Koes Bersaudara (the Koes Brothers)

June 30, 2007 Steven Farram 20 Comments

Koes Bersaudara, To The So Called The Guilties, Mesra Records, Jakarta, 1967

Koes Bersaudara (Koes Brothers), first formed in Jakarta in 1960, consisted of five brothers, Koesdjono (Jon), Koestono (Tonny) [or Tonny Koeswojo], Koesnomo (Nomo), Koesyono (Yon) and Koesroyo (Yok). Jon left after the band’s first album, released in 1961 or 1962. That record was made under rather primitive conditions as the studio was so close to the railway lines that the band had to stop recording whenever a train went by.

The band’s early music was influenced by other musical brothers such as the Kalin Twins and the Everly Brothers, but by 1965 they were caught up in the prevailing Beatlemania and began adding Beatles songs to their repertoire. This might have seemed a wise move commercially, but it was not a sound choice politically. Indonesia’s President Soekarno had condemned rock and roll as a symptom of Western decadence and tried to have it banned. He had previously railed against Elvis Presley, but by 1965 he had his sights fixed on the Beatles and all Indonesian bands that played ‘Beatles-like’ music. Koes Bersaudara was one of the most popular bands in Indonesia, but their records were banned from radio and they found it difficult to find venues to play.

caricature of Koes Bersaudara from the Harian Rakyat (Peoples Daily)

One of Soekarno’s main allies in his war against rock and roll was the Indonesian Communist Party. On 14 March 1965 this caricature of Koes Bersaudara appeared in the Party’s newspaper, Harian Rakyat (Peoples Daily), accompanying an article complaining that Koes Bersaudara had landed a gig playing in the restaurant at Jakarta airport. Harian Rakyat thought that this gave a bad impression to foreign visitors.In June 1965 the band got a job playing at a house party, but only got through a few bars of I Saw Her Standing There, when rocks were heard being thrown on the roof. An angry mob outside the house demanded that Koes Bersaudara apologise for playing forbidden music. Tonny was able to calm down the mob and the brothers returned home, but the next day they were called into the Chief Prosecutors Office and after several hours interrogation they were placed in gaol. The brothers were not sentenced in any court and had no access to legal representation.

The brothers stayed in gaol for three months with almost no contact from the outside, then one night, without warning, they were released. Koes Bersaudara were released just a day before the whole of Indonesia was thrown into great turmoil. On the night of 30 September six army generals were kidnapped and murdered. The army, led by General Soeharto, claimed that this had been part of planned coup and assumed power to restore order. Soekarno was sidelined and remained president in name only. In 1967 Soeharto had himself declared president and held the post for the next thirty-one years.

Soeharto’s regime reversed many of Soekarno’s policies and rock and roll could once again be played on radio and in live venues. Koes Bersaudara’s first record made after their stint in gaol, To The So Called The Guilties, released in 1967, contains a number of songs about their experience, such as the title track, Di Dalam Bui (In Gaol), Voorman (Gaoler) and Poor Clown, which is generally believed to be about President Soekarno. Even though Poor Clown is sung in English, the lyrics are spat out with such venom that it is hard to decipher what is actually being said. If anyone thinks they know, please share it! The album also contains other good songs of a more general nature, such as Hari Ini (Today) and Untukmu (For You).

Koes Bersaudara became Koes Plus in 1969 following the departure of Nomo and went on to be one of the most popular Indonesian bands of the 1970s. Gradually the brothers dropped out of the music industry, but Yon was still performing using the name Koes Plus into the 2000s. Koes Plus recordings are still relatively easy to obtain, but for my money the brothers’ best music is found on their rare early records.

Steve Farram

To The So-Called The Guilties
When your heart is down
And you sit in front of the court
The lawyers do something for you
They judge the right against the wrong
While you don’t know what happened behind
To the so-called the guilties (chorus)
They try to differ
From good to bad
The court may sentence you
Prison or even death
Then beat afast
That you feel what’s in your heart
If you forget the Lord
Yes … the Lord above

Koes Bersaudara Mesra LP back, Producer Dick Tamimi, Engineer Rachman A. — Producer Dick Tamimi, Engineer Rachman A.

Categories: Cardinal Records, Musicol Recording Studio, Ohio, Springfield

The Endless “Prevailing Darkness” on Cardinal

June 28, 2007 Chris Bishop 15 Comments

Endless at Hull's Musicol studio, 1966 — The Endless at John Hull’s Musicol studio, 1966, from left: Jack McAtee, Mike Lyons, Mike O’Brien, Pat McAtee and Chuck Moorman.

The Endless came from Springfield, Ohio, making their only record in December, 1966 at John Hull’s Musicol Recording Studio.

“Prevailing Darkness” really shows attitude in the vocal delivery. Pat McAtee’s strong vocals also balance the delicate composition and performance on the nominal a-side, “Tomorrow’s Song”. Both songs were written by Pat and Jack McAtee.

The group started as the Mods in Springfield, Ohio, with brothers Jack McAtee on lead guitar and Pat McAtee on bass, Mike Lyons on rhythm, Jan Weinbreight on vocals and Bill Dale on drums. Jan left to form the Children of Stone and Mike O’Brien replaced Bill Dale. Chuck Moorman came in on keyboards.

Jack McAtee wrote a detailed history of the band. I will include a section of it below, but the full history, with more information on how the group formed and stories from their touring days is available as a PDF file here.

One day the band signed up for a battle of the bands contest sponsored by WIZE radio in Springfield. The winning prize was a couple of hours of recording time in a studio called Mega Sound in Dayton, Ohio. Paul Carmen was the disc jockey from WIZE who conducted the battle of the bands. Jack and Pat had written some original songs, “World of Sin” and “Endless Wandering” … we thought it would be great to record them. A week or so later we headed to Dayton with Paul Carmen. We recorded a couple of original songs and a couple of covers on a tape.
Around this time, … we met Chuck Moorman, an electric piano player with another group at the time. We were reluctant to add another person to the band, but it was one of the best decisions we made. He was very talented and was just as passionate at playing as the rest of the band. He soon added a Farfisa compact organ/keyboard which not only made us more versatile but added a lot to our original songs, and he was also a great singer.
The band was now complete. The Endless 1966: Jack (Bat Jack) and Pat (Sugar Bear) McAtee, Mike (Screen) Lyons, Mike (Miguel or Wolfman) O’Brien, and Chuck (Pick It) Moorman.
Everyone in the band sang led on at least one song and we had great harmonies.
Jack, Chuck and Mike went to Columbus to see if we could find someone else that might be interested in hearing our tape. We did find one company that was interested called Cardinal Records. We made an appointment with Frank Keefer, the owner, and took our tape to him, but guess what, the tape was not readable. In those days you couldn’t just pop the tape into any player, it was a large reel and took a special recording device to read it. After spending a couple of hours with Frank, trying to convince him our music was good, he asked if we were willing to pay for the first hour of a recording session. Then, if he liked our music we could continue recording and he would cover the additional cost. So, we set up a time to come back.
The Hull Records acetate with earlier versions of the songs on the Cardinal 45. Hull Records became Musicol Recording Studio.
A week or so later [October, 1966] we met Frank at his house and headed to Hull Records in Columbus. We met John Hull there and he set us up for our recording. After the first hour Frank liked us a lot and told us to continue with the session a few more hours. Frank and John decided to make an acetate, a small album with 5 originals that we could distribute to radio stations to see if they liked our music. The original songs were called: “World of Sin”, “Endless Wondering”, “Tomorrow’s Song”, “A Cry for Yesterday” and “Prevailing Darkness”.
At that time Frank became our manager/producer with Cardinal Records and started booking places for us to play. At the same time another disc jockey at WIZE in Springfield, Ron Brown, took our album, played the songs on Friday and Saturday nights and asked the listeners to call in and vote for the ones they like the most. The listeners decided on “Tomorrow’s Song” and the band picked “Prevailing Darkness” for the flip side.
We went back to the studio and re-recorded the two songs again [in December, 1966]. We had to shorten them because the radio stations in those days would only play songs that were two and a half minutes long. Then we released the two songs on a 45 single. Frank had 1000 records made up and distributed them to various radio stations and record stores…
Once we played at a huge Battle of the Bands at a National Guard Armory. It was put on by WIZE radio station in Springfield. There were at least a thousand kids there. It came down to us and a group call “The Children of Stone”, Jan Weinbreights’ band. Guess what, at the end of the show they called it a tie. It was a lot of work for nothing. We should have put the party on ourselves, with The Children of Stone, and split the profits…
What happened to The Endless? A couple of the guys went off to college, and Uncle Sam came to visit some of us. During this time, Chuck Moorman was replaced by Jeff Dunmire on keyboards, and a singer named Bobby Saint, along with a sax player named Art Moppit, were brought in.
Jack, Mike Lyons and Mike O’Brien were drafted in late 1968. Jack went to the Air Force, Mike Lyons into the Army and Mike O’Brien into the Marine Corps. After Jack left for the military, Pat continued with another band, Chuck and Mike Lyons formed a band called “The Blue Light” which were a very good.
Later in life, Pat, Chuck, Jeff and Mike Lyons played in several bands, “The Legacy Band” and “The Pleasant Street Blues Band”. Jack started another band in the late ’80s, while living in Phoenix, called “The Steppin’ Back Band” and played a lot of clubs and parties for about 10 years.
The band decided to get together again in 1996 and 1998 for 30th and 32nd class reunion parties. We rented a hall, and thanks to all of our old fans, it was standing room only.
Jack McAtee

The five earlier Musicol recordings were supposed to be released on a compilation of Mus-i-col recordings over two years ago, but for some reason it never appeared. Hopefully whatever issues are holding it up will be resolved so we can hear the extended work of this band. The three unreleased titles are “Cry For Yesterday”, “Endless Wandering” and “World of Sin” – heavy stuff!

Thank you to Jack McAtee for the photos in this article.

Endless on Disco 2 Dayton TV 1966 — The Endless on the Disco 2 TV show, Dayton, Ohio, 1966: Jack McAtee on guitar behind Chuck Moorman, keyboards, on the left, Mike O’Brien on the drums, Pat McAtee on the bass and Mike Lyons on the guitar on the right.

Categories: Hawaii, Scene

The Val Richards V

June 27, 2007 Chris Bishop 17 Comments

Val Richards Five: Vernon Colon, Russell Colon, Val Richards, Randall Yuen and Colin Ogawa — From the left: Vernon Colon (bass), Russell Colon (rhythm guitar), Val Richards, Randall Yuen (drummer) and Colin Ogawa (lead guitar)

The Val Richards V have three songs on the Live at the Funny Farm lp, one of the few garage releases from Hawaii. The lp wasn’t actually recorded live, however, but in a studio with crowd noises added later, common practice for the time.

Several of the tracks from the lp were released on 45. In the case of “Dancing With My Girl”, the 45 has the original studio version without the crowd noise, and it sounds much better than the lp cut. The label on the flip, “My Oh My!” states ‘Live at the Funny Farm’, though it’s not on the lp.

These two songs show the Val Richards V to be a professional band with fine lead guitar, harmony vocals and a good rhythm section. Both of these songs were written by Russell Colon. Their other two cuts on the lp are covers, “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” and “I’ve Got My Mojo Workin'”.

I recently spoke to Jeff Gusman, one of three drummers for the group:

Here we were a bunch of high school kids getting paid to do what we liked to do the best. We were all from the projects which made it that much more awesome.
There was a club in Waikiki right where Kuhio and Kalakaua is; if my memory serves me right it was the old Lau Yee Chai restaurant, called the Happening where we were like the house band. It was awesome playing there. We would sometimes alternate with the Casuals with Steven Lucas.
Part of the band was from the Sonics who played at the Peppermint Mist which was by Channel 2 down by Ala Moana. Randall Yuen was the original drummer when they first started. I later replaced Randall when he went into the service.
This [the photo] was the lineup that played at the Peppermint Mist under the name the Sonics, pre-Val Richards 5. If I remember correctly, the only persons in the pic that were on the cuts were Randall Yuen and Russell Colon. Vernon and Colin were not on any of the recordings. Randall was on if I remember correctly on only one of the cuts. The lead guitar was Mike Calub or something like that and the bass was Andy (forgot his last name). I did not cut the record, the drummer on it was Donald Marianthal; don’t know if the spelling is correct.
I remember one time when we opened for Paul Revere & The Raiders at the HIC. You have to remember in those days there was no monitors. We had to use their instruments and I was on such a high pedestal I could hardly hear the guys cos there were like 10,000 people there. After the set we went down to the Happening where we tore the place up. Man we were tight that night. I guess I was with the band for about a year. And yes, the live set was just like the record all top 40 soul along with some of the songs Russell Colon wrote.
We were managed by Harvey Ragsdale who was based out of the old KPOI building on the Ala Wai Canal. If fact we used to rehearse in the building.
Q. Are there any unreleased or live recordings, or photos of the band?
Unfortunately, I had the misfortune to run into an irate girlfriend who destroyed all reel-to-reel tapes & pics; some cuts were from Da Swamp (now McDonalds in Waikiki). Dick Jensen used to be house band there back in da day.
Don’t know where the rest of the guys are but, I occasionally run into Val Richards.

Categories: Norfolk, S.P.Q.R., Virginia

Chaos Incorporated

June 27, 2007 Chris Bishop Leave a comment

With a name like Chaos Incorporated, you’d expect sinister psychedelic sounds, but instead what we have here are two exploitative r&b tracks.

“Daktari Ooo-Ah” is in the tradition of Kip Tyler’s “Jungle Hop” and other jungle and monkey records. On the flip is “Spanish Cooking”, a take off on another genre: soul food records.

“Spanish Cooking” was writen by Frank Guida and Gary Anderson aka Gary “U.S.” Bonds. The way the band plays, it sounds like it could be a throwaway from one of Bonds’ sessions.

Guida was the man behind the S.P.Q.R. and LeGrand labels. He recorded some fantastic music by the Swinging Machine and Lenis Guess around this time that I recommend over this one. Frank Guida passed away on May 19 of 2007, just a week shy of his 85th birthday.Thank you to Marty for the 45.

Categories: Fenton, Michigan, Traverse City

The Penetraters

June 27, 2007 Chris Bishop Leave a comment

The Penetraters were from Traverse City, Michigan, about a two hour drive north of Grand Rapids, where they cut this 45 at the Great Lakes Recording Studio. This is one of the earliest garage releases on the Fenton label, which catered to bands looking to finance their own records.

“What Went Wrong” was comped on the Fenton box, Scream Loud, but the ballad flip “Cross the River of Love” was left off. I like its mellow Ricky Nelson “Lonesome Town” kind of style. Both songs were written by William Soapman.

Supposedly the Penetraters members also worked as a polka band called the Jaguars.

Categories: Fayetteville, North Carolina, Romat

The Sound System

June 27, 2007 Chris Bishop 100 Comments

Sound System Romat 45 Take a Look at Yourself

The Sound System had the first 45 on the Romat label. The label credits this as a Carl Lineberger Pitt Sound Studio Production, from Greenville, North Carolina. Band members on the 45 were Barry McNeill on keyboards, Alan Knight drums, Alan Wright bass, Faye Williams guitar and Lynn Jenkins lead singer.

The haunting organ sound, solid drumming and buzzing psychedelic guitar work give the b-side, “Take a Look At Yourself” great tension to match Lynn Jenkins’ excellent vocals. I think it’s safe to say the top side, “Serenade”, will never be resurrected.

In 2009, Lynn Jenkins gave me some background to the band:

The first band that I was a member of was called the Intruders (not to be confused with the band who recorded “Cowboys to Girls”). Later I joined the Sound System. There were four members; Barry McNeil on keyboards, Alan Knight on drums, Alan Wright on bass guitar, Faye Williams playing lead guitar.
They were searching for a lead singer and I was approached for the position. As rehearsals continued for many weeks, we began to receive numerous bookings. Our band played at many locations including Duke University, Williams Lake, YMCA, local clubs, Fort Bragg’s Dragon Club, Pope Air Force Bases’ Officers’ Club, E-4– E-9 Drop Zone Club, the local skating rink and recreation centers. We felt we were gaining when we made several appearances on The Homer Briar Hopper Show hosted by Clyde Moody. Great times!
The Sound System won several Battle of the Bands, the most memorable was at the Hope Mills High School in Fayetteville, NC. Competition included Chico Carter and The Playthings, Digger Odell and The Undertakers, and numerous other groups.
Our manager Bernie McNeil (Barry’s dad) approached me and Barry on a Sunday afternoon and asked how quick we could write a song. Thirty minutes later “Take A Look At Yourself ” was complete, including the music. The following Monday it was recorded in Greenville, N.C. at Pitt Sound Studio. Our producer was Roy Matthews. It was a pleasant experience to work with Mr. Matthews. Several members of the band; “The O’Kaysions” who recorded “I’m a Girl Watcher” were present at the time of our recording.
Our record was sold at live gigs, at all of our schools, and distributed throughout the state of N.C. One copy was even sent to Viet Nam and was played over the air in DaNang. Radio play was unbelievable! The DJ’s were overwhelmed with requests, that the record was broken over the air waves … literally (WFLB radio station in Fayetteville).
The band broke up upon my entrance to the U.S. Army in which I have retired Sgt. first class after 22 years in 1993 (82nd Airborne Paratrooper). I have no information about Alan Wright, Barry McNeil is the NC Assistant State Attorney General, Faye Williams has been teaching music in Iraq for several years and Alan Knight owns and operates a recording studio in Lenoir, N.C.

The Romat label lists the song writers’ names incorrectly: “Take a Look at Yourself” is listed as by J. Jinkins and B. McNeal, which is also rendered as Barry McNeil on the credits to “Serenade”.

After a few years together they evolved into a larger soul/top 45 revue with horns. Barry McNeill sent me some examples of this later sound including a version of the Tams “Untie Me” and “Love Is a Beautiful Thing”.

Barry wrote:

These recordings were made in a small sound studio on Haymount Hill in Fayetteville NC, probably circa 1969 or 1970. Lynn Jenkins is the lead vocalist; Faye Williams is on guitar; Ray Barnes is on bass guitar; Alan Knight is on drums; Barry McNeill is on organ; Jimmy Harris is on trumpet; and Teddy Ray is on tenor saxophone. Ralph Melvin replaced Alan Knight for a period of time as the drummer.

The Sound System eventually changed their name to the Expressions, which included Warren McDonald as a member.

For more on the Romat label, see my posts on the Soul Twisters and Clear Blue Sky.

Thanks to Ken Friedman of Tobacco-a-Go-Go for information on the group and Romat.

Categories: Dunwright, Irving, Texas, Unknown

South Lamar and Speed Limit

June 27, 2007 Chris Bishop 3 Comments

A real obscurity from Irving, Texas on the Dunwright label that I can’t find a shred of info about.

“Population Zero” starts out well, with a great opening wave of reverbed distortion, then turns into a dirge with horns about wandering around a post-apocalyptic landscape. The song is psychedelic in some ways, but defies easy categorization.

“Pollution” begins as a funky instrumental. For the bridge there’s a slow horn break, then a jarring blast of guitar before going back into the rhythm. Both songs were written by V. Murphy, which turns out to be Vince Murphy.

A version of “Population Zero” turns up on a 45 on the Madella label by the Chaps b/w “Water Hole on Madella”, so there may be some connection between the two groups. The Chaps had many other releases including singles on the Paula and Soft labels.

Thanks very much to Don for introducing this one to me.

Categories: Mersey, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Sarver, Unknown

The Lost Ones

June 26, 2007 Chris Bishop 5 Comments

The Lost Ones were from Sarver, Pennsylvania, a small town about 30 miles outside of Pittsburgh. They were originally called the Kruisers and afterwards became Lite Rain. “I Can’t Believe You” is a wild, overdriven raver, too crude for some people.

“I Can’t Believe You” was written by James T. Robeson and produced by Marian Dietrich. The flip, “I Wanna Know”, which moves along at a snail’s pace, was written by James Robeson, Don Dietrich and Bill Farrington. This 45 was released in January of 1967 on the Mersey label.

Anyone have a photo of the group?

Categories: In Records, New York, Rochester, Upstate New York

The Young Tyrants

June 23, 2007 Chris Bishop 4 Comments

The Young Tyrants, Rochester

The Tyrants business card One of the leading bands in the Rochester, NY area, the Young Tyrants were Carl Lundquist lead guitar and vocals, Lou Grillo lead vocals, Julio Lora rhythm guitar, Mike Zazzaro bass and Mike Montoya drums. They were heavily influenced by the Young Rascals, even adding “Young” to their band name in imitation, but came up with a sound all their own by the time they recorded their only 45.

Fine Records Studio owner Vince Jans signed the band after hearing their live show over the phone. In September 1967, they recorded an album’s worth of songs at one session, mostly typical cover versions off the day along with two original songs and a couple instrumentals.

Jans let them release the two originals for their only 45. “I Try” starts off with Carl’s trilling guitar riff taken from the intro to the Buster’s surf classic, “Bust Out”, then turns into a fantastic rocker as the band kicks in. “She Don’t Got The Right” simmers with resentment: “She’s got the right to say/ she don’t want my kind/but she don’t got the right/ to take away my pride.”

Lou Grillo wrote “I Try”, although there are no credits on the label, while Carl Lundquist wrote “She Don’t Got the Right”. 500 copies were pressed on the In label and sold at their shows, at venues like the New Patriot Club in Hornell. The only radio play it received was on local Rochester station WSAY.

The band broke up in 1968, as Carl and Lou were heading to college. The masters from the Young Tyrant’s recording sessions have been saved, and supposedly include other takes of both sides of the 45 as well as a cover of “I Can Only Give You Everything”. Hopefully someday we’ll hear the whole session.

The primary source for this story is Greg Prevost’s interview with singer Lou Grillo from 1978.

Categories: Buckhannon, McLean, Myskatonic, Virginia, West Virginia

The Flys

June 21, 2007 Chris Bishop 10 Comments

Flys Myskatonic 45 Reality Composition #1 The Flys:

Steve Widmeyer – lead vocals, rhythm & lead guitar
Dave Reemsnyder – bass
Bill Lyons – keyboard, vocals
Randy Dunham – guitar, vocals
Jim (surname ?) – drums

The Flys were students at West Virginia Wesleyan College in Buckhannon, close to the Ohio border. I had no information about the band until Steve Widmeyer left a comment (see below).

In 1966 they traveled over 200 miles to McLean, VA, near Washington DC, where they settled for the summer and cut their two 45s for Myskatonic, perhaps their own label.

Flys Myskatonic 45 Be What You Is Their first 45 is “Reality Composition #1”, written by John Elvin and Stephen Widmeyer, backed by a fine version of the Stones’ “Got to Get Away” and released with a green label.

Then came the fantastic “Be What You Is”, one of Mort Shuman’s more obscure songwriting efforts. Shuman co-wrote it with occasional collaborator Leslie MacFarland (J. Leslie McFarland, who also co-wrote “Stuck On You” for Elvis with Aaron Schroeder). An anonymous commenter below (“The Fly”) says the band outbid the Rascals for the right to record the song.

On the flip is “The Way Things Are”, an original by Steve Widmeyer. I’ve seen both white and orange labels for this one. The records are credited as F.G.I. (Four Guys) Productions.

The band evolved into the Third Row – that band’s drummer Thomas Smith has sent the photo of that band seen above. Steve Widmeyer, Bill Lyons and Dave Reemsnyder remained from the Flys, the others were new members.

Thank you to Tom for the photo.

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