us a contract that had “power of attorney clauses” and we declined….in retrospect …I guess we should have signed it, but at the time we thought we were doing the smart thing. We knew of so many groups that were working their butts off, traveling around the country while the powers that be would make all the money (since they had the power to sign your name to spend the earnings), claiming the money went for promotions, expenses, etc. Another consideration was the fact that, my brother, Mike, would have to had given up his job in open heart research, where he was instrumental in designing a heart-lung machine apparatus.
The Go Nuts were formed as a rock show group in 1965 and lasted about two years. We did recordings and appearances, including a performance aired Christmas Day, 1966 on the Ted Mack Original Amateur Hour. It was at the CBS Ed Sullivan Theater. Our rock rendition of “Shortenin’ Bread” really went over well… …girls were screaming, people standing and rocking with the beat, lots of applause etc. Unfortunately, similar to what happened to the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show, probably the same tech engineers had my lead voice as low as the background voices and what was aired sounded like all background. Still, we came in second and had a great time.
Regarding Patrolman Vic Virzera and the Premiers, in 1971 we were scheduled to perform the song on the cross country David Frost Show, a special on police. Being a live show they ran out of time but paid us for being there and the rehearsal.
I retired several years ago from the NYCPD but I’m still playing gigs with my brother, Mike, and my band, the Vic Vincent Group, in the New York Metro area.
Patrolman Vic Virzera with the Premiers – He’s On Your Side
Thank you Jared for contributing “He’s On Your Side”, and Steve Hogan for contributing the photo of the Go Nuts. Special thanks to Vic Virzera for sharing his acetate of “Nina”.
Thanks a lot for posting this wonderful stuff it all the more indicates that there is so much music which has not been comped yet
Joe
It was a surprise to find my brothers’ (Mike and Vic Virzera) on your webstie with mp3’s of a few of their records from the 60’s. It brought back fun memories of my youth. Having older brothers in a band made me unique among my girlfriends who thought they were “very cool”. Mike and Vic are still involved in playing and performing music, and I couldn’t wait to tell them about GarageHangover. Thanks for the memories!
Joan Virzera
Hi Chas:
I just took a look and a listen to your unique site and got a great kick out of it. It was really a blast from the past…..Believe it or not, I retired several years ago from the NYCPD but I’m still playing gigs with my brother, Mike, and my band, the Vic Vincent Group, in the New York Metro area. It’s a labor of love, of course. As a matter of fact, last Saturday, we did one of our special shows called THE ROCK & ROLL, DOO WOP AND POP SHOW.
As an update for anyone who is interested. Two early demos, Nina and Mystic Mirror almost made it. They had gotten the attention of Elvis’ early producers Araon Schroeder and Wally Gold. Please say in touch and keep me informed on you progress and great site.
Thanks for the Memories and God Bless,
Vic Virzera
Detective Lieutenant
NYPD Retired
By the way if you’d like, I could sent you a copy of Nina…it had the sound of the times and we actually wrote it in my Flatbush Brooklyn Garage!!!
Wow. Flatbush BK is so devoid of rock ‘n’ soul, so as a new resident, it’s amazing to hear what was going on back then. Cheers!
I took guitar lessons from Vic in the mid 60’s. Great guy and although I was only 12-13 or so, he was always great with me. I remember Be Mine and Flower like it was yesterday. Taking lessons in his studio was terrific. I liked around the block on Troy Avenue until 67’/68′. Glad to see he’s well. I’m also a retired police officer (NJ)
Hi Mark:
I really enjoyed you comments. I do remember you, and you were a conscience and good kid. It is remarkable that we both became police officers and are now retired. I hope you still play around with your guitar. By the way, I’m still into music. My band, the Vic Vincent Group does shows, basically oldies, Rock & Roll, Doo Wop and Pop tunes from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. You can check us out on youtube. I also have a number or original songs which you might enjoy. You can view them at the following youtube addresses:
Thanks for Thanksgiving – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEz7EKKRc44
Elvis died for Out Sins – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXAadJ50UFg
Pigs Fly – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWOtevXT2AM
Christmas, Merry Christmas – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kk-yqtEWXIM
My Email address is VVirzera@gmail.com, let me know what you think.
Take care and thanks for the memories.
Vic
Hello, Vizera family, I have fond memories of the Premiers playing at Little Flower dances. My husband and I were good friends that formed a band The Nova which included Jimmy Gilmartin, Matty Menahan and Gene Schwarz. Whenever I hear the Ventures I think of you boys. I lived on Troy and shared the alleyway with 43rd and sometimes heard you playing. Great memories. Hope you are well
HI GUYS …I DO REMEMBER YOU GUYS ,I WAS FRIENDS WITH STANLEY KNOPSKI…HE WAS ONE HELL OF A DRUMMER…AND A GREAT GUY…
MY NAME IS PHIL ZEUS..A GUITAR PLAYER FROM FLATBUSH …I WOULD LOVE TO GET IN TOUCH WITH STANLEY….BUT I DON’T KNOW WHERE HE WENT…WE LOST TOUCH AFTER HE CAME OUT OF THE ARMY…..AND I CAME OUT OF THE NAVY….I JUST THOUGHT YOU GUYS MAY KNOW…..ANYWAY HAVE A HAPPY NEWYEAR…THANKS