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Beach Buzz June 13

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North Tower Band                                     

What's Happening:  What's the latest for some of the Beach bands that are out there working hard for you? Let's take a look....North Tower had a strong May, playing the Hot Nights & Hot Cars Cruise-In Series in Pilot Mountain, NC,  the North Hills Beach Music Series in Raleigh, NC,  the City Market in Clinton, NC as well as appearances at Duck's and Thirsty's. Eleven dates are on the calendar for June, plus they have a return engagement at North Hills on July 4th .........Summerdaze Band continues to cover a lot of ground in both North and South Carolina, playing six outdoor festivals and 'After Five' Series in May, ranging from Fort Mill, SC to Statesville, NC and several in between. They travel to Wytheville, VA on June 15th to perform at the Chautauqua Festival..........Hats off to the Big Time Party Band, they have a new hit tune in collaboration with Clifford Curry. Their rendition of Four O'Clock In The Morning follows closely on the heels of last year's highly successful Cherry Groove. In addition to several upcoming private gigs, look for them playing On The Horseshoe at the North Myrtle Beach Pavilion on July 11th.............

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Atlantic Groove

Atlantic Groove is rolling red hot in June with ten play dates. Among those are the Pilot Mountain Hot Nights & Hot Cars SERIES on June 1st, the legendary Stuart, VA Beach Music Festival on June 8th and the Yorktown, VA Summer Concert Series on June 20th. Several planned dates at Duck's Beach Club are on the summer schedule as well........The Holiday Band has a new song just out – Party On Main Street has a kind of a Beach/Reggae/Latin rhythm groove to it, different but definitely relevant. Wrapping up twelve performances in May, the band has another twelve scheduled for June, including outdoor appearances at North Hills in Raleigh on June 13th , Southpointe in Durham, NC on June 15th and the Hooters Outdoor Party in Burlington, NC on June 18th...............Steve Owens & Summertime continue to impress the crowds with their performances. You can catch them outdoors at these upcoming events: The Blueberry Festival in Burgaw, NC on June 15th, the Holden Beach, NC Concert Series on July 7th  and the Ocean Isle Beach, NC Concert Series on August16th.............

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The Carolina Breakers

 

The multi-talented Carolina Breakers are in huge demand!! Sixteen dates cover up their June calendar, all the way from one each in Tarboro, NC and Fayetteville, NC on June 1st to Charleston, SC on June 22nd to the Holden Beach Concert Series on June 30th............. The Lakeside Drive Band continues to increase their overall popularity. Check them out early this month at The Bark In The Park event in Cramerton, NC on June 7th or at TJ's at High Rock Lake in Salisbury, NC on June 8th...........The Tim Clark Band has one of the hottest new songs in Beach music with Have A Real Good Time. They have a bunch of private gigs coming up in June but can be seen at public events in Concord, NC on June 20th, Harrisburg, NC on July 3rd and Monroe, NC on July 4th as well as back in Myrtle Beach at 2001 on July 5th..........

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Too Much Sylvia

 Charlotte based Too Much Sylvia has a busy hot weather schedule ahead. Among their outdoor concerts is a return performance to the University Mall Summer Series in Chapel Hill, NC on June 13th , Brick Street Live in Salisbury, NC on June 21st  the Independence Eve Celebration in downtown Cheraw, SC on July 3rd  and the Bicentennial Park Concert in Asheboro, NC on July 7th ...........The Night Move Band,  originating out of Taylorsville, NC had one of last year's big Beach hits with Smooth Stepping Papa. Among their upcoming shows open to the public are Alive After Five in Lenoir, NC on June 21st and the Open Air Market in North Wilkesboro, NC on July 19th........The Mark Roberts Band continues to be a favorite along the North and South Carolina beaches. Their upcoming gigs include Duck's on June 5th and 29th, Ocean Isle Beach on June 28th and Sunset Beach on July 10th........

 

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The Fabulous Daddy-Os

 

One band that I have a great appreciation for is The Fabulous Daddy O's. They helped us so much back when Craig Fleming and I were hosting the Saturday afternoon SOS parties at the Avista Resort for several years. You can check out their outstanding musical talent on June 23rd at HOTOs in North Myrtle Beach, on July 13th in Durham, NC at the Jimmy V Kids Klassic or on August 4th at the Holden Beach Summer Series...........Ron Moody & The Centaurs are still out there getting it done! This Beach Music Hall of Fame band plays quite a few private gigs but there are also opportunities for the general public to see them such as the Old Towne Concert Series in Petersburg, VA on June 6th and the Summer Kickoff Festival in Mechanicsburg, VA on July 8th......I had a chance to talk briefly with Levi Crawford at Thursday's Artist Showcase at SOS. The Fat Jack Band is alive and well, they played the Sounds of Summer Concert Series at McLean Park in North Myrtle Beach on May 17th and the Sunset Beach, NC  Concert Series on May 29th.  Have you heard Wrap My Lovin' Arms?...........

 

 

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Part Time Party Time Band

 The nine piece Part Time Party Time Band out of the Triad area of NC put on a show that is always worth seeing. They have a couple of public appearances coming right up, June 8th at Claytor Lake State Park in Pulaski, VA and July 4th at the Creekside Park Celebration in Archdale, NC.....The Rick Strickland Band is definitely hot, rockin' their latest album entitled Lucky. Check out all the new tunes with their performances at Memories in Atlantic Beach, NC on July 13th or at the Holden Beach Summer Series  on July 28th….........Did you know that The Carolina Soul Band is sponsored in part by NASCAR's New Generation Motorsports Marketing? The band will play at an early Fourth of July Celebration in Sanford, NC on June 29th, at the Burlington, NC City Park Celebration on July 3rd and the Yadkinville, NC Celebration on the 4th.........

 

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The Craig Woolard Band

The Craig Woolard Band may be logging the most road miles of any group these days. They perform at Chesapeake, MD on June 5th, Roanoke, VA on June 6th, Destin, FL June 13th through the 15th and Buford, GA on June 16th. Twenty dates in total on the calendar for the month of June!.................

The Fantastic Shakers will be on stage on June 6th at TJ's Nightlife in Raleigh. I will have the privilege of DJ'ing with them in between sets. They have two great outdoor performances coming up in July – the 4th at University Mall in Chapel Hill and the 6th at the Hot Nights & Hot Cars Cruise-In in Pilot Mountain..........The Band of Oz' I Can' t Think was released in the spring on 2010. As of May, it was STILL on the Beach charts – has any song in Beach music ever had such staying power?

Among their upcoming shows open to the public are the Beach Music Festival in Stuart, VA on June 8th, the Burgaw Blueberry Festival on June 15th and North Hills in Raleigh on June 27th..........

A Band's Story

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The Night Riders circa 1967

 

We have seen a few groups in Beach music that were together in their younger days only to disband and then reunite many years later, which is not always easy. One such band from the Alamance County/Burlington, NC  general vicinity (where this has happened more than once) is known as The Night Riders. Back in the mid-'60's, a group of junior high boys who sang in church choirs and/or played in the school band, decided to get together to  form what we referred to then as a 'combo'. They were young and impressionable to the styles of the era – heavily influenced by listening to the music played by Charlie Brown and the KIX Men of Music at WKIX AM radio in Raleigh and Gailes Stuckey at WBAG in Burlington. Steve Rogers (Bass Guitar), David Marlette (Lead Guitar & Trumpet), Ray Atwater (Rhythm Guitar), Jon 'Two Gun' Johnson (Drums) and Tim Coble (Keys) were the original members first known as The Colognes. Just as they were getting started, Tim decided he did not want to continue, enter another promising musician,  Monte Allison as the keyboard player, and the name changed to The Night Riders. Taylor Dean, the father of a close friend, agreed to be their manager.

 

 

However brief, The Night Riders had some major successes back in the day, particularly for a group so young. School dances and teen centers in the North Carolina Piedmont area were happy to book them ( I saw them play in the basement of the Presbyterian Church in Chapel Hill – of course at the time I had no idea who they were!). Another local friend, Mac Lewis, came on board as a horn and backup guitar player. They were entered in the 'Battle Of The Bands' at Burlington's Williams High School in late 1966. An appearance playing on The Dick Bennett Show, a program featuring teen dancers to popular music,  on WGHP-TV in High Point, NC was another perk that occurred in mid-1967.

 

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Just prior to that event, the band decided to cut an album, pretty much unheard of for a teenage band from rural North Carolina back in the day. Introducing The Night Riders, a combination of originals and cover tunes, was recorded at Justice Studios in Winston-Salem NC in 1967 on a weekday. Of course, the band members had to get permission from their parents as well as the school to leave early to make it happen! (Collectables Records out of Pennsylvania re-issued this album on CD in 1995). The parents also overruled their first gig booking at Myrtle Beach – at The Bowery as the opening act for a group that came to be known as Alabama! High school graduation and young adulthood were fast approaching – the group mutually agreed to disband in 1968.

Fast forward forty years – a series of events triggered by a reminiscent radio interview of original band members in early 2008 on WXDU 88.7 in Durham, NC resulted in discussions about possibly getting back together. Monte Allison had passed away in 1980 and Mac Lewis was tragically paralyzed in an automobile accident in 1985. The first order of business regarding a reincarnation of the band was to plan a benefit for Mac. This took place in Burlington in June of 2008 – over 650 people attended to hear The Magnificents as well as the return of The Night Riders. The band played together again later that year for a New Year's Eve gig, their first payday as The Night Riders in well over forty years.

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                          The Night Riders today

The band went into a local studio in early 2009 to record two original songs. The first, Carolina Is The Place For Me, written by David Marlette, was released that Fall on Carolina Soul Collection, a compilation album on Tobacco Road Records, which is a subsidiary of KHP. The song did very well, making multiple Beach music charts and receiving widespread air play.  The second tune, Come On And Dance With Me, penned by Ray and Doris Atwater, became the title track for Tobacco Road's Fall 2010 compilation release. Once again hitting the Beach charts, it may actually be  the better one of the two for the pure shaggers. On a sad note, Mac Lewis  passed away in October of 2010.

Three originals – Steve Rogers, David Marlette and Ray Atwater – together with new members, continue to carry on the tradition, playing selected gigs as time allows. They have developed a website at www.thenightridersband.com.

The band has a public date scheduled for June 29th at The Pit Pass Lounge in Graham, NC. Ray and David are currently working on several songs, hoping to record and release some new material in the very near future! Wouldn't a new album be a historical event, some forty-seven years after the first one was released? Stay tuned from more from The Night Riders! 

 

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A few editions ago, we ran a list of some '60's/'70's rare Soul tunes for true lovers of that era of music, much of which is classified in today's world as Northern Soul. I heard back from a couple of readers who said they thoroughly enjoyed looking for the songs that were listed (a few of which they could not find) and asked if we would publish another list. So here you go, another one complete with recording label and year released!!

Daylighters – Cool Breeze  Tip Top  1962

Maxine Brown – Yesterday's Kisses    Wand  1963

Erma Franklin – Abracadabra   Epic 1963

Invitations – Hallelujah     Dyno Voice  1965

Jones Brothers – So Much Love    Silver 1965

Five Du-Tones – Outside The Record Hop    One-Derful  1966

Volumes – That Same Old Feeling    Impact 1966

Holidays – I'll Love You Forever      Golden World 1966

Lovelites – I Found Me A Lover   Bandera  1967

Belita Woods – Magic Corner    Moira  1967

Younghearts – Oh, I'll Never Be The Same  Pick-a-Hit  1967

Fantastic Four – The Whole World Is A Stage  Ric-Tic  1967

Parliaments – Time       Revilot   1968

Voice Masters – You've Hurt Me Baby   Bamboo  1969

Capitols – I Thought She Loved Me     Karen     1967

Presidents – Girl You Cheated On Me   Sussex  1970  

Curtis Blandon – In The Long Run   Wand 1972

John Miles     One Minute Every Hour   Orange UK   1973

Charisma Band – Ain't Nothing Like Your Love   Buddah  1975

Loleatta Holloway – I Know Where You're Coming From  Aware 1975

 

 

Artists, DJ’s, Club owners etc. send me your latest news for potential inclusion in Beach Buzz at nealfur@aol.com.

A Band's Story

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