Rock n' Roll Fever

Bruno White

Rock n' Roll Fever

On Town Records, a Baltimore, Maryland label owned by Jack Gale

1959

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Wicked

The Combonaires were formed in 1957 by Joe Wojtysiak on accordion and included Sal Danna on drums, Ray Kmoch on bass, John Moscato on guitar, and Tim Nadrowski on Tenor Sax and Clarinet, and a short time later, Charlie Prietz joined the group on alto sax. Sal and Ray attended Patterson Park High School , Tim Nadrowski attended St. Joseph High School and, Joe and John attended Baltimore Polytechnic Institute.

The early focus was playing for various East Baltimore and Dundalk Catholic Youth organizations including Holy Rosary, Our Lady of Fatima, St. Michael, St. Rita and St. Patrick to name a few. Teen Centers included Hamilton Recreation Center and Glen Burnie Armory. The band also played for weddings, sororities, fraternities, and various other affairs.

A local disc jockey, Jack Gale heard the band and had the Combonaires record two records of their own (“Wicked” and “Hey Mrs. Jones”) and (“Topaz” with the flip side being an instrumental version of “In the Still of the Night”). The band was also the backup band for several singers and groups. During this period the band played at the USO club and entertained children at the Kernan Children’s Hospital with the nationally known female recording artists the “Pony Tails”. [source : BaltimoreJam.org]

Wicked

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Don't Rock, Let's Roll

Paul Kosty, of Greek origin I think, part-time actor (he played in Buster Ladd in 1969), singer, and prize fighter was a full-time taxi driver in Baltimore.

In his youth, in 1951, he was awarded The Teke Trophy, by the Maryland Chapter of Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity - offered to the student who during his four years at the University has rendered the greatest service to football.

To the listening (?) audience, he offered numerous recordings on his own Clarity, Fleet and U-235 (?) labels. For which I'm not aware of any awards.

Here is a (probably incomplete) discography :

Clarity
1 - Dad From Trinidad / Panama Mama
6 - Dolly /Cigarette
7 - Dad From Trinidad/ Jacqueline
9 - Kostylypso / Last Cigarette
14 - Transplanted Heart/Cause Of My Troubles

Fleet
3103 - Don't Rock, Let's Roll / The Last Cigarette

U-235
U-2 - Zembekiko / This Time For Keeps

You can hear the two sides of Clarity 1, courtesy of Bob Purse, HERE.

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Don't Rock, Let's Roll



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