In 1964 “Terry Kirkman” meets “Gary Jules Alexander” who was finishing up his enlistment in the US Navy. They make an agreement that they will meet up in early 1965 when Jules ends his service time. They first formed a 13-member group called “The Men” but this band was very short lived. The group splits up just after a few shorts weeks leaving only 6 members. The remaining members renamed themselves “The Association” at the suggestion of Terry’s wife. The group would then consist of Terry on vocals and keyboards, Jules on vocals and guitar, “Ted Bluechel Jr.” on drums, “Brian Cole” on vocals and bass, “Russ Giguere” on vocals and guitar, and “Jim Yester” on vocals and guitar. Russ had previously been with the group “The Inner Tubes” and Jim was discharged from the US Army 1 week prior to joining the group. They rehearsed for 6 months together before they performed for the first time professionally. Their very first appearance together in public is at the “Ice House” in Pasadena, CA. Their very first single called “Babe, I’m Gonna Leave You” is released on the “Jubilee” record label but didn’t even make the record charts.
In January 1966 they sign a contract with a brand new recording company called “Valiant” records. In February they release their second single a remake of a “Bob Dylan” song titled “One Too Many Mornings” and it also doesn’t make the records charts. In May they start recording their debut album. On 4 June they finally have their first big hit with their 3rd single release “Along Comes Mary” that peaked at #7 on the US Charts. On 2 July they appear in concert at the County Bowl in Santa Barbara, CA along with “The Beach Boys” and “The Sir Douglas Quintet”. On 22 and 23 July they appear with the group “Quicksilver Messenger Service” at Filmore West in San Francisco, CA. They next release “Cherish” that tops the US singles charts on 27 August and stays there for 3 weeks. They release their debut album titled “And then…Along Comes The Association” that peaks at #5 on 1 October on the US album charts. Their next release is “Pandora’s Golden Heebie Jeebies” that refers to a nightclub on the Sunset Strip located in Hollywood, CA called “Pandora’s Box” and the song peaks at #35 on 26 November on the US singles charts.
Their next release was titled “No Fair At All” that peaks at #51 on 4 February 1967 on the US singles charts. On 4 March their second album “Renaissance” that peaked at #34 on the US album charts. In April “Valiant” records was purchased by “Warner Brothers” records and Gary leaves to study meditation in India. Gary is replaced by “Hilario Ramos Jr.” on vocals and guitar who was playing for “The New Christy Minstrels”. Their next single release titled “Windy” went to number #1 on the US Charts on 27 May and stays there for 4 weeks. On 28 May they make their very first TV appearance on CBS on “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” show. They are the opening act at the “Monterey International Pop Festival” at the county fairgrounds in Monterey, CA on 16 June. In June they release their next single titled “We Love” that fails to reach the Top 100. On 5 August “Insight Out” peaks at #8 on the US album charts. They next release “Never My Love” that peaks at #2 for 2 weeks stuck behind “The Letter” by “The Box Tops” on 26 August on the US singles charts. The flip side “Requiem For The Masses” climbs the charts separately and stalls at #100 on 2 September. In November they are voted the #1 vocal group in the US for the year by the “Bill Gavin Radio Record Congress” dislodging “The Beatles” who had a 3 year consecutive reign as vocal group of the year.
On 3 February 1968 their next single titled “Everything That Touches You” peaks at #10 on the US charts. They appear on BBC TV’s “Top Of The Pops” show on 2 May to promote their next single “Time For Livin’” and they also appear at London’s Tottenham Royal” at the annual “New Musical Express” poll winners concert in Empire Pool, Wembley, London, England. In May they will also perform concerts in Europe in Bremen, Amsterdam, Brussels and in Antwerp. “Time Fir Livin’” would peak at #39 on 18 May on the US singles charts and peaks at #23 in the UK on 29 June. On 25 May “Birthday” peaks at #23 on the US album charts. Their next release is a total change in direction for the group when “Six Man Band” peaks at #47 on the US singles charts on 24 August. In September Gary rejoins the group and deciding to go back being called by his more famous nickname of Jules. In October their next single release “Enter The Young” that was originally recorded for their debut album in 1966 is finally released but it fails to make the US Top 100 charts.
They next have their biggest selling album release and only one to sell platinum in the compilation titled “Greatest Hits”. It peaks at #4 on the US album charts on 25 January 1969 and stays on the album charts for 23 weeks. On 15 March “Goodbye Columbus” peaks at #80 on the US singles charts. The album of the same name “Goodbye Columbus” is released next and is the soundtrack for the Movie of the same name and peaks at #99 on the US album charts on 6 September. The Movie stars “Richard Benjamin”, “Ali MacGraw”, “Jack Klugman”, “Michael Meyers” and others and is “R” rated for it’s sexual content. It is “Richard Benjamin’s” film debut. The title song for the movie would receive a Golden Globe nomination but would lose out to “Jean” sung by “Oliver” for the Movie “The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie”. “Ali MacGraw” would win “New Female Actor of The Year Award” for her appearance in “Goodbye Columbus”. On 18 October they would see their final Top 40 charting album when “The Association” peaked at #32 on the US album charts.
In July 1970 Russ would leave the group so he could begin a solo career. He releases his 1st solo album titled “Hexagram 16” but it would not chart and he would never see any solo charting success at all. Russ is replaced by “Richard Thompson” on keyboards who had previously played with the “Cosmic Brotherhood” and have his own group called “The Richard Thompson Trio”. On 22 August “The Association Live” peaks at #79 on the US album charts. Their next release is “Stop Your Motor” that peaks at #158 on the US album charts the next year on 21 August 1971. In 1972 they sign with “Columbia” records a division of CBS. On 10 June “Waterbeds In Trinidad!” peaks at #194 on the US album charts. The album includes songs written by “John Sebastian” WHO HAD JUST LEFT “The Lovin’ Spoonful”, “Gerry Goffin” and his wife “Carole King”. On 2 August 1972 Brian Cole dies in Los Angeles, CA from a drug overdose. On 24 February 1973 “Names, Tags, Numbers & Labels” on the “Mums” record label a subsidiary of “Columbia” peaks at #91 on the US singles charts. The group decides to disband in early 1973.
In 1975 original members Ted, Larry and Jim recruit new members to reform the group. They get “Maurice Miller” on percussion, David Vaught” on bass, “Dwayne Smith” on keyboards and “Art Johnson” on guitar. They sign a 1 year contract with “RCA” records and they release “One Sunday Morning” that fails to make the singles charts. This new version of the group quickly disband. Also in 1975 original members Jules and Gary join Terry and form the group called “Bijou”. In January 1981 the original members minus Brian who was replaced by “Ric Ulsky” reunites for an HBO TV Special. They sign a contract with “Electra” records and release “Dreamer” that peaks at #66 on the US singles charts on 31 January. It would become their final Top 100 charting single in the US. They begin to tour the US on the “Oldies Tour” circuit until 1984. They disbanded again but leased the group name out for use on select Oldies tours.
In 1995 a new lineup featuring “Donni Gougeon” on keyboards, “Paul Holland” on bass, “Bruce Pictor” on drums and “Del Ramos” on vocals leased the use of the name and released an album under the new name of “Association 1995” titled “A little Bit More” on the “Track” records label. On 1 June 1989 “The Association’s Greatest Hits” that had been previously released in 1968 has sold over 2 million copies and been certified as a multi platinum seller. In January 1999 the groups’ entire “Warner Brothers” record catalog is released on CD in Japan. My favorite CD by them is ”THE ASSOCIATION’S GREATEST HITS” that was released in 1968 on the “Warner Brothers” label.
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The Count Five were a San Jose group who had a top ten hit in 1966 with single Psychotic Reaction, a song that subsequently became a garage band standard and ensured that the group will be remembered in rock music history. The group were formed, originally as the Squires, in the early 1960's by two high school students John Michalski and Roy Chaney. After a few personnel changes the group comprised the two founders plus Sean Byrne, Butch Atkinson and Kenn Ellner, and this line-up adopted the Count Five name in 1964. The group were eventually signed to Double Shot records and released the Psychotic Reaction single in 1966. One album was released to follow up the success of the single and a number of other singles were released over the next couple of years but with no further success. The group split up in 1969 but have reunited briefly on occasions over the years.
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The Count Five singles
Psychotic Reaction / They're Gonna Get You, The Count Five, 1966
Peace Of Mind / The Morning After, The Count Five, 1966
You Must Believe Me / Teeny Booper Teeny Booper, The Count Five, 1967
Merry-Go-Round / Contrast, The Count Five, 1967
Declaration Of Independence / Revelation In Slow Motion, The Count Five, 1968
Mailman / Pretty Big Mouth, The Count Five, 1969
Strictly speaking, based on their raw talent, the Count Five wouldn't rate too much attention from music historians. The definitive one-hit wonders, they failed to make much of a lasting impression on the listening public or on music -- but just play that one hit, "Psychotic Reaction," even 40 years after the fact, and almost any audience will brighten up and want to hear more. Their one fault was that they could never generate more -- they tried but never issued another record half as good.
The Count Five started life in San Jose, CA, in the early '60s with a pair of high school students named John "Mouse" Michalski and Roy Chaney, who had played guitar and bass, respectively, in a succession of local bands such as Johnny & the GTOs and the Renegades, specializing in surf instrumental music. Still in their mid-teens, they changed their name to the Squires, added a singer (Kenn Ellner), and tried picking up on the British Invasion sound; this wouldn't be the last time the group attempted to adapt to the musical sounds around them. Sean Byrne, an Irish-born guitarist, singer, and songwriter attending San Jose City College, came aboard in late 1964, and the Squires made a local name for themselves over the ensuing year. Then, organist Phil Evans quit for personal reasons and drummer Skip Cordell joined another group; with the arrival of his replacement, Butch Atkinson, the group changed their name to the Count Five. It was just about then that Byrne put the finishing touches on a song he'd been outlining in his head, ultimately called "Psychotic Reaction."
That song, heard by a local DJ named Brian Lord, became the group's key to stardom, at least momentarily. It became a showcase for the band's abilities, especially guitarists Michalski and Byrne, and they began working it up into the crescendo of their stage act. At first it didn't seem to do much good, as the group was turned down by Capitol Records, Fantasy Records, and a handful of other California-based companies, but after working out a new arrangement of "Psychotic Reaction" with the band, Lord got the song and the group placed with Double Shot Records, a Los Angeles-based label. The record -- a chugging, fuzz tone-laden piece of punk defiance with more than a few signature licks and phrasings borrowed from Bo Diddley and the Yardbirds, among others, and a punk attitude that was worthy of the Standells -- eventually made number five nationally and number one in Los Angeles.
Unfortunately, the band was never able to follow up the hit with anything even remotely as successful. An album was rushed out, containing some ill-conceived originals, but nothing that the group did after "Psychotic Reaction" seemed to work. They tried reusing the same formula, working in a slightly more folk-rock vein, and attempting some fresh guitar pyrotechnics (on "The World" and "Pretty Big Mouth" and, in a psychedelic vein, on "Peace of Mind"), plus a pair of pretty fair Who covers ("My Generation" and "Out in the Street"), but by 1967, it was clear that the group's days were numbered. The strain of maintaining music careers while attending college -- which was essential to the members keeping their draft deferments -- took its toll, as did the dwindling bookings, as memory of "Psychotic Reaction" faded. In the end, after an attempt by Double Shot to keep Byrne as the only active member, the Count Five ceased to exist.
Their story might have ended there, as dimly remembered one-shot hitmakers, but for the 1972 release of Nuggets, Lenny Kaye's original '60s garage/psychedelic punk compilation. "Psychotic Reaction" may not have been the most original track on the album, but it was one of the more accessible, and still potent and enjoyable on its own terms six years after the fact; suddenly a new generation of enthusiasts discovered the Count Five. Yardbirds fans, in particular, tended to despise the group for having ripped off many of lead guitarist Jeff Beck's pyrotechnical tricks in a more commercially successful manner, but generally the song proved a popular oldie selection among more knowing '60s listeners, and there was demand for their album, which resulted in several rounds of reissues on vinyl and CD. In the decades since, the group has rated at least a mention in most histories of garage rock and psychedelic punk, and "Psychotic Reaction" is as much a standard of the genre as the Standells' "Try It" or the Thirteenth Floor Elevators' "You're Gonna Miss Me." ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide
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