The Starfires of Long Beach entertaining at the Terminal Island Officer’s Club “Shipwreck Party” in 1967. From left: John Cameron, Pete Wilson, Dave Christopherson and Al (surname?) on sax
A couple years ago I posted some business cards from the Los Angeles area music scene, including two cards from the Starfires. I assumed these were from the Downey group that had six singles, including the famous “I Never Loved Her”.
The Starfires Garrison Recording Studio demo, never releasedIt turns out that at least one of those cards belongs to a different Starfires group, operating out of Long Beach, only 15 miles to the south. Apparently this town was big enough for two groups of the same name!
Chris Robere sent me the photos and scans seen here with a little info on the group.
In 1965, the band members included:
Pete Wilson – lead guitar John Cameron – bass and rhythm guitar Don Schraider – sax Dave Christopherson – drums
The band seems to have been popular with the Naval base in Long Beach. They had at least one recording session, as an acetate demo exists from the Garrison Recording Studio in Long Beach. I haven’t heard of “No Hair McCann” before so I expect that must be an original song.
John Irvin Cameron passed away on September 15, 2015.
John Cameron’s business card
The other Starfires, from Downey, deserves to be covered on this site. That group included Chuck Butler lead vocals, Dave Anderson lead guitar, Sonny Lathrop rhythm guitar, Freddie Fields bass guitar, and Jack Emerick on drums. Freddie Fields seems to have done most of their song writing.
The Starfires featured in the Long Beach Naval Station Officers Mess newsletter in December, 1965
The Vibra-Sound Recording Studio and label started in Schenectady or Rotterdam, New York circa late 1966. I’m not sure where exactly the studio was, but New York State business records list a residential address on Crestwood Drive in Rotterdam for Vibra-Sound, and also include a later starting date in 1969, with the business closing in 1992. However, several of the singles listed here such as the Heathens and Delirium are earlier, from sometime in 1967.
Nate Schwartz appears as engineer and also as a representative of the label in an local news item from the early ’70s. Initially the studio was located in Schwartz’s garage, with the control room in the basement without a window between.
Vibra-Sound had its own Vibra label, plus variations like Vibra-Sound, VSS, and others that were customized for the artist. Later productions often share publishing by Robert Barry Music BMI.
Below is a general discography in approximate chronological order of records made at Vibra-Sound / Vibrasound, with my comments.
Any additions or corrections would be appreciated, as well as info on any of the artists listed here.
45s:
Vibra L-103 – Elaine Brooks & the Pushers (Albany/Schenectady) “I’m So Blue” (Brooks) / The Pushers – “The New Thang” (C. Nelson) both published by Kama BMI “The New Thang” is a cool instrumental with saxophone, tambourine and plenty of echo. I’m surprised to see what must be some connection to Kama Productions of Utica, NY in the publishing company (see the end of my article on the Roosters for more info on Kama and related productions).
Vibra L-104 – The Heathens (Schenectady, NY) – “The Other Way Around” / “Problems” (both written by Michael Dellario, arranged by Hooker-Stahl, Petticrew, Sheer & Marquez) Maybe the most well-known garage single of the NY capitol region.
45 scan from the unparalleled collection of Bosshoss
Vibra L-136 – Delirium (Mechanicville, NY) “I Need Your Lovin'” / “Never Comin’ Home” (both songs by T. Sullivan, Wall Music BMI) A very rare single, and musically as good as the Heathens. If anyone has info on this band please contact me.
Vibra L-137 – The Dimensions (Latham, NY) – “The Pilot” / “Dimension Beat” (both by Federici, Federici, Olson and Speciale for Wall Music, BMI) Another fine garage single, According to copyright records from February, 1967, The Dimensions were Martin Federici, Arthur Federici, Dominick Speciale and David Olson. I’ve also found a new clip from 1965 verifying the members of the group.
Vibra Sound 423702 – Sound with Brass – “Shine Down on Me” / “Lollypops and Roses / Wall St. Rag”
Vibra-Sound 121969 – The Changing Times – “Free As The Wind” / “We Gotta Get Out Of This Place” 1969 Good versions of both songs, the capitol region being one of the few places where the Myddle Class had extensive radio play. Label credits for “Free As the Wind” give S. Trimochi, S. Lane in error, as the original song was a collaboration between Gerry Goffin & Carole King, and Rick Philp & Dave Palmer of the Myddle Class.
The Changing Times were from Mohonasen High School, Rotterdam, NY, with members Kurt Eastman, Mark Eastman, Gary Esposito, Bob Launders. and David Cilberti on vocals (thank you to David for his comment below)
USS 102 – The Chimes of Freedom (Scotia, NY) – “Did You Ever” / “Jungle Rock” (Hamilton, Francis, Pytlovany) For more info on the Chimes of Freedom see my post on the group.
unreleased demo – The Concepts (Ravena,NY) – “Faces Come, Feelings Go” 1968. Presumably from an acetate, this track is on the Garage Beat ’66 vol. 2 CD
Hemlock VSS-2/09 – Art Anderson and the Anderson Family – “Don’t Come Knockin’ At My Door” / “I’ve Been Searchin’ in My Dreams” (both by A. Anderson, Robert Barry Music, BMI, ZTSP 140404, 1968)
Knight Records KN-1 – Marshall Hanson and the Hamps – “Dark Clouds” / “Waiting for My Love” (1966, State Music Productions, ZTSC122592/3)
Governor VSS-910 – Bob “Rebel” King and the Knights of Music – “Suspicious Illusions” (R. King) / “For the Good Times”
Al Knight Records VSS 2704 – Al Knight ”Dreaming Dreams of Yesterday”
Zep Records KN-4 Tim Ryan ”Angels in the Front Row”
Scan courtesy of Brian KirschenbaumW.S. Highway 2710 – West Side Highway – “Spring Song” (J. Hochanadel) / “I’ve Got a Way” (D. Vroman) (both Robert Berry Music, BMI, Vibra-Sound 2710, ZTSP 140682/3)
Cobb 81935 – The Universal Set – “Ballad For Linda” / “Memphis Express” (both by E. Locke, Robert Barry Music, ZTSP 144640/1)
Hemlock 81946 – Cathy Lee, Anderson Family – “The Dark Side of the World” / “Our Side” (ZTSP 144893, Vibra-Sound 81946)
Kandy 101 – The Essentials – “Baby You Get to Me” (S. Wheeler) / “Oklahoma Blues” (F. Stay, S. Wheeler) both Robert Barry Music BMI, 1969
Kandy 82042 – The Essentials – “Sunshine Baby” / “Freedom” (both by Squeeky Stay for Robert Barry Music BMI, Vibra-Sound 82042, ZTSP-221980, 1970)
JC 82017 – 2nd Foundation – “Wipe Out” / “I Am The One” (D. Spensley, Robert Barry Music) (ZTSP 221697/8) – instrumentals produced by Johnny Cefala
Katy VSS 2705 Dusty Atcher and River Valley Boys – ”Right, But I Think It’s Wrong”
Little Records VSS-82043, Jimmy Lane and the Incredible 5 – “Deal With It” (J. Lane) / “What Kind of Man” (S. Brooks, J. Wortham) (both Robert Barry Music, BMI, A Little-Mickens Production, ZTSP 222378, Vibra-Sound 82043)
“Wild Smoke” is an excellent 70s rock songBrothers Two 6023-13 – The Lightning Brothers – “Crazy Jane” (W. Braemer, S. Hansen, M Ilnicki, P Ilnicki) / “Wild Smoke” (W. Braemer, P Ilnicki) (both Robert Baby Music, an Albert Perrone Production, pressed by Queen City Album in Cincinnati)
Jinhea DC-100 – Squeeky Stay and Mark Galeo – “Slippin’ Away” / “Mrs. Jones”, early 1970s
Rambler 2712 – Jerry Madore and the New Prairie Ramblers – “Wishing” / “Blue Blue Eyes”
EROS Records VSS 1239 – The Ridgerunners – “Stop, Look and Listen” / “King and I” (Robert Barry Music, produced by Watrobski Enterprises Broadalbin, NY 1973)
CMS 5105-40 – Billy D. Hunter, the Country Joe Revue “My Heart’s Still Doin’ Time” / “Old Five & Dimers” A Conway-Murray Production
476-45P – Bunz Rock Show – “Doctor Rock & Roll” / “Raw Power” (both by S. Atwood, C. Cirrone, B. Deitz, R. Hull, 1976)
Neon Records 6084-24 – Skip Johnsen – “My Friend John” / “I Like You” (1976)
Sit’ n Bull 6072-31 – Night Conference – “I Can’t Give You Anything (But My Love)” / “Kansas City” (1976)
Alan 7054-25A – Alan Burn “Unless You’re Born Again” / “Jesus the Healer” with James Caulfield (backup vocal), and musicians Ernie Burnell, Joe Latorra and Mark Carnival
The Cloud V, August 1967, from top left: Eddie Lord, Charles McCutchen, Gary French and Gene Lord, with Bob Walker seated in front
The Waxahachie news in August, 1967 featured the Could V, who were competing in a Battle of the Bands at Getzendaner Memorial Park. Waxahachie, Texas is a town about 30 miles to the south of the center of Dallas.
Members were:
Eddie Lord – rhythm guitar Charles McCutchen – organ Gary French – bass Gene Lord – lead guitar Bob Walker – drums
Theze Few formed in Dallas and cut one single for the BlacKnight label in 1966, “Dynamite” / “I Want Your Love”. Dan Seals wrote both songs, though the labels mistakenly list his name as D. Feals, published by Tall Pine BMI.
Members of the band were:
Danny Seals – saxophone Larry Stevens – lead guitar John Colley – piano Mike Woolbright – bass Buddy Lay – drums
By the 1968 Irving Teen-A-Go-Go, the band had changed their name to the Southwest F.O.B.
Dan Seals, 61, was born in West Texas but moved to Dallas as a teenager. He graduated from Samuell High School in Pleasant Grove in 1966. He and classmate John Colley, who later changed the spelling of his last name to Coley, formed a group with three other Samuell students called the Playboys Five. That became Theze Few, which morphed into the legendary Dallas high school band Southwest F.O.B.
As the friendship blossomed, Seals’ brother Jim was emerging as a musical superstar. Jim Seals was part of the multi-platinum-selling duo Seals & Crofts. But Dan Seals and Coley would soon put their own stamp on music.
They formed England Dan & John Ford Coley and became the toast of 1976 when their single, “I’d Really Love to See You Tonight,” and album, Nights are Forever, became gold records, meaning each sold more than 500,000 copies.
Lonestar Stomp covered the Seals family, including brother Jimmy and father Wayland.
The Vandals are possibly from Georgia but I haven’t seen any definite info on the band.
“Your Love Will Die” is a speedy, chaotic and excellent punk song, with ringing guitar, busy drumming, and shouted vocals not quite in unison. One guitarist plays both rhythm and lead. “Mary” is a fine ballad, there’s a clip on youtube but it has a skip in it at the end of the guitar solo.
The only member’s name I have is Steve Randall, who wrote both sides for Boldlad Music, BMI but I can’t find a copyright notice for these songs.
Recently I picked up two singles on the Channel “1” label, by the Eyes of Reality and the Systems. The label intrigued me for the 7-B distribution listed at the bottom, as 7-B, or Seven B, was a great New Orleans funk label owned by Joe Banashak.
I quickly realized these were not New Orleans productions, but instead came out of the Mobile, Alabama studio of Sax Kari, who wrote, produced and/or sang on each of these.
The first single on Channel “1” was the Eyes of Reality doing a laid-back funky come-on, “What You Waitin’ On Girl”. The flip is the even more mellow ballad, “Goin’ Back”. I’m not sure who was playing in the Eyes of Reality, but Saxton Kari wrote and sang both sides.
Next comes what sounds like a real band, the Systems, doing an original by Doug Previto, “How High Is High”. I presume Doug was a member of the group. The flip is “Where Did I Go” a song by Carson and Tim Whitsett. Tim Whitsett led the Imperial Showband with Tommy Tate, who cut the definitive version of this song for Musicor.
Francine King cut the third Channel “1” single, “Two Fools” a spare funk vocal that has its fans.
I haven’t heard the next Systems single, the intriguingly-titled Sax Kari composition “The Story of My Hair” b/w another Doug Previto song, “Oh How I Wish”. The group’s name is listed as simply the System, singular, and the label has a new design. The label name was spelled Channel One for COR-711 and COR-712.
A faded label but has Sax Kari’s autographThe last single on the label is another one I haven’t heard, Simon Birk’s “Babbalulla”.
Channel “1” Records discography
COR-701 – Eyes of Reality – “Goin’ Back” / “What You Waitin’ On Girl” (PRP 10771/2) COR-702 – The Systems – “Where Did I Go” (Carson Whitsett, Tim Whitsett for Whitsett Bros Music/Catalogue Music BMI) / “How High Is High” (Douglas Dwight Previto, Kari Music BMI) “A Gulf Coast Production” COR-703 – Francine King – “The Grapevine Can’t Tell You” / “Two Fools” (PRP 11471/2) COR-704 – The System – “The Story Of My Hair” (Sax Kari) / “Oh How I Wish” (Douglas Dwight Previto)(PRP 13911/2, )
COR-711 – Francine King – “Dirty Man” (Bobby Miller) / “Yo Yo” COR-712 – Dirty Red Morgan Group – “Your Chicken Ain’t Funky Like Mine” / “Finger Lickin’, Funky Chicken”
COR-720412 – Simon Birk – “Babbalulla” (J. Simmons, Channel One Music) / “Love Never” (PRP-38351/2) COR-770518 – Benny Watson – “Sunday Afternoon In Memphis” / “Going Down for the Third Time” (both by Jerry Powell, released 1977)
Unless indicated otherwise, all songs written by Sax Kari and published by Tune-Kel and/or Kari Music BMI.
Thank you to Peter for pointing out a few unknown to me, and to Gordon Dodson of the Barons from Ozark for the scan of the Francine King single.
The Great Society, August, 1967 from left: Steve Sturgil, Tom Wise, Bill Bayer, Tilo Schiffer and Charlie Jung
The Great Society were students at the University of Cincinnati, except Steve Sturgil who attended the University of Kentucky. The band’s lineup was:
Tilo Schiffer – lead singer Tom Wise – lead guitar Bill Bayer – piano and organ Steve Sturgil – bass Charlie Jung – drums
First mention I can find of them is from March 1967 at Granny’s and then at the Four Seasons’ Pirates Cove in July.
Great Society Pirates Cove at the Four Seasons, Cincinnati, July, 1967
A letter to the Enquirer from fan Penny Phelps in June, 1967 mentions them playing at the Psychedelic Lollipop, Granny’s, Lakeridge Hall, Seven Hills Veterans Hall and the Round Table.
They released one single, first on the Dana Lynn label in June, 1967, then on Counterpart C-2613 in August. “She’s Got It On Her Mind” has a hypnotic keyboard sound, a great drum backing with accented beats, and a captivating vocal melody.
The flip “Second Day” is another tuneful winner, heavy on the echo like the A-side.
Lead singer Tilo Shiffer wrote both songs, published by Counterpart – Falls City Music, BMI.
A second letter from Penny in December notes that Bill Bayer and Tilo Schiffer both went into the Navy by the end of 1967, but that the three remaining members would try to continue.
In 1968 the Great Society played shows at the Coney Island water park and at LeSourdsville Lake with the Rapscallion Sircle.
The Dana Lynn label lists Ray Allen as engineer and reads “A Tom Dooley Production”, while the Counterpart lists Allen as producer.
Dana Lynn only released three singles that I know of, notably the Lemonpipers “Quiet Please” (70610), the Great Society (70611) and Tom Dooley “Talkin’ Bout Love” / “Stay By the Phone” (010).
Counterpart was also local to Cincinnati, but had greater distribution than Dana Lynn.
The Collection from Fort Mitchell, KentuckyThe Collection came from Dixie Heights High School in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky. A profile by Tom Lutes in the Cincinnati Enquirer from November, 1965 lists the members as Don Brewer, David Conover, Chris Comer and Tom Ramsey.
“Their manager Jeff Goode says they play any kind of music, from rock ‘n’ roll to classical, including Mozart’s First Concerto.”
The Blackwatch (misidentified as the Wanted), at “One Step Beyond, July, 1967Shows at One Step Beyond in July, 1967: Blackwatch, For Sale, Wolf Pack, and the Wanted
Cincinnati group the Blackwatch cut some demos but never released any records. Their name appears half a dozen times in the Enquirer’s pages in the summer of ’67, but unfortunately there was no feature on the band.
Johnny Schott – lead vocals Doug Hawley – guitar Rich McCauley – keyboards John Gilsinger – bass Jay Sheridan – drums
In June of ’67 the Blackwatch played at the Deer Park movie theater on shows with WSAI DJs Bob White and Tom Kennington. In the first week of July, 1967, they played for three evenings at a newly opened teen club, One Step Beyond.
The following week, One Step Beyond featured the Heywoods, Ivan & the Sabres and Salvation & His Army.
From a feature in the Enquirer on July 15, 1967:
They’re springing up like mushrooms – new teen clubs that is! The newest one in this area is “One Step Beyond” at 8532 Beechmont Ave. in Mt. Washington.
“The club features three separate rooms, The Twilight Zone (just for chatting), Our Generation Room (for dancing) and This Place (for eating). Refreshments are being served in This Place here by Pat Hess. Waiting in line are Mary Jo Rickard, Debbie Arnold, Rick Anthony and Bob Barney.
“One Step Beyond” is a joint effort of the young people of Anderson township and an adult group called CONCERN …. Shown playing is the band “Wanted.” The club is open Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays from 8 p.m. until midnight and dress is informal.
Letter from Jean Hess correcting the photo caption from the previous week
A week later, Jean Hess “Teen Board Member” for One Step Beyond wrote a letter to correct the caption, saying, “The great band that was pictured is the ‘Blackwatch,’ not ‘Wanted.’ The Blackwatch played four nights at the club and have gained a reputation of being one of the grooviest groups in Cincy!”
The third week of July the club featured the New Lime, then the Lemon Pipers!
I can’t find any mention of the Blackwatch after the summer of ’67. One Step Beyond lasted into 1968, including a show in February with Ivan & the Sabres, the Quaker Rebellion and Red Brale. Then it also disappeared, at least from the news.
Ivan & the Sabres, the Quaker Rebellion, and Red Brale at One Step Beyond, Feb. 24, 1968
The Wanted & Co. released one single in 1968, a dark, fuzzed take on “Smokestack Lightning” titled “Why”.
M. Gertin and B. Marksberry wrote the song, but there’s no publishing info on the labels and no one seems to have info on the band.
Shows at One Step Beyond in July, 1967: Blackwatch, For Sale, Wolf Pack, and the WantedThe A-side is an average cover of the Gants’ “My Baby Don’t Care”. The band recorded the single at King and pressed the records at Queen City Album.
This is likely the same group called the Wanted who played some shows in Cincinnati in 1967, including at the teen club One Step Beyond on Beechmont Ave. in Mt. Washington.
The Enquirer ran a feature on the club with a photo that was captioned the Wanted, but a letter pointed out the band was actually the Blackwatch.
Since the great Detroit area ban called The Wanted was having a modest national hit with “In the Midnight Hour” on A&M, the band likely added “& Co.” on the labels to distinguish them.
Thanks to Scott Lucas for inquiring about the Wanted & Co. to get this post going.
This site is a work in progress on 1960s garage rock bands. All entries can be updated, corrected and expanded. If you have information on a band featured here, please let me know and I will update the site and credit you accordingly.
I am dedicated to making this site a center for research about '60s music scenes. Please consider donating archival materials such as photos, records, news clippings, scrapbooks or other material from the '60s. Please contact me at rchrisbishop@gmail.com if you can loan or donate original materials
A couple years ago I posted some business cards from the Los Angeles area music scene, including two cards from the Starfires. I assumed these were from the Downey group that had six singles, including the famous “I Never Loved Her”.
