Rock and Roll PING! Email me to get on/off this list
Posted on 08/04/2004 11:49:59 PM PDT by weegee
At St. Paul's Academy in the early 1960s, five dudes decided to form a rock 'n' roll band.
When they needed a bassist, they tapped one of the few high school students who owned one. His name happened to be John Kerry, now the Democratic nominee for president.
Sen. Kerry's band, the Electras, played coming-out-parties and proms. They even made a record with a single microphone and an Ampex reel-to-reel tape recorder, featuring songs titled "Shanghaied" and "Because They're Young."
But none of the band mates could have predicted that, years later, the re-release of the album would turn as partisan as this summer's political conventions.
Although the media has mined Sen. Kerry's life for revealing details while he campaigns for president, his participation in the band remained unknown until a record collector discovered and bought the Electras' album on eBay for about $2,500.
Articles about Sen. Kerry's former high school band appeared in national news outlets such as The Washington Post. Suddenly, this former high school garage band's album seemed marketable.
The other band mates -- Raynham resident Jack Radcliffe, Larry Rand, John Prouty, Peter Lang and Andy Gagarin -- gathered at a hotel in Hartford, Conn., to discuss a possible re-release of the Electras album.
At first, the reunion was amicable, Mr. Rand remembers, and they kept the Kerry campaign aware of their plans. But the reunion disintegrated when the band members could not decide how to go about re-releasing the album -- with an established label or as a grass-roots do-it-themselves effort -- nor could they agree on how to spend the album's potential profits.
The Democrat-voting band members wanted to send the profits to the Kerry campaign while the two Republicans in the group, Mr. Radcliffe and Mr. Gagarin, disagreed, refusing to contribute their portion to politics.
"If the proceeds from my songs go to the Democratic National Convention, I'll be worked up," said former SouthCoast resident Mr. Radcliffe.
Rather than agree on the nature of the album's re-release, the band's two partisan factions re-released two separate albums.
Mr. Radcliffe's version, which was re-released by New Bedford's Wepacket Island Records, features the original cover art: a purple outline of five musicians. Mr. Radcliffe, a longtime journalist and professional musician, plans to sell the albums at his upcoming concerts.
The other version of the album is digitally remastered and available online for $14. The Democratic members of the band plan to contribute their profit from the album's sales to the Kerry campaign.
Sales figures for the two albums were not available, but both parties have high hopes that the public's heightened interest in Sen. Kerry's past will translate into hearty record sales.
"I think the publicity is pretty funny," Mr. Gagarin said. "We never thought anybody would discover it."
Although Sen. Kerry is not involved in the former band members' disputes or in the competing re-release of the records, some band members do see parallels between John Kerry the musician and John Kerry the politician.
Both politics and music require "cool under fire" and "learning how to not get tied up with the groupies," Mr. Radcliffe said.
Local civil trial lawyer Philip N. Beauregard called the re-release of two separate albums legal, provided that all band members, including Sen. Kerry, receive a share of any profits.
The real litmus test for John Kerry the politician, Mr. Beauregard said, is to see if he can solve the fighting amongst his former band mates.
This story appeared on Page A1 of The Standard-Times on August 2, 2004
The Democrat-voting band members wanted to send the profits to the Kerry campaign while the two Republicans in the group, Mr. Radcliffe and Mr. Gagarin, disagreed, refusing to contribute their portion to politics."If the proceeds from my songs go to the Democratic National Convention, I'll be worked up," said former SouthCoast resident Mr. Radcliffe.
Rock and Roll PING! Email me to get on/off this list
"It must have been quite difficult to be in a garage band that recorded in the mid 60s and yet produced nothing of any lasting value."
That's called a "burn".
If you haven't heard a clip of this band, go here....
http://www.theelectrasrockandrollband.com/samples.htm
They really were pretty good. It may have been the last thing Kerry was good at.
That version of the album's proceeds go entirely to the DNC. The other website http://www.johnkerryandtheelectras.com splits the money among all of the band members.
It was supposed to already be launched. I'm including the website address for completeness.
I wasn't even remotely planning to buy it, but thanks for letting me know and for posting another link that doesn't go to the DNC.
The Republican members' of the Electras' website is now running.
http://www.johnkerryandtheelectras.com/
It does not address the controversy at all.
Thanks for the new link. I will get rid of my other one.
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