Getting The Right DJ And The Right Music
TIDE / EDIT RECORDS – pt 1 by Gary E. Myers
The early development of this story dates to late summer 1980 when I interviewed the people for whom I had recorded in 1963. I then occasionally tried to track down additional former Tide artists, and 10 years passed before the completed version was published in Goldmine on 9/7/90. In 2011 I went back to it, updating, correcting and re-writing. Although several of these sources are no longer with us, my thanks still go out to: Bob Abrahamian, Tony Allen, Dave Barton, K. Terry Bright, Larry Bright, Alan Clark, Ken Clee, Bob Cotterell, Forrest Craig, Elanda Dent, John Dvareckas, Rena Fulmer, Tim Grobaty, Gayle Groff, Roberta Drexler Herring, Phillip Joyner, Denny King, Wayne Lewis, Ken McDaniel, Vic Blunt, Musician’s Union Local 47, Dave Otto, Steve Propes, Ray of Troy Upholstery, Harry Robinson, Pat Rocco, Cathy Saunders, Bernie Schwartz, Jim Small, Doris Stahl, Ruth Stratchborneo, Penny Tyler, Dedra Upshaw, Victor Upshaw, Troy Walker, Len Weisman and Wenzel’s House Of Music
This small Los Angeles record company, comprised of Tide and its sister label, Edit (Tide spelled backwards), had a perhaps surprising number of releases for an enterprise with such limited success. Only one record, Larry Bright’s “Mojo Workout,” made national charts and I’ve covered it separately.
Ruth Etta Stratchborneo (b:1935?) had initially recorded for Larry Mead’s Vita label as Ruth Christie, as well as with the Candletts and the Christy Sextet. The latter release was instrumental and I was never aware of Stratchborneo playing an instrument so she probably simply hired studio musicians (including Rene Hall on guitar and Plas Johnson on flute) to record under her name. Cathy Saunders was probably also involved in some, if not all, of the Vita recordings, though she was apparently still known as Paula Sapp at that time. Saunders also used the name Paula DePores. These two young African-American girls became a team, possibly as early as 1956, and they apparently remained life partners. as seen on dj hire
Stratchborneo claimed to have worked as a singer, dancer and actor, and to have performed at military installations, hospitals, prisons and such, but it seems likely that those activities might have been volunteer work as a teen. She also claimed to have taught vocal instruction and choreography. I can’t speak to her dance skills, but I don’t believe she was qualified to teach vocal technique. From at least as far back as 1958 Ruth operated out of her home at 2146 West View St, four blocks off of La Brea Ave, south of Washington Bl in Los Angeles. She seems to have sometimes worked in conjunction with Lee Goren’s Talent Inc agency, at least in the early days of Tide.
About 1959 a white woman, Orena “Rena” Fulmer (nee Dunham; 8/9/23; East St. Louis, IL - 10/29/11; Los Angeles CA), also recorded for Vita and apparently began her connection with Stratchborneo and Saunders. Fulmer had sung in church and amateur shows while in high school in Stockton, CA, and claimed to have once sung with John Philip Sousa. (If so, it had to have been some sort of childhood event, as Sousa died in 1932). When she married and moved to Texas she sang in choirs and on radio and she subsequently recorded as Rena Wright.
In the latter part of 1959 Stratchborneo’s father reportedly helped her start her own record company to provide a better opportunity to promote her talents and to keep her from being taken advantage of in the business. (Interestingly, she seemed to have no problem taking advantage of others. Hers and her partners’ names are found on many songs to which they probably made no actual contribution, and Larry Bright said he never received a dime from the company, despite his chart song and its subsequent covers).
Some of Stratchborneo’s remarks in our 1980 interview displayed a very creative memory (to put it kindly); she claimed to have worked with Johnny Mathis, Kris Kristofferson and the Beatles, among others. She stated that she coached Dionne Warwick on her first record as Dee Dee Warwick doing “Boop Ditty Bop Bam Boom” in 1958. In reality that record was by Dee Allen on Vita, and of course it’s relatively well known that Dee Dee Warwick is Dionne’s sister. Another source said that Stratchborneo once mentioned working with Frank Sinatra. She made several comments that I knew to be erroneous because of my own involvement with the circumstances, so it was difficult to know where to draw the line on a great deal of the information she provided.
Although Stratchborneo and Saunders had previously recorded rock and r&b material for Vita, the initial focus at Tide seemed to be towards a pre-r’n’r standards type sound until Larry Bright came along with “Mojo Workout”. Perhaps the success of that record changed their direction. At any rate, the first Tide production was Stratchborneo’s version of “My Mother’s Eyes”, a song originally popularized by George Jessel in 1929. Stratchborneo co-wrote the flip and the record was released on both Tide and Liberty.
Eventually Stratchborneo, Saunders and Fulmer would write many songs together under the name Triune. The vast majority of the Tide catalog consists of their songs, but most are quite derivative with simple melodic and harmonic ingredients and plenty of cliché lyrics. Whatever musical prowess the records possess is probably mostly due to the quality arrangements and backing of the top studio musicians that they usually hired, along with performance of the other artists such as Larry Bright, etc.
Tide’s second release was by Pat Rocco (Pasquale Vincent Serrapica – 2/9/34; Brooklyn, NY). Rocco had extensive experience in stage, clubs and TV, and had done a religious LP on Cornerstone as Pat Serrapica. He did stage and club work with Jack Benny, Marge and Gower Champion, Phyllis Diller, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Jeanette MacDonald, Gordon McCrea, Dinah Shore and others. He also directed films and created an extensive collection of his photographs before becoming a political activist. He later directed the U.S. Mission in San Francisco. Rocco’s sole Tide release was Cole Porter’s “Too Darn Hot” (from Kiss Me Kate) backed with a song co-written by Stratchborneo and John Curtis Stinson. That song is much stronger than the majority of Stratchborneo’s efforts, so it’s likely that most of the credit should go to Curtis. The performances and arrangements are first-rate swinging, show-type material. Tide invested in top-notch talent to record their solo artists, with arrangers including Ernie Freeman and Rene Hall.
Tide 003 by Dante is not related to Dante & the Evergreens on Madison and Imperial, nor to Dante Storace, who appeared on Darrow, Mercury and Decca. The Tide 45 charted on KFXM in San Bernardino.
In the early ‘60s in Los Angeles there was a popular TV commercial for Troy Upholstery that many locals remembered over two decades later. The jingle (“Troy, Troy, what a joy”) was sung by Norm Ratner, whose father owned the company. Tide was apparently in the same general neighborhood and Ratner went over and introduced himself. Despite the fact that Ratner had already had two 1959 releases on Imperial as Norm Richards, he perhaps thought the smaller label might give him more attention. He wrote “Until I Know,” a good pop/doowop effort by Alan Knight, who was working clubs around Hollywood at the time. It seems likely that Tide would have also released a single on Ratner, but no such info has yet turned up. Ratner went on to greater success as producer of the Leaves (“Hey Joe”) and some involvement with the Hues Corporation.
The Sea Witch, a club at 8516 Sunset Bl, was a hangout for many people breaking into the business, a few of whom, including both Larry Bright and Alan Knight, wound up on Tide. Knight (Winston Abraham Wheaton, 1940-84), who had attended Belmont High, had several releases, one of which was a version of “Bertha Lou,” a song that has quite a story itself, having been originally done by Dorsey Burnette, pulled off the market and issued by Johnny Faire (who is actually Donnie Brooks), covered by Clint Miller, and then turned into “Twinkie Lee” by Larry Bright, prompting a lawsuit.
Cathy (spelled as Kathy on at least one release) Saunders’ releases were mostly in a pop-soul style. Rena Fulmer recalled that Saunders lost out to a case of stage fright in her only attempt at a live performance. It also seems unlikely that Stratchborneo did much, if any, live performing. Of the three partners, Rena Fulmer (Wright) was by far the best singer.
For novelty record collectors there may be none more difficult to find than “Glub Glub Thing” by the Goldust Twins. The duo consisted of singer/bassist Dave Barton from Oneco, FL and Don Massey, a music teacher from Whitwell, TN, who was trying to break into acting. Barton, after working with the Night Beats in Bradenton, FL, had come to L.A. in the summer of 1960 and landed work (at the Sea Witch!) with a band that took over the name of the Gamblers, who had just scored a local hit with their instrumental “Moondawg”. This new version of the Gamblers also had a gig in Reno with the duo of Timi (Yuro) & Troy (Walker). “Glub Glub Thing” was listed in Paul Drew’s Record Report as briefly making the top ten in Atlanta. Barton returned to Florida in 1961 to rejoin the Night Beats shortly before yours truly joined that band to go on the road. He later became a successful booking agent in Nashville and handled some of the biggest names in country music. Massey reportedly returned to Tennessee to teach and he directed at a local Chattanooga playhouse. He may have later relocated to Fort Lauderdale, FL.
Tim Welch (7/12/41; Wichita, KS – 2/13/72; W. Hollywood, CA) was a pop singer in a kind of Frankie Avalon style. His “A Boy And A Girl In Love” is a teen ballad that got some airplay and he made a few local TV appearances. The peppy flip side, “Weak In My Knees,” with a nice piccolo solo, appears to be a song left over from Stratchborneo’s days with Vita, as the title came out on that label by Johnny Daril and the Med Tones. Welch had several later releases on other labels. In 1965 he worked briefly at Li’l Abner’s in South Gate, CA with the Mojo Men (more on them later) of which I was a member. At the time, neither of us knew of the other’s involvement with Tide. The singer continued playing various clubs in the area and was managed for a while by Jimmy O’Neil of Shindig fame. Welch was shot and killed in Hollywood in 1972.
Bobby Martin on Tide remains unidentified. It is not the Bobby Martin who became an arranger for the Gamble-Huff labels in the ‘70s and, of course, it is not the female Bobbi Martin, who hit with “For The Love Of Him” in the ‘70s. It remains unknown if there is any connection with many Bobby Martin releases on other labels, but it seems unlikely that there is any connection with the Midwestern Bobby Martin & the Tune Twisters (on Bel Kay, Ruby and Mar-Tone) or with the mostly c&w Bobby Martin(s) on Buccaneer, F&F, Lynne, Todd and Trend.
Stratchborneo said she hired Victor Upshaw as a dancer to do the Mojo Workout dance behind Larry Bright at shows, but a former girlfriend of Bright’s didn’t recall that ever happening. Upshaw (4/10/40; Birmingham, AL-11/5/90; Paris, FR) grew up in L.A. after his family moved there when he was three. He met Stratchborneo at a dance studio and, although he had no thoughts of being a singer at the time, he wound up recording two sides, one of which, “I Remember,” he described as a Nat King Cole-style ballad. Those recordings may have remained unreleased. He left shortly afterward for Paris where he was a successful director/choreographer, had his own TV show, and had additional releases, including “Dance The Popcorn”, backed by Mickey Baker of Mickey & Sylvia fame.
To my surprise, during a 1986 interview on the Steve Propes Show (KLON, Long Beach, CA), Tony Allen of “Nite Owl” and early L.A. doowop fame mentioned Ruth Stratchborneo and Larry Bright. When I contacted him he said he had spent a lot of time at Tide playing piano, contributing parts to songs, and sometimes staying overnight. He claimed to have co-written Bright's “I'm A Mojo Man”, although his name does not appear on it and Bright stated otherwise. Allen also said his sister did background vocal work for Tide; perhaps she is the Dee Allen who had a Vita release with Stratchborneo's involvement.
A release by the Tidal Waves probably consists of studio musicians and has no connection with the Tidal Waves on Buddah. The Nite Beats 45 on Tide is probably also by studio musicians. There is no connection with the previously mentioned Florida Night Beats of which Dave Barton and I were members, but it seems likely that Stratchborneo picked up the name from Barton. The side titled “Scrambled Eggs” sounds like an alternate take of the track for Larry Bright’s “Bacon Fat”.
Rena Fulmer said that her recording “You Meant Goodbye” included a young Marilyn McCoo (5th Dimension) on background vocals. The record reportedly got airplay on KFWB in L.A. Fulmer left Tide around 1969 to do missionary work in Baja California for five years. She apparently remained somewhat connected however, as she assisted with the group Third Point in the mid-late 70’s. She went into real estate in 1975 and, having kept her voice in good shape, was the hog calling champ at the 1985 L.A. County Fair as her wedding DJ. for a good price.
Bobby Charles on Tide is not the Bobby Charles (Guidry) from Louisiana who wrote “See You Later Alligator”. And although there was some interaction between the Tide and Highland labels (with a Larry Bright release), the Tide artist is also not the one who appeared on Highland in 1959. That was Bobby Charles Taylor from Oklahoma City, who worked with original Drifter Bill Pinkney in the late 50’s.
Before his Tide recording, Charles Trent had a 1959 release on Tender in 1959. A bizarre side story is that the songwriter of both of the Tender sides was Percy Ivy, who had shot and killed Hollywood producer and label owner John Dolphin (Dolphin’s of Hollywood record store) on February 2, 1958. The crime was witnessed by two white teens who were there to present their songs – future session drummer Sandy Nelson and future hit songwriter and Beach Boy Bruce Johnston. Trent also co-wrote with songwriting brothers Ben and Len Weisman. (Ben co-wrote a few of Elvis’ hits from his films). Trent’s “I Hurt Somebody Once” on Tide is one of the songs that Tony Allen claimed to have written, but his name is not on it. Trent’s “Old Man Mose” on Del-Fi is a song that Louis Armstrong did in 1935.
Allen also stated that Tide artist Tommy Lee was Tommy Youngblood of the Shields, but there is no similarity in the voice, as the Tide artist sounds a white teen. Lee’s “Farewell To Love” is a nicely done bouncy shuffle with girl background plus a falsetto background voice, which also takes what would usually be an instrumental solo.
Football star Roosevelt “Rosie” Grier covered “I’m Going Home”, one of the Triune composed songs, on Spindletop (#102). However, when contacted in the 80’s at his Are You Committed ministry, Grier could offer no recollection of any direct dealings with Tide.
In early 1963 Denny King and I left the Night Beats, added Milwaukee bassist Tom Hahn to re-form the Darnells, and headed for SoCal with Dave Barton's suggestion to look up his old friends at Tide. We did so, and each of us recorded two vocal sides, along with two instrumental band sides. The sessions were done in a converted garage studio owned by retired postman Ted Brinson (11/28/08; NM -4/1/81; Los Angeles) at 2190 W. 30th St in south central Los Angeles (the same studio where the Penguins' recorded "Earth Angel"). All but Hahn’s vocals were released, and my single got a pick on KAPP-FM, a daytime only R&B station in suburban Redondo Beach, even though the record is a very white teen pop ballad; apparently Stratchborneo had a friend at the station. Collector Frank Merrill said that the KAPP playlist from 12/9/63 on which the record appears is considered one of the rarest radio station charts. (A happy moment came for me in September 1985, when I found a divider card for the record at Jane Hill's House Of Oldies in Santa Monica. There was no record, however, meaning that I had found what was probably the only store in the universe to ever have my record, and that someone had actually bought it!) The B-side includes an outstanding solo vocal background by studio singer Gwen Johnson, who was the sister of noted reed man Plas Johnson, and who sang the excellent solo background part on the Four Preps’ “26 Miles”.
The Darnells’ record, “Spooner,” a kind of surfy 12-bar rock tune, was used as a radio show opener by a DJ in Ishpeming, MI in October 1963 while we were gigging there. Denny King’s “She’s My Girlfriend” is a teener while the flip is a slightly r&b-ish ballad. The Darnells returned to Milwaukee and Hahn and I left to join a local outfit, the Cashmeres (no connection with any Cashmeres on record). In early 1964 when the Kingsmen put Larry Bright's. “Mojo Workout” on theirIn Person LP, Tide wanted to take advantage of the renewed interest in the song by putting out a single with one of their artists. They contacted Hahn, we recorded it at Dave Kennedy Studios (augmenting our band with members of another popular Milwaukee group, the Skunks, who later recorded on several labels), and we changed our name to the Mojo Men. The record got brief airplay on WAWA, Milwaukee's only R&B station at the time, and we did one promo show with Harvey Scales (later charted with “Get Down” and subsequently wrote “Disco Lady” for Johnny Taylor) but otherwise it was business as usual.
While all this was taking place, guitarist Denny King had returned to Los Angeles and invitedader of the previously mentioned Blue Echoes from Canada, to join him as bass player. They recorded a surf instrumental under the name Mojo Men (Ever since “Mojo Workout” charted, Tide did their best to get maximum mileage out of the word “mojo”). The record, “Surfin' Fat Man,” began with Blunt doing his impression of Jackie Gleason's “And awaaay we go.” King recorded for Specialty in the ‘70s before becoming a booking agent in Sacramento; he later imported medical supplies from Korea. (Neither of these Mojo Men groups had any connection with the San Francisco Mojo Men who hit on Reprise in the mid-‘60s).
Besides Tom Hahn and me, the Milwaukee Mojo Men included Duane Smith, who had a Las Vegas show group in the ‘70s and later built West Coast Event Productions in Portland. OR, and Doug Weiss, who performed as Doug Masters in clubs around Minneapolis before relocating to Las Vegas where he was the Bobby Hatfield part of a Righteous Bro. tribute act. With some personnel changes the Milwaukee Mojo Men returned to Los Angeles in 1965 and evolved into the ecording for Mike Curb's Sidewalk Productions in 1967-68.
After the recording with Denny King, Vic Blunt (aka Vic Miller) returned to Sarnia, Ontario, leaving a tape of his Blue Echoes with Stratchborneo. A few months later she sent for the group and they came to Los Angeles with Blunt on guitar and vocals, Paul Case on drums and vocals and Bruce Pollard on bass and vocals. Blunt (12/18/43; Vancouver, BC) credited the Ventures and Fireballs among his early influences, as well as his father, who was a CBC studio guitarist. Blunt/Miller had previously written “Goin’ Home To Memphis,” a rockabilly song for Edmonton, Alberta DJ Barry Boyd. Drummer Case had a strong Roy Orbison flavor to his vocal style and Blunt said the group's entire LP was recorded in only 10 hours of studio time. This appears to be the only LP ever released on Tide.
Tide booked the group into a show at the L.A. Coliseum titled KFWB's Beatle Alley. Requirements were that the groups had to be from outside the U.S. and had to have some sort of Beatle tie-in, hence the name change to Blunt said that both of their singles got airplay. “Love Walk Away,” which garnered a Canadian release on Quality, is a mid-tempo group harmony effort. “I’m Coming Home” is up-tempo minor key, probably inspired by “Comin’ Home Baby”. Stratchborneo and Fulmer, acting as an agent/manager team, booked them into clubs and shows but Blunt said that they were taking excessive commissions and that a lawsuit resulted in the three members being awarded $25,000 each, which they were never able to collect.
The Canadian Beadles faded and Blunt formed a 10-piece show group called Center Stage. He recorded with Gary Paxton and Terry Melcher but nothing was released. At least one of his songs: “Questions I Can't Answer,” was covered by another Tide artist, Don Atello, and by UK singer Heinz, whose version charted there. Heinz was Heinz Burt (7/24/42; Detmold, Germany-4/7/00; Hampshire, England), former bassist of the Tornados, who hit internationally with “Telstar” in 1962-63. Another of Blunt's tunes, “Before I Lose My Mind,” was cut on 3J (#301) by L.A. country artist Tony Treece, himself a later member of the Canadian Beadles. In 1985 Blunt was living in Sequim, WA and still playing full-time, having recently toured to Oregon and Arizona. He later moved Port Moody, BC.
The early development of this story dates to late summer 1980 when I interviewed the people for whom I had recorded in 1963. I then occasionally tried to track down additional former Tide artists, and 10 years passed before the completed version was published in Goldmine on 9/7/90. In 2011 I went back to it, updating, correcting and re-writing. Although several of these sources are no longer with us, my thanks still go out to: Bob Abrahamian, Tony Allen, Dave Barton, K. Terry Bright, Larry Bright, Alan Clark, Ken Clee, Bob Cotterell, Forrest Craig, Elanda Dent, John Dvareckas, Rena Fulmer, Tim Grobaty, Gayle Groff, Roberta Drexler Herring, Phillip Joyner, Denny King, Wayne Lewis, Ken McDaniel, Vic Blunt, Musician’s Union Local 47, Dave Otto, Steve Propes, Ray of Troy Upholstery, Harry Robinson, Pat Rocco, Cathy Saunders, Bernie Schwartz, Jim Small, Doris Stahl, Ruth Stratchborneo, Penny Tyler, Dedra Upshaw, Victor Upshaw, Troy Walker, Len Weisman and Wenzel’s House Of Music
This small Los Angeles record company, comprised of Tide and its sister label, Edit (Tide spelled backwards), had a perhaps surprising number of releases for an enterprise with such limited success. Only one record, Larry Bright’s “Mojo Workout,” made national charts and I’ve covered it separately.
Ruth Etta Stratchborneo (b:1935?) had initially recorded for Larry Mead’s Vita label as Ruth Christie, as well as with the Candletts and the Christy Sextet. The latter release was instrumental and I was never aware of Stratchborneo playing an instrument so she probably simply hired studio musicians (including Rene Hall on guitar and Plas Johnson on flute) to record under her name. Cathy Saunders was probably also involved in some, if not all, of the Vita recordings, though she was apparently still known as Paula Sapp at that time. Saunders also used the name Paula DePores. These two young African-American girls became a team, possibly as early as 1956, and they apparently remained life partners. as seen on dj hire
Stratchborneo claimed to have worked as a singer, dancer and actor, and to have performed at military installations, hospitals, prisons and such, but it seems likely that those activities might have been volunteer work as a teen. She also claimed to have taught vocal instruction and choreography. I can’t speak to her dance skills, but I don’t believe she was qualified to teach vocal technique. From at least as far back as 1958 Ruth operated out of her home at 2146 West View St, four blocks off of La Brea Ave, south of Washington Bl in Los Angeles. She seems to have sometimes worked in conjunction with Lee Goren’s Talent Inc agency, at least in the early days of Tide.
About 1959 a white woman, Orena “Rena” Fulmer (nee Dunham; 8/9/23; East St. Louis, IL - 10/29/11; Los Angeles CA), also recorded for Vita and apparently began her connection with Stratchborneo and Saunders. Fulmer had sung in church and amateur shows while in high school in Stockton, CA, and claimed to have once sung with John Philip Sousa. (If so, it had to have been some sort of childhood event, as Sousa died in 1932). When she married and moved to Texas she sang in choirs and on radio and she subsequently recorded as Rena Wright.
In the latter part of 1959 Stratchborneo’s father reportedly helped her start her own record company to provide a better opportunity to promote her talents and to keep her from being taken advantage of in the business. (Interestingly, she seemed to have no problem taking advantage of others. Hers and her partners’ names are found on many songs to which they probably made no actual contribution, and Larry Bright said he never received a dime from the company, despite his chart song and its subsequent covers).
Some of Stratchborneo’s remarks in our 1980 interview displayed a very creative memory (to put it kindly); she claimed to have worked with Johnny Mathis, Kris Kristofferson and the Beatles, among others. She stated that she coached Dionne Warwick on her first record as Dee Dee Warwick doing “Boop Ditty Bop Bam Boom” in 1958. In reality that record was by Dee Allen on Vita, and of course it’s relatively well known that Dee Dee Warwick is Dionne’s sister. Another source said that Stratchborneo once mentioned working with Frank Sinatra. She made several comments that I knew to be erroneous because of my own involvement with the circumstances, so it was difficult to know where to draw the line on a great deal of the information she provided.
Although Stratchborneo and Saunders had previously recorded rock and r&b material for Vita, the initial focus at Tide seemed to be towards a pre-r’n’r standards type sound until Larry Bright came along with “Mojo Workout”. Perhaps the success of that record changed their direction. At any rate, the first Tide production was Stratchborneo’s version of “My Mother’s Eyes”, a song originally popularized by George Jessel in 1929. Stratchborneo co-wrote the flip and the record was released on both Tide and Liberty.
Eventually Stratchborneo, Saunders and Fulmer would write many songs together under the name Triune. The vast majority of the Tide catalog consists of their songs, but most are quite derivative with simple melodic and harmonic ingredients and plenty of cliché lyrics. Whatever musical prowess the records possess is probably mostly due to the quality arrangements and backing of the top studio musicians that they usually hired, along with performance of the other artists such as Larry Bright, etc.
Tide’s second release was by Pat Rocco (Pasquale Vincent Serrapica – 2/9/34; Brooklyn, NY). Rocco had extensive experience in stage, clubs and TV, and had done a religious LP on Cornerstone as Pat Serrapica. He did stage and club work with Jack Benny, Marge and Gower Champion, Phyllis Diller, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Jeanette MacDonald, Gordon McCrea, Dinah Shore and others. He also directed films and created an extensive collection of his photographs before becoming a political activist. He later directed the U.S. Mission in San Francisco. Rocco’s sole Tide release was Cole Porter’s “Too Darn Hot” (from Kiss Me Kate) backed with a song co-written by Stratchborneo and John Curtis Stinson. That song is much stronger than the majority of Stratchborneo’s efforts, so it’s likely that most of the credit should go to Curtis. The performances and arrangements are first-rate swinging, show-type material. Tide invested in top-notch talent to record their solo artists, with arrangers including Ernie Freeman and Rene Hall.
Tide 003 by Dante is not related to Dante & the Evergreens on Madison and Imperial, nor to Dante Storace, who appeared on Darrow, Mercury and Decca. The Tide 45 charted on KFXM in San Bernardino.
In the early ‘60s in Los Angeles there was a popular TV commercial for Troy Upholstery that many locals remembered over two decades later. The jingle (“Troy, Troy, what a joy”) was sung by Norm Ratner, whose father owned the company. Tide was apparently in the same general neighborhood and Ratner went over and introduced himself. Despite the fact that Ratner had already had two 1959 releases on Imperial as Norm Richards, he perhaps thought the smaller label might give him more attention. He wrote “Until I Know,” a good pop/doowop effort by Alan Knight, who was working clubs around Hollywood at the time. It seems likely that Tide would have also released a single on Ratner, but no such info has yet turned up. Ratner went on to greater success as producer of the Leaves (“Hey Joe”) and some involvement with the Hues Corporation.
The Sea Witch, a club at 8516 Sunset Bl, was a hangout for many people breaking into the business, a few of whom, including both Larry Bright and Alan Knight, wound up on Tide. Knight (Winston Abraham Wheaton, 1940-84), who had attended Belmont High, had several releases, one of which was a version of “Bertha Lou,” a song that has quite a story itself, having been originally done by Dorsey Burnette, pulled off the market and issued by Johnny Faire (who is actually Donnie Brooks), covered by Clint Miller, and then turned into “Twinkie Lee” by Larry Bright, prompting a lawsuit.
Cathy (spelled as Kathy on at least one release) Saunders’ releases were mostly in a pop-soul style. Rena Fulmer recalled that Saunders lost out to a case of stage fright in her only attempt at a live performance. It also seems unlikely that Stratchborneo did much, if any, live performing. Of the three partners, Rena Fulmer (Wright) was by far the best singer.
For novelty record collectors there may be none more difficult to find than “Glub Glub Thing” by the Goldust Twins. The duo consisted of singer/bassist Dave Barton from Oneco, FL and Don Massey, a music teacher from Whitwell, TN, who was trying to break into acting. Barton, after working with the Night Beats in Bradenton, FL, had come to L.A. in the summer of 1960 and landed work (at the Sea Witch!) with a band that took over the name of the Gamblers, who had just scored a local hit with their instrumental “Moondawg”. This new version of the Gamblers also had a gig in Reno with the duo of Timi (Yuro) & Troy (Walker). “Glub Glub Thing” was listed in Paul Drew’s Record Report as briefly making the top ten in Atlanta. Barton returned to Florida in 1961 to rejoin the Night Beats shortly before yours truly joined that band to go on the road. He later became a successful booking agent in Nashville and handled some of the biggest names in country music. Massey reportedly returned to Tennessee to teach and he directed at a local Chattanooga playhouse. He may have later relocated to Fort Lauderdale, FL.
Tim Welch (7/12/41; Wichita, KS – 2/13/72; W. Hollywood, CA) was a pop singer in a kind of Frankie Avalon style. His “A Boy And A Girl In Love” is a teen ballad that got some airplay and he made a few local TV appearances. The peppy flip side, “Weak In My Knees,” with a nice piccolo solo, appears to be a song left over from Stratchborneo’s days with Vita, as the title came out on that label by Johnny Daril and the Med Tones. Welch had several later releases on other labels. In 1965 he worked briefly at Li’l Abner’s in South Gate, CA with the Mojo Men (more on them later) of which I was a member. At the time, neither of us knew of the other’s involvement with Tide. The singer continued playing various clubs in the area and was managed for a while by Jimmy O’Neil of Shindig fame. Welch was shot and killed in Hollywood in 1972.
Bobby Martin on Tide remains unidentified. It is not the Bobby Martin who became an arranger for the Gamble-Huff labels in the ‘70s and, of course, it is not the female Bobbi Martin, who hit with “For The Love Of Him” in the ‘70s. It remains unknown if there is any connection with many Bobby Martin releases on other labels, but it seems unlikely that there is any connection with the Midwestern Bobby Martin & the Tune Twisters (on Bel Kay, Ruby and Mar-Tone) or with the mostly c&w Bobby Martin(s) on Buccaneer, F&F, Lynne, Todd and Trend.
Stratchborneo said she hired Victor Upshaw as a dancer to do the Mojo Workout dance behind Larry Bright at shows, but a former girlfriend of Bright’s didn’t recall that ever happening. Upshaw (4/10/40; Birmingham, AL-11/5/90; Paris, FR) grew up in L.A. after his family moved there when he was three. He met Stratchborneo at a dance studio and, although he had no thoughts of being a singer at the time, he wound up recording two sides, one of which, “I Remember,” he described as a Nat King Cole-style ballad. Those recordings may have remained unreleased. He left shortly afterward for Paris where he was a successful director/choreographer, had his own TV show, and had additional releases, including “Dance The Popcorn”, backed by Mickey Baker of Mickey & Sylvia fame.
To my surprise, during a 1986 interview on the Steve Propes Show (KLON, Long Beach, CA), Tony Allen of “Nite Owl” and early L.A. doowop fame mentioned Ruth Stratchborneo and Larry Bright. When I contacted him he said he had spent a lot of time at Tide playing piano, contributing parts to songs, and sometimes staying overnight. He claimed to have co-written Bright's “I'm A Mojo Man”, although his name does not appear on it and Bright stated otherwise. Allen also said his sister did background vocal work for Tide; perhaps she is the Dee Allen who had a Vita release with Stratchborneo's involvement.
A release by the Tidal Waves probably consists of studio musicians and has no connection with the Tidal Waves on Buddah. The Nite Beats 45 on Tide is probably also by studio musicians. There is no connection with the previously mentioned Florida Night Beats of which Dave Barton and I were members, but it seems likely that Stratchborneo picked up the name from Barton. The side titled “Scrambled Eggs” sounds like an alternate take of the track for Larry Bright’s “Bacon Fat”.
Rena Fulmer said that her recording “You Meant Goodbye” included a young Marilyn McCoo (5th Dimension) on background vocals. The record reportedly got airplay on KFWB in L.A. Fulmer left Tide around 1969 to do missionary work in Baja California for five years. She apparently remained somewhat connected however, as she assisted with the group Third Point in the mid-late 70’s. She went into real estate in 1975 and, having kept her voice in good shape, was the hog calling champ at the 1985 L.A. County Fair as her wedding DJ. for a good price.
Bobby Charles on Tide is not the Bobby Charles (Guidry) from Louisiana who wrote “See You Later Alligator”. And although there was some interaction between the Tide and Highland labels (with a Larry Bright release), the Tide artist is also not the one who appeared on Highland in 1959. That was Bobby Charles Taylor from Oklahoma City, who worked with original Drifter Bill Pinkney in the late 50’s.
Before his Tide recording, Charles Trent had a 1959 release on Tender in 1959. A bizarre side story is that the songwriter of both of the Tender sides was Percy Ivy, who had shot and killed Hollywood producer and label owner John Dolphin (Dolphin’s of Hollywood record store) on February 2, 1958. The crime was witnessed by two white teens who were there to present their songs – future session drummer Sandy Nelson and future hit songwriter and Beach Boy Bruce Johnston. Trent also co-wrote with songwriting brothers Ben and Len Weisman. (Ben co-wrote a few of Elvis’ hits from his films). Trent’s “I Hurt Somebody Once” on Tide is one of the songs that Tony Allen claimed to have written, but his name is not on it. Trent’s “Old Man Mose” on Del-Fi is a song that Louis Armstrong did in 1935.
Allen also stated that Tide artist Tommy Lee was Tommy Youngblood of the Shields, but there is no similarity in the voice, as the Tide artist sounds a white teen. Lee’s “Farewell To Love” is a nicely done bouncy shuffle with girl background plus a falsetto background voice, which also takes what would usually be an instrumental solo.
Football star Roosevelt “Rosie” Grier covered “I’m Going Home”, one of the Triune composed songs, on Spindletop (#102). However, when contacted in the 80’s at his Are You Committed ministry, Grier could offer no recollection of any direct dealings with Tide.
In early 1963 Denny King and I left the Night Beats, added Milwaukee bassist Tom Hahn to re-form the Darnells, and headed for SoCal with Dave Barton's suggestion to look up his old friends at Tide. We did so, and each of us recorded two vocal sides, along with two instrumental band sides. The sessions were done in a converted garage studio owned by retired postman Ted Brinson (11/28/08; NM -4/1/81; Los Angeles) at 2190 W. 30th St in south central Los Angeles (the same studio where the Penguins' recorded "Earth Angel"). All but Hahn’s vocals were released, and my single got a pick on KAPP-FM, a daytime only R&B station in suburban Redondo Beach, even though the record is a very white teen pop ballad; apparently Stratchborneo had a friend at the station. Collector Frank Merrill said that the KAPP playlist from 12/9/63 on which the record appears is considered one of the rarest radio station charts. (A happy moment came for me in September 1985, when I found a divider card for the record at Jane Hill's House Of Oldies in Santa Monica. There was no record, however, meaning that I had found what was probably the only store in the universe to ever have my record, and that someone had actually bought it!) The B-side includes an outstanding solo vocal background by studio singer Gwen Johnson, who was the sister of noted reed man Plas Johnson, and who sang the excellent solo background part on the Four Preps’ “26 Miles”.
The Darnells’ record, “Spooner,” a kind of surfy 12-bar rock tune, was used as a radio show opener by a DJ in Ishpeming, MI in October 1963 while we were gigging there. Denny King’s “She’s My Girlfriend” is a teener while the flip is a slightly r&b-ish ballad. The Darnells returned to Milwaukee and Hahn and I left to join a local outfit, the Cashmeres (no connection with any Cashmeres on record). In early 1964 when the Kingsmen put Larry Bright's. “Mojo Workout” on theirIn Person LP, Tide wanted to take advantage of the renewed interest in the song by putting out a single with one of their artists. They contacted Hahn, we recorded it at Dave Kennedy Studios (augmenting our band with members of another popular Milwaukee group, the Skunks, who later recorded on several labels), and we changed our name to the Mojo Men. The record got brief airplay on WAWA, Milwaukee's only R&B station at the time, and we did one promo show with Harvey Scales (later charted with “Get Down” and subsequently wrote “Disco Lady” for Johnny Taylor) but otherwise it was business as usual.
While all this was taking place, guitarist Denny King had returned to Los Angeles and invitedader of the previously mentioned Blue Echoes from Canada, to join him as bass player. They recorded a surf instrumental under the name Mojo Men (Ever since “Mojo Workout” charted, Tide did their best to get maximum mileage out of the word “mojo”). The record, “Surfin' Fat Man,” began with Blunt doing his impression of Jackie Gleason's “And awaaay we go.” King recorded for Specialty in the ‘70s before becoming a booking agent in Sacramento; he later imported medical supplies from Korea. (Neither of these Mojo Men groups had any connection with the San Francisco Mojo Men who hit on Reprise in the mid-‘60s).
Besides Tom Hahn and me, the Milwaukee Mojo Men included Duane Smith, who had a Las Vegas show group in the ‘70s and later built West Coast Event Productions in Portland. OR, and Doug Weiss, who performed as Doug Masters in clubs around Minneapolis before relocating to Las Vegas where he was the Bobby Hatfield part of a Righteous Bro. tribute act. With some personnel changes the Milwaukee Mojo Men returned to Los Angeles in 1965 and evolved into the ecording for Mike Curb's Sidewalk Productions in 1967-68.
After the recording with Denny King, Vic Blunt (aka Vic Miller) returned to Sarnia, Ontario, leaving a tape of his Blue Echoes with Stratchborneo. A few months later she sent for the group and they came to Los Angeles with Blunt on guitar and vocals, Paul Case on drums and vocals and Bruce Pollard on bass and vocals. Blunt (12/18/43; Vancouver, BC) credited the Ventures and Fireballs among his early influences, as well as his father, who was a CBC studio guitarist. Blunt/Miller had previously written “Goin’ Home To Memphis,” a rockabilly song for Edmonton, Alberta DJ Barry Boyd. Drummer Case had a strong Roy Orbison flavor to his vocal style and Blunt said the group's entire LP was recorded in only 10 hours of studio time. This appears to be the only LP ever released on Tide.
Tide booked the group into a show at the L.A. Coliseum titled KFWB's Beatle Alley. Requirements were that the groups had to be from outside the U.S. and had to have some sort of Beatle tie-in, hence the name change to Blunt said that both of their singles got airplay. “Love Walk Away,” which garnered a Canadian release on Quality, is a mid-tempo group harmony effort. “I’m Coming Home” is up-tempo minor key, probably inspired by “Comin’ Home Baby”. Stratchborneo and Fulmer, acting as an agent/manager team, booked them into clubs and shows but Blunt said that they were taking excessive commissions and that a lawsuit resulted in the three members being awarded $25,000 each, which they were never able to collect.
The Canadian Beadles faded and Blunt formed a 10-piece show group called Center Stage. He recorded with Gary Paxton and Terry Melcher but nothing was released. At least one of his songs: “Questions I Can't Answer,” was covered by another Tide artist, Don Atello, and by UK singer Heinz, whose version charted there. Heinz was Heinz Burt (7/24/42; Detmold, Germany-4/7/00; Hampshire, England), former bassist of the Tornados, who hit internationally with “Telstar” in 1962-63. Another of Blunt's tunes, “Before I Lose My Mind,” was cut on 3J (#301) by L.A. country artist Tony Treece, himself a later member of the Canadian Beadles. In 1985 Blunt was living in Sequim, WA and still playing full-time, having recently toured to Oregon and Arizona. He later moved Port Moody, BC.