The Hassles, Continued

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THE ECHOES/ THE LOST SOULS/ THE COMMANDOS

Another significant group on The Worlds Fair program (9/15/65) was The Lost Souls.

The late Howie Blauvelt told the story of this garage band. "I was in the fifth grade. We had a talent show and this kid played the guitar. All the girls went wild for him and I said, "I gotta do this!" So I got a guitar and learned how to play. When I knew enough chords, I played with some other kids and we formed a band, The Echoes. We had two guitars so I switched to bass and hey--it was fun! There was was a space for it, you know, it was great. We had fun when we played. This was before the English Invasion so we played dance music: "Twist and Shout", "La Bamba," "Perfido," "Wipe Out" and lots of instrumentals...too many instrumentals! We needed a singer bad so I said I knew this guy that sings and he plays piano! I asked my friend, Billy Joel, if he wanted to join our band."

The Lost Souls began to win competitions and were able to capitalize on an offer from Mercury Records. Blauvelt continued, "The first song Billy ever recorded--and a great song, too--was entitled"Journey's End." Billy and I also wrote a song together called "Time And Time Again." Before Mercury shelved the project, they forced a name change as there already was a group known as The Lost Souls. The group was renamed The Commandos and the tracks they recorded still rest somewhere in the Mercury vault.

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  © Richard Arfin 1987 Revised 2004 All Rights Reserved