The Sleepers were from Mansfield, Ohio, located in the northern part of the state about halfway between Columbus and Cleveland.

Tom Zinser lead the band so they were usually referred to as Tommy Z and the Sleepers, though not on the record label which simply says The Sleepers. The label lists the members by last name, but misspells more than half of them: Murry [sic], Crause [sic], Davis, and First. Tommy Zinser’s name is spelled Zinzer on the labels.

Tom Zinser wrote to me in 2016 with more info about the band:

Tommy Z and The Sleepers was the first band I was in that played out. We played some at a club in Ashland, Ohio called the Dugout. We also played fraternity parties at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. In the picture, that’s me on the top right. Next to me is Kim Murray, our lead singer, who went on to become an attorney in Mansfield. To the right of Kim on the first row is Bob First, our drummer from Mansfield who at the time was recently out of the Navy. In the center is Jim Krause, misspelled on the record label, played guitar and did some backup vocals. He went on to become a recording engineer in Cincinnati. Next to Jim and below me is Chris Davis, who played bass. Chris, Jim and I went to Mansfield Senior High together and graduated in 1963.

“I Want a Love” combines a fuzz riff with a jangly guitar sound and unison vocals. There’s a short drum break and the fuzz repeats its riffs without trying for anything ambitious. “Time Will Tell” features hypnotic picked guitar and fine harmonies in backup and on the chorus.

Zinser and Davis wrote both songs. The single was recorded at Audio Recording in Cleveland, produced by E.R. Thomas and E.R. Garnes, and released on the Marvy label in 1966.

After the Sleepers broke up in 1967, Zinser went into the Wildlife with guitarist and vocalist Terry Van Auker. The Wildlife released one 45 on Columbia, 4-44369, “Time Will Tell” / “Hard, Hard, Year”.

Tom Zinser adds:

“Time Will Tell” and “I Want A Love” B-side, were my first efforts in songwriting and later on “Time Will Tell” was rerecorded in the Wildlife.

About 2011 we gave an interview to a guy in the United Kingdom who publishes a magazine called Fantastic Expedition. If you go to fantasticexpedition.com, we are in issue 5. That is the most complete story of the Wildlife and the subsequent band, Owen B.

Zinser and Van Auker went into Owen-B which had a self-produced LP recorded at Mus-i-col Studios in Columbus. Another member of Owen-B was Jim Krause on vocals and harmonica.

Confusingly there was another group with two earlier 45s on Columbia who are listed as the Wild Life (two words instead of Wildlife) which have similar credits, arranged by Chuck Sagle and produced by John Walsh:

“This Is What I Was Made For” / “Somes Times I’m Up (Sometimes I’m Down”) (Columbia 4-44213)
“New Games to Play” / “Where Do You Go” (Columbia 4-44285)