THE CLIQUE from Red Bank, New Jersey (1962-1969)

by Achille Brunet

(The Daily Register - Dec 27, 1965)

Even if they never released anything at the time, The Clique from Red Bank, New Jersey were nevertheless one of the most popular acts in Monmouth County as part of the same scene as Bruce Springsteen's The Castiles or The Mods, also playing regularly in New York, and almost made it on wax no less than three times! Let's uncover some archives...

The Clique were first formed in Red Bank in the early 60s as The Velveliers by John Presti, Emil Talarico, Jimmy Scott and Nick Migliaccio. The band members were around 15 and the band attended school dances.

Emil's brother, Vinnie Talarico (aka "Little Vinnie"), started to perform with them around 1962 as he was only 9. At first, Vinnie's inclusion was only a gimmick for his older brother's band. "I was about six years younger than they were," Vinnie recalled in 1977, "so they asked me to come along and try to sing on stage. I'd sing about four or five songs before I'd get tired and have to go home, but it got them jobs."

(The Daily Register - July 17, 1964)

In July 1964, the band had become a quintet with Vinnie becoming a constant member of the band. Nick Migliaccio had left and been replaced by Mel Taylor on sax. When members started to drift apart after the summer, Little Vinnie took up lead singing. Several members attended Red Bank High School.

In the fall of 1964, the lineup that would be The Clique had solidified with John Presti (bass guitar, of New Shrewsbury), Vinnie Talarico (lead singer, of Red Bank), Emil Talarico (drums, of Red Bank) and Jimmy Scott (lead guitar, of Middletown) and the band added Nick Soviero of Little Silver on keyboards.

(The Daily Register - June 11, 1965)

The band appeared at the Old Mill in Spring Lake, the Holiday Inn in Long Branch, the Shrewsbury Yacht Club in Oceanport, CYO dances, and numerous schools and private parties. At that point, they could play a variety of styles ranging from rock'n'roll to jazz, dixieland and even foxtrot.

The band changed name to The Clique around May 1965, when they provided the dance music at a Church 'Crowning' in Eatontown. They also played for the opening of the Teendezvous country club in Red Bank in June and soon played two nights a week throughout the summer. They would appear there until the late 1960s.

(The Daily Register - July 16, 1965)

The band was managed by John Muller and Mark Finucane of New Shrewsbury and soon became one of the best bands North of Ashbury Park. On July 16, the band was sponsored by Teendezvous owner J. Kelsey Burr, Jr. to play at the New Jersey pavilion of the World's Fair in New York and played twice on WNYC as part as Mrs. Laurence Taylor's program "Worlds Fair Spotlights".

The band also met with Columbia records and announced two songs written by Jimmy Scott, "1965" and "The Clique", would be recorded for a single, but no release followed.

In December, the band attended the Teenage Band of 1965 contest in St. Joseph School in Keyport along with 15 other bands from the area, including The Inmates that would soon release "You Tell Lies' on Columbia. Jury included Brian Epstein. More than 1,200 teenagers flooded the place.

Little Vinnie holds trophy.

(The Daily Register - Dec 31, 1965)

The Clique won first place, grabbing the $200 cash prize and engraved trophy. The jury praised their showmanship and originality of arrangement for "What Love Has Joined Together", "I'm Down" and "It's My Life". The Inmates ranked second. (The story goes that The Mods were also part of a contest that The Clique won, but it wasn't that one, unless they went by another name at that point.)

In 1966, the band left the area in order to pursue their performing career. Though four members had finished High School, the band confined their performances to weekends to allow 13-year-old Vinnie to complete his education.

(The Keyport Weekly - May 5, 1966)

During the next three months, The Clique appeared at the Park-Sheraton Hotel and Downtown Club in New York, at Rutgers University, and various other clubs and discotheques in New York and New Jersey including the Sound Room, Dover, and occasionally coming back at the Teendezvous. 

They also attended recording sessions in January and it was announced in February that a single had been recorded and would be released March or April. The plan likely fell flat again as it was never mentioned again after March.

(The Daily Register - May 27, 1966)

The band also planned a tour in Chicago and in Florida for the spring but apparently stayed in New Jersey, New York and Delaware, playing colleges and discotheques. In May, they were back at the Teendezvous for an anniversary party for the club, while still playing in New York. 

Vinnie also played solo performances at several Long Island beach clubs but not for long. "I had an opportunity to out on my own but I didn't take it. I guess I basically was afraid to leave my brother and the band," he recalled in 1977.

Around that time, The Clique changed manager for Paul D. Moroney of Matawan. The band signed with Nemperor Artists Ltd., a company founded by Brian Epstein and Nat Weiss (the guy who had brought The Beatles to the US) for managing artists. In July, the band gave news of a new upcoming record, produced by Brian Epstein and pop band The Cyrkle (of "Red Rubber Ball" fame) for a release planned in September. The A side was to be "There's Nothing Sacred Now".

The reworked Clique lineup.

(The Daily Register - Jan 10, 1967)

From September, the band started to play at the Hullabaloo dance club at the Oaks on Highway 35 in Middletown, a club where The Castiles started to play regularly as well. Other bands featured there included The Chlan, The Knack, The Teburys, 5 Of A Kind and The Caste. The Clique also attended dances in Eatontown and Matawan.

In November, the single was rescheduled for a release in early 1967 because of personnel changes in the group. John Presti was drafted and Jimmy Scott also left (presumably for the same reason). Jimmy Barr from Colts Neck was brought in in replacement. The new lineup shared the bill with The Mods (of "Ritual" and the Back From The Grave version of "Satisfaction") at the Surf 'N See Club in December.

On January 3, 1967, The Clique was back in studio and cut the only song by the band to have reached us for now at Dick Charles recording service in New York.

Information on this acetate are next to nothing, but despite the fact several bands roamed the country as The Clique at the time, several things point toward the New Jersey band, particularly the New York location and kiddie vocals that would perfectly fit Little Vinnie. It's difficult to be sure but it seems very likely. It's probably not one of the songs for the single, maybe intended album tracks or rehearsal.

The single was announced again for a national release in March. The band also opened a teen shop named after themselves on Little Street in Matawan where they sold records, pop art posters, teen fashions and items from Greenwich Village. The shop was operated by Moroney but the band regularly checked in. The shop remained open at least until July.

Clique manager Paul Moroney tries 

a "Clique tie" outside the band's shop.

(The Daily Register - Feb 21, 1967)

Unfortunately, an embarrassing silence regarding the single followed again and the release was likely cancelled. The band went on playing at the Hullabaloo and attended dances including a swim party at the YMCA's Camp Arrowhead in July along with The Mods and The Castiles in July.

From then on, news about The Clique became sparse. It was no more question of any release. The band came back to Camp Arrowhead for the summer of 1968 with bands like The Source, the Harlequins and the Castiles.

In September, the band attended a teen dance in St. Mary's Memorial Hall in Middletown, hosted by DJ and TV star Murray the 'K'. They kept playing teen and CYO dances until the end of the year.

(The Daily Register - July 6, 1967)

At the beginning of 1969, The Clique was back at the Teendezvous until June. Back at Arrowhead yet again for the summer, they shared the bill a couple of times with The Rusty Chains. 

By that point, the band featured only the Talarico brothers, plus Jim Scott who had apparently come back. Scott teached at the Red Bank School of Music until the late 1960s and also cut an unidentified record in New York City with John Cubbage (of the early 60s duo Denny & Jay) that was produced by Tommy Falcone. The Clique closed the season at Arrowhead with one last dance at the end of August.

(The Daily Register - Sept 30, 1966)

Organist Nick Soviero had went on with a band called Scaborough Fair. In late 1969 he joined The Source. The band played at the Teendezvous. The band had won four band contest prior to Nick's addition to the lineup.

The Clique then evolved into "Fate". Scott and the Talarico Brothers stuck together and they co-wrote songs from the early to mid-1970s. "Fate" also included Tom Zvoncheck and kept playing until 1975.

Vinnie Talarico graduated from Red Bank High School and majored for two years in acting at Brookdale Community College, while still perfoming each weekends in clubs. After "Fate", he was in a band called Skyline still with Jim Scott for about a year. He then became an extremely popular singer and entertainer at Resorts International hotel in Atlantic City. He passed away in 2019 at the age of 66. Emile Talarico passed in October 2024.

Sax player Mel Taylor seems to be still around and has a site HERE.

The Clique has also been lengthily evoked at garagehangover HERE in the comments under the Mods article.

Vinnie sings in New York clubs.

(The Daily Register - Oct 9, 1977)

THE BACKGROUNDS - "Day Breaks At Dawn" b/w "Oh Baby Please Take Me" (Cenco – 110, 1967)

by Achille Brunet

Buried in the depths of time, the case of The Backgrounds had remained an unfathomable mystery. Only a couple of copies surfaced and soon became highly sought-after collector items mostly for the A side, "Day Breaks At Dawn", the mind-blowing fuzz riff of which had more than one head spinning. Drummer, vocalist and songwriter SY GORAIEB finally provides the story of the band.

The Backgrounds was formed as The Four Aces in 1965, first as a four-piece, by teens from Saint John the Baptist Catholic Elementary School in Norwalk, California when one of their teachers suggested they become a band.

Sy Goraieb: "The four of us were already friends, especially Johnny and me, so we did. I was the drummer and lead vocalist for the band. The others were Roland Bautista (guitar), Bobby Torres (bass) and Johnny Graveline (keys). For all of us, it was our first band, and like so many others at that time, it was the result of The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show on February 9, 1964. It changed everything! On the block where we rehearsed, on Saturdays, you would find six other bands doing the same thing! Our first performance was for our student body. So much fun! It was a great time!"

THE BACKGROUNDS

From left to right: Sy Goraieb, Johnny Graveline, Bobby Torres, 

Roland Bautista and on the floor is Dick Harris (Courtesy of Sy Goraieb).

At some point, the band changed name to The Backgrounds. A year or so later, the members went to different High Schools in Gardena, Lawndale and Los Angeles, CA but kept playing together. It was then that Richard "Dick" Harris came into the picture.

SG: "Roland went to Serra High School, Johnny to Loyola High School and that’s funny, I can’t remember where Bobby went. Dick and I were Leuzinger High School students and he and I were involved in the music department. When he heard our band, he asked if he could join. He was incredibly talented. When he joined he and I shared the lead vocals. He was with us for one year in 1966-'67."

The band played at dances, parties, and private functions, but were too young to play clubs. They also shared a few concerts with other bands and participated in Battle of the Bands. The band was interested in different music styles, ranging from British Invasion material to Soul music and Rhythm & Blues.

SG: "Because of Dick and my very different styles of singing, we could cover a lot. Johnny was an incredible pianist, especially for his age, and that gave us much freedom to do songs by the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder, Motown and so much more."

In late 1966/early '67, The Backgrounds recorded two songs at an unidentified studio in Los Angeles: "Day Breaks At Dawn", a great fuzz rocker written by Richard Harris, and "Oh Baby Please Take Me", a catchy soul ballad written by Sy. The pair was released on the Hollywood label Cenco, owned by Mike Gradney.

SG: "I learned how to play guitar at that time for one reason, to write songs. 'Oh Baby…' was the first song I ever wrote. Dick was a great songwriter, I learned a lot from him! Cenco was a label that a friend’s dad started and when he heard us, he wanted to record us. Normally I sang on my songs and Dick as well but we decided for the record to have one vocalist. Dick sang both songs. But we shared the vocals on all of the other material. Nothing came from it and the record slipped into oblivion. This was the only recording we did."

The single was released in February 1967 and never went anywhere. It was so rare Sy wasn't even sure the record existed. Shortly after a benefit concert at Leuzinger High in May 1967, The Backgrounds broke up.

(The Daily Breeze - May 25, 1967)

SG: "After Dick graduated from High School, he got more serious about acting and pursued it. At that time, he was an incredible actor."

In High School in 1965-'66, Dick Harris had sung in "Oklahoma" and "My Fair Lady". While in his senior year at Leuzinger, he won the role of the king in the musical play 'The King And I'. He also directed the comedy and held the romantic lead in "You Can't Take It With You" while attending rehearsals of "Guys And Dolls" at El Camino College. At 17, Harris was the first person to win a leading role at the College while still a student at Leuzinger. Sy lost touch with Dick Harris so it's not know what became of him afterward. (He's not to be confused with prolific movie actor Richard Harris, born in 1930.)

SG: "Bobby, I believe, continued in teaching guitar (although I’m exactly sure what he's been up to)."

In the following months, Roland Bautista stepped in in replacement of guitarist Dewayne Russell in The Velvet Illusions, a band from the Washington state that had relocated to Hollywood, CA. Roland's blistering lead guitar can be heard with certainty on "Lazy", "The Stereo Song" and "Minny Shimmy", and possibly "Hippy Town", all released in Nov 1967. Though his guitar tracks are less prominent in the mix than with the blasting fuzz of "Day Breaks At Dawn", his style is unmistakable.

SG: "In 1967, Johnny and I joined Al McKay and The Turbans, a ten-piece soul band with friends from our neighborhood. Al asked us both to join after Roland had left. We all remained friends. That was a great band also!"

Al McKay and The Turbans had made two records in 1966, including one on Cenco. Al McKay and drummer Ralph Johnson would later become key members of Earth, Wind and Fire. Lester Smith, leader of the Turbans, was a nephew of Louis Armstrong. More about it HERE.

SG: "Johnny and I toured and recorded together up through our late 20’s and are still very close friends to this day. In a latter band called Orion, Johnny and I wrote more and recorded a bunch. This was between 1973-76. Nothing was formally released at that time. Johnny went on to play with various bands and write songs for various projects."

SG: "I later played with different bands, signed with Capitol Records as the drummer and one of two lead vocalists of the group Future Flight, produced and songs written and co-written with Lamont Dozier (the famed Motown writers and producers Holland, Dozier, Holland) for one album in 1981. Since 1984, I’ve been involved in Church music as a worship pastor and songwriter and have written songs for Integrity Music. In 1993, I re-recorded "Oh Baby Please Take Me" for a music library album called "Remember The 50's" that I produced for Sonoton Music. The song has since had some activity in various TV and Film projects."

Roland Bautista went on to record as a not consistent full member of Earth, Wind & Fire in different periods of time. He also collaborated as session man and songwriter for The Crusaders, The Jackson 5, Lamont Dozier, Ramsey Lewis, Randy Crawford, George Duke, Wayne Henderson and Hubert Laws. He passed away in 2012.

__________

Many thanks to Sy Goraieb. More information about Richard "Dick" Harris would be appreciated.