The Motleys were an actual band, though the lineup I see online is partly incorrect. Harvey Price (now known as Mike Price) and Mitch Bottler formed the group at Fairfax High School. It seems Mitch Bottler became more of a behind-the-scenes song writer with the group as it settled into the lineup for its two singles on Valiant:
Mike Price – guitar and vocals
Dan Walsh – lead guitar and vocals
Steve Adler – bass and vocals
Bob Carefield – drums
Dan Walsh’s brother John Walsh produced some demos at Gold Star that have not been released, but the Valiant contract came from an audition for Bodie Chandler, Barry DeVorzon and Don & Dick Addrisi.
Bodie Chandler and Edward McKendry wrote the top side of their first Valiant single, “I’ll See Your Light”, arranged by P. Botkin, Jr.
Bodie Chandler and Barry DeVorzon wrote the rockin’ flip, “Louisiana”.
Billboard and Cash box reviewed the single, with Cash Box labeling it as “Newcomer Pick”, saying “Deejays should come out in droves”. That didn’t happen, and in retrospect I wonder if “Louisiana” may have been the more commercial side. The group did appear on 9th Street West to promote the single.
Mitchell Bottler and Michael Price wrote both sides of their second single, released on Valiant Records V-739 in February, 1966.
“You” is very different from their first single, more complex but also more pop, and with piano the lead instrument. “My Race Is Run” features the group’s harmonies.
Sherman-DeVorzon Music published “You” and “My Race Is Run”. I found a February 1966 copyright registration for a song that may have never been released, “Rain on Down the Line” with words by Harvey Price and Jack Herschorn and music by Mitch Bottler.
Valiant kept Mike Price and Mitch Bottler signed as song writers, and they added Dan Walsh to their team when he brought them a song “Carnival of Life” (the demo for which seems lost unfortunately).
At this point, they met producer Gary Zekley who asked them to wrote songs for the Looking Glass and the Visions. Rev-Ola’s Temptation Eyes: The Price & Walsh Songbook lists the top session musicians who played on their demos, like Hal Blaine, Bodie Chandler and Carol Kaye. I suspect these musicians also played on the Motleys singles.
Price and Walsh started work on an album with Zekley (with Mitch Bottler assisting in the song writing) that was never completed. Price and Walsh went on to much success as a song-writing team, while Mitch Bottler continued to work with Zekley for a time.
Zekley was not in the Motleys, despite repeated incorrect statements on the internet.
I asked Mike Price about “Rain on Down the Line” and he responded:
I don’t recall cutting a demo on “Rain”. We probably played it for Barry Devorzon, who was the head man at Valiant Records, and they had someone do a lead sheet and then copyright it. That song was inspired by a great, early folk rock band called the Rising Sons. We went to see them at a folk club in West Hollywood called the Ash Grove, and they blew us away. So, we ran home and did our version of what we heard.
Dan Walsh and I were staff writers at ABC Dunhill records for eight years beginning in 1969. We wrote a couple of tunes aimed at Steppenwolf when Gabriel Mekler was producing them. One was never completed, and the other, a song called “Mojaleskey Ridge” ended up being cut by a group called Smith.
We did our demos in studio A at ABC / Dunhill recording complex, Steely Dan recorded down the hall in studio B. They took so long recording that their drummer Jimmy Hodder and guitarist Jeff “Skunk” Baxter would wander down the hall and sit in with us. So, we had some songs with half of Steely on them.
Dunhill was such a hot label, it was an amazing place for two 21 year old songwriters to be.
Rev-Ola’s Temptation Eyes: The Price & Walsh Songbook has a photo of the Motleys. Steve Stanley’s extensive liner notes to that CD was the main source for this article.