Inspired by the “British Invasion” of 1964, American teenage males began growing their hair long, went out and bought electric guitars and drums and formed amateur bands in hopes of… well if not stardom, at least attracting members of the opposite sex and having a ball playing loud three chord rock and roll.
By 1966, it’s been estimated there were at least 100,000 such bands in America alone in a genre now referred to as “garage rock.” A very tiny percentage of those bands got record contracts, even with small local labels, and only a few became one-hit wonders.
Some of the more memorable ones were Q Mark and The Mysterians (“96 Tears”), The Standells (“Dirty Water”), The Shadows of Knight (“Gloria”), Count Five (“Psychotic Reaction”), The Syndicate of Sound (“Little Girl”) and The Seeds (“Pushin’ Too Hard”).
There was another California based band playing a similar style of stripped down rock and roll that was exciting club patrons at the same time… The Sons of Adam. However, despite releasing a string of fine singles, none of their records even made it to one-hit wonder status.
As to why commercial success eluded the group, former lead guitarist Randy Holden, now 77, says, “We were never able to find the right people who understood what we were doing and always seemed to be on the wrong end of a lot very bad business deals. We were never able to grab the brass ring like a lot of other bands.”
However, potential new admirers will be able to check out the band’s music for themselves via a CD release called, a combination of 32 live and studio tracks, including rare 45s, demos and outtakes. (High Moon Records) Randy Holden was born in Pennsylvania
