The Collage are a mystery to me. They cut two singles, the first (as Mike pointed out in his comment below) was “Best Friend”, an original by band member John Phillips, published by Parsay Pub BMI. The flip is a charming cover of Brian Wilson’s “Girl Don’t Tell Me”.
The Collage recorded at AAA at 835 Dorchester Ave. in Dorchester, MA. Released in 1967 as Coliseum Record Productions 201,468/9, the 201 prefix to the release number indicates this was a Decca custom pressing.
Their second single on Subtown may be the best on the label.
John Doran wrote “Mystery Woman”, a good song with an arrangement that blends the groups’ harmonies with tasteful instrumentation.
John Phillps wrote the flip, “Closing In On Me”, with its opening line “As I look around and all I can see, my own shadow overshadowing me”. The band turns in an exciting performance, with some frenetic drumming. I love the song but the bright blasts of trumpet bother me after repeated listens and wish they’d left the horns off.
Neither song writer name appears on other Subtown releases.
Released on Subtown ST-101/2, with publishing by Echo, BMI but I can find no trace in BMI’s repertoire.
The label was part of Subtown Record Sales located at 169 Bank St. in New London, Connecticut. Subtown had other good releases by the Apple Corps and Davey And The Dolphins, among others.
The Royals, from left to right: Dennis Villanucci, Jim Hideriotis, Joe Villanucci, Rick Krikorian and Robert Krikorian
Dennis Villanucci wrote to me about the Royals who had three singles in the mid-1960s:
This band was formed in Haverhill, Massachusetts during the mid/late 1950s. The original band members were Jim Hideriotis (drums), Rick Krikorian (guitar) Dick Gaiero (guitar), Ted Schiavoni (guitar), Bob Schiavoni (bass) and Joe Villanucci (keyboards).
Around 1961 or so, Dick & Bob left the band, and I (Dennis Villanucci, Joe’s brother) joined as their bass player. Rick’s twin brother (Robert) also joined shortly thereafter as a singer and also played tambourine. Later on I became their lead guitarist. The band card shown was made after Bob had left the band.
Lowell State Lounge poster, May 22, 1965
While the members of the Royals were attending college, we appeared at many fraternity houses and college concert venues (college dance mixers) on campuses throughout New England (mostly in Massachusetts, New Hampshire & Vermont locations). Typical venues were Lowell State College (MA), UNH (Durham NH), Dartmouth College, University of Vermont etc.
We had an agent by the name of Al Long. He handled about 25 bands from the New England area.
We were friends with a few of the bands shown on Al’s list … The Roadrunners (Mike Fedenyszen et. al.) and the Heard (Chuck Buzzell, Eric Mcfadden, Bob Fontaine and Mike Moustafa).
Another band that we were friends with (not on the list) was called Lazy Smoke. John Pollano was their leader. My brother Joe played keyboard on “Sarah Saturday”.
A “rival” band was the Del Phi’s.
While playing a fraternity house for Lowell technological institute, we met a fraternity member who, along with his friend, had a recording studio in Framingham Massachusetts. We accepted a one year recording contract that was offered to us at no cost to us.
The band made three 45 rpm recordings at Continental Recordings Inc. (CORI) in Framingham, Massachusetts. The first recording “The Lady’s Bad” / “I’m All Alone” bears the CORI label and was made in June 1965.
The other two were under the Croydon label; “Summertime in Maine” / “Teenage Dreamer” and “Slow Down Boy” / “Summertime in Maine”.
While recording our music during that year, we were connected with Gene Kilham. Gene presented his music to us, and we agreed to record for him.
1st label for this song, June 1966
June 1967 release
Towards the end of the 1960s we began playing regularly at local night clubs: The Cinnamon Lounge (Lowell), Three Copper Men (Lowell), The Bowery (Salisbury Beach MA) and many others.
When we appeared at the Bowery, the band had added a horn section, (Ralph Bennett – sax, Rick Hammett trumpet and Jerry Bergonzi – tenor sax). We also added a front man, Johnny C (John Colimere). We played eight (4 or 5-hour) shows a week for about 6 weeks during the summer of 1969.
The band broke up around 1970. Joe and Robert are still active in the music industry.
Q. I notice the writing credits on “Teenage Dreamer” read Leo Krikorian and Gene Kilham, and Gene is also sole writer for “Summertime in Maine”. I believe Gene owned the Croydon label. Was Leo another name for your brother?
Leo Krikorian was not related to the two Krikorian brothers that were with the Royals (Rick & Robert). It is just a coincidence that he has the same last name. Leo & Gene wrote “Teenage Dreamer” and Leo played lead guitar on the recording.
June 15, 1966 issue of Billboard
Two notices for “Summertime in Maine” appeared in Billboard, in June and August 1966.
Royals discography:
June 1965: “I’m All Alone” / “The Lady’s Bad”, both by Krikorian – Villanucci, Hyannis Music Co., released on Cori Records CR 31002.
June, 1966: “Summertime in Maine” (Gene Kilham) / “Teenage Dreamer” (Leo Krikorian and Gene Kilham), both Chriskil Music Publ. Co., ASCAP, released on Croydon ZTSP 122492/3, a Columbia custom pressing, probably from their Rockaway plant.
May, 1967: “Summertime in Maine” (Gene Kilham) / “Slow Down, Boy” (Robert Krikorian and Joe Villanucci), released on Croydon U4KM-6776/7, an RCA custom pressing probably from their Pittman, New Jersey plant.
Chriskil Music Publ. Co., ASCAP published all three songs on the Croydon singles, named for the company’s street address.
Kilham has written and produced a single by Barry Wilson & the Camelots “The Bug” / “Gonna Put You Down” Dot 45-16462, both by B. Wilson and Gene Kilham, that received notice in Billboard in September 1963.
Al Long agency booking list – any info on the bands listed here would be appreciated:
Name Groups: The Harlem Playboys (with Randy Madison) The King Cobras – “Maine’s No. 1 band” The Nickel Bag of Soul (“New Hampshire’s best) The Catharsis The Embers John Tropea and the Spendors (“Boston’s great band”)
Girl Groups: The Fabulous Frauleins (recorded “Practice Of Evil” / “Days Gone By” on Onyx 8601) The Ever Lovin’s What’s this Madness
Popular Groups: The Given Word The Crescendos The Royals The Tel-stars The Avengers The Blue Cloud The Jinx The Del Phi’s The Roadrunners The Deltas Annie and the Orphans (from the Lakes region) The Heard Underground Conspiracy Gray Shade of Blue
Karen and the Starliners came from Plainfield, Connecticut, but recorded at Planet Studios in Providence, Rhode Island. “I Can Count the Times” has a good garage backing, the flip “Storm in My Heart” is a more typical ballad.
Fred Richards wrote both songs, published by Planet’s in-house company Ranford Music Co., and registered with the Library of Congress in October, 1966.
This seems to be their only release. I don’t have any other band members’ names.
The Lost and Found originated in San Clemente, California as the Nuts & Bolts. Relocating to Phoenix Arizona, they became the Lost and Found and cut this single on the one-off Pins label. They were about 16 or 17 years old at the time of the session.
The band members were:
Jim Jeffers – lead guitar Mike Ingram – rhythm guitar and vocals Al Manfredi – bass and vocals Mike Ryer – drums and vocals
Mike Ingram wrote the fast-paced “Don’t Move Girl”, while Al Mandredi wrote the introspective “To Catch the Sun”, both songs published by Debra, BMI.
The Library of Congress shows the songs registered on November 14, 1966, listing their full names, with their mothers’ names as publishers: John Michael Ingram and Ruby P. Ingram; and Albert T. Manfredi and Wanda Manfredi.
The single is a Wakefield Pressing with the code SJW-8937. It was recorded at Loy Clingman’s Viv Studio.
The group had a tragic streak, as Mike Ingram died soon after the group returned to California in early 1967. After a year’s hiatus, Al Manfredi reformed the group with drummer Mike Ryer, only to have tragedy strike again, as Ryer died of cancer. Certainly this was a talented group that deserved a better fate.
Al Manfredi gave music lessons while continuing to write and record demos of songs. In 1973 he brought a band into a studio to cut some of his original songs, and had a small number of copies pressed by Band ‘n Vocal Mobile Recording Service. Al passed away in 1995, but Now-Again Records has issued his album and other recordings as Blue Gold.
I don’t have much info on the Coming Generation who released one single in 1969 on the King Town label. Jim Du Bois wrote “Tell Me Now”, and Ed Barnhart wrote “This Troubled Life”.
The band seems to have been a quintet or sextet, with organ and smooth harmony vocals. They were indeed from Kingston, New York, as noted on several ads for shows in the Kingston Daily Freeman beginning in 1967 and ending in 1970. A sample of their shows include:
1967 – Sportsmen’s Park, Rosendale and the Viking Lounge on Glasco Turnpike, High Woods
The Coming Generation opening for Fire & Ice, March 27, 19701968 – The Tropical Inn, Port Ewen
1969 – 1970 – the Pleasure Yacht, Eddyville
December 31, 1969 – the Creamery at Wiltwyck Village, Esopus with Jay and the Techniques
1970 – Thunderbird Inn, Route 9W, Saugerties
March, 1970 – Thunderbird Inn with Fire and Ice (could this be Auggie Bucci’s group, with singles on Capitol and Crazy Horse?)
Runout vinyl has no markings other than 0024-A/B, but this numbering and the label design indicates it was recorded at Kennett Sound Studio in Kinderhook, NY.
Despite the labels saying copyright ’69, I haven’t found any registration for these songs.
In November 1967 a single by the Riders of the Mark came out on 20th Century Fox Records 45-6694. One side is the very accessible “Gotta Find Somebody”; the flip is the wild two minutes of “The Electronic Insides and Metal Complexion That Make Up Herr Doktor Krieg”.
Teen Beat Mayhem lists locations of Moorestown, New Jersey which is east of Philadelphia, and Lancaster, Pennsylvania, over an hour’s drive to the west.
The Riders of the Mark may have been a real group, but the credits on their 20th Century Fox single don’t support that idea, and instead point to John Hill, Don Cochrane and their associates.
John Hill wrote “Gotta Find Somebody”; John Hill and Don Cochrane wrote “The Electronic Insides and Metal Complexion That Make Up Herr Doktor Krieg”. Blackwood Music published both songs, and the Blackwood connection features in the lead for news items on the recording in Cash Box and Record World. Tony Luis and John Hill produced both sides, and Hill arranged “… Herr Doktor Krieg”.
Record World, November 4, 1967
John Hill and Don Cochrane composed “Love, Love, Love, Love, Love” for the Nite People, also done by Wool, and John Hill released it under his own name on a Columbia 45 backed with “I’m a Bear”.
Hill produced and played guitar on Margo Guryan’s 1968 LP Take a Picture, and produced the sessions that would be released as Susan Christie’s Paint a Lady. Studio musicians included Kirk Hamilton on bass and Jim Valerio on drums. These were done at Philadelphia’s Sigma Sound Studios, but since that studio opened in 1968, I have to assume the Riders of the Mark single was recorded elsewhere.
In 2009, Finders Keepers Records released some of his 1970 sessions at Sigma Sound as John Hill’s 6 Moons of Jupiter.
The Nite Liters horn section at D’Arcy studio, from left: George Resto, Harrel Baker and Danny Kelly.
Don Faulk and Harrel Baker wrote the A-side of the Nite Liters excellent single on Sounds International 631, “Set Me Free”. D’Arcy Sounds Studios‘ publishing company Twenty Grand Music belatedly registered copyright on over 20 songs including “Set Me Free” on April 3, 1968. Since this seems to be the earliest release on Sounds International, the single likely dates a year or two earlier.
Danny Kelly of the Nite Liters wrote to me about the group and sent the photo seen above:
I did play trumpet with the Nite Liters along with George Resto and Harrel Baker on sax and also rhythm guitar. Bobby Schnell on drums, Joe Fromel on keyboards and vocals, Donnie Faulk on bass and vocals, and Steve Keith on lead guitar filled out the rest of the band.
We all went to Hampton High School. Danny and the Del Notes went to Newport News High School which was a real rivalry in every sense.
We recorded an original titled “Set Me Free” and covered “The Harlem Shuffle” in D’Arcy Studio around the time Danny and the Del Notes did their record. We were both on the Sounds International label. Our 45 aired locally on AM and played on a few juke boxes. We only had 500 copies made.
Before George and I were recruited into the band, the Nite Liters played in the battle of the bands at the Peninsula Auditorium.
I remember playing with Dennis and the Times at the Peppermint Beach Club in Virginia Beach. The best times were when we were the house band at the Hullabaloo Club in Newport News, Va. We even tried getting into some psychedelic music there. That was really crazy.
There were other good times like when a couple of members including myself went down to North Carolina to get a dj Russ Spooner to play a demo tape on the air. We recorded that also at D’Arcy studio.
As of right now, we’re all still alive and kicking. Steve, Bobby and myself are the only ones still in the area. George and Joe are up in northern Va., Donnie’s somewhere out west and Harrel is music director with a group in Hawaii. He was a surfer back when we were at Hampton High School. I’m retired from the USPS.
The Shades Of Depression, circa 1967, (l to r): Joe Johnson, Ronnie Slemp, George “Rocky” Hammonds & Chuck Leamon.
Less than two weeks ago The Shades Of Depression were a complete unknown band in the garage rock 45 rpm community, one of those iconic bands that recorded a stunning and highly collectible record and disappeared into the lore of history to be debated on late night chat rooms and podcasts 40 plus years later. When I first started collecting local records a couple years ago Trail TSRC-1712 released in 1967 was at the top of my want list. “Time For Love” backed with “I’m A Fool” by The Shades Of Depression doesn’t sound like a record made in the hills of East Tennessee and the band name oozes West Coast coolness.
The Shades Of Depression, “Time For Love”, Trail TSRC-1712, side 1, released 1967.
Frustrated that I’ve never even seen a copy of this gem recorded less then 3 miles from Big Lon’s clandestine lair, I posted pictures of one I’d found grossly over priced on eBay asking if anyone knew anything about the band and within an hour had made contact with a band member and the widow of a band member. By this past Saturday, I was standing outside The Down Home getting a hug from Anne Hammonds, the widow of one of the band members with a near mint un-played original copy in my hand and a story to share.
The Shades Of Depression, “I’m A Fool”, Trail TSRC-1712, side 2, released 1967.
Turns out The Shades Of Depression were not from an exotic far-off land, they hailed from God’s country, Church Hill, TN just a few miles down Bloody 11-W from the Tri-State studio in Kingsport. This band formed in 1967 consisted of Church Hill High School students Joe Johnson (vocals, guitar, song writer), Chuck Leamon (guitar, vocals), George “Rocky” Hammonds (bass, vocals) and Ronnie Slemp (drums).
They performed together 2-3 years while in high school mostly playing local sock hops and dance parties. Rocky and Chuck would sit up late night with a tape recorder and AM radio to catch the newest Beatles or Doors songs on Chicago radio stations and then learn them for the next weekend gig as new records released in major markets didn’t make it to small towns like Kingsport until two or three weeks later giving The Shades Of Depression a leg up on other local bands.
Their biggest rival band for local shows was The Odds’n’Ends from Surgoinsville, TN which featured Benny Wilson (Passenger, Janie Fricke Band, Benny Wilson Band) and Billy Greer (Passenger, Bishop, Kansas) who had just recorded TSRC-1709 “Record Shop Song” at Tri-State.
The band had 500 copies of the record pressed. They sold them mostly to friends and family with a few available at the local Woolworths and Joseph’s Music Center in Kingsport.
As with most garage bands life happens and they broke up as Chuck went to college, Rocky joined the Air Force and Joe started a successful real estate business. Chuck said he doesn’t know what happened to Ronnie as they drifted apart as school, jobs, wives and children rearing became the priorities. Rocky passed away in 2007. Chuck and Joe still live in the area.
Anne and Chuck were surprised by the clamor about this record released over 50 years ago and were appreciative I wanted to do a story about the band and that this treasured 7” piece of vinyl means so much to those of us trying to preserve the musical legacy of Southern Appalachia. Chuck said he tossed 50 or 60 of these away a few years ago with no thought that one day people around the world would clamor for a copy. As Anne’s note says ”it’s all about the music”. Thanks to The Shades Of Depression for preserving a piece of the local 1960’s history through a timeless 45.
Thank you Anne for sharing Rocky’s musical legacy!
The New Diablos came from East Baltimore, Maryland, making two excellent psychedelic singles during their time together.
The band went through many lineup changes but included as many as eight people at one point:
Bub Deskin – lead vocals Bill Bell – lead guitar Bobby Peter – rhythm guitar Wayne Smith – bass George Dobash Jr. – drums Dave Smith – keyboards Norm Snyder – saxophone Tim Cech – saxophone
Their first single contained vocal and instrumental versions of “Land of Love”, song writing credits to Serpents Inc., Edw. E. Medcaff (or Ed Metcalffe). It seems Bob Deskin brought this song with him from his prior band, the Serpents. Saxophones are absent from both their singles, but this one has flute to accompany the lead vocal.
The New Diablos released “Land of Love” on Littlefields Records RI 2759, with Alfred L. Cullen credited for production and publishing “at White Marsh, MD”. George Dobash, Sr at 823 Lannerton Road in Baltimore has arrangement credit.
Their next single may have come as late as 1970. “Tangerine Guides” and “I’m Fake” have touches of psychedelia and soul. Bill Bell and George Dobash wrote both songs (Dodash on the label is a typo). I’m still trying to puzzle out the lyrics to “I’m Fake”.
It was recorded at Virtue Recording Studios at 1618 N. Broad St., Philadelphia and released on Frank Virtue’s Fayette label, F-9370. D. Hutch gets producer credit.
The band continued into the ’70s with some lineup changes.
The Royal Coachmen cut two fine, fratty rockers for their own Coachmen label in June of 1966. “Lollipop” sounds like it could be an original, while “Bama-Lama” is a rewrite of Little Richard’s “Bama Lama Bama Loo”.
A friend of the band commented on social media that Joe Labontee sang and played rhythm guitar, Alan Parker played bass, and John “Pudgy” Alosa played drums. They were students at Bishop Brady High School, class of 1967, in Concord, New Hampshire. He added that “the lead guitar player on those recordings was a hired gun named Dick Clark, I believe”.
A. Parker is credited for both songs. ASCAP has both songs listed in their database, but mixed in with the compositions of British soundtrack composer Alan Frederick Parker.
The numbers 200,914 and 200,915 on the labels refer to the Decca custom pressing code, often used for New England records, but there were pressings for groups from Pennsylvania and beyond. The Sea Music Pub. (ASCAP) was located at 1 Boylston Place in Boston, MA.
1 Boylston Place was also address of Ace Recording Studios, owned by Milton and Herbert Yakus, with William F. Ferruzzi chief engineer.
Thank you to Jim M. for forwarding info on the group to me.
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
The Collage are a mystery to me. They cut two singles, the first (as Mike pointed out in his comment below) was “Best Friend”, an original by band member John Phillips, published by Parsay Pub BMI. The flip is a charming cover of Brian Wilson’s “Girl Don’t Tell Me”.
Their second single on Subtown may be the best on the label.
