Surprise Package was a 1960s rock band, recording on

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

. They consisted of Greg Beck (guitar, backing vocals), Kim Eggers (lead vocals & Sax), Michael Rogers (piano, organ, bass, backing vocals), and Fred Zeufeldt (drums, backing vocals). They had several hits, including ''The Other Me'', written by

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and

Michael Z. Gordon Michael Zane Gordon (born April 4, 1941)Stewart, Dick“Up Close With Michael Z. Gordon Of The Marketts.” The Lance Monthly, May 15, 2005. Accessed February 17, 2012. is an American screenwriter, producer, musician and composer. Early life ...

(1967). The Surprise Package was one of the top 60's Northwest

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bands from the greater

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

area. They were originally called the Viceroys, and had a Northwest instrumental hit called ''Granny's Pad''. The band consisted of Greg Beck (guitar, vocals), Kim Eggers (lead vocals & Sax), Michael Rogers (piano, organ, bass, vocals) and Fred Zeufeldt (drums, vocals). In 1966 after doing some

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''Where the Action Is'' tours and shows with their friends

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, they recorded some songs on

, produced by

Jerry Fuller Jerry Fuller (born November 19, 1938) is an American songwriter, singer and record producer. Biography Jerry Fuller was born in Fort Worth, Texas, United States, to a musical family. He and his brother Bill performed as a duo in their home state ...

. During a mixdown session,

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(

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producer) suggested the name 'The Surprise Package' to replace the dated 'Viceroys' handle. They recorded four songs under Fuller's production: ''Eastside, Westside'', ''Going Out of My Mind'', ''The Merry Go Round'', and ''The Other Me'', written by

and

in 1967. Unfortunately, Columbia apparently had too many artists to market, so The Surprise Package got very little promotion. In late 1967, Kim Eggers left the band and singer Rob Lowrey was hired to replace him. In 1968 they recorded an album called ''Free Up'' for

Lee Hazlewood Barton Lee Hazlewood (July 9, 1929 – August 4, 2007) was an American country and pop singer, songwriter, and record producer, most widely known for his work with guitarist Duane Eddy during the late 1950s and singer Nancy Sinatra in the 1960s ...

's LHI-label, which spun off two singles as well: the title track and their version of

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in 1969. In 1970, Mike Rogers left the band, they then added Gene Hubbard on keys and became American Eagle.

References

USA single's list A-Z from 1966-72

Surprise Package, Vinyl Records

Surprise Package: The Collector's Edition

The Surprise Package on Discogs
Rock music groups from Washington (state) Musical groups from Seattle Columbia Records artists {{US-rock-band-stub