Category Archives: Newport News

The Warlords and Hunger from Newport News, VA

Warlords Newport News original band photo
The Warlords, original band, from left: Sam Harrell, Terry Stead, Randy Hill, Roger Smith and Jack Ellis

Keyboard player Jack Ellis wrote to me about his three bands: the Warlords, who didn’t record; Hunger, who cut a rare 45 “Freedom Today” / “Buy Me” and an unreleased album; and the Spores who released an EP and have the lead-off track “Don’t You Worry” on Varulven’s 1983 compilation, Boston Rock-N-Roll Anthology.

The Warlords

Terry Stead – lead vocals
Roger Smith – guitar
Jack Ellis – keyboards
Sam Harrell – bass
Randy Hill – drums

Manager – Wilson Harrell

When I was 14 years old I got a Acetone organ for Christmas. It was a suitcase organ that you store the legs in the back and screw them in and set it up. When I told my friends at school (Denbigh High School in Newport News, Virginia), that was the beginning of the band. We all used Sears Silvertone amps (they were cheap and you could get them at the Sears store). We practiced at bass player Sam Harrell’s house.

His father Wilson Harrell heard the band and wanted to be the manager. He quit his paint salesman job and became our manager and booking agent full time. Wilson soon became the biggest talent booking agency in the area (Check Productions), covering the VA. Beach, Norfolk, Newport News, Williamsburg, Richmond area and was booking hundreds of bands every week. Having a built in booking agency gave us an advantage over all the competition and the Warlords were booked solid.

Wilson brought in a singer named Pete to sing the soul and Motown songs for the fraternity parties, and Terry would sing the rock songs. Our first gigs were frat parties at Fraternity Row at William and Mary College.

There was a road with 10 to 20 frat houses where bands like Bill Deal and the Rondells and Danny & the Delnotes would be playing next door to us. During our breaks we would go down the Row and check out the bands who came from different cities and places and there would be all new bands the next week. All the other bands’ trailers, trucks and buses would be parked on that street. The Warlords had a white trailer painted like our business card so we would get gigs from people walking by and hearing the band. Soon we were playing college gigs from Norfolk to Richmond.

One night after a fraternity party gig someone crashed into our white trailer that was parked in front of Wilson’s house with all the equipment in it and destroyed the trailer and everything in it. The insurance company paid to fix the trailer and equipment. The band went to Chuck Levin’s Music outside of Washington D.C. and we bought 3 Vox Buckingham amps as a package deal. The drummer had Ludwig drums. My organ survived the crash so I still had that. We started with some kind of horn type p.a. and then upgraded to Vocal Master p.a. columns.

Warlords at the Hullabaloo in Newport News

Wilson became one of the biggest talent booking agency (Check Productions) in the area, covering from Nags Head, Va. Beach, Hampton, Newport News, Williamsburg to Richmond. The Warlords played all the clubs including the military base clubs in Norfolk and Ft. Eustis. Wilson Harrell taught me the music business, without Wilson I wouldn’t be who I am. Wilson is the man who fueled the Tidewater Music scene and promoted hundreds of bands and gave them jobs in the music industry. Wilson and Sam are no longer with us.

The Hullabaloo picture is with a guest guitarist from The Wild Kingdom who played the gig with us.

Unfortunately the drummer Randy’s father pulled him out of the band. He was replaced by Bobby Pinner.

Warlords Newport News promo photo, Jan. 28 ,1968
The Warlords with statue of Lief Erickson at The Mariners Museum, taken January 28, 1968, from left: Bobby Pinner – drummer, Sam Harrell – bass, Jack Ellis – keyboards, Roger Smith – guitar, Terry Stead – singer

Hunger

Terry Stead – lead vocals
Robbie Robertson – guitar
Mike Hanson – guitar
Jack Ellis – keyboards
Scott Tribue – bass
Stan Eury – drums

After the Warlords I started a new band called Hunger (1970) based out of Newport News. Our biggest competitors The Swinging Machines and The Wild Kingdom were gone and I ended up with Robbie Robertson from The Wild Kingdom as one of Hunger’s guitar players.

Hunger Richmond Sound Stages 45 Freedom Today
Hunger’s rare 45 “Freedom Today”, recorded at Richmond Sound Stages for winning the WTVR Radio 1970 Battle of the Bands

We were playing in Washington D.C. when we got a record deal with Paul Simon’s studio in Nashville. After Nashville, Hunger went back to Newport News where we did the Va. Beach, Nags Head club circuit, plus outdoor concerts with Grand Funk, Poco, and any festival that needed a band. The 45 is rare. There were only 200 pressed that went to the band family members and friends (gone instantly).

We were still booking gigs with Wilson Harrell. Wilson got us a deal with the USO Show circuit for the military to fly to Cuba and Puerto Rico to do clubs and concerts at Gitmo and Roosevelt Rds. These gigs would be for a week at a time (a vacation in paradise). Playing gigs was my job and paid very well. I also played with the Norfolk Aliens for a short while.

Hunger Newport News promo photo
Hunger, from left: Scott Tribue, Mike Hansen, Terry Stead, Robbie Robertson, Stan Eury and Jack Ellis

The Hunger band equipment was massive. Wilson taught me if you look big you are big.

Keyboards:

Hammond C5 (CV) with 122 leslie speaker cabinet
Baldwin Electric Harpsichord
Hohner D6 Clavinet
Wurlitzer Electric Piano
Mini Moog Model D

Keys amp system: 4-Fender Showman cabinets which I bought used and replaced the speakers with Electrolux SRO (4-15”s) and JBL (4-15”s). I would stack 2 each on their sides making a wall behind me.

On top of that were two Marshall amps (1-100 watt and 1-50 watt). Yamaha board to mix instruments and send them to the amps, 2 mics on the leslie.

Mike Hanson – two Fender twin reverb amps with 2 Fender Bandmaster extension cabinets (8-12” speakers all together), cherry sunburst Gibson Les Paul guitar.

Robbie Robertson – two Fender Band Master amps (4-12”speakers), brown Gibson Les Paul with Fender neck he built himself (not sure if strat or telecaster neck, had a small headstock).

Scott Tribue: Ampeg bass amp with extension cab.

Band PA: Two Voice of The theatre bass cabinets with JBL 15” speakers, JBL horn with 2440 compression driver on top on each side/, 2-Crown power amps on each side. Don’t remember the board (some kind of English board had a British flag emblem on it).

We had a bread truck with the sliding front doors that could carry all the equipment and two roadies to drive it and set up the equipment. All equipment was paid for from gig money since none of us worked. We later bought a school bus that we painted dark green and gutted, turning it into a camper. We left two bus seats up front on each side, built a wall to block off the sleeping section (3 bunks on one side and 2 on the other) another wall to section off the equipment in the rear.

Every time we went through the Norfolk tunnel we had to pay for a bus toll which was very expensive. The toll guy told us if we put in a stove and propane tank we would classify as a camper, so we went to the junk yard and bought a gas stove and an empty propane tank and hooked it up. It was all for looks and didn’t work. Our tolls were now $1.75 and the toll guy would get on the bus with his flashlight every time and check it out.

We would take turns driving from Washington D.C. to Georgia so you could sleep if you wanted or if we were playing more than one night we could crash for the night or party in the bus. When the equipment was in the club the back of the bus was huge. While on the road we would run into the Allman Brothers, Cactus and other bands doing the same circuit. All the bands would stop at The Jolly Roger right before the Norfolk tunnel for a beer and we would always stop to see who was in. Someone always had to stay with the bus so it wouldn’t be stolen with all the gear in it. It was usually someone who was sleeping.

The Spores, from left: Mike Debellis, Paul Mudarri, Jack Ellis, Donny Prevost, Ken MacDonald, and John Cristoferi

The Spores

Donny Prevost – lead vocals
Paul Mudarri – lead guitar
Ken MacDonald – rhythm guitar
Jack Ellis – keyboards
Mike Debellis – bass, replaced by Joe Evans
John Cristoferi – drums, replaced by Dennis DuBre

The whole time I was playing I was still training as a classical pianist (since age of 6). While in Hunger I came in 2nd place at the Va. State Classical Competitions and in 1978 decided to move to Boston to further my studies at Berkeley College of Music where I got my diploma after four years.

While I was in school I joined the Spores, a rock band in Boston and I’ve been busy ever since. When I joined they were already playing steady so I just walked in ready to go. Their business organization was top notch. They had a red moving truck and an unbelievable rehearsal situation. One of the guys lived in the studio, it was huge. It use to be a gym that went out of business that the band picked up the rent. It was two stories with office rooms, showers, a huge changing room with lockers, a lounge and a full kitchen.

The manager was Jim Higgins who was in charge of a concert sound system company and the PA system was twice the size of Hunger’s. The PA was so massive the road crew would build a ramp system from the truck to the stage and wheel everything in. The sound man Jeff Karlson knew his stuff and worked concerts for the rock star bands.

One thing the Spores did that my old bands didn’t was record every show from the house mix. We would listen to each show the next day after the gig in the office of the studio as a band and improve on the show. I have two big bins full of cassette tapes. Also whatever big bands were using our PA we would record them too. I have tapes of Robin Lane and the Chart Busters, Orchestra Luna (great band, very novel), The Dead End Kids, The Verdict, maybe The Stompers and The Fools. These bands don’t know these tapes exist, we just threw them in the bins and moved on.

We were getting recording deals and working for Don Law Productions. We would get the albums recorded but couldn’t close the deal with the record company. We had a deal with Hirsh Gardner from the band New England who produced our album. They toured with Kiss and the deal was with their management company in New York. Alda Nova got the deal and I don’t blame them, that was a great song for the radio. I got the album done for free and pressed it myself in New York. Same thing with the Hunger album. I signed the deal but it never got off the shelf, so I got the album for free and pressed it myself.

The Spores only lasted til 1983 with over 100 originals recorded and thousands of hours of live tape, the quality is excellent.

After that I played in other bands, some really big, some not, sometimes three bands at a time. Lots of studio gigs (worked with Stones producer Jimmy Miller on an album project). In 2000 I did another album with the Spores in my home studio which came out pretty good and another in 2005 which was never finished. The singer and songwriter Donny got cancer and died and we never finished it.

I’ve had two more recording deals while in Boston and during Covid I’m working on another album in the studio.

Jack Ellis

Adrian and the Sinsations

Poster for Adrian and the Sensations at Nags Head Casino, March 22, 1969, submitted by Richard Dawes

James Shott wrote to me about a group he was in during the late ’60s, Adrian’s Sensations, or Sinsations. James wrote:

I played in a band called either Adrian’s SInsations, or Adrian and the SINsations (it was called both by audiences) in the Hampton/Newport News/Norfolk/Virginia Beach area. People knew me as “Smokey.”

The SINsations was a very good band, and played a good bit at the Peppermint Beach Club, filling in for Bill Deal and the Rhondells when they were gone.

Adrian Brandt played keyboards, Wayne Beckner played guitar, Joe Smith played drums, Jean Lynch sang, Jim Williamson and I played trumpet, Mike Minguez and Tom Gallucci played tenor sax, Dickie Dawes and David Champagne played trombone (at different times), Curly (can’t remember last name) played bass for a while and then another bass player, too. Gary Church was a singer in the band before Jean Lynch.

The Sinsations business card listing Gary Church on vocals with phone numbers for Adrian Brandt and Wayne Beckner

The band was quite good. We played soul, but also the top tunes of the day. Somewhat like Blood, Sweat & Tears, Chicago and Tower of Power, the Sinsations employed elements of jazz into the arrangements.

We spent a good bit of time in Virginia Beach at the Peppermint Beach Club, and played in clubs in Virginia Beach, Hampton, Newport News and Norfolk, and also played military bases. The horn players were music majors in college, and the rhythm section was mostly self taught, but quite good. Jean Lynch was a very thin girl with a big voice; sounded like Aretha Franklin.

I was in the band from either late 67 or early 68 until I was separated from the USAF (Jim Williamson, David Champagne also in AF, Mike Minguez in Army). I believe the group continued to work for a while after that, but lost contact with the guys.

I’d like to get some feedback from other members and anyone who heard/saw the group.

Thank you to Richard Dawes for sending in a photo of the rare poster of Adrian and the Sensations at the Casino at Nags Head and the scan of the Sinsations business card..

Danny and the Del Notes

The Del Notes
The Del Notes (photo from the Peninsula Garage group)

Del Notes Top Cat 45 Don't Leave Me GirlThe Del Notes came from Newport News, Virginia. Danny O’Brien attended Newport News High School and formed the group at school.

Early members included:

Danny O’Brien – vocals and keyboards
Tom Clark – guitar
Earl Howard – guitar and vocals
Ronny Methany (also written as Ronnie Matheny) – bass guitar
Dickey Moore – drums

Danny O'Brien of the Del Notes
Danny O’Brien of the Del Notes
The Del Notes recorded their singles at D’Arcy Studios across the James River in Norfolk, VA.

The first included two original songs, “Don’t Leave Me Girl” by Danny O’Brien b/w “I Been Thinking Lately” by Earl Howard, released on Top Cat 968. Twenty Grand Music registered copyright on “Don’t Leave Me Girl” in April of 1968 along with 20 other songs. The single likely was released earlier than that date.

Earl Howard of the Del Notes
Earl Howard of the Del Notes
For their second single on the Sounds International label, Danny O’Brien wrote a great blue-eyed soul song “I Love You” b/w another Earl Howard ballad “I Wish I Was Home” which a commentator said was written for Ronnie Matheny who had been sent to Vietnam.

Twenty Grand Music BMI published their original songs.

Del Notes Top Cat 45 I Been Thinking LatelyDanny O’Brien periodically revived the Del-Notes over the next few decades. Later members included bassist Garland Reece, guitarist Fred Ordonio and drummer Randy Jackson.

Earl Howard was killed in an auto accident on May 16, 1991. Dan O’Brien passed away on December 4, 2003.

The photos seen here Tom Hudgins submitted to the Peninsula Garage yahoo group some years back.

An article in the Daily Press from November 1991 was a good source of information for this post.

I don’t know of any other releases on this Top Cat label, but D’Arcy Sound Studios and Twenty Grande Music publishing show up on many releases on the Sounds International label.

An early photo shows Earl Howard and Ronny Methany jamming with members of the Nite Liters, including Steve Keith on rhythm guitar, Harrell Baker on lead guitar and sax and Donny Falk [Faulk] on bass guitar. The Nite Liters had their own single on Sounds International, “Set Me Free” / “Harlem Shuffle”.

members of the Del Notes jam with another group
Ronny Methany and Earl Howard of the Del Notes jam with Steve Keith, Harrell Baker and Donnie Falk of the Nite Liters.