| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Allan |
Posted - 19/10/2004 : 16:23:02
In the 60's, every major metropolis in the U.S. had their own scene. We all know about LA, LOVE being our shared interest, NY had their own scene, Boston, Detroit, San Francisco, and of course others. Philadelphia had a number of local bands as well. The most famous of them would be Nazz, featuring an early Todd Runtgren (very good albums, too). Some others would be Elizabeth, Good News (early Michael Bacon-who now performs sporadically with his brother Kevin Bacon, the actor), Good God, American Dream, Sweet Stavin' Chain, Jim Kweskin and the Jug Band, and the Mandrake Memorial.
I had a special liking for The Mandrake Memorial. In the 60's, my brother and I owned an open air parking lot in Center City. The lead vocalist/bass guitar was a fellow named Randy Monaco, and he would often short cut through the lot, and so I got to know him. Randy had a great voice. They were the house band for a small coffee house on Sansom Street named the 2nd Fret. I used to go there all the time to hear them, and there were many nights when there were as few as 15 people. I guess their brightest moment was when they opened for The Doors in 1969, very soon after the Miami fiasco. They played a great set that night. They did release 3 albums on the Poppy label
Their music was psychedelic/baroque. They were the first group I remember seeing that used a synthesizer, a very small hand built one. Randy passed in the late 70's [RIP-Randy]. I recently made e-mail contact wih a surviving member, Craig Anderton.
http://www.craiganderton.com/about.htm
1-Has anyone ever heard of this band? And, do you have any comments?
2-How about writing about some of your favorite local bands from back in the day |
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| LarryNYC |
Posted - 15/11/2004 : 05:56:46
My home town Grimsby cant boast of any real homegrown rock talent but I do remember seeing a fine blues rock band from across the river Humber. The Rats from Hull with one Mick Ronson on guitar. |
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