Categories: Atlantic, Canada, KR, Ontario, Toronto

Mandala

December 6, 2008 Nick Warburton 18 Comments

Together with Jon and Lee & The Checkmates, Mandala spearheaded a vibrant R&B scene in Toronto during the mid-1960s. Helmed by the late Domenic Troiano, the band recorded a string of stunning singles and a noteworthy album before morphing in to the funk blues group, Bush in late 1969.

Although Mandala’s jazz-inspired soul-rock was too experimental for the mainstream rock market, interest in the band’s recorded output has been rekindled in recent years and a comprehensive CD detailing its entire work is long overdue.

Originally known as The Rogues, the group first came to prominence during the summer of 1964, working as the house band at the club Bluenote, supporting visiting US soul artists like The Supremes. Keyboard player Josef Chirowski (b. 2 March 1947, Germany), bass player Don Elliott (b. 8 December 1944, Toronto, Canada) and drummer Whitey Glan (b. Finland) had previously worked together in Whitey & The Roulettes (alongside future Luke & The Apostles guitarist Mike McKenna) and The Belltones.

During early 1965, former Belltones and original Roulettes singer George Olliver (b. 25 January 1946, Toronto, Canada) and ex-Robbie Lane & The Disciples and Ronnie Hawkins guitarist Domenic Troiano (b. Michaele Antonio, 17 January 1946, Mondugno, Italy, naturalised Canadian in 1955, d. 25 May 2005) completed the “classic” Mandala line up.

The Rogues, l-r: Don Elliot, Whitey Glan, Joey Davis, Don Troy (Troiano) and George Olliver, and (inset in lower right) David Clayton-Thomas

With Olliver and Troiano in place, The Rogues began playing extensively on the local scene, appearing regularly at clubs like the Devil’s Den, Club 888 and the Hawk’s Nest. For a brief period, the band took on a second lead singer – future Blood, Sweat & Tears front man David Clayton-Thomas but reverted to a five-piece in early 1966.

Following Clayton-Thomas’ departure, the band’s name was modified and, as The Five Rogues, they recorded two rare tracks – “I Can’t Hold Out No Longer” and “I’ll Make It Up To You” as rough demos.

The Rogues – I Can’t Hold Out Much Longer

Throughout 1966, the group consolidated its local standing by landing some important support slots, most notably opening for Wilson Pickett at the Gogue Inn on 25 May, and The McCoys at the North Toronto Memorial Arena on 9 August. In September 1966, however, the band decided to reinvent itself and emerged with a new name and image – Mandala.

Mandala is a symbol (a circle within a circle within a circle) used by Buddhist monks as an aid to contemplation and was chosen by the band’s manager, Rafael Markowitz (aka Randy Martin), a former TV clown. Markowitz envisioned the band as being a channel for the audience to release its emotions and the newly named outfit returned to the Toronto scene with its “Soul Crusade”, which was met with mass hysteria.

In its new guise, Mandala also made a visual impact with their pinstripe, gangster-style suits and were apparently among the first Canadian bands to use strobe lights at their concerts. Markowitz proved to be a master at manipulating the media and made sure that the band was one of the best paid on the local circuit.

The US market soon beckoned and in late November, Mandala travelled to Los Angeles to play (initially) a weekend show at the Hullabaloo and four nights at the famous Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood. Kicking off with a performance at the Hullabaloo on 26 November, Mandala’s stage show caused quite a stir and the following weekend a huge crowd turned up, curious to see what all the fuss was about.

In “Los Angeles ‘Sun-set’ raves over The Mandala”, an article for the Toronto Star published on 12 December, the Hullabaloo’s manager Gary Bockasta spoke about the band’s immediate impact on the scene. “They have built up an impetus since their first day,” he said. “They drew 1,000 people billed as co-headliners with a local group. The next Saturday night we had 1,400, which is a capacity crowd for us, and they were our only attraction.

“Almost all of this rush comes from word-of-mouth, since we do almost no paid advertising. I think you could say that, for the money we are paying them, they have been our most successful act so far.”

According to the newspaper report, the band had to cut its finale short at its final weekend show as teenyboppers thronged the stage clutching at Olliver and dragging Glan off his drum stool. What’s more The Monkees, who reportedly were interested in signing the band for a US tour with them, had to flee the club when the excited fans rushed the stage, fearing their own safety.

Thanks to their dynamic stage act, Mandala had won a recording deal with the KR label in the US and, on their return to Canada, recorded their debut single, Troiano’s “Opportunity” c/w Olliver’s “Lost Love” at Chess studios in Chicago with The Dells providing backing vocals. Released back home at the tail end of January 1967, the group’s debut single stormed into the Toronto top 10, peaking at #3 on the CHUM chart on 20 February.

“Opportunity” is arguably one of the best recordings to emerge from the Canadian rock scene during the 1960s. Propelled by Olliver’s soulful voice and The Dells’ massed vocals, the track’s infectious rhythm and Troiano’s gutsy guitar solo is totally absorbing. It’s just a shame that the single never broke into the US national charts or attracted a wider audience.

Opportunity at #19 on CHUM's Hit Parade, Feb. 6, 1967- it would reach #3 two weeks later. — Opportunity at #19 on CHUM’s Hit Parade, Feb. 6, 1967- it would reach #3 two weeks later.

In March 1967, the band travelled to New York to perform at Steve Paul’s The Scene for an extended engagement, running from 6 March through to 2 April. While in the Big Apple, Mandala took part in Murray “the K’s” famous “Music in the Fifth Dimension” held at the RKO Theater from 25 March to 2 April. The show featured a number of artists, including Wilson Pickett and The Blues Project as well as British bands Cream and The Who, both making their debut US appearances. The group returned to Steve Paul’s The Scene for a second run from 25 April through to 4 May.

While all this was going on, the group’s second single, Victor Chambers’s “Give and Take” c/w band collaboration, “From Toronto ‘67” was released but didn’t fare as well as its predecessor, only peaking at #21 on Toronto’s CHUM chart on 22 May.

In mid-June, Mandala returned to the New York area to play two shows at the Farm at Monroe County Fairgrounds, followed by a welcome back tour, kicking off with a one-nighter at the Bonaventure in Montreal on 22 June. Then, shortly after a show at the Broom and Stone in Scarborough, Ontario with Livingstone’s Tripp on 9 July, Mandala headed back to New York to play at Steve Paul’s The Scene on 18 July. Later that month, the group participated in the highly publicised Garden of Stars show in Montreal.

Returning to Toronto the musicians began work on an album, but creative differences resulted in the sessions being abandoned and after another show at Steve Paul’s The Scene in New York on 27 September, Olliver quit the group in frustration. After a brief respite, where he spent three weeks in the north country wondering what to do next, he formed his own band, the 10-piece soul outfit, George Olliver & His (Soul) Children, which featured several musicians who would end up playing with Mandala in later years.

Speaking to Ralph Thomas in the Toronto Daily Star on 2 December, the day before his new group debuted at Marsaryk Hall in Toronto, Olliver confessed that one of the reasons why he left Mandala was because each member of the group had been on a mere $40-a-week salaries. “It’s true that our weekly salary was $40, but Randy [Martin, the group’s manger and part-owner] used to fine us $1-a-minute if we were late for rehearsals or appointments,” he says.

Olliver explained to Ralph Thomas that he found it hard to be on time in the first year because he was in a state of almost complete exhaustion from overwork. It particularly became a problem when Mandala played at the Murray the K Show from 10am to 10pm, followed by late evenings playing at Steve Paul’s The Scene, where the group worked from 11pm to 4am. “That left us about five hours of sleep a night,” he says. “If we got to the job late the next morning, there would be Randy with his little black book. I averaged about $20-a-week after fines.”

Despite gigging incessantly on the Toronto scene from December 1967-January 1969, and opening for The Hollies in Ottawa during March 1968, Olliver’s new group never recorded and in mid-1969, he emerged with a new outfit, Natural Gas, who recorded an album for Firebird Records in 1969 (the long player, incidentally, includes an Olliver-Chirowski instrumental from the Mandala repertoire, “Tribute to Rubber Boots”).

When the band broke up in late 1970 following a US tour, Olliver subsequently recorded two singles, “I May Never Get To See You Again” c/w “Shine” for Much Records and “Don’t Let The Green Grass Fool You” c/w “If I Can Just Be Strong Enough” for the Corner Stone label (with George Olliver and Friends) before playing and recording with Toronto band The Royals in the mid-’70s. He continues to perform regularly on the local circuit.

Olliver’s departure prompted keyboard player Chirowski to also leave in September 1967. At first Chirowski found work for Canadian Pacific Railways, but soon returned to the live scene with The Power Project. When that band folded, he became a member of the highly-rated rock band, Crowbar. During the ‘70s, Chirowksi worked with Alice Cooper and briefly toured with Lou Reed. In later years, he did session work for Peter Gabriel among others.

Mandala meanwhile recruited singer Roy Kenner (b. 14 January 1948, Toronto, Canada) and keyboard player Henry Babraj from local outfit Roy Kenner & The Associates, who’d made the obscure recording “Without My Sweet Baby”.The new line up debuted at the Roost in Ottawa on 8 October 1967 and the following month kicked off their fourth US tour with a show at the Cheetah in Hollywood.

While playing on the West Coast, Mandala supported Buffalo Springfield at the Swing Auditorium in San Bernardino, California on 3 November.The new personnel signaled a change in the group’s fortunes. After Atlantic chief Ahmet Ertegun acted on a tip from producer Phil Spector and bought the group’s contract from KR, Mandala returned to the studios to record their Soul Crusade album.

The band reportedly recorded six tracks at Atlantic Studios, New York in February 1968 with Arif Mardin, including the new single, the Scales/Jacobs written “Love Itis” c/w Troiano’s “Mellow Carmello Pallumbo”, which was another huge Toronto hit, peaking at #9 on the CHUM chart on 8 July 1968. The band completed the sessions for its long-awaited album, and while in New York, played a show at the Action House with The Fallen Angeles on 17 April.

After further shows on the West Coast, this time at the famed Troubadour in West Hollywood in May, Mandala returned to Toronto where keyboard player Barry Hutt was brought in to replace Babraj after an audition on Parliament Street. (Hutt, incidentally, later played in George Olliver and Friends.)

The new line-up continued to be a popular local draw but Barry Hutt did not stay long and was replaced by Hugh Sullivan from local group, Mr Paul and The Blues Council. Sullivan, who’d once been a member of George Olliver’s band, was later credited on the album’s sleeve for keyboards (along with Babraj). With Sullivan on board, the band made a prestigious appearance at the Philadelphia Music Festival on 24 July 1968.

Bad luck, however, dogged the band; Mandala had intended to tour Canada to promote Soul Crusade but Elliot was involved in a car accident and the tour was delayed until October.

Despite the setbacks, Soul Crusade received positive reviews in Canada. The album features some choice cuts, including “Every Single Day” co-written by Troiano with Kensington Market singer Keith McKie (when he was with The Vendettas) and Troiano’s “World of Love” and “Come on Home”. Local R&B singers Jimmy Livingstone, Diane Brooks, Eric Mercury and Shawn Jackson are among the cast of supporting players.

Mandala’s final single, the non-album tracks and Kenner-Troiano penned “You Got Me” backed by “Help Me”, was only given limited release in December and the group began to fall apart. Despite the positive reviews, the album failed to attract the sales the group had expected (some sources suggest that Ertegun felt artistic differences with Markowitz and Atlantic did not push the album).

During early 1969, the band made several visits to Michigan. On 7 April, Mandala played at the Detroit Pop Festival, held at the Olympia Stadium, alongside the MC5, SRC, Amboy Dukes and others, and then on the following day, performed at another festival, the Grand Rapids Pop Festival, held at the city’s Civic Auditorium, again with the same artists billed.

The end, however, was in sight. Returning to Ontario to play a string of dates, Mandala performed its final show on 1 June at the Hawk’s Nest in Toronto.

Following the group’s demise, Elliot went on to play with Leigh Ashford and Milestone while Sullivan moved to Los Angeles to briefly work with Toronto bass player/singer Neil Merryweather, before later doing sessions for former Steppenwolf frontman John Kay (alongside Glan).

Kenner, Troiano and Glan meanwhile brought in local bass player Prakash John and made a lone album as Bush (the live segment also features Sullivan) before splitting in 1971.

Glan and John subsequently became top session players, working for the likes of Lou Reed and Alice Cooper among others while Kenner and Troiano joined The James Gang after guitarist Joe Walsh left for a solo career. Troiano, who later joined The Guess Who and established a moderately successful solo career, sadly died in May 2005 after a long battle with cancer.

Kenner is currently doing jingles and voice-overs and working with a band in Toronto.While the group’s individual members have continued to plough successful careers as performers, Mandala’s recorded legacy remains largely undiscovered by the wider record buying public. The fact that the band’s Soul Crusade album and the non-album singles have yet to be picked up for a comprehensive CD collection probably doesn’t help, although there are murmurings that one collectors label may be set to put the record straight.

Many thanks to Carny Corbett, Bill Munson, Martin Melhuish, Nicholas Jennings, Brian Hunt, Elliott Prentice, Daniel Sneddon and Craig Webb for their help in piecing the Mandala story together. Special thanks to Craig Webb for the photos and transfers of Oppurtunity and the Rogues’ I Can’t Hold Out Much Longer. Hit Parader, Village Voice and Canadian Teen magazine also proved invaluable sources. Thank you to Ivan Amirault for the RPM scan.

To contact the author with further information or corrections, please email nick_warburton@hotmail.com

Mandala Promotional Bio (scans courtesy Ivan Amirault)
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Advertised gigs

October 9 1966 – Club Kingsway, Toronto with Shawne & Jay Jackson, The Majestics, The Secrets and The Tripp

November 26 1966 – Hullabaloo, West Hollywood

December 3 1966 – Hullabaloo, West Hollywood

December 1966 – Whisky A Go Go, West Hollywood with Fever Tree (four nights)

December 10 1966 – Hullabaloo, West Hollywood

December 16 1966 – Michael Power High School, Toronto

December 17 1966 – George Harvey High School, Toronto

December 26 1966 – The Hawk’s Nest, Toronto

December 29 1966 – Avenue Road Club, Toronto

January 7 1967 – The Hawk’s Nest, Toronto

January 12 1967 – Ryerson Winter Carnival, Ryerson Theatre, Toronto with Dee & The Yeomen, The Creeps and Dianne Brooks, Eric Mercury and The Soul Searchers

February 3 1967 – Hawk’s Nest, Toronto

February 11 1967 – Orange Hall, Brampton, Ontario

February 11 1967 – Clarke Hall, Port Credit, Ontario

February 12 1967 – Syndicate Club, Toronto (formerly Club Isabella) with The Syndicate Five

March 6-April 2 1967 – Steve Paul’s The Scene, New York with Eric Anderson

March 25-April 4 1967 – Murray the K’s Easter Rock Extravaganza, RKO Theater, Manhattan, New York with The Blues Project, Cream, Wilson Pickett, Jim & Jean, Chicago Loop, Mitch Ryder and others

April 8 1967 – YMHA, Toronto (first show back from US trip)

April 15 1967 – Oshawa Civic Auditorium, Oshawa, Ontario with The Tripp, Shawne Jackson, Jay Jackson & The Majestics, Jack Hardin & The Silhouettes, The Midnites and others

April 16 1967 – Crang Plaza, Downsview, Ontario

April 25-May 4 1967 – Steve Paul’s The Scene, New York

June 16-17 1967 – The Farm, Monroe County Fairgrounds, New York state

June 22 1967 – Bonaventure, Montreal (welcome back tour)

June 23 1967 – Kin-Oak Arena, Oakville, Ontario

June 24 1967 – Milton Arena, Milton, Ontario

June 27 1967 – The Hawk’s Nest, Toronto

June 30 1967 – North York Centennial Centre, Toronto with The Power Project, The Spirit and Livingstone’s Tripp

July 1 1967 – Orange Hall, Brampton, Ontario

July 9 1967 – Broom and Stone, Scarborough, Ontario with Livingstone’s Tripp

July 18 1967 – Steve Paul’s The Scene, New York

July 23-24 1967 – Le Hibou, Ottawa

July 30-August 5 1967 – Garden of Stars, Montreal

August 14 1967 – Laporte County Fair, Laporte, Indiana with The Detroit Wheels

August 14 1967 – Laporte County Fair, Laporte, Indiana with Every Mother’s Son

August 14 1967 – Laporte County Fair, Laporte, Indiana with Every Mother’s Son and The Grass Roots

September 27 1967 – Steve Paul’s The Scene, New York (probably George Olliver’s final show)

October 8 1967 – The Roost, Ottawa (probably Roy Kenner’s first show)

October 27-29 1967 – Cheetah, Hollywood, California (fourth US tour)

November 3 1967 – Swing Auditorium, San Bernardino, California with Buffalo Springfield and Yellow Payges

December 27-28 1967 – Mad Hatter, Allentown, Pennsylvania

April 17 1968 – Action House, New York with Fallen Angels

May 10-12 1968 – Troubadour, West Hollywood

June 27 1968 – North Toronto Memorial Arena, Toronto

June 30 1968 – Port Carling Surf Club, Port Carling

July 6 1968 – Balm Beach Danceland, Balm Beach, Ontario

July 13 1968 – Jubilee Auditorium, Oshawa, Ontario

July 20 1968 – Biquin Island Hotel, Bracebridge, Ontario

July 24 1968 – Philadelphia Music Festival, Philadelphia with The Who, The Troggs, Pink Floyd and others

August 3 1968 – Kee-to-Bala, Bala, Ontario with Rifkin

August 4 1968 – Pav-Orillia, Orillia, Ontario with Scarboro Fair

August 5 1968 – Nelson Arena, Burlington, Ontario with The Dana

August 13 1968 – The Hawk’s Nest, Toronto

August 17 1968 – Balm Beach Danceland, Balm Beach, Ontario with Mornington Drive

August 24 1968 – Dorval Arena with the Raja

September 14 1968 – Broom and Stone, Scarborough, Ontario

September 21 1968 – Neil McNeil’s High School, Toronto

October 6-20 1968 – Canadian tour accident – Elliott drops out and others play as quartet with Sullivan covering bass on keyboards

January 24 1969 – Village Pub, Detroit with Electric Blues Band

April 7 1969 – Detroit Pop Festival, Olympia Stadium, Detroit with MC5, SRC, Amboy Dukes and others

April 8 1969 – Grand Rapids Pop Festival, Civic Auditorium, Grand Rapids, Michigan with MC5, SRC, Amboy Dukes and others

May 17 1969 – Whitby Arena, Whitby with The Bedtime Story

May 24 1969 – Pavilion, Orillia, Ontario

June 1 1969 – Hawks Nest, Toronto

Sources: Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Star and “After Four” section in Toronto Telegram.

Mandala with the Raja at Dorval Arena, August 24, 1968

Categories: Daytona Beach, Florida, Marlin, Miami

Chuck Conlon & the Crawlers

December 3, 2008 Chris Bishop 13 Comments

Here is Chuck Conlon on two fascinating 1967 45s on Henry Stone’s Marlin label after leaving the Nightcrawlers and relocating from Daytona Beach to Miami. “I Won’t Tell” reworks the opening guitar line of “Little Black Egg” and adds similarly odd lyrics like “A teaspoon holds more than the fork does”, sung in the same naive style.

“You’re Comin’ On” has fine production, opening with distinctive percussion, allowing the bass carry the melody and keeping the distorted guitar as decoration. Though credited to Conlon and the Crawlers, I don’t know if any of the his former band the Nightcrawlers actually played on these songs. I’ve heard that Ron and the Starfires were backing him on some of these tracks.

The A-side of the second 45, “Won’t You Say Yes to Me Girl” is a pop gem. I don’t usually object to horns on songs but I wish the producers had kept to the simple arrangement of the intro for this one. The piano trills and organ are excellent and the trombone player’s solo lines blend well.

“Midnight Reader” is more obscure, an ode to introspection as far as I can tell: “He goes behind closed doors every night / all that shines is a small intensity light / there’s no one inside the room but him”. Another verse goes “All the persons who are drunk are asleep / he cares not if they leave him in peace”: the scholar surrounded by hedonistic students maybe?

Compare the opening lines to another that Conlon wrote for the Nightcrawlers, “A Basket of Flowers”: “She sits in a cell at the midnight hour / gatekeeper tied in the darkest hour / she seems so lonely there”.

“I Won’t Tell” entered the charts of Orlando AM station WLOF in April ’67 and reached as high as #19 in May. The first 45 was a Bard Shapiro / Steve Alaimo Production, the second credited to Marlin Productions. All four songs are Conlon originals, though “Won’t You Say Yes to Me Girl” is co-credited to Brad Shapiro.

Chuck released a few solo 45s that I haven’t heard about once every ten years beginning with “When God Comes to Call” in 1965, all as Charles Conlon. He also wrote “Eric Cleveland” which appears on a 45 by the Yak on Tooth 533 and Avco Embassy AVE-4514 with a cover of the Beatles “Every Little Thing” on the flip. I don’t know if he had any involvement with that group, it was pressed at Queen City Album Co. in Cincinnati, Ohio in August, 1969. There seem to be some unreleased recordings as well, including one titled “Poor Little Mixed Up Kid”.

Thanks to Joe Emery for suggesting this post way back in February.

Categories: Libra, Singapore

Kelsom Hashim and Plastic Deers

December 1, 2008 Steven Farram 7 Comments

Kelsom Hashim and the Plastic Deer Libra EP cover

Kelsom Hashim and the Plastic Deers are another mystery group, at least for me.

Three of the songs on this EP are fairly tame, but there is one gem, “Pemuda Pemudi Sekarang” (“Young Men and Young Women Today”), which sounds like a cross between the Guess Who’s “No Time” and the Archies’ “Sugar Sugar”. This is fairly reasonable as both songs were released in 1969 and this record might date from that year as well, but I think 1970 or 1971 might be more likely. The fantastically named Plastic Deers do a fine job as does Kelsom.

Looking at the cover and listening to the song, one might think it was a celebration of the young generation, but it is actually very critical, claiming that the young men with their long hair are rather unpleasant and that parents can only shake their heads etc, but I think the whole thing is sung a bit tongue in cheek. The cover and label give no clue as to the origin of this group, but I will take a punt with Singapore as I have only ever seen two other Libra releases and one of those was definitely a Singapore band.

Categories: Ascot, Cleveland, Euclid, Ohio, Redda, Veep, Wine and Roses

Barry Lee and the Actions

November 23, 2008 Chris Bishop 4 Comments

Barry Lee & the Actions Wine and Roses 45 Try Me Barry Lee is the stage name of Lee Cuilli, who came from the Italian section of Cleveland, like Bocky, both of them managed by Redda Robbins.

In 1964 Barry released his first 45 on the Redda label. One side is the upbeat vocal pop “Make It” which earned some radio play at the time and got the record picked up by UA subsidiary Veep. More interesting is “Things Gotta Change” a nice bit of r&b with guitar flourishes, credited to Lee, Redda Robbins and Tony Styles. The backing vocalists really getting a workout trying to keep up the bop-ba-shu-bop-ba-bas. The buckeyebeat site suggests it’s likely that Barry is being accompanied by Bocky & the Visions on vocals with their backing band Richie & the Fortunes.

Barry Lee found a group of teens from Euclid, a town northeast of Cleveland, to become his band the Actions. Members included Dave Zaller guitar, Vince Baskovic bass and Ken Ruscittio drums. With the Actions he released his second record in 1966, almost two years after the first. “For Such a Little Wrong” might best be called a power ballad, but on the b-side “Try Me”, Barry’s vocal blends perfectly with the band’s strong backing and harmonies. Production was by Kenny Lark, arrangements by Barry Lee and Fortunes guitarist Tony Styles (Tony Bodanza). Originally released on the Wine & Roses label, it too was picked up by a UA subsid., Ascot, for a quick ride to nowhere.

Interestingly, Barry Lee puts songwriting credits to both Barry Lee and Lee Allen Cuilli. Barry wrote a number of songs that he didn’t record himself, as BMI lists him as co-author of “Can’t Get You Home on Time”, “Down Down”, “I Can Dance”, “I’m Not Worth It”, “I’m Pickin’ Petals”, “Land Beyond the Moon”, “Little Wheel” and “When the Sun Goes Down”, all written with Tony Bodanza.

Info for this article from Buckeyebeat.com. Thanks to Mark Meinhart for the transfer of Things Gotta Change.

Categories: Malaysia, Olympic, Singapore

Ramlah Aziz and the Rythmn Boys

November 22, 2008 Steven Farram Leave a comment

The Rythmn Boys from Singapore backed many popular singers in the mid to late 1960s and even performed in a couple of movies. The band is said to have won a battle of the bands competition in Singapore in 1965 playing Rolling Stones songs. The Rythmn boys were M. Ayob Taib (lead guitar), M. Osman Said (rhythm guitar), M. Ali Taib (bass), A. Rahim Razak (organ) and M. Nor Ahmad (drums).

The Rythmn Boys first came to prominence backing singer A. Ramlie on his first few EPs, which were big hits in Singapore and Malaysia in 1966. The band made recordings following that with a number of other singers, including S. Mariam, Novel (from Indonesia), M. Amin, Adnan Othman, and S. Ahmad. Not all those recordings include organ and some of the record covers have pictures of the band with only four members, so A. Rahim Razak may have joined later.

Presented here are the first two EPs The Rythmn Boys recorded with Ramlah Aziz. There are good songs on both EPs, but the thing that really impresses me is the organ playing, especially on the second EP, which adds a very atmospheric tone.

The titles on the first EP are Bertemasha (Excursion), Kaseh Yang Suchi (Pure Love), Kerana Setia (Because Of Loyalty) and Rela (Consent), which seems to be another song related to Indonesia’s ‘Confrontation’ with Malaysia, in which Ramlah consents to her loved one going off to ‘defend the nation’.

On the second EP the songs are Janji (Promise), Untok Mu (For You), Balasan Illahi (God’s Judgement) and Sukma Ria (Proud Soul). A number of songs on both EPs are credited to Salleh Aziz, who may have been Ramlah’s brother, or other relation. I have seen reports of The Rythmn Boys playing nostalgia concerts over many years. Perhaps they never stopped.

(Updated from the original January 3, 2008 post to include new text and the first EPs scans.

Ramlah Aziz and the Rythmn Boys first Olympic EP cover — First Olympic EP

Categories: Italy, Spain

Pino Donaggio

November 19, 2008 Chris Bishop Leave a comment

Pino Donaggio was a singing star from Burano, Italy. Starting out as a classical violinist, he began writing his own pop songs in the early ’60s. He often recorded his songs in Spanish as well as Italian versions, but “No tengo la culpa” has an upbeat production unlike anything else I’ve heard of his. I don’t know if the Italian version is as rocking as this one in Spanish. Orchestration was by Giulio Libano.

Los Salvajes did another one of his songs, “Se llama Maria” on the same EP that they cover Satisfaction and Wooly Bully, but it’s not a standout in their career.

In the early 70’s Donaggio started composing scores for films, first for Don’t Look Now and later working with Brian DePalma and Dario Argento.

Thanks to Borja for hipping me to this one, and for the sleeve scans.

Pino Donaggio Italian EP cover — Italian EP cover

Categories: MB, New York, New York City

Stephen Hartley

November 19, 2008 Chris Bishop Leave a comment

This 45 has great atmosphere and unusual production. It’s the work of several talented people who were usually involved in much more commercial music.

Singer and songwriter Stephen Hartley is Stephen Hartley Dorff, a composer of songs and movie & TV soundtracks. The producer Walt Levinsky was an old-time swing clarinet player, composer and arranger who is most well known for writing theme songs for television, including the old CBS evening news theme. The arranger Steve Cagan worked for years with Melissa Manchester. MB Records is also the label that released Manchester’s first record, again with Cagan and Levinsky’s production.

“Have You Seen Her” did make the charts of WOR-FM in New York for a few weeks in July and August of 1967. I prefer “The Other Side” for the moodiness of the music and obsessive lyrics.

Categories: CBS, Continental, South Africa

The 004

November 18, 2008 Nick Warburton 18 Comments

004 in Personality, November 25, 1965 — Personality, November 25, 1965.

The 004 were a mid-1960s R&B group put together at the suggestion of Trevor Boswell, a partner in the Hugo Keleti agency, after Dusty Springfield’s disastrous expulsion from South Africa in late 1964. (Hugo Keleti was the father of Eve Boswell, the South African 1950s star, and Trevor was her husband.) The band comprised of expatriate Britons, who recorded a string of singles and a lone album for the CBS label.Lead guitarist Pete Clifford (b. 10 May 1943, Whetstone, London) had first played with The Jesters and then briefly worked with Georgie Fame in London before visiting South Africa for the first time in 1964 with Dusty Springfield as a member of her backing group, The Echoes. Following the fateful trip, Clifford played with Tom Jones on a UK tour and then formed The 004 to return to South Africa, sailing on the Capetown Castle on 10 June 1965 where the band got its set list together.

Bass player/singer Jack Russell (b. 29 April 1944, Caerleon, South Wales) and rhythm guitarist/singer Brian Gibson (b. 17 March 1942, Newport, South Wales) had first met in Wales as members of The Victors, who had a residency at the Latin Quarter in London’s West End. When the band broke up in June 1964, Russell toured the Costa Del Sol and Morocco with French pop singer Teddy Raye while Brian Gibson joined The Laurie Jay combo where he met and socialised with Pete Clifford. In March 1965, after the failed continental tour, Russell got a job as production manager with Vox in Dartford. When Clifford had the call from Boswell and was asked to form a band to return to South Africa that summer, he recruited Gibson, who in turn recommended Russell. The band added Londoner Peter Stember on drums to complete the line up.

004 with Gene Vincent and Jackie Frisco, Daily News, December 3, 1965 — with Gene Vincent and Jackie Frisco, Daily News, December 3, 1965

After arriving in Durban by boat on 30 June 1965, the group began playing at the Al Fresco Night Club in a hotel on 1 July. The band signed to CBS and recorded a string of singles for CBS, kicking off with “The In Crowd” in November 1965. The following month, the band backed Gene Vincent in Durban for three months.Prior to the release of the group’s debut single, The 004 had briefly relocated to Johannesburg and worked the 505 Club in Kotze Street, Hillbrow. Back in Durban in early 1966, The 004 opened Tiles club, playing with The Ivy League in May. The following month, the band’s lone album It’s Alright was released and contained Gibson’s promising originals, “She’s Going Back Home Today”, “I’ve Found Her” and “Beverley” alongside covers of Curtis Mayfield’s title track and Mann, Weil and Stoller’s “On Broadway”. The album had been recorded in CBS studios in Johannesburg in late 1965 on an old two-track machine with overdubbing rather than the four-track Studer equipment widely available in Europe. During this time, Clifford and Russell did lots of studio work as session musicians recording with Eve Boswell, The Dream Merchants, The Sandpipers (the South African version), Johnny Collini and many others.

In August 1966, Nick ‘Doc’ Dokter (b. 24 July 1945, Kampen, Overijsel, Holland) was recruited from The Leemen Limited to replace Stember, who returned to the UK and later became an internationally renowned photographer, based in California.

Two months later, The 004 returned to Durban to play at Tiles and on 24 December joined a number of acts, including The Gonks, The Difference and The Dream Merchants to play a Christmas Eve show at Durban City Hall.

In March 1967 Gibson also left and Barry Mitchell from The In Crowd briefly took his place. Gibson later played with progressive rock band, Abstract Truth and lives in South Africa. Two months later, the band met John Kongos who invited the musicians, by then down to trio without Mitchell, to the UK to record that summer.

Clifford, Dokter and Russell recorded with John Kongos as a group called Floribunda Rose in London during mid-late 1967 before Clifford left to return to South Africa to join The Bats. Dokter also moved back to South Africa, albeit briefly, working as a boilermaker. He soon moved to Holland before emigrating to Canada where he played with Five Man Cargo, a UK band who later morphed in Cross Town Bus. In later years, he did session work for the Bruce Allan Agency and currently lives in Vancouver.

Russell meanwhile stuck with John Kongos until 1969 and recorded a string of singles in London as Scrugg before moving in to an advertising agency. He currently lives near Hampton Court.

Article by Nick Warburton

August, 1966, clockwise from top left: Brian Gibson, Jack Russell, Pete Clifford and Nick Dokter

Article in the Natal Mercury, November 26, 1966.

List of releases:
45: The In Crowd/Without You (CBS SSC 599) 1965
LP: It’s Alright (CBS ALD 8911) 1966
45: Goin’ Out Of My Head/Little Miss Trouble (CBS SSC 677) 1966
45: Happening Humpty/Lah To The Power of 6 (Continental PD 9198) 1966

Many thanks to Jack Russell, Nick Dokter, Pete Clifford, Vernon Joynson and Tertius Louw

Ed: The oddball single “Happening Humpty” was recorded in order to get Matt Mann to release The 004 from the CBS contract. The band felt suppressed by Mann who offered them no material. Mann refused to release the idiosyncratic and oddball trumpet work by one of South Africa’s top trumpeters. The idiotic inclusion of “out of time” bum notes was deliberate. Mann released the band. Graham Beggs then released the single under the Continental label. It has since become a collector’s item.

May, 1966, l-r: Pete Stember (foreground), Brian Gibson, Jack Russell and Pete Clifford

Categories: Blackstone, Quintet, Virginia

The Shados-M

November 15, 2008 Chris Bishop 7 Comments

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

Categories: Minnesota, New Ulm

Honey Buzzard

November 13, 2008 Chris Bishop 6 Comments

Honey Buzzard, 1972, l-r: Jim Christiansen, Terry “T” Sveine, Rick Christiansen and Duane Suess.

Terry Sveine sent me this great photo and history of his band, Honey Buzzard. Though they never cut any records, there may be a reel-to-reel recording of one of their shows out there somewhere.

Imbued with a combination of influences, several of us started a garage band in New Ulm, Minnesota in 1970 called, “Honey Buzzard.” The memories below are my own and I won’t doubt if others in the group saw it a bit differently, but as I remember it, it came about like this….
We were young teenagers and were really getting into music, listening to WDGY from Minneapolis, WWLS from Chicago and, if the weather was right, KOMA from Oklahoma City. This, combined with buying (and I’m sad to say, shoplifting) 45s and LPs, got us to the point where we wanted to start our own band instead of just listening to others play music.
Around 1967, just blocks from my house were the Kitzberger brothers practicing in their parents’ garage. They went on to be the “Fabulous Depressions” and played in some bigger regional areas and even recorded a song or two. Hearing songs like “Good Lovin’” by the Young Rascals still puts me immediately back to that formative time period.
Across the street, the Ginkel cousins, (Tom and John) were also playing as “The Shags” and they, too, recorded and went on to regional fame. (As proof of their skill, Tom Ginkel was inducted into the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame in 2008!) Us young kids would sit on the sidewalks and driveways by their parents’ garages where they practiced and marvel at how cool it would be to play in a band someday.
In 1969, my classmate and old buddy, Jim Christiansen, bought a guitar (an Epiphone, I think), his younger brother, Rick got an old hollow-body Gretsch bass and we dinked around in Christiansen’s basement for awhile on just these two instruments, knowing that this was a step in the right direction, but we needed more instrumentation if we were to move on. Soon after, I bought a set of Tempro drums accompanied by decent Zildjian cymbals to make up for the moderate drum set’s quality. Brian Wilfahrt was a schoolmate of ours and he had a guitar from his older brother and so we started playing in Christiansen’s basement and Wilfahrt’s garage. Still, we were lacking musically and -a big negative- no one wanted to sing.
The whole band took a big leap forward when we brought in our classmate, Duane Suess. His parents were professional musicians (Minnesota Music Hall of Famers, “Ervin Suess and the Hoolerie Dutchmen”) who, while they didn’t play our style of music, had lots of cool equipment that we could use. With an Ampeg bass amp, decent speakers, Shure microphones and P.A., mic stands, plenty of cords and even a Fender Rhodes and Wurlitzer electric pianos, made us one of the best outfitted young bands around. This equipment complimented Duane’s sunburst Les Paul guitar which he could play decently along with the pianos and -praise the Lord- he could sing! Brian, who was never fully into the band, dropped out at this point.
Practices still happened at Christiansen’s basement, but now moved to my parents’ garage and out to Suess’ farm, too. By now neighboring drummer, Randy Domeier, put together a band that was pretty good. Another neighbor, Dave Schaefer, also had a band going in his parents’ garage, so there was an informal competition to get better that we responded to.
With Duane’s lead, we started with some simple country and basic rock songs, all with Duane on vocal. We may not have wanted to play Charlie Pride or Charlie Rich songs, but Duane knew the chords and lyrics from playing with his folks. Besides, it was cool to actually learn a song from start to finish no matter what we were playing. All of us were excited and practiced diligently on our own. I recall that practices were often led by Duane or Rick and we took the practice time serious, knowing that the parents and neighbors didn’t want to hear us play any longer than necessary. (I only say this because I have heard bands practice for hours, wasting time with their own little solo parts with no direction to the practice.)
I clearly recall the band’s name origin. I was reading the book “Planet of the Apes” and as I was always taught by our nuns at Holy Trinity Grade School, that when you don’t know a word, look it up, don’t gloss over it. With that in mind, I came across the word “pern” in the book. When I got my Webster’s Dictionary out and looked it up, the word was described as “a honey buzzard – a South American vulture.” I sat up in bed and said to myself, “That’s it, this is the band’s name – Honey Buzzard!” When I presented it to the guys at the next practice, they were a little dubious, but Rick grabbed on to it with me and the other guys soon agreed that that’s what we would be called.
The young neighborhood kids and our friends watching us practice gave us confidence to play publicly. With a growing repertoire of Chuck Berry, Rolling Stones and Creedence Clearwater songs, we felt it was time to play in public. Our first gig consisted of a “Battle of the Bands” at our high school, Cathedral High in New Ulm, where we were “killed” by the unlikely-named band, “Bad.” It was Randy Domeier on drums – who was way better than me; Scott Sparlin on guitar who was better than Jim and Duane and more spirited in both his singing and showmanship; and Pat “Schnubby” Schnobrich on bass, who was better than Rick, but not by much – because by now, Rick was getting good! Rick remembers spilling punch on the Ampeg amp and frying it during the show. He had to humble himself and use “Bad’s” amp – which we were sure contributed to our losing the “battle” –haha. Since it was out first public show, we were nervous at this gig, as could be expected. However it was a great way to get good – jump in the fire and play against someone better than you.
We were motivated by our growing skills and gained confidence to play in public again. We played at a few more school dances and some teen dances in the area, and even a bar in nearby Essig called “The Wagon Wheel West,” where we were asked to leave due to a wilder and louder-than-expected song set.
We kept learning new songs including some Alice Cooper, Grand Funk Railroad, Neil Young and Badfinger. One of our biggest gigs was for the Girls State Gymnastic Tournament in New Ulm at historic Turner Hall. That’s where the only known photo of us was taken. Sadly, here too we were asked to leave for being too loud, but we did hook-up with a few of the girls afterward! Legend has it that there is a reel-to-reel recording of this somewhere that I’d love to hear, but no one seems to know where it is.
By now (1972) all of the band members were progressing in their skill at a quicker rate than I was and to my surprise, embarrassment and (at the time) anger, the guys invited Brad Anderson to bring in his drums to one of our practices. They politely said they wanted to try two drummers, a la’ The Allman Brothers Band. I had heard Brad play before and knew he was outstanding and so, seeing the handwriting on the wall, I packed up my things and left that afternoon in a huff. (Brad went on to be a professional drummer for many, many years!) After a short period of cooling off, I let the guys know that I was not mad about the change and wished them well with their new formation. Besides, I knew that it was my own fault for failing to keep up talent-wise.
With that new line-up, the guys changed their name to “Thunderhead” and hung on for a half year until after high school when they disbanded in mid-1973. So ended the short, but exciting time of a group of friends having fun with music, known as, “Honey Buzzard.”
Aftermath:
Playing in the band left a life-long memory with me. It was a cool thing to do, it taught me to appreciate the whole process of practicing, playing in public and the dynamics of a band’s make-up. I am super proud to have been in a garage band!
Shortly after being out of the band, I soon sold my drums as I had no use for them and needed money for a new stereo. However, after a 20-year hiatus, I bought an old set from Jim again around 1992 which I still have and occasionally play. The biggest legacy from that experience for me is that my son, Steve, started playing around the age of 4. He has progressed to being an excellent drummer doing things that I don’t even know how he does. With his brother, Sam on bass, my sons have played in rock bands for five years now and are quite good. Sam is teaching himself guitar and sings in choir and is considering music as a career in some fashion. I think parents are naturally glad to see their children exceed their skill levels. I know I am.
Jim dinked around with bands in college (“Tommy Nuke and the Flash”), but let it go for several years. However, about 1995 he began taking guitar seriously, including taking lessons from a pro, and has reunited with his brother, Rick, in “Van Gogh’s Ear” – a classic rock bar band for the last four years. Music has been a big part of his life and he has taken to bringing his oldest son to classic rock concerts with him to share the music and the experience.
Rick continued his musicianship and can play guitar and sing, along with still playing bass. He is active in his church’s music program, but can play anywhere, with anyone, including a folk band called, “The Salty Dogs.” Rick is a very good musician with a wide array of talents.
As far as we know, Duane has drifted away from music, ending up in the Des Moines area, although he played on several of his parents’ recordings and live shows. I hope he does something with music, since he definitely has the talent for it.
Terry Sveine
New Ulm, MN

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