![]() Here’s an excerpt of an interview which we shot with Don at this music festival, where he discusses the formation of the band and the creation of “Little Girl,” their “one-hit wonder,” which he wrote with Bob GonzalezĪs fate would have it, the Syndicate of Sound actually performed and recorded a live version of LOUIE LOUIE before “Little Girl” was ever released.īack in September 1965, they performed and recorded this song as part of their live set at the Silver Dollar Saloon, a teen dance club inside the Frontier Village amusement park in San Jose. Block) shot some video of their performance at the BayPop music festival in San Francisco. “Little Girl” was their one and only hit record, reaching the US national pop charts in June 1966, peaking at #5 on Cash Box and #8 on Billboard. The band eventually disbanded in 1970, then reunited in 1990, continuing to play a handful of shows up until the present. By the time the band recorded their first album, Larry Ray had left and was replaced by Jim Sawyers. Don (vocals/guitar) and Bob Gonzalez (bass) were previously in a couple of other bands ( Lenny Lee and the Nightmen and the Pharaohs*), before teaming up with John Sharkey (keyboards), Larry Ray (lead guitar), and John Duckworth (drums) to create the Syndicate of Sound in 1964. The Syndicate of Sound was a rock band from San Jose, California. He was a founding member of the Syndicate of Sound, co-writer of “Little Girl”, and it was his singing performance that “delivered” the song and made it the hit that it continues to be………. We are all saddened and shocked by Don’s unexpected passing. His death was announced on the Syndicate of Sound Facebook page:ĭon died peacefully Octoin his sleep. A whiff of incense in the air will help the audience time travel, as will a couple of go-go dancers.We recently lost Don Baskin, singer / founding member of Syndicate of Sound. Syndicate of sound tv#The show opens with a 20-minute video of TV commercials and other cultural touchstones from that year. “He was very cool.” So cool, in fact, that the hardest working man in show business invited the Syndicate of Sound to open for him at an appearance that summer at Cow Palace.īaskin (vocals), Gonzalez and Sawyers (guitar) will be performing at TOPS, joined by Pat Hennessy on drums and Tom Muller on keyboards. Once we explained we knew all his instrumentals, it opened the door,” says Gonzalez, who plays bass. Gonzalez and Baskin even met the great James Brown while the two acts waited to perform on TV’s American Bandstand. How were they to know that “Little Girl” would, years later, land them in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? (Sample lyrics: “You can leave, little girl, I don’t want you ’round no more/If you come knockin’, you won’t get past my door… yeah!) The song is on permanent rotation as part of the One Hit Wonders exhibit at the Cleveland museum.Īs soon as the tune took off, Bell Records put the Syndicate of Sound–whose other members were John Sharkey, John Duckworth and Jim Sawyers (who replaced Larry Ray after the song was recorded)–on tour. “We wanted to be popular with the girls that was the motivation for all pop music at the time. “We just wrote that song to keep our names on the chart and keep our manager happy,” says Baskin. It came on the heels of the group’s first efforts, “Prepare for Love,” “Tell the World” and “Hang On.” They say they had no idea what was in store for them in just a matter of months after “Little Girl” was recorded in San Francisco in January 1966, then released by New York’s Bell Records. Syndicate members Bob Gonzalez and Don Baskin co-wrote the song that quickly climbed into Top 10 territory nationally. 22-23 at the Theatre on San Pedro Square (TOSPS), 29 N. That memorable year is fondly re-created by the Syndicate of Sound–who disbanded in 1970 and reformed two decades later–in a theater/music event called 1966, All Over Again! It will be presented 8 p.m. ![]() ![]() The group was called the Syndicate of Sound and in 1966, armed with a hit single called “Little Girl,” was nearly as hot a commodity as any pop act that didn’t count John, Paul, George and Ringo as members. ![]() Two years after the Beatles established dominion over the American rock ‘n’ roll scene, a garage band from San Jose was making its own mark on the music that teenagers grooved to at the time. ![]()
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