“PRE-PUNK”? See the lineup of artists below these notes. This CD is a mini time capsule of some great music that came out of Cleveland, Ohio during the Sixties. By the mid-Sixties, Rock music was breaking away from the bland clean-cut sweater-boy music, as promoted and hyped on Dick Clark’s weekly TV show, American Bandstand. It had been getting back to a meaner, grittier sound - most of it coming from The U.K. It was in this atmosphere that Alan Cassaro and Bob Scherl first formed INTEGRITY RECORDS in Cleveland, Ohio in 1964. After two 45 releases by Alan, they began to develop songs and productions for other Ohio artists. This CD includes all the songs they developed for other acts, as well as pre-production material that was never finalized in the studio. The first outside production was by “MONA LOWE and THE CRESCENTS”, a dynamic fifteen-year-old R&B and pop singer, backed by one of Cleveland’s most popular bands, the “Baskerville Hounds” (AKA “The Tulu Babies), and the singing group, The CRESCENTS, which had recorded some gospel sessions for the local Reserve label. This session in 1965 most likely would have been the third release on INTEGRITY, but Bob Scherl got drafted a few weeks after producing the session, and that brought an abrupt end to any future releases on the Integrity label. Without Bob around to manage the business side of the label, Alan had to make other plans. After Bob was shipped off to basic training, Alan went to New York City to pitch his songs to Gene Pitney and elsewhere, as well as do some remixes of his sessions at Bell Sound Studios. By chance, Hy Weiss, of Old Town Records, came in to the studio while Al was mixing, chomping on a big cigar, and he liked what he heard. “That sounds like a hit”. Alan wound up with a record deal with OLD TOWN Records, and the single kicks off the CD. There is the Buddy Holly inspired “MAKE BELIEVE”, which received great reviews in all the trade magazines, backed with “PRETTY GIRL YOU’RE LYIN’”, a mean, gritty rocker. This was issued as OLD TOWN #1192. Tex-Mex styled releases were a rarity for that label, and Larry Finnigan’s “DEAR ONE” is the only other rocker in this style that comes to mind when considering Old Town’s many releases. The backing band on these two sides consisted of members of the group, “Tom King and The Starfires”. It could be noted that this was easily one of Cleveland’s most successful bands, ever, as they would eventually splinter into “The Outsiders”, “The James Gang”, and “Climax”, all very successful groups. Somehow, by hook, crook, and dumb luck, the army stationed Bob Scherl right in Cleveland. During his off-duty hours, Bob and Al were once again working on new projects, which they loosely referred to as “INTEGRITY PRODUCTIONS”. Of note, they produced 4 studio demos with the MISSING LYNX, which would quickly lead to that group’s signing with Bob Crewe’s DYNO VOICE label, where they recorded “BEHIND LOCKED DOORS”, a record that has become a cult classic; one of the Holy Grails to collectors in search of the true roots of early punk, garage, and psychedelia. This is the first time these studio tracks have ever been issued, and they are all solid performances by the group. (Note; during the fade out of “When a Woman Goes Bad”, Mark Ostrovsky screams, “I’m goin’ home and kill mom and dad”. That was actually part of Al’s original lyric. Pre-punk? Indeed!) Three songs, “I LISTEN TO THE BAND”, “TALKIN’ BOUT MY LADY”, and “THIS LONELY TOWN”, were specifically written for the Youngstown group, THE HUMAN BEINZ. They passed on the first two songs, but “THIS LONELY TOWN” was recorded and included on their hit Capitol album, “NOBODY BUT ME”, as well as on other collections over the years. This became Al and Bob’s most successful songwriting collaboration. Another local Cleveland producer, Carl Maduri, did a remake of “ BLUE LIGHTS”, which had been Alan’s first INTEGRITY release in 1964 He produced a female version of the song with SHERRY STARLYN and released it on his SUNBURST Label. (Nothing really happened with this fluffy pop song, but Carl did go on to greater success later on as the producer of some really big records, “The Morning After”, “Play that Funky Music White Boy”, etc) The home demo of "THE RACK" by Al Cassaro and Bob Scherl is probably the most violent track on the collection, an acoustic one at that. But, you can almost hear the flesh literally being ripped from Al and Bob's anguished bodies as they scream and shout at the person responsible for all this pain. Is it a person, or is it society? Likewise, "VERTIGO", another home demo, explores the complete depersonalization of contemporary man caused by Sixties society, a society wrought by war and assassinations. These two songs were never taken into the studio because they were considered to be too edgy and anti-social. "I get into my car, light a left-handed cigar; I smoke it with MY RIGHT HAND". (From "Vertigo") In 1968, Bob moved on to Chicago to run national promotion for Mercury Records, and that marked the end of Al and Bob’s productions together, although they did remain best of friends through the years. Alan never stopped singing and recording, which he still does today. Before Bob died in 2002, both he and Al agreed that working together on these songs and sessions was just about the most fun either of them ever had. There were plans at that time to release a CD of their work together, but it had to be delayed it until now. In the final analysis, it was always more about the music than the money. And so it remains today. All of the songs were taken from the original Studio and demo tape masters, with the one exception of Sherry Starlyn’s recording of “BLUE LIGHTS”, which was taken from vinyl. CREDITS tracks 1-10 recorded at Cleveland Recording, Ken Hamann engineer (1,2,3): “ALAN CASSARO”, Vocal & guitar; Tom King, guitar; Walter Nims, lead guitar; Jimmy Fox, drums; Mert Madsen, bass & harmonica (all members of “Tom King & Starfires”) (4,5,6,7):”The MISSING LYNX”: Mark Ostrovsky, Vocal and guitar; Bill Jaros, Keyboards and lead guitar; Neil Hecht drummer; Pete Stankovich, bass; extra Harmonies by Al Cassaro (8,9): “MONA LOWE & The CRESCENTS”: Mona Lowe, Vocals; Doug McCutcheon, keyboard & harmonica; Larry Meese, lead guitar; Dante Rossi, rhythm guitar; Bill Emery, bass; John Kirkpatrick, drums (all members of “The Baskerville Hounds”): (11) “The HUMAN BEINZ”: Prod by Ting Markulin; Steve Markulin, vocal & bass; Rick Young, Lead Guitar; Mark Frazier, 12-string guitar; Dave Wilson, drums; Ting Markulin, acoustic 6-string guitar Capitol Records would not let us use the Human Beinz track, so special thanks go out to Ting Markulin of The Human Beinz for contributing an alternate performance of the song for this CD, featuring a later incarnation of the group. Thanks also to Carl Maduri for letting us use Sherry Starlyn’s recording of “Blue Lights”, which he produced and issued on the SUNBURST label #109. Here's the actual lineup of artists and (writers) for the album PRE-PUNK 1965-1968 Cleveland, Ohio “STUDIO TRACKS” Produced by Alan Cassaro and Bob Scherl (except 10 & 11) 1. Alan Cassaro: Make Believe (Cassaro) Old Town Records #1192 2. Alan Cassaro: Pretty Girl, You’re Lying (Cassaro) Old Town Records #1192 3. Alan Cassaro: C’mon Everybody (Eddie Cochran/ Jerry Capehart) 4. The Missing Lynx: The Mover (Cassaro/Scherl) 5. The Missing Lynx: Don’t Waste My Time (Cassaro/Ostrovsky) 6. The Missing Lynx: When a Woman Goes Bad (Cassaro/Scherl) 7. The Missing Lynx: Gotta Get You Outta My Mind (Cassaro/Scherl) 8. Mona Lowe & the Crescents: Way Over There (Gordy/Robinson) 9. Mona Lowe & the Crescents: No Time To Lose (Parker Cropper) 10. The Human Beinz: This Lonely Town; prod: by Joe “Ting” Markulin 11. Sherry Starlyn: Blue Lights; prod: by Carl Maduri - Sunburst Records #109 12. Alan Cassaro (with Mona Lowe): Pretty Girl, You’re Lying (Cassaro) “PRE-PRODUCTION DEMOS” Produced by Alan Cassaro 13. Alan Cassaro: I Listen to the Band (Cassaro) 14. Alan Cassaro: Talking Bout My Lady (Cassaro) 15. Alan Cassaro: This Lonely Town (Cassaro/Scherl) 16. Al and Little Bob: The Rack (Cassaro/Scherl) 17. Al, Little Bob and Mona Lowe: Vertigo #1 (Cassaro/Scherl) 18. Mona Lowe (demo): Down Home Girl (Leiber/Butler) 19. Alan Cassaro: Gotta Get You Outta My Mind (Cassaro/Scherl) 20. Alan Cassaro: Blue Lights (Cassaro/Scherl) 21. Alan Cassaro: Baby What’s Happenin’ (Cassaro) 22. Alan Cassaro: Make Believe (Cassaro) practice vocal to track 23. Alan Cassaro: Vertigo #2 (electric version) (Cassaro/Scherl) 24. Alan Cassaro: What’d I Say (Ray Charles) 25. Little Bob and Al: Please Please Me (Lennon/McCartney) 26. Little Bob and Al:The Nurd (Cassaro/Scherl) 27. Little Bob and Al: The Coffee Break (Cassaro/Scherl)