Unknown Local Bands From The Past

[zombywoof]

Originally Posted by CharlieO

, The Flock (violinist Jerry Goodman went on to play with Mahavishnu Orchestra)

And zombywoof, if you're from Kansas, do you remember Shooting Star? I used to do a lot of shows with them.

I tried real hard to like the Flock - picked their first LP but other than the cover of the Kinks song - could not get into it. Didn't the Cryan Shames have one big hit - "Sugar and Spice" or something like that?

Nah, ain't from Kansas, just been here about 1 1/2 years.

[reverberocket2]

Originally Posted by quackerz

In the mid 80's there was a band called the Cucumbers from Hoboken, NJ headed up by a husband and wife guitarist/singer duo. Great, poppy, rock tunes. They went through bass players like Spinal Tap went through drummers and in '87 I was going to audition but was busy with other engagements.

After an EP and two LP's things got rough and they divorced. They had later releases but the music suffered terribly. Those first three releases are still some of my favorite stuff on vinyl.

They are still around. My old band played a gig or two with them in late '99 or '00 when they relased their Total Vegetility CD.
If i remeber correctly they dressed in all green at the gig


http://www.myspace.com/cucumbermusic

[wilkat1]

Far and away the best local band I can think of were the Hurd Brothers from Southern Illinois.

Forrest was my guitar teacher when I was ten years old, and a personal guitar hero to this day. There really was no buffer between what he could hear in his head and make happen with his fingers. Absolutely the best Jimi Hendrix-SRV-Clapton-Cray style Blues Rock guitarist I've ever heard. More than that, Forrest and Doug were as nice a-fellas as you'd ever want to meet. Unfortunately while driving home from a gig, the brothers died in a car accident when a drunk driver ran a stoplight (July 21, 2002).

Forrest and Doug Hurd , Rest in Peace. See ya when I get there.

[CharlieO]

Originally Posted by zombywoof

I tried real hard to like the Flock - picked their first LP but other than the cover of the Kinks song - could not get into it. Didn't the Cryan Shames have one big hit - "Sugar and Spice" or something like that?

Nah, ain't from Kansas, just been here about 1 1/2 years.

Yeah, The Flock were a band that were best seen and heard live. The Cryan' Shames had a bunch of hits on WLS and WCFL in Chicago, which I think were both 50,000 watt AM stations that covered a whole lot of the country, especially at night. Sugar And Spice was the biggest seller, I think. I don't really know how it sold in the rest of the country.

[rahbee]

a band from detroit in the '70s called the flirt. they were in that surge of detroit punk bands that had come out after iggy and the stooges.

my friends dad was a roadie for a band called the skids out of detroit. they had some small success, playing CBGB's in its prime.

[lewis]

The Toll.
They came through East Lansing a bunch in the mid-late '80s.

[Deaf Eddie]

+1 for the Sons of Champlin. I always thought The Sons were a national act, though... I guess everyone has a different perception and perspective.

TRIVIA: After floundering around a bit in the eighties (including a few casual sessions that went nowhere - which included my ex-drummer and longtime pal among its members) Bill Champlin did a stint as the guitarist for Chicago, including recording an LP (or so - maybe more than one LP). The only reason I know this (I'm not a Chicago fan) is because my ex-drummer pal sued Bill for ripping off one of his songs and recording it with Chicago - and won!

I think a couple of San Diego's biggest no-national-success acts were The Brain Police (in da sixties) and Show of Hands (w/Jerry McCann). Show of Hands actually had an LP or two released on Elektra - the first LP got a nice write up in Playboy, and a year later it was in the cutout bins.

[OrovilleTim]

Downsiders, from Chico California. Lead man eventually went on to the Snowmen from SF. This band would pack wherever they played with the most diverse crowd I've ever seen at *any* show. To this day local papers still write about them as "the good old days" of the Chico music scene.

Here is a blog takling about the band: http://lost-in-tyme.blogspot.com/200...-are-fish.html

They also have a download of the bands most known album. I am not sure of the legality of that though, but maybe since the thing was dropped from Mammoth, hasn't been pressed in years, was recorded from scratchy vinyl, and is *very* hard to find, they think it's ok (I just bought one in CD form from Virginia, only to receive a really scratched copy and will now attempt one from somewhere else as I no longer have anything to play my wore out cassette from 1988.)

[bo]

The Slickee Boys! Still the best band in the DC area (and they only play once a year or so...).

[zombywoof]

Originally Posted by Deaf Eddie

+1 for the Sons of Champlin. I always thought The Sons were a national act, though... I guess everyone has a different perception and perspective.

San Diego also boasted one of the finest of the 60's Psychedelia Garage Punk Bands ever -The Chocolate Watch Band. I loved those guys and, in fact, still do.

[dh]

Originally Posted by cvansickle

Atlanta had some great ones in the 80s. There was the Producers, who some of you may have heard of. I actually saw one of their videos on VH1 Classic a couple weeks ago.

The Swimming Pool Ques - might have been Athens-based though

The Swinging Richards - their bassist used to host a video show on local TV

Streets - Steve Walsh's post-Kansas band was based here

Riggs - two great songs on the Heavy Metal soundtrack and a killer debut album

Wow... Atlanta memories......

I still have The Producers 1st album! Great live band.

Other unsung but worthy bands from that wonderful time & place:

Operator
The Press (their song 'Animals' is still one of favorites about carnal desires)
The XLs
The Raves (Beatlesque but had their own great originals)
The Brains (wrote 'Money Changes Everything')
Keith & the Satellites (later morphed into the Ga Satellites)
Heartfixers
Cool Joe

[getbent]

Originally Posted by Deaf Eddie

+1 for the Sons of Champlin. I always thought The Sons were a national act, though... I guess everyone has a different perception and perspective.

TRIVIA: After floundering around a bit in the eighties (including a few casual sessions that went nowhere - which included my ex-drummer and longtime pal among its members) Bill Champlin did a stint as the guitarist for Chicago, including recording an LP (or so - maybe more than one LP). The only reason I know this (I'm not a Chicago fan) is because my ex-drummer pal sued Bill for ripping off one of his songs and recording it with Chicago - and won!

I guess I thought they were local because I dated a girl from sacto when I was in high school and the Sons of Champlin played their prom... pretty fun dancing to those guys in a high school gym.

there was another cool band I think from Fresno lydia somebody and cold sweat.... boy they were great... and, I dug Joey Harris and the Speedsters too...

[popthree]

around Tulsa, I'd have to say N.O.T.A.

aka None Of The Above

[Oster]

This is a fun thread to read through. Many of the bands listed have attained some real collector's cache, especially The Blue Things from the first post.

Having grown up in the '80s I can't match stuff like that or Cold Blood (w/ Lydia Pense - I've got that first LP). We had The Spoons play our high school dance. Anyone remember them? Nova Heart? Sort of like Ultravox but a local band with British accents.

Closer to the mood of this thread but well before my time, I wonder if anyone here is familiar with Scarborough's own Ugly Ducklings? You hear their song 'Gaslight' on oldies radio quite often but their real sound was like The Chocolate Watchband or Count Five.

A band I play with occasionally does a version of their fine song 'Nothin'. I think Little Steven played that song on his underground garage a few times.

Great song; They had a few.

[brillocaster]

Well, you had Jason and the Scorchers. They were great.

A cover band that used to have a great show was Mel and the Party Hats.

[beachkos]

great post ! Probably one of the finest little known bands from the New England area in the early-mid 70's was The Pousette-Dart Band - great original country rock with a super blend of harmonies and instruments. The band enjoyed some regional success and signed with Capitol and did 3 albums with somewhat limited exposure nationwide. They had a big college following, especially at the University of Rhode Island. I was fortunate to have been able to see them live a number of times and the most memorable of which was at the bar "Salt", in Newport, R.I. Jon Pousette-Dart and his band had a great stage presence and truly knew how to work a crowd - a real fun partying band that made the cash registers sing wherever they played !

[bluetele54]

...were you possibly thinking of Lydia Pense and Cold Blood???...

[mudshark]

The Fireballs, a great Las Vegas, New Mexico, band.

Robert Gordon of Washington D.C.

[beachkos]

Long Island - late 60's - early 70's - a real void existed because the Islands top bar bands go "big time" - Billy Joel leaves the Hassles to embark on his solo career (1st album "Cold Spring Harbor" ugh !!!!), The Rascals become America's "darlins" ( Southampton's "elite" line up to see them at The Barge in Westhampton Beach ), Vanilla Fudge proves that Motown on 'ludes' can really be financially successful, and Harry Chapin realizes that people will actually pay to see and hear him ! Yikes ! Who will fill the void ? Up steps one of the great cover bands of all-time, The Super Suds of Rhythm. "Suds" did all the North Shore college bars in the Winter, and knocked 'em dead in the Hampton's in the Summer. Strictly a "cover" band, the "Suds" packed 'em in from Great Neck to Montauk ! Their lead singer (whose name escapes me now) was a great showman who was a pro with any crowd - always dressed in Tux jacket, Tux shirt, bow tie, black shorts and sneakers, whose timing, both musically and comically, was pure perfection. Not sure what ever became of the band, but I'm certain that anyone who ever saw them, would certainly remember them.

[zombywoof]

Originally Posted by popthree

around Tulsa, I'd have to say N.O.T.A.

aka None Of The Above

Hey, we used that name for awhile in the mid-60s. Used to have posters with the bands picture saying this band is:

A. The Beatles
B. The Rolling Stones
C. The Yardbirds
D. None of the Above

We actually started off spelling it Nun of the Above but had complaints and were not permitted to play school dances and such so we changed it.

[getbent]

Originally Posted by bluetele54

...were you possibly thinking of Lydia Pense and Cold Blood???...

Yep! you and oster are awesome... I remember seeing them in the early 70's as a kid with my older sister on a couple of different occasions... what a band!

[Brick]

Did you know John Wallerich, who was road manager for the Cryan' Shames?
He has some great stories from that era. I play with him every week.

[Brick]

My drummer played in an SF band called Stoneground. He opened at the Fillmore a bunch and met EVERYONE comming through, Hendrix, Cream, The Who, Big Brother, and on and on.

[xStonr]

Local Bands that I remember growing up in Phila were:
Sweet Stavin' Chain
Elizabeth
Nazz
American Dream
Mandrake Memorial
Dead Cheese (these guys were my friends and here's a group pic)

[Dave W]

Originally Posted by mudshark

The Fireballs, a great Las Vegas, New Mexico, band.

Ifyou're talking about George Tomsco's band The Fireballs, they were from Raton. They may not be well known today, but with five Billboard Top 40 hits, they weren't unknown and local back then.

Tomsco recorded with Norman Petty back in the day, both with The Fireballs and as a session guitarist. AFAIK he's still playing today.

[charlie chitlin]

Originally Posted by bo

The Slickee Boys! Still the best band in the DC area (and they only play once a year or so...).

Yeah!
Saw them around '79-80.
Great band.
I remember the guy with the long ponytail who looks like Zappa.
Also...from Boston: Barrence Whitfield and the Savages
and Little Frankie and the Blues Imperials.

[CharlieO]

Originally Posted by Brick

Did you know John Wallerich, who was road manager for the Cryan' Shames?
He has some great stories from that era. I play with him every week.

No, actually I was just a 14 or 15 year old kid in the Cryan' Shames' heyday, and I used to see them every couple of months when they came to town to play at the local teen clubs. I never had any contact with the band for bookings until about 1999 or 2000.

[GlennLewis]

the Vertebrats.... on the doorstep of greatness, about 45 original tunes (available on 2 cd's from Parasol records), and absolute blast to see live. I danced my butt off to them so many Friday nights over the course of 3 years. They played in Chicago, Indy, Minneapolis, but were mosty a Champaign band. They were really close to a recording contract.... but, oh well.

They've played a couple reunion gigs, and there arbout 50+ clips of them on youtube.

Other local bands I remember when I was growing up included Styx, REO Speedwagon, and Ted Nugent.

[sean79]

Originally Posted by furrfurrfurr

Wow! I went to KU in the 80's and a lot of those names are really familiar. The Homestead Grays also played under the name Rabbit Scat, at least they did at the Welcome to KU party at Templin Hall in 86.

Do you remember Tin Hoarse? Robert and Eric were good friends of mine. I LOVED that band.

I remember some good times with the Grays and Tin Hoarse. I'm sure there were also a lot of good times I don't really remember.

[studio1087]

My midwest faves have been mentioned...

1. Off Broadway ("on" is available on CD; I have the album and the CD. The cover band that I was in during college did Bad Indication and Stay in Time).
2. Pat McCurdy (I still have my Yipes album from the early 80's)

3. Bad Boy...The band that made Milwaukee famous! No one mentioned Bad Boy.

[zombywoof]

Originally Posted by Brick

My drummer played in an SF band called Stoneground. He opened at the Fillmore a bunch and met EVERYONE comming through, Hendrix, Cream, The Who, Big Brother, and on and on.

I had one of their LPs. Great, great band. Didn't they have a former member of the Beau Brummels in the group?

[mudshark]

Originally Posted by Dave W

Ifyou're talking about George Tomsco's band The Fireballs, they were from Raton. They may not be well known today, but with five Billboard Top 40 hits, they weren't unknown and local back then.

Tomsco recorded with Norman Petty back in the day, both with The Fireballs and as a session guitarist. AFAIK he's still playing today.

I stand corrected. I always figgered the hits came when they were Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs. They played strictly instrumentals prior to that, and far as I knew were pretty well a local band then.

I always figured the songs they had as hits with Gilmer were local hits, meaning New Mexico and West Texas. Had no idea they were bigger than that.

In recent times they played at Buddy Holly Day in Clovis, where Petty's studio is located. Haven't been to it for a while, so I don't know if they still do. Tomsco's a killer player.

A fellow who still lives and plays here in Amarillo, Charlie Phillips, used to play and record at Petty's studio. "Sugartime" was a pretty good hit for him. His band, in fact, is Charlie Phillips and the Sugartimers.

[Clive Hugh]

Originally Posted by mudshark

I stand corrected. I always figgered the hits came when they were Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs. They played strictly instrumentals prior to that, and far as I knew were pretty well a local band then.

I always figured the songs they had as hits with Gilmer were local hits, meaning New Mexico and West Texas. Had no idea they were bigger than that.

In recent times they played at Buddy Holly Day in Clovis, where Petty's studio is located. Haven't been to it for a while, so I don't know if they still do. Tomsco's a killer player.

A fellow who still lives and plays here in Amarillo, Charlie Phillips, used to play and record at Petty's studio. "Sugartime" was a pretty good hit for him. His band, in fact, is Charlie Phillips and the Sugartimers.

The Fireballs were heard as far away as New Zealand, although until now I never knew anything about them.

[CharlieO]

Originally Posted by studio1087

My midwest faves have been mentioned...

1. Off Broadway ("on" is available on CD; I have the album and the CD. The cover band that I was in during college did Bad Indication and Stay in Time).
2. Pat McCurdy (I still have my Yipes album from the early 80's)

3. Bad Boy...The band that made Milwaukee famous! No one mentioned Bad Boy.

Yeah, no one mentioned Bad Boy. How could I forget about them? I was their agent for many years, from the beginning, in fact. Steve Grimm and John Marcelli (were you a fan while John was still in the band?) and I have been friends since high school, and we worked in the same music store. I was their original manager (and roadie) when they were known as Crossfire. That led directly to my career as a booking agent. I was also Yipes!' agent, and I still book Pat McCurdy for festivals. I also booked Off Broadway in recent years, but not in their heyday.

An interesting bit of information concerning Bad Boy for those of you who don't know them: Xeno (vocalist for Bad Boy) was the original lead singer for Cheap Trick.

[Oskar]

The Boss Tweeds; The Bold (formerly Steven and the Esquires); Taj Mahal and the Electras who played a lot at the University of Massachusetts. Of course, he went on to be Taj Mahal, blues great. Clean Living, who had a minor/big hit with "In Heaven there is no Beer". Wow, living in a college town there were a lot of great bands. Not that many today since a lot of "live" music is done by DJs, & and bars just don't hire bands like they used to.

[martin moran]

Originally Posted by beachkos

great post ! Probably one of the finest little known bands from the New England area in the early-mid 70's was The Pousette-Dart Band - great original country rock with a super blend of harmonies and instruments. The band enjoyed some regional success and signed with Capitol and did 3 albums with somewhat limited exposure nationwide. They had a big college following, especially at the University of Rhode Island. I was fortunate to have been able to see them live a number of times and the most memorable of which was at the bar "Salt", in Newport, R.I. Jon Pousette-Dart and his band had a great stage presence and truly knew how to work a crowd - a real fun partying band that made the cash registers sing wherever they played !

...

[martin moran]

Originally Posted by beachkos

Long Island - late 60's - early 70's - a real void existed because the Islands top bar bands go "big time" - Billy Joel leaves the Hassles to embark on his solo career (1st album "Cold Spring Harbor" ugh !!!!), The Rascals become America's "darlins" ( Southampton's "elite" line up to see them at The Barge in Westhampton Beach ), Vanilla Fudge proves that Motown on 'ludes' can really be financially successful, and Harry Chapin realizes that people will actually pay to see and hear him ! Yikes ! Who will fill the void ? Up steps one of the great cover bands of all-time, The Super Suds of Rhythm. "Suds" did all the North Shore college bars in the Winter, and knocked 'em dead in the Hampton's in the Summer. Strictly a "cover" band, the "Suds" packed 'em in from Great Neck to Montauk ! Their lead singer (whose name escapes me now) was a great showman who was a pro with any crowd - always dressed in Tux jacket, Tux shirt, bow tie, black shorts and sneakers, whose timing, both musically and comically, was pure perfection. Not sure what ever became of the band, but I'm certain that anyone who ever saw them, would certainly remember them.

The lead singer's name was Bobby the big boy... The guitar player was Emo Napoli and the keyboard player was True Jones. I think the drummer's name was Bobby also...

[younkint]

Lawrence, Kansas, was home to Mid Continent Productions. There were so many great bands they had! My favorite was The Fabulous Flippers. Wow! What a band! This was in the mid to late 1960's.





I can still remember the radio spots on KOMA (out of Oklahoma City) for these guys. These were the days before FM radio made things so local; everyone in the Midwest knew where the next Flipper show would be.



~

[gvon]

Aphrodite (sp) out of Denver in the 70's Snuffy Walden on Guitar
Gabriel from Seattle in the 70's Great singing
The Messengers From Milwaukee great Young Rascals type band
The Hang Dynasty LA in the 80's Stellar band w Kal David on Guitar and the Amazing Mike Finnigan on Keys.... Magical!!
Buster Brown,a great R&B bband out of Dallas 80s
..Lots more lots of great ones

[gvon]

Flippers were a legacy band that went on into the 70's. Always w great players!
Glenn