The Bruthers were an American

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The sty ...

band from Pearl River, New York, active in the mid to late 1960s, and whose membership consisted the four brothers, Alf,

Frank Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curre ...

, Mike, and

Joe Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage * ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971 * ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...

of the Delia family. They recorded several songs for RCA records, of which, "Bad Way to Go" is the best known. The song is included on the

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

, ''Pebbles Vol. 8'', and is regarded by enthusiasts and collectors as a classic in the genre.

History

The four Delia brothers started playing as a group in the early 1960s. They were signed with manager, Sid Bernstein, best known for promoting

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

' Shea Stadium concerts in New York City, and who managed successful acts, such as

The Young Rascals ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

and

The Blues Project The Blues Project is a band from the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City that was formed in 1965 and originally split up in 1967. Their songs drew from a wide array of musical styles. They are most remembered as one of the most artfu ...

. Bernstein was able to arrange a recording contract with

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

. In 1966, they released the single, "Bad Way to Go" / "Bad Love." Though its

A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

has come to be regarded as a classic in garage rock, the single failed to chart. Also that year, one of their unreleased songs, "Rock It to Me," was used as background music for the Muppets' first network TV appearance on the September 18 episode of ''

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television program, television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in Septembe ...

''. – Written (uncredited) by Marianne Spellman. Though the Bruthers continued to recorded several more songs for RCA, such as "The Courtship Of Rapunzel," which would later be included on the ''Garage Beat '66 Vol. 6: Speak of the Devil'' compilation issued by

Sundazed Sundazed Music is an American independent record label based in Coxsackie, New York. It specializes in obscure and rare recordings from the 1950s to the 1970s. In 2000, Sundazed had a staff of 15 and two mixing studios, including a vintage audio ...

, they were soon dropped from the label, and broke up in 1967. After the Bruthers disbanded, keyboard player,

Joe Delia Joseph Delia (born October 11, 1948) is an American singer, musician, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and arranger. He is the lead vocalist and keyboardist of the eponymous blues rock band Joe Delia & Thieves, after previously touring as a sess ...

, played as a sideman to numerous artists, such as

David Johansen David Roger Johansen (sometimes spelled ''David Jo Hansen''; born January 9, 1950) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. He is best known as a member of the seminal proto-punk band the New York Dolls. He is also known for his work under ...

(aka

Buster Poindexter David Roger Johansen (sometimes spelled ''David Jo Hansen''; born January 9, 1950) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. He is best known as a member of the seminal proto-punk band the New York Dolls. He is also known for his work under ...

) in his 1987 hit "Hot, Hot, Hot" and went on to work on soundtracks for various movies, documentaries, and TV shows. Guitarist, "Frank" (now known as director

Francis Delia Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome * Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Francis (surname) Places * Rural ...

), worked as a commercial photographer for several Madison Avenue Advertising agencies, as well as magazines including National Lampoon and High Times. Delia also served as Cinematographer on Abel Ferrara's early films. Francis went on to direct over eighty music videos which include "Sara" & "We Built This City" for Starship, Rockwell's Michael Jackson infused "Somebody’s Watching Me", Wall of Voodoo's "Mexican Radio", The Ramones’ "Psychotherapy", and many many more. The Bruthers complete recordings for RCA were released on the compilation, ''Bad Way to Go,'' issued by

on October 21, 2003.

Personnel

*Alf Delia (vocals) *Frank Delia (guitar) *

(organ, keyboards) *Mike Delia (drums)

Discography

Singles

*"Bad Way to Go" b/w "Bad Love" (RCA, rel. 1966)

Compilations

*''Bad Way to Go'' (Sundazed SC 6209, rel. 2003) – CD collection of the RCA recordings

References

External links

Dangerous Minds
– information about the group, including the video performance of the Muppets' 1966, backed by Bruthers' music {{DEFAULTSORT:Bruthers Garage rock groups from New York (state) American garage punk groups Musical quartets from New York (state) Musical groups disestablished in 1967 RCA Records artists