Bomp logged state's rock scene

Greg Shaw published an early history of
Michigan rock bands in his Bomp magazine.

By STEVE SEYMOUR

Michigan's early rock scene, which flourished in the shadows of Detroit's popular Motown acts, was detailed in Bomp magazine before most other media noticed the phenomenon.

Carrying the slogan "The magazine for rock 'n' roll fans," Bomp was published and edited by Greg Shaw from offices in Burbank, Cal.

I'm lucky to own issue No. 13 from the spring of 1975 which contains an early history of Michigan rock written by Dick Rosemont.

Although it originally sold for just $1, Bomp's 48-pages contained exhaustive discographies, columns and reviews in an era before rock was taken seriously.

While Detroit was famous for the soul music of the Supremes, Temptations and Stevie Wonder, Michigan's early rock scene had a significant impact as well, although little national attention was paid to it. Most observers agree that the heyday of Michigan rock occurred from the mid-1960s to the early 70s.

There were various local scenes throughout the state, Rosemont noted in his article, including suburban Detroit, Ann Arbor, Lansing/East Lansing, Flint/Saginaw and outstate Michigan.

The roots of the Michigan rock story can be traced to Grand Rapids native Del Shannon who hit with the chart topping "Runaway" in 1961.

Detroit-born Mitch Ryder, who struck with "Jenny Take A Ride," followed in 1966.

The Detroit area contributed the Underdogs ("Love's Gone Bad"), the Shy Guys ("We Gotta Go") and Reflections ("Just Like Romeo and Juliet"). Other bands making an impression were the Wanted, the Tidal Waves and Unrelated Segments. The MC5 released the powerful "Looking At You"/"Borderline" single on the A-Square label.

Shannon was interested in developing local talent and paid for early demo recordings for Bob Seger, according to producer Dan Bourgoise. Seger's first record was "East Side Story," while his first national success would come in 1969 with "Ramblin' Gamblin' Man."

Another success story came with the Amboy Dukes, featuring Ted Nugent, who registered a national smash with "Journey To The Center of the Mind" in 1968.

Besides Seger, the Ann Arbor area gave rise to the Rationals, who hit with "Respect" months before Aretha Franklin recorded her version. The rock band SRC was also a favorite with their "Black Sheep" single.

The Woolies, who enjoyed a hit with "Who Do You Love" in 1967 were the best-known group in the Lansing/East Lansing area.

The Flint/Saginaw region was headquarters for Terry Knight and the Pack, who also hit in 1967 with "I (Who Have Nothing)." Knight went on to manage Grand Funk Railroad. "96 Tears" by ? (Question Mark) & the Mysterians became a rare No. 1 record in 1966. Dick Wagner formed the Bossmen in this area and later fronted The Frost.

Although Bomp described Flint and Saginaw as the "upper wastes of northern Michigan," and "an unlikely hotbed of musical activity," the region north of the Mackinac Bridge did figure into the picture, although it wasn't acknowledged at the time.

That Shaw's Bomp magazine would publish a feature on the history of Michigan rock was a perfect fit, considering the magazine's "fan perspective."

A lifelong record collector, Shaw started Mojo-Navigator Rock & Roll News with Dave Harris in 1966 to chronicle San Francisco's emerging music scene. After he visited Shaw to ask him about magazine publishing, Jann Wenner launched Rolling Stone in late 1967.

By 1970, Shaw turned his energies to publishing Bomp, which had taken its name from the 1961 Barry Mann song "Who Put The Bomp (In The Bomp, Bomp, Bomp)."

Shaw was a fan of San Francisco's Flamin' Groovies, who despite their talent, escaped major success. Formed in 1965, the Flamin' Groovies persisted for ten years, moving to New York and England, then finally back to San Francisco.

After telling him they couldn't get a label to release their latest single, Shaw featured the Flamin' Groovies on the cover of Bomp in 1975, agreeing to press and distribute their latest single, "You Tore Me Down."

Bomp Records was born. As a label, Bomp released records by Devo, ex- Michigan resident and former Stooges vocalist Iggy Pop, among others.

The owner of a legendary record collection, Shaw began a archiving little-known bands from the 1960s in a series called Pebbles. Shaw was a champion of the sound he referred to as "garage rock," first chronicled in a two-LP collection in 1972 called "Nuggets."

While Rosemont's Bomp article provided an excellent summary of Michigan's early rock 'n' roll history, no information was included about bands from the Upper Peninsula, although plenty of vinyl came from the region.

For example, Ironwood's Galaxies waxed two singles, while 360 miles away in Sault Ste. Marie, Renaissance Fair recorded three more. The Soo was also home to the Executives and Rob Kirk and the Word, each adding a disc to the total.

Marquette boasted the Excels, who taped five singles for Detroit's Carla label and the French Church who recorded a gem called "Slapneck 1943." Northern Michigan University student Mike Koda released a single on the local Princeton label and later founded Brownsville Station, famous for "Smokin' in the Boys Room."

Marquette's Walrus recorded their single at SRC's Morgan Sound Studios in Ann Arbor, while Negaunee's Fastells cut their 45 in Wisconsin.

The central U. P. communities of Iron Mountain and Kingsford contributed Joey Gee and the Bluetones, the Ravelles and Lexington Project. Lexington Project recorded one 45 in Rhinelander, Wis. while the Ravelles also recorded a second single as St. Jon's Academy.

A number of 45s are attributed to Copper Country bands. The Kinetics, from Houghton, and the Rhythm Rockers, from Alston, each issued a pair of 45 rpm singles. The Henchmen VI called Ontonagon home, as did the Vigilantes, who recorded under a variety of different names.

Escanaba featured the Riot Squad and Prophets of Doom, who each recorded a seven-inch disc for Peninsula Records. Infinite Blue, based in Menominee, recorded "Black Train," written by Dick Wagner of the Frost.

These outstate bands issued appealing, if sometimes primitive singles, just like many rock 'n' roll combos elsewhere in the state.

Bomp magazine, which documented much of the Michigan scene, ceased publishing in 1979 and Shaw died in 2004, at age 55.

An addendum to the article now might note the U. P. had scores of noteworthy rock bands and several dozen of them recorded 45 rpm singles.

Of course, besides Michigan there were other regional rock scenes across the United States, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Texas, Chicago, Minneapolis, Boston and the Pacific northwest.

Thanks to Shaw's lifelong promotion of garage music, interest in the genre will continue for years to come.
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Avey Bros. on road to success

The Avey Brothers blues band traveled from
Iowa to the Upper Peninsula on their
journey to national fame.

By STEVE SEYMOUR

Pay attention to the Avey Brothers.

This talented trio from Iowa have plenty of blues chops and they're not afraid to travel for a gig.

They proved both facts during a concert appearance at the Terrace Bay Inn in Gladstone on March 12.

Sponsored by Blues For A Cause, proceeds from the event benefited the Community Action Agency's Walk for Warmth program.

Consisting of Chris Avey (lead guitar and vocals), brother Mark Avey (bass) and Wes Weeber (drums), the band delivered a powerful mix of originals and covers.

Their lively and cohesive concert was even more amazing considering that Weeber substituted for drummer Bryan West and that the trio made a tiring 410-mile trip from Davenport, Iowa before the show.

The Avey Brothers are favorites around the Quad Cities area, actually five cities straddling the Mississippi River on the Iowa-Illinois boundry. The group includes the Iowa cities of Davenport and Bettendorf (where the Aveys were born and raised), and Rock Island, Moline and East Moline in Illinois.

The band made several 1,100-mile round trips to Memphis to participate in the International Blues Challenge (IBC) and leader Chris Avey played lead guitar and sang background vocals for Big Pete Pearson in Phoenix for several years.

While the Avey Brothers may have been paying some dues during their recent Upper Peninsula visit, their performance was carried by an unpretentious expertise which captured the audience.

The band opened with "Big Boss Man," the classic Jimmy Reed song from 1961, also covered by Gene Chandler and Elvis Presley.

Reed's composition ably demonstrated the combo's strengths: Chris Avey's commanding vocals and precise guitar, Mark Avey's thumping bass and Weeber's aggressive drumming.

The trio applied their own stamp to cover songs and played a number of originals from their two compact discs.

They delivered appealing takes on "Go To Work," "Nobody Home," "Garbage Man" and "Her Mind Is Gone," all from their debut compact disc entitled "Devil In My Bed."

The title track from their "Preacherman" CD and that disc's "Rather Be Drunk" and "I Got to Know" were also concert standouts.

They filled out their two sets with some well-chosen covers such as B. B. King's "It's My Own Fault," Willie Dixon's "Seventh Son" and Bo Diddley's "Before You Accuse Me." The crowd also responded enthusiastically to "Red House" by Jimi Hendrix, "Bring It On Home to Me" by Sam Cooke and Robert Johnson's "Sweet Home Chicago."

As the program came to an end, the crowded demanded and received a two-song encore.

Although he now leads his own band, Chris Avey first picked up the guitar at age 16 and played in a few rock bands with his older brother Mark.

Chris became intrigued by Stevie Ray Vaughan after the iconic blues guitarist died in a helicopter crash following a concert at Wisconsin's Alpine Valley on Aug. 27, 1990.

Not long after Avey decided to dedicate his musical endeavors to the blues tradition which Vaughan had explored.

When Avey got married and moved to Arizona, he landed a job playing guitar and singing back-up for Big Pete Pearson, one of the southwest's premier blues artists.

Born Lewis Paul Pearson in Jamaica in 1936, raised in Texas and now living in Litchfield Park near Phoenix, the elderly bluesman had moved to the Austin area with his family when he was a boy. He relocated to Phoenix in the early 1960s, playing with Duke Draper and joining Jimmy Knight and his Knights of Rhythm. In the 1970s Pearson was lead vocalist for Drivin' Wheel and has since fronted his own groups, including the Blues Sevilles.

After his journeyman experience with Pearson, Chris Avey returned to Iowa where he and Mark formed the Avey Brothers with Bryan West in 2008.

The trio recorded "Devil In My Bed" just six months later and ramped up attention in the band by winning the Iowa Blues Challenge in 2008 and 2009. The Avey Brothers advanced to the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, becoming a semifinalist in 2009 and a finalist in 2010. The annual competition is held on Beale Street, the blues music center of Memphis.

Sponsored by the Blues Foundation, the IBC was launched in 1985. The event has evolved into the country's largest showcase for blues musicians looking to expand their fan base.

Actually a "Battle of the Bands," the IBC event seeks to give promising blues bands and solo/duo acts an "extra break" to make a name for themselves on a national or international level. Competitors, like the Avey Brothers, first won regional competitions. The 2011 version of the IBC comprised 110 bands and 83 solo/duo acts.

An impressive list of current blues artists have competed in the IBC over the years including Tommy Castro, Sean Costello, Albert Cummings, Larry Garner, Joe Moss, Jason Ricci, Super Chikan, Susan Tedeschi, Teeny Tucker and Watermelon Slim.

After the exposure at the IBC, the Avey Brothers recorded a second independent disc, "Preacherman" which includes nearly all original compositions.

They are now touring about 150 dates per year, with Wes Weeber filling in on the drum kit at many shows.

The Avey Brothers U. P. concert was the 11th in a series of shows which have featured Rev. Raven and the Chain Smoking Altar Boys, the Nighthawks, Joe Moss, John Hammond, Bill Lupkin and Robert Allen Jr.

Raven, who has a growing fan base in northern Michigan, will be featured in the next concert, scheduled for Friday, April 22 at the Terrace. Proceeds will go to the Flagship Farm horse rescue in Bark River and the Delta County Animal Shelter volunteer-sponsored programs.

Blues For A Cause founder Wendy Pepin said she was enthused about the big sound the Avey Brothers generated and would welcome the trio back for a return engagement.

The audience which gave them a standing ovation after the recent local show would doubtless agree.

So would fans on the west coast where the band has played, in the Quad Cities and Memphis.

For the up and coming Avey Brothers, the road to success also runs through the Upper Peninsula.
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Fab Four recreate Beatles show

By STEVE SEYMOUR

Folks attending The Fab Four- The Ultimate Tribute show at the Island Resort and Casino last weekend may have been thinking "John, Paul, George and Ringo" but they were actually seeing Ron, Ardy, Gavin and Erik.

The tribute program included faithful renditions of two dozen songs played by Beatles impersonators who incorporated even the smallest details into their act.

An announcement prior to the show recorded by Penn Jillette informed the audience that the Fab Four create the show completely live on stage.

The Fab Four comprised Ron McNeil as John Lennon, Ardy Sarraf as Paul McCartney, Gavin Pring as George Harrison and Erik Fidel as Ringo Starr.

The program also included Jerry Hoban who portrayed a bumbling Ed Sullivan.

Hoban, known for his impersonation of Sullivan in the movie "Pulp Fiction," opened the concert by introducing "The Beatles" just as the real TV impresario did when the British act appeared on his CBS program over three historic Sunday nights in Feb, 1964. The shows launched Beatlemania.

"This is a live show, we want to know, is this a live audience?" Hoban asked as the curtain opened.

Dressed in dark suits with skinny ties and wearing Cuban-heeled leather Beatle boots, the Fab Four began with "I Want to Hold Your Hand" playing the same instruments the Beatles used.

McNeil and Sarraf, mimicked the vocals of Lennon and McCartney in a note-perfect rendition of the song which the Beatles took to No. 1 in the United States.

Playing a left-handed Hofner violin bass just like McCartney, Sarraf stood at house left. Pring's Harrison occupied center stage, while McNeil's Lennon dominated house right. Fidel played his Ludwig drum set on a riser behind the others. The three guitarists chose from 11 different guitars including instruments made by Rickenbacker, Gibson and Gretsch, favored by the Beatles.

The Fab Four followed with "Please Please Me" and "All My Loving" also performed live on the Sullivan program. Footage of the audience from the Sullivan shows played on a video screen behind the band as they recreated the two numbers.

The title track to "A Hard Day's Night," the Beatles' first movie, was featured next. Ron, Ardy, Gavin and Erik included the soundtrack's "I Should Have Known Better," with McNeil duplicating Lennon's harmonica licks from the original recording.

Other early Beatles songs followed, including "Eight Days A Week," "Can't Buy Me Love," "Help," "She Loves You," "I Saw Her Standing There" and "Twist and Shout."

Originally recorded by the Top Notes in 1961, "Twist and Shout," was the only Beatles cover song in the Fab Four setlist. The track was revived in 1986 when it was included in the movies "Back to the Future" and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off."

Sarraf performed "Yesterday" solo just as McCartney did on the Ed Sullivan show on Sept. 12, 1965.

After a costume change, the Fab Four returned to the stage clad in Sgt. Pepper uniforms. All four sported new moustaches. After opening with "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," Fidel sang Starr's "With a Little Help From My Friends." The psychedelic masterpieces "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Field Forever" came next with McNeil adding Lennon's "cranberry sauce" to the latter song for authenticity's sake.

A version of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) was followed by "A Day in the Life." McNeil played an impressive array of sounds on his synthesizer to bring that Lennon-McCartney composition to life.
Sarraf sang "Got to Get You Into My Life" in McCartney style to close the segment. The song from the 1966 "Revolver" album became a Top Ten hit six years after the Beatles disbanded.

McNeil returned to the stage dressed in a white suit to depict Lennon in the "Abbey Road" era. McNeil explained how Lennon stood for "peace, love and understanding," but had to fight for a visa to stay in the United States. McNeil played a poignant solo version of Lennon's "Imagine" as the audience remembered Lennon's assassination outside his New York City apartment in 1980.

Joined by the others, also dressed like the Beatles on the "Abbey Road" album cover, Pring sang Harrison's classic "Here Comes the Sun."

Following "Get Back," McNeil added Lennon's "I hope we passed the audition" comment from the Beatles Jan. 30, 1969 roof-top concert at band's Saville Row headquarters in London.

To close the show, the Fab Four performed "Revolution" and "Hey Jude," the Beatles' double-sided smash from 1968. Sarraf played the keyboard for the final number, just like McCartney did, the audience swaying their hands in the air as the song faded.

Hoban, who parodied Ed Sullivan throughout the show, wandered on stage at the end carrying a Topo Geejo doll, urging the audience to "give 'em a hand."

McNeil, the John Lennon impersonator, founded the Fab Four in 1997. Sarraf is also an original member of the tribute band. In 2005, the group landed a deal to perform in Las Vegas six nights a week. Consequently, additional impersonators joined the cast so the group could appear in Las Vegas and tour at the same time.

The Fab Four have performed at many Las Vegas venues including the Hilton, Alladin/Planet Hollywood, the Riviera and the Sahara.

Just like the real Beatles, the Fab Four also have some solo projects.

Gavin Pring, who looks strikingly like George Harrison, founded an act called George Harry's Son to perform songs composed by the Beatles' lead guitarist. Pring was born in the Beatles' hometown of Liverpool.

Ardy Sarraf, meanwhile, formed Wingsband, which performs many of Paul McCartney's biggest post-Beatles hits. Wingsband has played with Denny Seiwell and Laurence Juber, former members of McCartney's 1970's band, Wings.

Trying to look and sound like the original group, the first Beatles tribute bands emerged in 1964 with the British Invasion.

Over the years, my wife Sue and I have seen more than a few Beatles tribute bands. We've seen a group called Liverpool, the house band at Beatlefest (now called Fest for Beatles Fans), three or four times. Liverpool consists of Drew, Glen, John and Chris. Their Harrison impersonator even plays sitar as featured in the Beatles song "Norwegian Wood."

Sue and I have also enjoyed attending a number of Battle of the Band contests featuring amateur Beatles impersonators. Believe it or not, we've even witnessed a couple of Yoko Ono look-alikes perform on stage.

Now, we've added the Fab Four to the list. Considering their perfect imitation of the Beatles, the Fab Four actually belong at the top of that list.
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Del Shannon had fateful career

Michigan native Del Shannon had a No. 1
hit with his classic "Runaway."

By STEVE SEYMOUR

When Michigan native Del Shannon took to the stage in Fargo, North Dakota on Feb. 3, 1990 he wasn't feeling well.

The veteran rock star was booked to perform with Fargo native Bobby Vee and Buddy Holly's Crickets for a anniversary concert and dance at Civic Auditorium.

The concert was in memory of Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper (aka J. P. Richardson) who died in a plane crash exactly 31 years before.

Despite having the flu, Shannon carried on like a show biz trooper. He performed many of his hits, including "Hats Off To Larry," "Little Town Flirt" and "Keep Searchin'."

Shannon saved his No. 1 smash hit "Runaway" for late in the program.

Many people at the concert recalled the tragic plane crash three decades earlier which changed rock 'n' roll forever.

At that time Shannon was living in Battle Creek, Mich. having been discharged from the Army in 1958.

Born in Grand Rapids on Dec. 30, 1934 as Charles Weedon Westover, Shannon grew up in Coopersville, a nearby farming community.

His mother taught him to play the ukulele, but he switched to guitar in his early teens.

After his military stint in Germany, Shannon worked in a furniture factory by day and played in a band at the Hi-Lo Club located at 45 Capital Ave. SW.

Max Crook, who invented an early synthesizer called the Musitron, joined the group as keyboardist in 1959.

While gigging at club, Shannon and Crook composed "Runaway," originally called "Little Runaway." Built around minor chords, the song had immediate appeal to audiences.

Having confidence in their music, Crook convinced influential disc jockey Ollie McLaughlin to hear the band.

McLaughlin, who had a jazz program on radio station WHRV in Ann Arbor, used his music connections to get Shannon signed to Detroit's Big Top Records.

While McLaughlin is credited with discovering Shannon, he later owned a record label and produced five 45 rpm singles for the Excels, a rock band formed at Northern Michigan University in Marquette.

Shannon and Crook recorded their song in New York on Jan. 21, 1961 after McLaughlin suggested the Musitron be used as the lead instrument.

"Runaway" was released as Big Top 3067 and first charted on March 6, 1961. The track spent four weeks at No. 1 and charted for four months.

Shannon performed "Runaway" on Dick Clark's "American Bandstand" television program on Monday, April 10, 1961.

Touring took Shannon to Europe where he met the Beatles. Shannon's recording of "From Me to You" from the summer of 1963 became the first song by John Lennon and Paul McCartney to chart in the United States.

In early 1965, the British duo Peter & Gordon added to Shannon's European credibility by recording his composition "I Go to Pieces." The song made the Top Ten.

Still, the British Invasion stalled Shannon's career. "The Big Hurt" from 1966 was Shannon's 16th and final hit of the decade.

He released a live version of "Runaway" in 1967, but the disc missed the Top 100.

By the late 1960s, Shannon produced "Gypsy Woman" for Brian Hyland and arranged "Baby It's You" for Smith, a California group he discovered.

Shannon was less prominent in the succeeding decades, but still toured.

His last chart entry came in 1982 when "Sea of Love" reached the Top 40. The song, from an album called "Drop Down and Get Me," was produced by Tom Petty. Petty first hit the Top Ten in 1980 with "Don't Do Me Like That."

Despite a lack of hits, the rocker didn't disappear. Shannon visited the Upper Peninsula one year to attend the St. Ignace Car Show, although he didn't perform, organizer Ed Reavie told me.

Shannon re-recorded "Runaway" in 1986 with revised lyrics for use in the television drama "Crime Story."

In the late 1980s, my wife Sue and I decided we needed Shannon's autograph for the Wall of Fame at our record store. She wrote to the singer at his California home and he responded with an autographed 8 x 10 picture.

The publicity photo carried the Warner Brothers logo and depicted Shannon and his guitar with his right hand raised in a fist. Inscribed to "Susan," Shannon wrote: "Love ya and rock & roll" in red marker before signing his name.

At the time Shannon was working on a comeback album with Petty and Jeff Lynne of Electric Light Orchestra fame.

Petty and Lynne were both members of the Traveling Wilburys, along with Bob Dylan, George Harrison and Roy Orbison. The Wilburys had hits with "Handle With Care" and "End of the Line."

In the months after Orbison's death on Dec. 6, 1988, Shannon was rumored to be a possible replacement in the supergroup.

Still performing concerts, the 55-year-old Shannon was feeling under the weather during his 1990 Fargo appearance.

His superb falsetto intact, Shannon sang "As I walk along, I wonder what went wrong." The crowd instantly recognized "Runaway."

But, after just one more song, Shannon cut short his concert program.

Following the show, Shannon returned to San Clarita, California, where he and his wife LeAnne had just purchased a new home.

Just five days after the Fargo concert, fans were shocked to learn of Shannon's death from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The singer had been taking the antidepressant drug Prozac for 15 days prior to his death, drastically changing his personality.

His widow sued manufacturer Eli Lilly, saying the drug led to Shannon's death, but the suit was later dropped.

On Nov. 5, 1990, the surviving Wilburys paid tribute to Shannon with their own version of "Runaway" released as the B side to their "She's My Baby" single.

Shannon's "Rock On" album, co-produced by Lynne and Petty cohort Mike Campbell, was issued posthumously on the Silvertone label in 1991.

The rocker was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999, an honor he well deserved.

Back in Battle Creek, a marker stands at the site of the Hi- Lo Club where Shannon first performed his No. 1 hit.

While Shannon's career comprised so much more than "Runaway," his rock 'n' roll immortality can easily rest on that song alone.
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Did Zombies play in the U. P.?

British rock band The Zombies had a handful
of hit singles in the United States in the 1960s.

By STEVE SEYMOUR

A store patron once told me he saw famed British band the Zombies play in the Upper Peninsula in 1969 or 1970.

I doubted the story since I had never heard about such a high-profile appearance, although I didn't say so at the time.

Famous for "She's Not There" and "Tell Her No," the Zombies also recorded an album titled "Odessey & Oracle," now highly acclaimed despite the spelling mistake.

The group comprised Colin Blunstone (lead vocals), Rod Argent (keyboards), Paul Atkinson (guitar), Chris White (bass) and Hugh Grundy (drums).

The LP and new single "Time of the Season" were released in the band's home country in April, 1968 to a lackluster reception.

Bringing the album home from Britain, musician and A&R man Al Kooper, formerly of Blood, Sweat & Tears, convinced CBS Records to release the discs in the United States on its Date subsidiary label.

Kooper wrote liner notes for "Odessey & Oracle," concluding the Zombies "are very much alive."

Date Records produced a 45 second radio spot urging listeners to get a copy of the "Time of the Season" as a "handy single" or on the "economy album with 11 other tracks."

Whether or not the promotion helped, "Time of the Season" become a smash hit in the spring of 1969. Written by Argent and sung by Blunstone, the song had been recorded back in August, 1967.

The new hit was certainly good news for the Zombies, except they had announced their break-up a year earlier on March 30, 1968.

Although they certainly could have filled concert halls, original band members decided not to regroup for a tour. Argent turned down an offer of 20,000 British pounds to reform the Zombies for one show.

To fill the demand from fans wishing to see the group perform their new hit in a concert setting, imposters took the Zombies name.

Pete Frame offered details in the liner notes to a 1974 Zombies reissue album. "At least a couple bogus Zombies suddenly sprang up from nowhere to cash in. One of these, working out of a mid-western agency in the States, was going out for something like $7,000 a night."

A packet of forty-year-old promotional photographs I obtained in 2010 seemed to provide some evidence to this nefarious situation.

Distributed by Bay City, Mich. booking agency Delta Promotions, the black and white photos were used to publicize artists on their roster.

Two of the images are identified as "The Zombies." Beneath the pictures is printed the address to their National Fan Club, actually a post office box in Lewiston, a tiny northern lower Michigan community of less than 1,000 persons.

One glossy studio shot shows three of the members sitting and two others standing behind them. Another 8 x 10 depicts the five standing outside with a tree as a backdrop.

Although they're dressed like rock stars, the quintet is NOT the real Zombies.

Zombies fan Mark Fisher recalls seeing this fake group perform at the Aerodrome nightclub in Schenectady, N. Y. on Dec. 13, 1969. Established by Jack Rubin in 1967, the Aerodrome featured such name acts as Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin and Three Dog Night.

Fisher saved a photo of the group published in a Troy, N. Y. newspaper, which also confirmed the date of the show. The cutline said "The Zombies" were "accredited with 'She's Not There,' 'Tell Her No' and 'Time of the Season.'"

The band did play all Zombies songs, Fisher remembered. He met them after the show, believing they were the British group with three hit singles. They even gave him their autographs as John (vocals), Terry (guitar), Howie (organ), Eddie (bass) and Gary (drums).

At a Zombies website, Fisher, who later learned the group was bogus, called the show a "rip-off."

Band members told Fisher they could be contacted by mail in care of Bill Eberline of Sudbury, Mass. Earlier in his career, Eberline was a disc jockey in Cass City, Mich. where he entertained at record dances held for area teenagers. Local newspaperman Dave Kraft complimented Eberline's skill in the Cass City Chronicle in 1964.

(By 1966, Eberline had emceed a package tour of the Upper Peninsula which included the nationally-known Buckinghams, all-girl group the Luv'd Ones, Marquette's Excels and Iron Mountain's Ravelles.)

With "Time of the Season" one of the the year's biggest hits, other venues were scammed.

On a web posting, a fan identified as Steve K. said he saw a fake Zombies at a little club in Hastings, Mich. in 1969. He said the group had bad English accents and failed to bring along a keyboard player, despite the fact the instrument is crucial to the Zombies' sound.

Actually, Delta Promotions had some experience booking "faux" groups.

They also promoted The "Archies," animated characters who gave life to mega-hit "Sugar, Sugar" on a Saturday morning cartoon program. Delta's Archies had no connection to the studio musicians who recorded songs for the Archies TV show and records.

Bay City based music historian Gary Johnson has researched Delta Promotions.

Owned by Bill Kehoe and James Altherton, Delta Promotions was in business from 1965 to 1970, according to Johnson.

Founder of the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends website, Johnson says he was told by a member of the Dick Rabbit band that Delta Promotions asked them to "go out" as the Flying Burrito Brothers, but they declined. The Dick Rabbit group, which recorded a number of 45s, moved to Bay City from western Michigan in the late 1960s and signed with Delta, Johnson said.

Delta Promotions also booked Question Mark & the Mysterians, the Saginaw band responsible for the 1966 chart topper "96 Tears."

According to writer Kris Englehardt, it was during a Mysterians' rehearsal at the Delta Promotions office, that Mark Farner and Don Brewer met bassist Mel Schacher. The trio would form Grand Funk Railroad.

Johnson told me he's heard a rumor that Dusty Hill of ZZ Top fame was in Michigan in the late 1960s and was briefly in the Zombies group at Delta Promotions. Hill, now wearing the trademark ZZ Top beard, doesn't look like any of the young men shown in the promotional photos, but who knows?

With photo confirmation, it's certain that Delta Promotions' fake version of "The Zombies" played the Schenectady date, it seems likely they would also drive the 96 miles from Bay City to Hastings and perhaps travel a little further for a gig in the Upper Peninsula.

No, the real Zombies didn't play in the U. P. in 1969 or 1970, but evidence points to impostors who did.
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