THE ECHOES/ THE LOST SOULS/ THE COMMANDOS

Another significant group on The World's Fair program (9/15/65) was The Lost Souls.

The late Howie Blauvelt told the story of this garage band. "I was in the fifth grade. We had a talent show and this kid played the guitar. All the girls went wild for him and I said, "I gotta do this!" So I got a guitar and learned how to play. When I knew enough chords, I played with some other kids and we formed a band, The Echoes. We had two guitars so I switched to bass and hey--it was fun! There was was a space for it, you know, it was great. We had fun when we played. This was before the English Invasion so we played dance music: "Twist and Shout", "La Bamba," "Perfido," "Wipe Out" and lots of instrumentals...too many instrumentals! We needed a singer bad so I said I knew this guy that sings and he plays piano! I asked my friend, Billy Joel, if he wanted to join our band."

The Lost Souls began to win competitions and were able to capitalize on an offer from Mercury Records. Blauvelt continued, "The first song Billy ever recorded--and a great song, too--was entitled"Journey's End." Billy and I also wrote a song together called "Time And Time Again." Before Mercury shelved the project, they forced a name change as there already was a group known as The Lost Souls. The group was renamed The Commandos and the tracks they recorded still rest somewhere in the Mercury vault.

When Jon Small looked for someone to replace Harry Weber in The Hassles, he selected the organist from The Commandos, Billy Joel. As was the case in most of The B-3 Bands, Weber had mastered the bass pedals of the Hammond, thus negating the requirement of the bass guitar. Billy Joel's keyboard preference was the pedal-less Vox. Billy wouldn't join unless his bass player and friend, Howie Blauvelt, came along too.

John Dizek, Jon Small, Richie McKenna, Howie Blauvelt, Billy Joelon the ocean deck of The Barge, Westhampton, 1966

The best groups played My House but it seemed that The Hassles played there enough to be considered the house band. They revelled in their success when they signed a recording contract with United Artists. John Dizek remembers,"Billy was always alright with me. We had a ton of fun, he's a pretty funny guy. He was always so focused--he knew that he wanted to be a star from the beginning. That always impressed me. In the beginning, it was all fun. United Artists rented limos for us to arrive at publicity parties. You know how when limos are stopped at a light, people try to look in to see who's inside? Only they can't see in because the windows are tinted? Well, Billy would look right back at them and yawn. Like,"How boring!" Yeah, right! We would crack up!"

In spite of Dizek's warm memories, The Hassles were living up to their name. Arguments raged continually. Although their first single, a cover of the Sam & Dave hit, "You Got Me Hummin'"(United Artists 50215, 1967), generated some interest, frustrations surfaced when the album ("The Hassles" United Artists 6631, 1968) did not set the world ablaze. Howie Blauvelt relieved his pressure by leaving the group and joining Wes Houston in The Elaine White Band.

Howie Blauvelt, Elaine White, Wes Houston

He stayed for eight months and returned to The Hassles in time to record the second album on UA, "The Hour Of The Wolf." For Howie Blauvelt, it was a well-spent sabbatical. "The Elaine White Band played nice music. It was a very folkie sound with both Wes and Elaine on acoustic guitars. Wes wrote the songs. Most of our gigs were down in The Village...I remember one with Pete Seeger. The whole experience was like a breath of fresh air for me."

John Dizek focused on another problem. "Our management was bad. They used us to support themselves. They kept The Hassles at My House during the most crucial time. We should have been touring to support our album which was starting to happen. We never really had the chance to make it." Johnny Dizek could take no more long nights. At year's end, he quit the band and rock music forever. With Dizek's departure, a powerful visual aspect of the group was lost and the role of lead singer settled on Billy Joel.

The Hassles second album, "The Hour Of The Wolf" (United Artists 6699, 1969) was finding an audience in the smoky haze of college dormitories when the group passed into history. There were problems and conflicts, jealousies and resentments. The Smalls divorced and Billy Joel became Elizabeth's new partner. Howie Blauvelt no longer enjoyed the music nor the atmosphere and he quit the band again, this time for good. Several months later, after a procession of unsatisfactory replacements, the remaining Hassles packed it up, too. Jon Small recalls the end in hard terms. "Billy and I hated the band. We didn't like them or their playing so we terminated The Hassles. We wanted to continue to play together so we formed a two-man army called Attila The Hun. We spent most of our time practicing in the basement of my parent's wallpaper store in Jericho. We played a bunch of clubs--our best night was at The Daisy on Merrick Road and Route 110. We got a deal with Epic and the record came out as "Attila" (Epic 30030, 1970). "Attila was a minor sensation and garnered good reviews but this album was their only release. Today, it has considerable value as a Billy Joel collectible.

After The Hassles

Later, after the demise of Attila, mutations and permutations developed based upon the growing respect the better musicians held for each other. Billy contacted his old partner, Howie Blauvelt, and offered him a role in a new group he was assembling. This collection of local stars going under the name, El Primo, was culled from the ranks of The Hassles (Billy and Howie), The Phaetons (Gerard Kenny), The Rich Kids (Denny Belline) and Man (Jeff Schwartz).

Gerard Kenny, Howie Blauvelt, Jeff Schwartz, Jimmy Santoro

With this wealth of talent, they naturally composed and performed originals. No music ever found its way onto wax but the ensemble thrilled audiences during its short existence. Howie Blauvelt: "We were booked to play Chesney Wolds, a club in Island Park right across the street from The Action House. I showed up to the gig late and they threw me out of the band. Of course, I was pissed but my dismissal only lasted one week. One week later, they played the club again with a new bass player. After the first set, the owner told them, "Get Howie or get out!" and I was back in El Primo."

The Hassles, The Echoes, The Lost Souls, The Commandos, The Hassles (again), Attila, El Primo are all faded names of Long Island history. The members moved on, sometimes writing history along the way.

Billy Joel became a star of the highest magnitude. "Just The Way You Are" will be sung well into the next century and beyond. Billy never left Long Island, he remains our favorite son. "Charity Begins At Home" was a philanthopic organization that Billy started way back in the mid '70's, its generosity is still felt. For many years, Billy led a parade of motorcycles the length of Long Island as a fund-raising stunt. He can frequently be seen hanging out at The Stephen Talkhouse or dining out in Amagansett, his home. Of course, anytime Billy opts to tour, it is a standing-room-only crowd.

John Dizak lived on Long Island for many years. A born-again Christian, he was the choir director of The Upper Room Tabernacle in Deer Park. In 1992, he moved to Pennsylvania to continue his good works.

After The Hassles disbanded, Richie McKenna played with several bands but never achieved success. It embittered him to see his bandmates succeeding while he floundered. McKenna began to run with a bad bunch. He spent some time in jail after he was caught during a gas station holdup. His whereabouts today are unknown.

Jon Small became a successful producer and director of concert films and video clips. During the '80s when MTV was starting to explode, Small directed over 4000 videos for such stars as Madonna, Aerosmith and Van Morrison. His full length concert video for Van Morrison is considered a classic of the genre.

While Billy Joel became an international superstar, Howie Blauvelt became a true Long Island legend. After El Primo, Howie hooked up with Ram Jam. "Black Betty", an aggressive version of Huddie Ledbutter's song, became a bar band staple and a heavy-metal response to disco fever. The song still gets much airplay around the world. Ram Jam recorded the song for Kastenetz & Katz, the kings of "bubble gum" music. It was a dramatic departure of style and its' success surprised them. (Ironically, in 1992, they remixed the track as a disco-ish dance single and it became an international hit all over again. The members of Ram Jam did not share in the financial reward, though.) Ram Jam toured pushing the track until personel changes and the lack of a follow-up hit yielded to boredom. However, Howie's driving bass affected an entirely new generation of hard and heavy rockers. His bass shook walls, floors, ceilings and souls. After Ram Jam, Blauvelt appeared in several bands always bringing his booming style to the fore. During the early 1990's, he was a member of Spitball, a funk-blues band that was just starting to come to fame when he suffered a heart attack and died.

It must be noted that Howie Blauvelt's old amigo, Billy Joel, often dedicates his hit, "We Didn't Start The Fire," to Howie Blauvelt when he performs the song in concert. It is a fitting tribute to the creative artist that was Howie Blauvelt.

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