
The Trailers was one of the most versatile and talented bands to emerge from Singapore in the 1960s. Formed sometime in 1964 by Victor Woo (lead guitar) and Eric Tan (bass), the band had a number of line-up changes before they released their first 45 in mid 1966 with Benny Koh (vocals), Edmund Tan (rhythm guitar), Tony Zee (drums) and Michael Teo (keyboards).
That first single contained the group’s original composition “Do It Right” backed with the instrumental “Thunderball” (Cosdel CSP-1007). The single went on to be a number one seller in Singapore. Check out the fans at a Trailers dance shown on the single’s cover. Sunglasses were pretty hip in Singapore in 1966!
Later in 1966 the Trailers had another hit with their second single, another original, the excellent “Don’t Laugh (You’ll Cry)”, backed with a great version of Little Richard’s “Lucille” (Cosdel CSP-1008).
This was followed in early 1967 by an all instrumental EP, O.B. a Go Go (Cosdel CEP-3001) with new keyboardist Jimmy Chan, that yielded one of their most evergreen tunes, “Phoenix’s Theme”, which apparently is still a feature of many Singaporean Chinese New Year celebrations. Another standout tune is “Alisan”, based on a Taiwanese folk-song that praises the beauty of the Taiwanese maidens from the island’s highest peak. “Ding Ding Song” is also based on a Chinese tune and “Lara’s Theme”, from the film Dr Zhivago, is the odd one out. My copy of this EP is a bit rough, but it has a slightly different cover to all the other copies I have seen.
In late 1967 the Trailers released two more EPs which I haven’t heard yet, but in 1968 they had another line-up change when Patrick Foo replaced Jimmy Chan on keyboards.
In late 1968 they released what I believe is their last recording, the fine Big 4 EP (Cosdel CEP-3003) with the original “I’m Ready Now”, the instrumental “Peter Gunn” and two covers, “Raise Your Hand” and “Gimme Little Sign”. Eric and Victor provide saxophone on some of the tracks on this EP and all are handled very well, although “Gimme Little Sign” is not really my cup of tea.
The liner notes on this last EP claim it appeared four years after the band’s debut, which would date it at 1970, but this is almost certainly wrong. All the Trailers recordings appeared on the Cosdel label, but starting in early 1968 a number of Cosdel artists received international release through an arrangement with RCA. The catalogue number SGE 0005 would place this EP as one of the first such releases. Actually, the Trailers appeared on the first recording that appeared as part of this deal when they backed three young girl singers called the Tidbits, who got to make a record as part of their prize for winning a talent contest. The tunes the girls tackle on that EP are not really the sort of thing the Trailers would go for I imagine. The Trailers, did however, provide the backing on at least three EPs for a pretty cool Singapore singer called Lara Tan, who may or may not have been related to Eric or Edmund Tan.
The band reunited to appear at a couple of 60s nostalgia concerts in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
For more information about the Trailers check out the article by Joseph Pereira that appeared in Fancy Mag a few years back.


The Runaways
I don’t know anything about the Runaways, there’s just this one fine 45 from 1966. From the opening melody played on a twelve string and bass in unison, the band moves through “It Don’t Mean a Thing” in all of 1:45. Vocals and drumming are solid, and the guitarist lays down a solo that barely strays from repeating the melody line!

Terry Johnson wrote both songs on the 45, the flip being the weeper “Please Do”. This was released as Highland 1170, with production by Phonic Arts.
The Highland label was owned by Sid Talmadge, releasing 45s from 1958 through 1980. Sonny Bono was doing A&R for Highland at this time and had a 45 on Highland 1160 as ‘Sonny’ – “I’ll Change” / “Try It Out on Me”. Perhaps he was involved in bringing them to the label.
Other garage 45s on Highland include the Insects’ “Girl That Sits There” / “Then You Came My Way” and Harry Hellings & the Radials’ “Tale of a Crystal Ship”.
The Vibrations

Jack Starkey sent me these excellent photos of his first band, the Vibrations. For those who saw the Four Dimensions post last week, take another look as I’ve updated it with two photos Jack sent in.
Jack Starkey: The Vibrations were formed by Al and me during our junior year in high school. The band had several forms over the 2 1/2 years we were together. The final band was two guitars, drums, bass, and electric piano.
We played steadily in northern New Mexico and at Las Cruces until I joined the 4 Dimensions. There are no surviving recordings of the Vibrations that I am aware of. The photo of us on stage was at a local movie theater for a promo of a rock and roll movie. I believe that Bobby Vee was on the phone talking to the girls on stage.
Most of the group have continued to play throughout their lives. Al Moses (the blond fellow) was my best friend and was playing in a band here in Arizona called the Rusty Zippers. Al and Rex have passed away, but the others still perform in some capacity. Ronnie was a teacher and had a band in California. He was in the Sacramento area and his group used to play at the governor’s mansion during Governor Jerry Brown’s reign.
Delizia

Delizia is the sister of Salvatore Adamo, who wrote all the songs on this EP from about 1966. By this time Adamo was a major pop star singing primarily ballads in French. Their parents were Sicilian, and the family emigrated to Belgium in 1947.
I’m not sure how much success Delizia had. She seems to have recorded occasionally into the 1970s.
“J’ai rendez-vous” is the garage track on this one, upbeat ye-ye with horns, Hammond and blasts of fuzz! I wouldn’t overlook the delicate “Laissons passer les annees,” though that is a whole other kind of music. My copy is Spanish, hence the translated song titles listed on the cover.
The Malemen

Updated April 2011
I really like this 45. “My Little Girl” has rockabilly-style guitar with a light touch and drumming to match. “She Means All the World to Me” is the ballad side, and a great one if you can dig the slowness.
The T4KM- prefix in the coding signifies a RCA custom press from the first half of 1966. This predates other 45s I know of on the Pine Hills (PH) label. Don Gore ran the studio in the Pine Hills neighborhood, just west of downtown Orlando. H.F. Gore may have been the same person, or a relative, but he’s credited with producing this 45. H.F. Gore also had a country 45 backed by the Undertakers.
Jeff Lemlich’s Savage Lost mentions that the Malemen backed Sue Pennie on her Dunmar 45 “Ghost Town” / “He’s Everything I Need”, which I’ve never heard or seen. They also covered “Norweigan Wood” for the rare Bee Jay Booking Agency LP 12 Groovy Hits, 12 Florida Bands on Tener.
I couldn’t find much concrete info on the Malemen until guitarist Randy Bushee contacted me.
I played in a couple of good bands in Orlando during the ’60s … The Malemen and Oxford Blue. Also the Brass Opera at the Citizen’s Nation Bank building, downtown Orlando.
The Malemen during my time was Bill Avera on guitar, Ed Bacon on bass, his brother Larry Bacon on drums. Larry and I would switch off sets, I’d play drums a set while Larry played guitar, then we’d switch off. We played Beatles, James Brown tunes and I did a few ballads too.
I just met up with the drummer from Covington Tower (another group from Orlando). He gave me an old newspaper clipping about Don Gore. It has a picture of The Malemen while I was in the band. I don’t remember recording but the picture is of me and them and the story is about his recording place in Pine Hills. I was with the Malemen before or after those recordings.
Oxford Blue was a “soul band,” we had a horn section. We did several of the Blood Sweat & Tears hits as well as the James Brown type of stuff. I was pleased to see that old Orlando Youth Center Schedule with our name on it [see the State of Mind entry].
I wrote “Alice in Wonderland” in 12th grade. It was about my then girlfriend, Alice. I sang it at my 12th grade talent show, I won it too. The other side of the record was a cover of Carole King’s “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow”. We were a band with horn section and put our own touch to it. I did a lot of work with Eric Schaubacher at BeeJay in Oxford Blue. Eric went on to a successful career. You can see him at Winter Wood studios in the Ozark mountains where he has a resort style recording studio with many gold records hanging on the wall. Oxford Blue got together a while back for a reunion.
Larry is a retired sheriff now playing music with Patty Mann in Colorado. Eddie, Larry’s brother is a retired US Marine. Not sure what Bill is doing yet. I am trying to find those guys. My emails to them keep bouncing so they must have new ones. I just moved back to FL after being gone almost 30 years. I am still pretty active playing in bands even at the young age of 62!
Randy Bushee
Randy sent this profile of Don Gore and the Malemen from, I believe, the Orlando Evening-Star. It discusses the start of Pine Hills Recording in detail, saying that Don Gore put over $12,000 into buying Ampex decks, a Gates mixing board, a Fisher Eco-Reverb and a Rekokut dub cutter. He started the studio as much out of interest in recording engineering as in turning a profit. “‘Kids used to use my place to practice,’ he said. ‘There wasn’t any place in the area to record.'” Pine Hills had only a few small hits around the Orlando area, but Don’s legacy will include all the good music he recorded.
The article also mentions upcoming releases – a country disc by Jerry Morris & John Lindy’s String Band and a rock group called the Thunders. I’m not sure if these ever saw release. Jeff Lemlich tells me “The Thunders were probably the Fabulous Thunder. They were from the Orlando area, and were booked by Bee Jay (the guys behind the Tener label). The only 45 of theirs I know is ‘So Hold Me Tight’/’Jealous Of You’, on Tight 3606 from January 1966”.

The Bad Habits
There were two almost completely unrelated groups that released records on the Paula label as the Bad Habits. The first group were originally known as Debbie and the Lads, and members included Debbie Folse on vocals, Pershing Wells on guitar and Ronnie Plaisance on keyboards. They had one 45 that I know of under this name, “Dear Lord Above” / The Man Who Comes Around” on the Ladd label out of Raceland, though the label spells her name Debbie Falls.
An oft-repeated rumor has it that Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett were the Bad Habits under a different name, but this is wrong. There are two likely reasons for the rumor: the first lineup of the Bad Habits covered two Delaney and Bonnie songs, and a there is some similarity in vocal style between Debbie Folse and Bonnie Bramlett.
You can read about the first lineup of the Bad Habits at Funky 16 Corners.
After three singles with some light chart action this group disbanded and their producer Gene Kent handed the name to the remaining members of the Group (Noel Odom and the Group), who had recorded three 45s for the Tower and Uptown labels.
Noel Odom was no longer in the band by the time they became the Bad Habits, but their first 45 included one of his compositions, “Thank You for the Love”. Vocals were now handled by Ron DiIulio, who also took over as principal songwriter and producer for the band. Ron wrote “Images: The City”, the b-side to their second record and co-wrote “Touch the Sun” with Jack Russell.
Fred Engelke talked to me about their time as the second lineup of the Bad Habits:
After Noel left and joined the Navy we became an 8 then 7 piece band called The Bad Habits and recorded three records on the Paula/Jewel label. We picked up the name when Gene Kent began managing us.
The Bad Habits were anchored by members of the old Group: Bob Fell on guitar, Ron DiIulio on keyboard, I on drums, and Sonny Williams on bass. Later Sonny left the band and was replaced by Nick Pratt on bass. We added horns; sax, trombone, and two trumpets and later went to trombone and two trumpets. The sax player was Rick Folse (I don’t know if there is a relation). Rick was actually a member of the original Bad Habits. He stayed with the group for maybe a year and then moved back to Cutoff, La. and became a disk jockey.
You may have noticed the high pitch of the lead singer on The Bad Habit’s “Bad Wind” and “Thank You For The Love”. The same person (Ron DiIulio) sang the lead on both sides of each record. We got the higher pitch by recording the track in one key and the slowing the tape down to a lower key to record the vocals and the returning the tape to the original speed to master the record. On “Bad Wind” the drums (at least the fills) were recorded in an echo chamber at the studio to get the “big” sound. On “Images: The City” there are so many changes that during the session I would forget what came next. So after SEVERAL attempts at getting all the way through it, we would just start somewhere before the place I screwed up and continue on. Later we spliced everything together.
Touch the Sun was the b-side of our last record “Louie Louie”. We (at least I) were pretty frustrated with the music business because we kept trying to put out what we thought were good songs but they were going nowhere. So we did Louie Louie (we had our own take on it) because it was always a big hit when we played at dances. I actually liked “Touch the Sun” better.
Thank you to Fred Engelke for his help with this article.
Bad Habits 45s on Paula
1st group (with Debbie Folse):
Paula 327 – Night Owl / It’s Been A Long Time Coming (1970)
Paula 333 – My Baby Specializes / Born On The Bayou (1970)
Paula 342 – I Don’t Wanna Discuss It / If The Whole World Stopped Loving (1971)
2nd group:
Paula 353 – Thank You For The Love / My Days Are Numbered (1971)
Paula 370 – Bad Wind / Images: The City (1972)
Paula 374 – Touch the Sun / Louie, Louie (1972)