Mike Raab’s
ROCK & ROLL MUSEUM
of the Hudson Valley
The Photo Gallery: Rare Band Shots You Might Recognize
Some of the band photos are familiar faces and some of the band photos so rare I’m not sure of who the members are! When that happens, help us out with info to make everything accurate. E-mail us rare photos from your collection, of your favorite bands and your favorite nightclubs, your favorite friends.
ANTHEM - THE ARGOES - BARTHOLOMEW & THE BARBARIANS - THE BIG DEAL BLUES BAND - BLACK POWDER WHISKEY - BULL ANGUS - CHIP & THE COUNTDOWNS - THE DARK AGES - DIAMONDHEAD - THE DIRTY ELBOWS - THE D'JOW BAND - DUTCH POP - EASY CHANGES - THE FURYS - GOLD BRIK - GROUP THERAPY - HARVEST - THE JELLY BEAN BANDITS - J.R. WEST - LAST LICKS - THE LEGENDARY FRANK PIETRZAK - LENNY FRANK & THE RHYTHM ROCKERS - LITTLE ELLIOTT LLOYD - LOST SOULS - MARK IV - MAX FLYER - NIRVANA - NORTHERN STAR - THE PEPPERMINTS - PHOG - PINK SAVAGE -THE REAL THING - THE SAPIANS AND THE GREAT HAIR CONTROVERSY - SLITHER - THE SONNETS - THE STARLITES - STILL WIND - STREET TALK- VAL WARREN - YOUNG TURKS
GOLD BRIK - A big favorite at the Tropical Inn, Route 9W in Port Ewen, around May of 1972 when this photo was taken. Members (left to right) are Barry Jackson (Hammond B3), Jimmy McTague (bass), Jody Sumber (drums), Mike Marnell (lead guitar), Barry Lown (trumpet and percussion), Johnny McTague (rhythm guitar), Pete (trumpet) and Joe Caplan (slide and valve trombone and percussion) who also supplied this photo to us. Besides club and college dates, Gold Brik played the Hudson River Festival and did a lot of radio station events.
DUTCH POP - A hard-rock heavy-metal fivesome that featured Mike Smith on bass, Tom Cifarelli on drums, Joe Babcock on guitar, Richie Bucci on organ and Bobby McCaw on lead vocals. Check out their photos and their music at www.dutchpop.com.
THE FURYS - Mike Raab on rhythm guitar, Dennis Shook on drums and Dougie Shook on lead guitar. Photo taken during a gig at the Moose Hall, Newburgh, NY, January 27, 1963. A Top 40 trio that specialized in instrumentals by The Ventures. Notice the fashionable Saxony jackets and the ever-present magic box of the times, the Echo-Rec. Mike is part of the Jelly Bean Bandits, the group you passed on the way into the Rock & Roll Museum.
THE ARGOES - Featuring Tim Jones on lead guitar, Bobby Lonie on drums, Johnny (Babbs) Britain on bass, and Gene Allen on rhythm guitar and lead vocals. Originally Gene Allen & the Pawns, the name changed with a new band line-up. Gene Allen was eventually replaced by Dave Kennedy and the group became know as The Goodtimes who were a music icon at the Trade Winds Nightclub, New Windsor, in the early Sixties.
BLACK POWDER WHISKEY - Lead guitarist Billy Beehler and bassist Rick Mullin onstage circa 1980. Other band members included Sal DiTrocchio on Hammond B-3, Mike Diaz on drums and Ken Dedrick on lead vocals. Billy and Rick are currently in The Albert Cary Project.
THE SONNETS - The only member we can identify for sure is guitarist Jack Stang on the left. The picture was taken by Valley club photographer Vern Drew of Fort Montgomery at the Trade Winds Nightclub in New Windsor, on January 26, 1968.
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THE JELLY BEAN BANDITS - The original Mainstream LP cover elicited critics comments that ranged from "pure psychedelia" to "teen dorks." The photographer was Chuck Stewart, who went on to do award-winning covers for jazz greats such as John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy. Obviously he was paying the bills with the Bandits shoot. Chuck did take them out of the studio and onto the streets of Manhattan for shots like this. These photos were found some thirty-five years after the original session. (in front kneeling) Mike Raab (in back, standing, left to right) Joe Scalfari, Fred Buck, Billy Donald, Jack Dougherty and strange man by poster.
THE LEGENDARY FRANK PIETRZAK (in center) introduces The Goodtimes (left to right, Dave Kennedy, Bob Lonie and John Babbs Britain) April 22, 2001, at Seafood City (formerly The Coliseum) in Newburgh. Frank and his late brother Tony owned the Trade Winds Nightclub in New Windsor that featured the best in regional music during the Sixties and early Seventies as well as name acts like The Young Rascals, Tom Jones and Conway Twitty. Frank and Tony also owned the Buccaneer on Route 44 on the border of Poughkeepsie and Pleasant Valley.
EASY CHANGES - featuring Billy McKiernan on keyboards, Billy Donald on lead vocals and Johnny Buk on bass. Drummer was named Mike and that's as much as we can remember. The photos were taken during a recording session at Sound House Studios in Newburgh on June 15, 1972. Billy McKiernan later became part of the Wethead Band, Billy Donald became Big Edsel and Johnny Buk was bass player for Dave Kennedy and The USA Band.
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CHIP & THE COUNTDOWNS - Taken in 1964 at the Campi-Tarsio Lanes in Newburgh, this faded photo recalls the Top 40 rock and roll of Chip and Company. From left to right are: Nick Monaco, lead guitar (standing); Lenny Chidgey (drums); Chip Monaco (keyboards). Left to right, kneeling are: Ron Chieffe (bass guitar) and Rich Taylor, rhythm guitar.
HARVEST - It was 1972 at the Bachelor in Poughkeepsie and the original Harvest was onstage. From left to right are: Eddie Monteleone, guitar; John McCormick, bass; Guy Masson on drums; Dennis Blandino, guitar; and John Lockwood, guitar. Prior to this version of Harvest, Guy Masson played with the Teddy Boys and Mortimer. The two remaining "original old geezers" in the current Harvest (a quote from Dennis) are him and John McCormick. Keyboardist Steve Wanzer joined the current line-up in 1973 and drummer Paul Gilroy in 1974 (both were from the Mark 4 band). This line-up has been working for the past 36 years. If you go to their website at www.theharvestband.com you will see a tribute to the late Eddie Monteleone and hear three of the last recordings Harvest did with him.
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PINK SAVAGE - was a late 70s / early 80s glam rock quartet with roots in Ulster County featuring Noela Starr on synthesizers and vocals, Bobby Mobley on lead guitar and vocals, Blackie on drums, and Alaina Starr on bass guitar and vocals. Managed by the legendary Sid Bernstein, Pink Savage recorded at True Tone Studios and the HIt Factory, showcased at places like CBGB's, the Bottom Line and various Hudson Valley clubs. On the verge of major label signing, the group broke up because of management and financial disputes. Noela is still in the music business, performing with a 60s show group, The Ponytails. You can check in on Noela at www.myspace.com/noelatail and www.theponytails.com.
NIRVANA - Not the multi-million-selling group of the 90s, but the Ulster County grouping of 1968. Somewhere along the way we lost information on the band so we hope that drummer Kent Robinson or lead singer Brian gets up with us with the missing names and some band info. This photo was taken by the ubiquitous Verne Drew at the legendary Trade Winds Nightclub in New Windsor.
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PHOG - Loud, snotty, hard-rock from this Orange County group. Lead guitarist was Artie Ebert, who was with Shotgun prior to Phog, and the Big Edsel Band afterwards. Lead vocalist was Joey Cardillo, who was one of the first area personalities to get into makeup, costumes and theatrics. He eventually went on to Phantom's Opera before passing into regional rock history.
THE SAPIANS AND THE GREAT HAIR CONTROVERSY - Hard to believe in 1964 but Steve Peters, Pat Hearns, Guy White and Ron Black, collectively known as The Sapians, were denied access to Newburgh Free Academy High School (they were all juniors) because of the length of their hair. They eventually signed with Mercury Records, and recorded songs such as "Ask Yourself Why, Babe" and "Love Ain't Makin' It No More".
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THE D'JOW BAND - played at the very first Hudson RIver Sloop Festival held in Newburgh back in June of 1970. Right after Don McLean of "American Pie" fame did a musical set, they took the stage. Members included John Horos, Arte O'Dell, Steve Agostini, and Gary Orsino. The Drummer for the band was Willy Cercone.The festival was held in the old parking lot for the Newburgh/Beacon Ferry on Front Street in Newburgh.
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DIAMONDHEAD - has gone through several personnel changes in three decades but one person has lasted through it all - drummer Frank Clarino Jr. In this 1978 photo, members include (left to right) Mike Angelo on guitar, Mike Raab on keyboards, Frank Clarino Jr. on drums and Nick D'Egidio on bass. A live CD of this Diamondhead line-up, Rockin' The Gate in '78, has been called "one of the best live bar recordings made of a Hudson Valley band."
MARK IV - The photo is College Hill, the Summer of 1966. Members of the Mark IV included Ed Gilroy, JImmy Marino, John Ackert, Emery Ruger and Butch Loreto. Our thanks to Fred Mendonca of Poughkeepsie for this and other photos.
THE PEPPERMINTS - Gene Jannotti sent us these three photos of the Newburgh-based rock band as they appeared over three years. The Peppermints were one of the few area groups to feature a steel guitar as a solo rock and roll instrument.
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NORTHERN STAR - was a hard-rock heavy-metal Valley favorite when this 45 (remember 45s?) was recorded back in 1983. They managed to snag a Grammy nomination for rock instrumentals, but that kind of thing was old hat for bassist Tom Moore's dad Ray Moore ... he already had half-a-dozen sitting on his mantle for engineering classical recordings in the 70s.
BARTHOLOMEW & THE BARBARIANS - were the forerunners of the Newburgh-based power quartette Dutchpop.
BULL ANGUS - put out two LPs on Mercury label, Bull Angus (1971) and Free For All (1972). Band members include Geno Charles on drums and percussion, Larry LaFalce on guitar and vocals, Dino Paolillo on guitar and vocals, Frank Previte on vocals and recorder, Ron Piccolo on keyboards and Lenny Venditti on bass. Previte went on to form Franke & the Knockouts who had the Ttop Ten hit "Sweetheart" in 1981. Previte also won an Academy Award in 1987 for co-authoring "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" from the motion picture "Dirty Dancing"
LENNY FRANK & THE RHYTHM ROCKERS - came together in the mid-Sixties and were a top draw at places like College Lanes in New Paltz and the Holiday Bowl in Wappingers Falls. They occasionally checked into Meteor Sound Studios in Poughkeepsie to do some recording with owner John LaFalce.
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STILL WIND - The event was an oldies concert on June 17, 1973 at the Newburgh Armory put together by Carmine Fortino Jr. of the Rhoda Arms Nightclub and James Cracolici of Cracolici Bakery in Newburgh. Still Wind was the featured local act. Members in matching outfits (photo below left, left to right) are guitarist Randy Fulton, drummer Mark Gamma, bassist Danny Kaiser and guitarist Jimmy Baker. The fellow in the white suit is Bobby Freeman ("Do You Want To Dance?"). Guitarist Randy Fulton takes a lead (below right).
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VAL WARREN from Newburgh was a true rock 'n' roll Renaissance man. His first band gig was in 1963 with a group called The Reverbs that included Val on guitar, Jack Santillo on guitar and Danny Casucci on drums.
Val was also a rock historian who extensively documented the life of late Buddy Holly. The photo on the left of Buddy's back-up group, The Crickets, was taken in 1972 by Michael Gross. Left to right are: bass player Joe B. Mauldin, Val Warren, drummer Jerry Allison and (bottom) lead guitarist/vocalist Sonny Curtis. The photo in the center is the exact same line-up taken 29 years later in 2001 by Minard Coons at Cypress Gardens in Florida.
The below right photo is (left to right) James H. Nicholson, then president of A.I.P. Pictures, Val "wolfman" Warren, and Forrest J. Ackerman, publisher of "Famous Monsters of Filmland" magazine. Val won first prize in a national make-up contest and appeared for a couple of minutes in the Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello 1964 film "Bikini Beach".
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THE LOST SOULS (1965) were (left to right) lead guitarist John Cannon (Canning), bassist Thom Peters (Caccetta), guitarist Michael Marino and drummer Bob Hefernan, who replaced original drummer Mike Nelson. They recorded for Bang Records.
We spoke via e-mail recently with John Canning in Malibu, California, about the group, and he commented that "we were a @$#%^&* great cover band and no one ... absolutely no one, even the Beatles, could play Beatles better than us."
Prior to The Lost Souls, Michael, Thom and Mike Nelson played in The Umans, and John played in The Concepts.
THE DIRTY ELBOWS - from either 1964 or 1965, according to lead guitarist Russ Aldrich, who recently visited Museum Curator Mike Raab in North Carolina. In the group photo (below, left) that's Gene Baker kneeling. Left to right, standing, are Russ Aldrich, Jimmy Galuzzi, Al Friedman and Reggie Ward. On the right is Russ Aldrich some 33 or so years later, in 1998.
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SLITHER - Even though they had a make-up personna ala Kiss, they played at places like Dino's in Middletown and the Squire Lounge in New Windsor in the 70s before folks in the Hudson Valley caught on to Kiss. Slither had smoke, fog and all the trimmings to draw a packed house wherever they went. Members included Jim Natale on lead guitar, lead singer Andrew Dilsky, Chris Dilsky on second guitar, Alex Herrarez on drums, Louie Lombardo on bass and Kim (?) on keyboards. (Photo courtesy of Sue Carroll)
ANTHEM recorded a funky LP on the Buddha label entitled "The Caboose." Members of the group included (front row) Joel Stephens (back row, left to right), Bart Meola, Gregg Hollister and Greg Hollenbeck. From Rockland County, singer / guitarist Bart Meola was in many favorite Hudson Valley bands and passed on January 3, 1996.
YOUNG TURKS - Obviously "Hutch" Hutchinson was doing a Rod Stewart tribute thing circa 1980 because he had the look, he had the haircut, tights and scarf but mainly he had the vocal chops to bring that one-of-a-kind rock-and-roll-rasp to the stage at places like the M&R Pub on Route 32 in Highland Mills and The Hideaway on Route 17-M in Harriman. (Photo courtesy of Sue Carroll)
THE STARLITES (1962) were a Dutchess County group that featured (left to right) Tony LaFalce (accordion), Howard Dubin (drums), Jeff Emma (sax), Tom Phelan (bass and lead singer) and Tony Grosso (guitar). They did one recording at Meteor Records before disbanding. Tony LaFalce is now living in North Carolina and doing gigs in and around Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Howard Dubin was an executive with Machine Head and is living in California. Tom Phelan is now Dr. Tom Phelan and played with the Lenny Frank Band from 1963-1976. Tony Grosso became a solo concert string bass musician and is an active martial arts instructor. Jeff Emma, however, disappeared at the original Woodstock and has not been heard from since.
You can reach Dr. Tom at www.drtomphelan.com.
THE REAL THING - Before Big Edsel, before The Hula Hoops, before The Wethead Band and all the other regional rock revivalists, there was Greaser Night featuring The Real Thing. Members included (left to right) Frank Clarino, Mike Raab, Richie Gregory and Gordy Gregory. Besides playing only oldies music that evening, the band did skits built around songs from the Broadway play "Grease" without ever having seen the play (this was way before the movie).
STREET TALK - Back in the early 1980s they were the hottest conglomeration on the dance music circuit. The earlier version featured (kneeling, left to right) Dave Egan, Frank Malee, and (standing left to right) Vinny Frisina, Debbie Major and Rich Crane. A later version included (front, left to right) Debbie Major, Jeff Weiner and (standing, left to right) Vinny Frisina, Fred Scribner and Craig Wilcox.
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GROUP THERAPY - They started out in Poughkeepsie High School 1965 as Mike and the Mystics but eventually became Group Therapy when the "Mike" in the name (Mike Lawry) left for college in California and was replaced by Mike Coyle.. These photos were taken in 1967. Group Therapy called it quits in 1968.
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MAX FLYER (early 80s) were Ed Fitzgerald on bass, Billy Dietz on drums, Dave Neil on vocals, Steve Spyhalski on keyboards and Kevin Thompson on guitar. They did a lot of the club circuit in Ulster and Duchess County three decades ago. That fellow on the right is Ed as he appears in 2010.
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Guitarist J.R.West originally played in The Banned, circa 1965, with Paul McTamaney on bass, Joe Mack on drums, and Bill Wright on lead guitar, doing clubs like the legendary Trade Winds. Eventually J.R. moved to Jackson, Mississippi, where he started J.R.'s Guitars and formed a band called The Goodlife, who opened for acts like Alabama, Ronnie Milsap and Ray Price. Here is J.R. with Terry Bradshaw in 1985. Though Terry is only one of two quarterbacks to own four Superbowl rings (Joe Montana is the other one) J.R. describes him as "a damn good country singer and a lot of fun to play with. We did a lot of Gatlin Brothers stuff."
THE DARK AGES - circa 1967. This Pougkeepsie-based group consisted of (left to right) John Spadaro on keyboards (the traditional Farfisa, of course), Danny Baily on guitar, Michael DiTullo on drums, Jere Tierney on guitar and Billy Fennell on bass. Photo was taken at St. Martin De Porres church. Notice nifty stacks of Vox amplifiers. Very much a Beatles look (and Beatles sound, too) but they also were big fans of the Young Rascals, as well as covering Wilson Pickett, Sam and Dave, Mitch Ryder and (of course) Stones and Kinks. They did a lot of the CYO dance circuit, like Mr. Carmel, St. Mary's, St. Martin's, The Belly of the Whale in Wappingers Falls and WITY (What's It To Ya) in Poughkeepsie.
LAST LICKS - The group was together from 1977 to early 1982. Members included John McCormick (bass), Ira Getter (keyboards), Frank Malley (guitar), Rich Crane (drummer) and Gabe Secale (guitarist). Other drummers included Steve DiGiovanni and Rob Schroeder.
LITTLE ELLIOTT LLOYD was neither little nor a Lloyd. His real last name was Paioff and he was a good-sized individual. With the Honeymoon Cats he was heavy into rhythm and blues in the 70s and 80s. Elliott studied the styles of icons like Little Walter, Jimmy Reed and others. He passed away on June 19, 1993 after a losing battle with leukemia. We thank his daughter Justine for these photos.
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THE BIG DEAL BLUES BAND (1977) was the forerunner of Little Elliott Lloyd and the Honeymoon Cats. Members were (left to right) Marc Giammarco (drums), Doug Abramson (bass), Dave Gibson (guitar), Merwin DeGroodt (guitar) and Little Elliott Lloyd (vocals, harp).
