IMPOSTERS (Sonoma County, CA) Inside My Head b/w King Of America Dublab (DS-003), 1983
The Imposters formed as a three-piece in Sonoma County in 1978. They built a strong following in the Bay area, playing alongside bands like Crime, the Avengers, Dead Kennedys and the Dils. Their first release was the "Night Time TV" EP on 415 Records, which was followed up in 1980 with the "Don't Get Mad" single on the same label.
1980 also saw the release of a compilation album called Alive! Rock City that featured two Imposters tracks. Then another song, "Sounds On The Street," appeared on a 1981 compilation called Rising Stars Of San Francisco. The band spent their time touring up and down the west coast and even made their way out to Texas, playing Austin and Dallas.
1983 marked the release of their first LP, Mask. Two songs from the album were released as a single. The A-Side, "Inside My Head," is an infectiously poppy track that is sure to get stuck inside your head, while the reggae-twinged flipside, "King Of America" sways more in the direction of "Watching The Detectives."
The record received heavy air play across the States, but the band ended up splitting in November of that year.
THE ROCKERS (San Francisco, CA)
Self Titled EP
Alcatraz (AS-28001), 1980
John Perga played in his first band, The Village Raiders, in 1966. It was then in San Mateo, CA that he was introduced to brothers Phillip and Dennis Schraub. All three were very heavily influenced by British Invasion bands, strong vocal harmonies, and the high production value of those 60's recordings.
They formed their first band together in the Spring of 1967 with John singing, Phil on guitar, Dennis on drums and a bass player named Parker Jones. Originally called The Druids, they changed their name to The Mood by 1968 and put out a short-run single that had covers of the Move's "Night Of Fear" on one side and the Small Faces' "Put Yourself Together" on the flip. After that, they replaced Parker with a bass player named Don Ruiz and changed their name to Lompoc. Though they rehearsed quite a bit with this line-up, they only played a few shows before parting ways.
A couple years later Phil and John started writing songs again. They recorded some demos to shop around in hopes of getting duo acoustic gigs. They played the rough tape to Phil's brother Dennis who then decided to work with them in his newly built 4-track home studio. Dennis played the drums, engineered the sessions, and then mixed it all into completed song. Though they named the project Smash, they never played shows or went any further with it.
Then in 1977, John and Phil finally decided to put an active live band together. They focused on writing power pop tunes with melodies that incorporated two and three-part harmonies. By this time Dennis was married and focusing on his career as an engineer, so he was in no position to join the band. They ended up recruiting a drummer named George Hastings who had previously played in a band with Phil. And then George brought in Carl Jeppesen on bass to complete the line-up. At last, their hope of bringing loud, powerful pop to the live stage was finally coming to fruition.
At the time, John was working as a jeweler and given the stage name Johnny Rock, which in turn led to the band being known as Johnny Rock and the Rockers. But after just a few gigs they decided to shorten it to simply, The Rockers. Around that time an executive decision was made which forced George out of the band. They put up an ad and found Bryan Allinsmith, a harder hitting drummer who had just left a band called Rage and better fit the bill.
The Rockers would primarily play shows in the Bay area at clubs like the Palms Cafe, International Cafe, Comeback Inn, and others. They started off doing weekday gigs but slowly built a strong enough following to earn themselves weekend dates as well as a slot opening up for the Go-Go's at the Mabuhay Gardens in San Francisco in '79. When Ness Aquino took over the Mab, The Rockers became one of his favorite acts, so they'd often get to play the stage there on Friday nights.
At the end of 1979, they went to Mobius Music in San Francisco to record four songs with Oliver DiCicco at the helm. The basic tracks were recorded live on 16-track, 2" tape with very minimal overdubs, and then they laid down the vocals. Though Phil's brother Dennis wasn't in the band, he still played an integral role, acting as manager and producer. He, the band and DiCicco worked together to mix the songs, trying to emulate the sound of a British Invasion recording. The finished tapes were then brought to Bob Carbone in LA to be mastered. The end result is a highly polished, terrific sounding 7" EP, which many regard today as a power pop masterpiece.
Dennis and the band created Alcatraz Records to release the EP. Foggy recollections believe that 1,000 copies were pressed but lost receipts can't verify that. The boys drove to every record outlet they could find to get copies in stores. Tower Records took a big chunk of them and before long they were sold out. The record received positive reviews in BAM and other Bay area papers. They even got some college air play.
Carl left the band after that, so they set out to find a new bass player. They first brought in Sheridan Oakes, who filled the void for a little while, but ultimately was replaced by their long time friend, John San Filippo. At that point a name change was in order and The Finders were born. Cheap Rewards Records will be issuing an official repressing of the Rockers EP as well as an LP collection of Finders material later this summer.
THE SINGLES (Santa Cruz, CA) Play It! EP Big Cheese, 1983
Rick Gallego grew up listening to the Beatles, Beach Boys and Motown. He got his musical start playing bass in a couple community college jazz bands and rock n roll cover groups before switching over to guitar. In 1982, not long after moving to Santa Cruz, CA, he began putting his own original band together. He wanted to emulate artists like Elvis Costello, The Plimsouls and Paul Collins' Beat, while incorporating 60s-style pop.
Through ads in BAM magazine and bulletins in a local music store, he formed The Singles with Marque Kelsey on guitar, Al Vergara on bass and David Townley on drums. After only a few gigs, Shawn Andrews took over on bass. Rick would primarily write the songs by himself, hoping they'd be as good as those from the artists he loved.
The Singles typically played 4-5 times a week around the Bay area. They built a small but loyal following in Santa Cruz, Monterey, San Jose, and San Francisco. In 1983 they went in the studio and quickly recorded four songs for a 7" EP. With financial help from David's dad, they pressed up a batch of what they believe was less than 500 records, with the possibility that it was only 100 or 200. The records were housed in oversized sleeves and came sealed. They sold the records at shows and gave a lot of them away. The local papers gave it good reviews and "Nicole" even got a couple spins on local San Jose station KWSS.
By early 1984 Jeff Smith took Marque's spot on guitar and Joe Laub replaced Shawn on bass. With the new line-up in place, they won a Battle of the Bands competition which helped them get a slot opening for Elvin Bishop at the Halloween Ball later that year.
By 1985 interests started to change and the band split up. Marque and Shawn went on to play in a band called Romp while Jeff and Joe started the Missionary's. Rick went on to form a band called Rickardo's Bandolero's that included a horn section as well as background vocals from Darby Gould who would later replace Grace Slick in Jefferson Starship. Rick then moved to LA to become an R&B songwriter, but that didn't quite pan out. He later recorded and produced music under the name Jiffipop, then later Cloud Eleven. He's also released five CDs of his own music.
THE FINDERS (San Francisco, CA)
Which Way b/w It's So Insane
Sky-Fi (SF-5217), 1981
John Perga, along with brothers Phil and Dennis Shraub, grew up together in San Mateo, CA. Sharing a fond admiration of British Invasion bands, the three played together in numerous groups dating as far back as 1967. Having spent much time writing and perfecting songs through the early and mid-70s, the boys did a lot of recording and set a high precedent for production quality early on, mimicking the techniques of their favorite British bands.
Come 1978, John and Phil form The Rockers without Dennis. Although he left to pursue other obligations, Dennis still maintained an integral role in the managerial and recording aspect of things. With new drummer George Hastings (later replaced by Bryan Allinsmith) and bassist Carl Jeppesen, the band played frequently and slowly built a strong Bay area following. Their sole self-released EP is a masterpiece of power pop recorded history.
Sheridan Oakes eventually joined the group on bass for a short while before long time friend John San Filippo took over and better fit the bill. At that point a name change seemed appropriate. Following the rejection of The Hole Finders, they settled simply on The Finders. "Which Way" b/w "It's So Insane" was their first of two singles, and those familiar with The Rockers could hear the natural progression. The same studio, crew and standards were used in the production of these songs as was used on the Rockers EP.
The Finders' next release was the "Calling Dr. Howard" b/w "Bad Food" single which was greeted with lawsuits for it's content and picture sleeve imagery (Columbia Pictures didn't approve of their use of the Three Stooges). Though humor always played a part in their written material and stage show, these two songs took it to a different level and may have alienated them as a novelty act instead of the talented songwriters and musicians that they were. Nonetheless, they made a music video for "Calling Dr. Howard."
The band later recorded an entire album's worth of material, and even had former Move manager Tony Secunda on board as producer. But the collaboration didn't prove ideal and they ended up finishing the project without him. A legacy of phenomenal material sat unheard in the studio vault for a couple decades due to a combination of their label folding and the band not having the funds to pay the studio, not to mention the imminent demise of the band. Luckily, Japanese label Wizard-In-Vinyl released the material on CD (ironically, not on vinyl) a few years back. One listen to this collection will reinstate their position as incredible power pop songwriters and performers.
Below are the banned picture sleeve cover and cease and desist letter.
