The Routers were an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...

group in the early 1960s.

Career

Formed in 1961 by Michael Z. Gordon, the Routers'

recordings A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, r ...

sometimes used session musicians in addition to the actual group with the exception of Gordon who also formed another successful group, the Marketts. Gordon composed the award-winning composition, "Out Of Limits" with the Marketts. Gordon played on almost all of the Routers and Marketts sessions. The original line-up of the Routers was Al Kait, lead guitar; Lynn Frasier, tenor saxophone; Michael Zane Gordon, rhythm guitar, vocals; Scott Walker (then recording as Scott Engel), bass guitar; Randy Viers, drums. The Routers' first release in September 1962 was the guitar-driven instrumental "

Let's Go (Pony) Let's Go (Pony) is a 1962 song by The Routers. Its infectious “ lap clap clap-clap-clap clap-clap-clap-clapLet's Go!" chant became a favorite of cheerleaders and football fans worldwide. The musicians were key members of the famous session music ...

", which reached #19 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...

. Its infectious "clap clap clap-clap-clap clap-clap-clap-clap Let's Go!" chant became a favorite of

cheerleader Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It can be performed to motivate sports teams, to ente ...

s and crowds worldwide. The songwriting credits are given to local singer Lanny Duncan and his brother Robert Duncan. Lanny Duncan had previously recorded the original

demo Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...

of the song in 1961 as a member of the Starlighters, featuring Tony Valentino on guitar and Jody Rich on bass. The demo was recorded in Glendale with engineer Eddie Brackett. Valentino and Rich went on to form

the Standells The Standells are an American garage rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in the 1960s, who have been referred to as a "punk band of the 1960s", and said to have inspired such groups as the Sex Pistols and Ramones. They are best known ...

in 1962. The Routers' recording was instigated by

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

Joe Saraceno Joseph Saraceno (May 16, 1937 – October 15, 2015) was an American record producer. He was a producer for The Ventures The Ventures are an American instrumental rock band formed in Tacoma, Washington, in 1958, by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle. T ...

and his co-producer and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

Michael Z. Gordon, who also went on to compose "Apologize" by Ed Ames. Like many

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

instrumentals recorded in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, at this time, such as those by B. Bumble and the Stingers, "Let's Go (Pony)" involved

Tommy Tedesco Thomas Joseph Tedesco (July 3, 1930 – November 10, 1997) was an American guitarist and studio musician in Los Angeles and Hollywood. He was part of the loose collective of the area's leading session musicians later popularly known as The Wrec ...

on guitar, Gordon (

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

) , Plas Johnson (

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

) and Earl Palmer (

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

), and probably with Plas’ brother Ray Johnson on

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

as well. Later Routers recordings were also written by Gordon, including the songs "A-ooga" and "Big Band". Their recordings continued to be issued up to 1964 but with less commercial success, and involved Gordon (guitar) ,

Leon Russell Leon Russell (born Claude Russell Bridges; April 2, 1942 – November 13, 2016) was an American musician and songwriter who was involved with numerous bestselling records during his 60-year career that spanned multiple genres, including rock and ...

(

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

) and Hal Blaine (drums). The same group also recorded over the same period as the Marketts. Various

studio A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design ...

and touring versions of the band also included Gordon, Randy Viers, and

Scott Engel Noel Scott Engel (January 9, 1943 – March 22, 2019), better known by his stage name Scott Walker, was an American-British singer-songwriter, composer and record producer who resided in England. Walker was known for his emotive voice and his u ...

(later of the Walker Brothers).

Members

;Original line-up *Al Kait - lead guitar *Lynn Frasier - tenor saxophone * Michael Zane Gordon - rhythm guitar, vocals * Scott Walker - bass guitar *Randy Viers - drums. ;Later line-up * Michael Zane Gordon - guitar *

* Hal Blaine - drums

Discography

;Studio albums * ''Let's Go! With The Routers'' arner Bros. Records. WS 1490February 1963. * ''The Routers Play 1963's Great Instrumental Hits'' arner Bros. Records. WS 1524 November 1963. * ''Charge! arner Bros. Records. WS 1559August 1964. * ''The Routers Play The Chuck Berry Song Book'' arner Bros. Records. WS 1595April 1965. * ''Superbird'' ercury. SRM 1-682September 1973. ;Singles * "Let's Go (Pony)" b/w "Mashy" arner Bros. Records.5283June 1962. #19. * "Make It Snappy" b/w "Half Time" arner Bros. Records.5332January 1963. #115. * "Sting Ray" b/w "Snap Happy" arner Bros. Records.5349March 1963. #50. * "A-Ooga b/w Big Band arner Bros. Records.5379July 1963. * "Snap, Crackle And Pop b/w Amoeba arner Bros. Records.5403December 1963. * "Crack Up" b/w "Let's Dance" arner Bros. Records. 5444June 1964. * "Stamp And Shake" b/w "Ah-Ya" arner Bros. Records.5467August 1964. * "The Time Funnel b/w Walkin' Back (Jan Davis & The Routers) CA 47-9018November 1966.The Routers appear as Session Backing Group. * "Superbird b/w Sack O' Woe ercury. 73418September 1973.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Routers, The Rock music groups from California Surf music groups American instrumental musical groups Musical groups from Los Angeles