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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZREVERE, Paul, and the RaidersPop group formed in 1959 in Boise ID as the Downbeats by organist Paul Revere (b Paul Revere Dick, 7 January 1938, Boise; d 4 October 2014, Garden Valley ID of cancer), saxist/vocalist Mark Lindsay (b 9 March 1942, Cambridge ID). They recorded three instrumentals for Gardena; 'Like, Long Hair' reached the top 40 '61 but they couldn't follow up; the duo ditched their backing group and moved to Portland OR, recruited Mike 'Smitty' Smith, drums; Philip 'Fang' Volk, bass; and guitarist Drake 'The Kid' Levin (b 17 August 1946, Chicago; d 4 July 2009 in San Francisco of cancer). Columbia signed them on the strength of a demo of 'Louie Louie' made by disc jockey Roger Hart, but their version did not reach the Hot 100: local competition the Kingsmen beat them to the classic hit. 'Steppin' Out' '65 made the top 50; Dick Clark signed them for Where The Action Is, a TV show designed to counteract the British Invasion, their 18th-century costumes with jackets and breeches carrying an American image; 'Just Like Me' was no. 11 '65 (cover of local group Rick Dey and the Knights that owed much to the Kinks). The TV show caused a realignment of style after Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil's 'Hungry' (no. 4), 'Kicks' (6): Lindsay was projected as sex-symbol frontman and the group members took on writing; Lindsay and producer Terry Melcher co-wrote 'The Great Airplane Strike' (no. 20), 'Good Thing' (4), all '66. 'Him Or Me -- What's It Gonna Be?' at no. 5 '67 was a classic pop single; Just Like Us!, Midnight Ride, and The Spirit Of '67 were top ten LPs '67, but others were less successful. They had four top 20 hits through '69 as they tended towards progressive rock, where their credibility was limited due to their commercial origins. The original backing musicians formed Brotherhood '67 for flop LPs on RCA, replaced by Freddy Weller on guitar, Charlie Coe on bass (b 19 November 1944), Joe Correro Jr on drums (b 19 November 1946, Greenwood MS); the shortened the name to the Raiders for a renaissance with John D. Loudermilk's 'Indian Reservation', subtitled 'The Lament Of A Cherokee Reservation Indian', their only no. 1 hit '71 (the album of the same title went top 20); they had one more top 40 hit, and left the charts. Lindsay made solo albums Arizona '70 (top 40, top ten title single), Silverbird and You've Got A Friend, but the teen idol genre had died. The duo continued on the oldies circuit with pickup Raiders; Lindsay doubled as a country act. |