From:  "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Thu Sep 23, 2004  1:32 am 
Subject:  This Is My Story : The Rondels
 
THE RONDELS

Back in the late fifties and early sixties, there were at least three groups
called the Rondels. There was a vocal group that recorded for Carlton,
another vocal group on Clifton Records and an instrumental group from
Boston, Massachusetts. The latter will be the subject of this piece.
Also, the group should not be confused with the Ron-Dels (sometimes
spelled Rondells), Delbert McClinton's first group, who had a # 97 hit in
1965 with "If You Really Want Me To, I'll Go". On top of that, there was
also an Australian group called the Rhondells. Confusing, to say the
least.

Our Rondels were a quartet : Leonard Petze, guitar ; his cousin James
Petze, bass ; Raymond Pizzi, sax; and Lenny Collins, drums. All were
still in their teens when the group was formed, circa 1960. In 1961, they
were signed to Al Massler's Amy label in New York City, the same label
that also had another successful instrumental R&R group under contract,
the Ramrods, of "Ghost Riders in the Sky" fame.

The Rondels' first record was "Back Beat No. 1" (Amy 825), collectively
composed by the four group members. It featured an extended drum solo,
and, unlike most other rock instrumentals, which usually had a fade-out
ending, it came to a real climax at the end. The flip was a rather ordinary
version of "Greensleeves", here called "Shades of Green". "Back Beat
No.1" was the only hit by the Rondels, peaking at # 66 in August 1961,
and also their only single to be issued in Europe*.

The group followed this up with "My Prayer"/"Satan's Theme" (Amy 830),
which I haven't heard, but then came their third single, which has been in
my collection for the past 37 years (and it cost me only 50 Dutch cents):
"Caldonia" (the old Louis Jordan number)/ "110 Pounds of Drums" (Amy
839). The B-side, again written by all four members, has a lot in common
with "Back Beat No. 1", with another long drum solo, but it is "Caldonia"
that really does it for me. Exciting sax and drum work over an incredibly
tight rhythm. Fantastic. Two further singles were released in 1962: "Flute
Salad"/"Red Peppers" (Amy 844) and "Cover Charge"/"Meet Me At The
Peppermint Lounge" (Amy 857), but I'm not familiar with those four tracks
either.

There were no more Rondels releases after that, so I suppose the group
didn't last too long. Leonard Petze went on to become vice-president of
A & R for Epic Records. Lenny Collins also held a high A&R position at
Columbia, for the New England area. Both were still active in music as
late as 2003, see
http://www.dirtywater.com/discus/messages/7/39.html?1051197448
James Petze (born December 30, 1944) died of cancer on September 12,
1993.

As far as I know, only "Back Beat No. 1" has been legally reissued,
on various compilations, including "Teen Beat Vol. 3" (Ace 602).

* An advertisement in DISC reveals that the following six singles were
released on the UK London label on Friday September 1, 1961: "Hats
Off To Larry" by Del Shannon (9402), "Hurt" by Timi Yuro (9403), "Back
Beat No. 1" by the Rondels (9404), "Crying" by Roy Orbison (9405),
"Drivin' Home" by Duane Eddy (9406) and "Theme From Come September"
by Bobby Darin and his Orchestra (9407). Those were the days.

(With thanks to Tapio.)