The Syndicate of Sound are an American
garage rock band formed in
San Jose, California
San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popu ...
that was first active between 1964 and 1970. Through their national hit "
Little Girl", the band developed a raw sound, and became forerunners in the
psychedelic rock genre. The group managed to produce two other charting singles and, after their initial breakup in 1970, have since reformed with a new lineup.
History
The line-up formed in 1964, when Don Baskin (October 9, 1946–October 22, 2019;
vocalist
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...
,
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 strin ...
) and Bob Gonzalez (
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 ...
), both originally from the outfit Lenny Lee and the Nightmen, united with a local group called the Pharaohs. The resulting band, the Syndicate of Sound, which, along with Baskin and Gonzalez, included John Sharkey (
keyboards
Keyboard may refer to:
Text input
* Keyboard, part of a typewriter
* Computer keyboard
** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping
** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware
Music
* Musi ...
), Larry Ray (
lead guitar
Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featu ...
), and John Duckworth (
drums). Several other stand-ins performed with the band, most notably Dr. Kelly E. Hejtmancik Sr. (
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 ...
) of Galveston TX during the band's Galveston filming of "Little Girl".
In the beginning stages of the band's existence, the group was influenced by
R&B music, specifically the early musical styles of
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...
and
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...
. After the group won a Bay Area "Battle of the Bands" against 100 other competing bands, the Syndicate of Sound earned a recording contract with
Del-Fi Records
Del-Fi Records was an American record label based in Hollywood, California and owned by Bob Keane. The label's first single released was "Caravan" by Henri Rose released in 1958, but the label was most famous for signing Ritchie Valens. Valens' fi ...
. The band released a
single
Single may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Single (music), a song release
Songs
* "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004
* "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008
* "Single" (William Wei song), 2016
* "Single", by ...
, "Prepare For Love", which received local airplay, but ultimately failed to make an impact. Though the record was unsuccessful, it established the band's sound, combining striking
vocal harmonies
Vocal harmony is a style of vocal music in which a consonant note or notes are simultaneously sung as a main melody in a predominantly homophonic texture. Vocal harmonies are used in many subgenres of European art music, including Classical chora ...
and innovative psychedelic instrumentals.
[
Baskin, Gonzalez and Sharkey continued to write new material and came up with " Little Girl" and "You" which the band recorded for Hush Records in San Francisco, on January 9, 1966. "Little Girl" became a regional hit after San Jose radio station ]KLIV
KLIV (1590 AM) is a broadcast radio station in the United States. Licensed to San Jose, California, KLIV serves San Jose and the Santa Clara Valley with a Vietnamese format simulcasting KVVN. It is one of the last independently owned stations in ...
latched onto it. From there it attracted the attention of Bill Gavin's tip sheet and then executives at Bell Records in New York. Bell released it nationally and offered the group a contract for an album. Replacing Larry Ray with lead guitarist Jim Sawyers, they wrote and recorded the LP in three weeks. They then began a national tour appearing with other hit acts such as: Paul Revere & the Raiders
Paul Revere & the Raiders (also known as Raiders) were an American rock band formed in Boise, Idaho, in 1958. They saw considerable U.S. mainstream success in the second half of the 1960s and early 1970s. The band was known for including Revol ...
, the Young Rascals
Young may refer to:
* Offspring, the product of reproduction of a new organism produced by one or more parents
* Youth, the time of life when one is young, often meaning the time between childhood and adulthood
Music
* The Young, an American roc ...
, and the Yardbirds. "Little Girl" peaked at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100
The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streamin ...
on 9–16 July 1966 and #5 on ''Cashbox''. The follow-up "Rumors" also hit the Hot 100 and peaked at #55 on 1 October 1966.[ Afterward Baskin and Gonzalez made a failed attempt to record another album for Capitol Records in 1970. They disbanded shortly after.
In 1990, Baskin, Gonzalez and Duckworth reformed the band, adding Jim Sawyers on guitar, which performed occasionally. They recorded another non-charting single in 1995, a cover of a Kinks composition "Who Will be the Next in Line?". In 2005, Larry Ray rejoined the band.
In 2006, the Syndicate of Sound was in the first class of inductees into the San Jose Rocks Hall of Fame.
Don Baskin died on October 22, 2019, aged 73.
John Duckworth's death was reported on August 29, 2022.Little Girl"> Little Girl
"Little Girl (Syndicate of Sound song), Little Girl]
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Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...