The Malibu’s “Cry (Over Her)” is a garage classic that made it to the first volume of Back from the Grave in 1983. It was the Malibu’s first single, written by Jack Henehan and released in 1966 on the Planet label. Stock copies on the blue Planet label are rarer than the white label promo copies like the one I own.

“Leave Me Alone” is also credited to Henehan but it repeats the chorus tag “until I can think about her without feeling sorry for myself” from the Zombies’ “Leave Me Be”. In other respects the lyrics and arrangement are different from the Zombies song.

In 1968 or 1969 the band re-recorded “Cry” in a faster version without the rough edges and ferocity of the original. The flip was a very pop song with harp, “I Miss You”, co-written by Jack Henehan and Joe Broccoli.

This 45 was issued with bumper sticker (see below), and also as a Pepsi flexi-disc.

There’s an oft-repeated rumor that the band was from Litchfield, Connecticut, but Ray Renzi, who joined Jack Henehan’s next band, Bastille, wrote to me:

None of the Malibus were from CT. All of them were from Rhode Island, most if not all, from Cranston. Three of them were fraternity brothers of mine at URI. The Malibus consisted of Jack Henehan, Joe Broccoli, Peter Place, and Pete Bulger.

They changed their name to Bastille with these same four members and played together under that name for a while. Joe left the band after he graduated from URI and left RI either for a job or for the military, and we formed the group that included Rick Nielsen, Sam Gingerella and myself with Jack, Peter and Pete.

Later Pete Bulger left the band and we hired Jim Szydlo, who played in my previous band “The Mirage” to play drums. This is when we recorded our 45 with “Music Ship” which showed up on a compilation CD (LeBeat Bespoke Vol 3) in England a few years ago. Later Peter Place went on active duty with the Navy and my brother Lou joined the band. There was one more version of the band after I left in 1973 or 1974.

I stay in touch with the guys that I played with and I have worked in some duos with my brother, Rick, or Jack. Rick and I are producing a CD (OLDZKOOL – The Ray Renzi Project) which should be done in about a month. My brother Lou from Bastille plays bass and sings on it. The other musicians are my brothers Len and Ken, my sister Dianne, Dave Maher on sax, George Correia on drums, Rick and myself on guitars.

Ray Renzi

Original member Joseph Broccoli wrote to me in February, 2011:

I was an original member of the Band, the Malibu’s and can fill in some blanks from the early days of the band. The original incarnation of Broccoli, Henehan, Place and Bolger formed the band in 7th grade and continued playing throughout high school and then college. We were all from the Cranston/Edgewood areas of RI.

We played for multiple high school and frat parties, private parties, yacht club parties, WPRO appearances and for Cherry & Webb’s fashion shows. We were also involved in several “Battle of the Bands” competitions throughout the New England area. We were also managed by Ralph Stuart from the Biltmore downtown and we played for quite a few debutante balls and exclusive weddings and parties in the New England area alongside his formal big band. We also played in the RI Veterans Memorial auditorium, fronting headliners such as The Four Freshmen and The Byrds.

The first two singles, “Cry” and “Leave Me Alone” were recorded in Myron Fluff’s [Myron Arnold’s] studio in Providence. “Miss You” was recorded in Boston in the same studio that Patti Page recorded “Old Cape Cod”.

I left the band in August of 1971 to begin a graduate degree at the Univ. of Michigan. We changed the name to The Bastille because were continually played at The Bastille, a club in Newport, RI.

Joseph Broccoli

Bastille gigged around Rhode Island and Vermont and cut “Trying to Be Free” / “The Music Ship” in 1973. I haven’t heard the A-side, but “Music Ship” has good freakbeat-style guitar work, hard drumming (with a cowbell) and heavy organ backing. Ray Renzi and Jack Henehan wrote both songs.

Thanks to Ray for info on Bastille and the photo of the group, to Mike Markesich for the scans and transfer of the second Malibu’s single, and to Yourek for the scan of the Malibu’s bumper sticker.

Note: These Malibu’s are not related to the ones who cut “I’m Cryin'” for the Quill label or the Macon, Georgia group who did “I Want You to Know” / I’ve Gotta Go” (both by David Luckie) for the PJ label, or the soul group who did “It’s All Over But the Shouting” / “A Broken Man” on White Whale. Or other Malibus like the ones who cut “Humpty Dumpty Was Making Out”, “Hey Hey Hey” or “La Da Da”.