Archival Buffalo News feature articles

  Two local music legends here – singer Chuck Vicario, who went on to be lead singer in Big Wheelie & The Hubcaps, Buffalo’s answer to Sha Na Na; and manager Fred Caserta, who found religion and founded Kingdom Bound, the mega Christian summer music festival at Darien Lake amusement park.   May 15, 1971   Friendship Train Runs on Five-Part Harmony           Rich Antolucci, manager of The Scene, is winding things up with the guy from Guider magazine while Friendship Train tells the photographer that they don’t want to pose with instruments.         “Hey,” someone says, “how about that amusement park up by Ellicott Creek? You could take a picture of us on the train.”         The sun is giving Niagara Falls Boulevard its first summer licks as our caravan pulls in on Earl Dealing. The surprised amusement-park owner says pictures are fine with him. He ...

      Remember that John Sebastian show mentioned in the story about the sound guys at KRC Associates? I saw it here in Buffalo , my second straight night in Kleinhans Music Hall . Here’s the review of both shows in Monday’s paper:   May 3, 1971 Kleinhans Music Hall Soulful Sebastian, Melancholy Mary           At a time when James Taylor is defining new levels of sadness in us all, it seems like a long, hard way down from the innocent mid ‘60s.         What brought it home over the weekend was seeing two of the people we were digging back then – John Sebastian and Mary Travers – both working without the groups they found fame with, both out to establish some new reality from the old memories.         Which was great for Sebastian. The guiding light of the Lovin’ Spoonful conjured up all kinds of golden smiling nostalgia in Kleinhans Music Hall...

  Our good friend Dan Sack makes an appearance here in a hard-working supporting role. All that hair on top of his head in the photo is now under his chin. The sound company is still around, now known as Indigo Productions. See Footnote at the end.   May 8, 1971   They’re Good in Audio An ordinary week might find KRC Associates doing sound and maybe lighting for three or four shows, but lately a week like that would be considered a vacation. The 21st consecutive work day got rolling around 1 p.m. last Saturday when Dan Sack and Fred Sandner, sleepless for three days earlier in the week, eased a big yellow rental truck onto the Kensington Expressway and pointed it toward Wilkes-Barre , Pa. In back were four bass speakers (two 400-pound black boxes and two exponential horns), four high-frequency “radio” horns, two monitor speakers, four amplifiers, a 15-channel mixing console and, of course, 15 bass-and-treble-adjustable microphones to go with it. In all, rough...

  A portrait of a singer well on his way to becoming a pillar of the country music community. And, as you’ll see in the Footnote at the end, he not only did that once, but left town and came back to become a pillar all over again.  May 1, 1971   ‘Hardest Business in the World’ But Bobby Willard Enjoys Playing           “You know,” my lady Laura says last Saturday night, “Bobby Willard’s different from those other country singers we’ve seen. He’s smoother.”         Sure enough, instead of coming at you like a rough-and-ready barroom buddy, Bobby Willard radiates the easy hospitality of a bright young political hopeful. The president of the Jaycees instead of an all-night poker player. A portrait of a singer well on his way to becoming a pillar of the country music community. And, as you’ll see in the Footnote at the end, he not only did that once, but left town and came back to become a pill...

  No, these guys did not name themselves after a beer. Labatt’s did not introduce its lo-cal brew until 1983. They did, however, find other allure in the Great White North. See the Footnote at the end of the story.   April 24, 1971 Blue Lyte: Friendly Men and Good Music   “All set? All right, this is unnamed melody, take three,” Steve Raiken announces. “Oh boy,” says Sue Pfeffer before the guitars begin. “I get to write another lead sheet. Actually, I’m all set. THEY’RE the ones that have to struggle.” Thin, round glasses, long kinky hair, purple velvety pants, Sue is Steve’s girl, the invisible third member of Blue Lyte – she even made it a trio for a while, forcing pop piano through her classical fingers. * * * BEING a music major at UB makes it easy enough to do those lead sheets, however, when the two of them come up with an original song. She’s done 30 so far and a lot of them start like this – Steve riffing single lines on top of partner Marc Cashman’...

  April 17, 1971 Make Room for Another Polka Giant         Short, round-faced Frank Gnojek leans a muscular Penn Central freight yard arm on the bottom half of the Dutch door in his Indian Church Road basement and grins.         For three years it was quiet. His son John, who put in all the acoustic tile and built that little control room, empty now, had rehearsed bands down here for 10 years. That was until things broke up in 1967 and, well, you could hear the TV better, but it wasn’t the same.         Now John’s back, weaving his trumpet across those two-four and three-four rhythms since December with this new group. And there’s poster for the up on the wall and this band is really something. * * * THE GORAL BOYS . For the people who get their music at the Strand Ballroom on Clinton Street or at the Matthew Glab Post, The Goral Boys are a veritable supergroup. ...