A Tale of Two Shaggs
One from Miami. One from Detroit. One Manager. And one rockin’ ‘Back from the Grave’ Michigan 45 reissued in 2025
The once lost, only existing photo of the Shaggs of Detroit, Michigan: Bottom Left/Clockwise: Jim Gilliam/bass; Stan Burger (glasses)/drums; Perry Rouse/guitar and lead vocals, bottom center; Roy Rouse, guitar and lead vocals; Doug Preston/lead guitar, right corner.
In A Tale of Two Cities, the 1859 classic by Charles Dickens, the histories of the European cities of London and Paris entwined, as set against the rise of the French Revolution. A century later, the histories of the U.S cities of Miami, Florida, and Detroit, Michigan, intertwined, as set against the rise of counterculture decade. On a faithful, Motor City Friday night on October 7, 1966, when the Grande Ballroom opened its doors for the first time: it was the best of times. When a final police raid in January 1972 shut down the infamous Gar Wood Mansion for good: it was the worst of times. It was an age of youthful wisdom and foolishness; an epoch of a belief, a season of light and a spring of hope that the Elvis and Beatles-inspired rock ’n’ roll dreams of teens would come true.
Such is this tale of two Shaggs: One a Mitten State transplant born and raised in South Florida, which came to issue a one-off single on an upstart independent Detroit label, Palmer Records, in June 1966. The other, Motor City-born and raised, came to issue a one-off single on Capitol Records in June 1969. The common denominator of this tale of two rock ’n’ roll cities is an ex-science school teacher-turned impresario that Stan Burger, the drummer of the Capitol-signed the Shaggs, recalled as being “enthusiastic, ambitious and full of big plans — and obsessed with Brian Epstein and wanting that type of success.”
For decades, collectors of the 45-rpm obscure assumed, as the Miami-to-Detroit Shaggs wound down their career by the end of 1967, their manager, Ray Skop, a first-born son of a Rabbi, “kept the name” to build a new, ad-hock studio group, thus “continuing” the band — as in the cases of Capitol producer David Alexrod rebuilding a new-studio inversion of the Electric Prunes (actually cutting Alexrod solo albums), or Canada’s Stallion Thumrock¹ (signed to A&M Records) touring as a live version of the Electric Prunes in 1973 (tossing ST originals into the sets as “new” EP tunes), or the second, faux-Frijid Pink touring the Southwestern U.S at the same time as the legitimate Frijid Pink² toured the Southeast — though there was no evidence presented, in lieu of record collector speculations, to support Ray Skop orchestrated such a plan: that he used the Miami-bred Shaggs’ previous, two-year-old Palmer Records single to hedge a new deal with Capitol, then needing a “band” to honor the contract, created an all-new the Shaggs. Now, six decades later, it turns out that record collector speculation isn’t too far from truth — but still not the truth.
Three concert posters for the Detroit Shaggs fronted by Roy Rouse.
Left to Right: February 9, 1969: Village Pub, March 28, 1969: Village Pub, July 22, 1967: Grande Ballroom.
The Ted Nugent and Barbra Streisand Connection
In his ensuing, post-Internet years and up until his death in February 2016, Ray Skop made some wild claims in the 404-fickle world of vanity-press music blogs dedicated to garage rock obscurities such as the Shaggs, regarding his career highlights: One was his discovering and working as the “first manager” for the early career of Barbra Streisand: he brought her to Detroit for her first shows and booked her first national television appearance — and then sold-out her contact for $500. The other “highlight” concerned his working as Ted Nugent’s “first manager” — which included his co-writing the Amboy Dukes’ first, national hit single, “Journey to the Center of the Mind.” Then, in some unknown capacity, because of his “work” with Nugent, as well as securing a deal with Capitol for the Detroit-bred the Shaggs: Skop found employment with Ed “Punch” Andrews’s Hideout Records — though the name of “Ray Skop” is never referenced alongside the oft-mentioned Hideout employees Gary Gawinek and Joe Aramini, each who handled the business, recording, and touring affairs of the Hideout stable (Bob Seger, in particular), in various Detroit hard copy or web-based tomes regarding the Motor City’s late ’60s scene.
Ray Stark — not Skop — one of the most successful and prolific independent producers in postwar Hollywood — discovered Barbra Streisand in a New York nightclub, casting her in the 1964 Broadway musical and 1968 film adaptation of Isobel Lennart’s “Funny Girl.” Stark was the brother-in-law of comedian and Broadway star Fanny Brice, on which the semi-biographical story is based.
Learn more with Ryan Gilmore at the USC School of Cinematic Arts.
Well-documented — in several autobiographies, as well as her own biography — Barbra Streisand’s first, de facto-manager was her friend and collaborator Barry Dennen, who helped assemble her early, New York City nightclub act, as well as recording her first audition studio demos and early live club dates on an Ampex reel-to-reel deck. Her first agent, Irvin Arthur, the founder of Associated Booking Corporation, connected Streisand with her “first manager,” Ted Rozar. A former agent at MCA Records, Rozar managed the career of actor-comedian Orson Bean. Rozar signed Streisand on November 23, 1960.
A fan from her New York City club days, Orson Bean requested Barbra’s appearance on The Jack Paar Show when he served as its guest-host on April 5, 1961. Prior to that television debut, Irvin Arthur and Ted Rozar orchestrated an eight-week booking in March 1961 at the Caucus Club in Detroit, Michigan (and flew her, special, from Detroit for the show). As the relationship between Ted Rozar and Streisand soured (long story; refer to Barbra’s own memoirs — and not the autobiographies by others), it was Marty Erlichmann who bought out Ted Rozar’s contract for $750 (not $500) — as Elrichmann became her long-time manager.
Ray Skop, right, with Ted Nugent, in a late ’60s/early ’70s photo that floated around Facebook as scenesters pondered the identity of the other person.
Bassist Robert Burwell, formerly of the Grande Ballroom-mainstays, Wilson Mower Pursuit, who wrote and played bass on the Detroit Shaggs’ Capitol single making the rounds in 2025, “She Makes Me Happy” — as well as in its precursor, the Roustabouts, with the brothers Roy and Perry Rouse — scoffed when told of Skop’s claims.
“While Ray Skop was responsible for renaming the Roustabouts as the Shaggs, as he felt the name was more commercially acceptable [Skop was going for the less abrasive image of the British Invasion-era of the Beatles, not the garage-grungy MC 5, after all], and then landing them an audition with Capitol Records, he had absolutely nothing to do with the Amboy Dukes. It was Bob Hankins, an old-time friend of Ted’s, who was their manager. When Ted graduated high school in 1967, he asked Bob to manage the band. My band at the time, Wilson Mower Pursuit, lived in a house just down the road from the Dukes. Our lead singer, Dave Obrien, and new drummer, Jim B. Nutler, previously played in a band called the Gang — which included Greg Arama on bass and Steve Farmer on guitar. All of us hung out a lot back in the day and jammed often. That’s how Steve and Greg ended up in the Dukes.”
“Ray Skop being the ‘first manager’ of the Amboy Dukes and co-writing their first hit at the same time he managed the Shaggs, that’s wild, if it’s true,” continues the Detroit-bred Shaggs’ drummer Stan Burger. “All I know is that I never met Ted and we never did any shows with the Amboy Dukes. I think I’d remember an Amboy Dukes show! As for Barbra Streisand: that’s news to me. As far as the band being renamed: when I joined, they were already known as the Shaggs.”
“I was there the day Ted Nugent showed the Dukes’ new bass player, Greg Arama, again, from the Gang, how to play their new song,” Robert Burwell continues. “This was the day me and Dave Obrien, my singer from the Pursuit, walked into Ted’s rehearsal with Greg. Steve Farmer walked into the room and took Dave and me up to his bedroom to play the original version, the entire song, of ‘Journey to the Center of the Mind’ on acoustic guitar. Steve wrote it entirely by himself. All Ted did to Steve’s gentle folk song was turn it into a rocker.” (In the pages of the definitive tome on the Detroit scene, Grit, Noise, and Revolution: The Birth of the Detroit Rock ’n’ Roll, author David A. Carson notes the Amboy Dukes’ June 1968 #16 chart-topper featured lyrics and music written by the Dukes’ second guitarist, Steve Farmer, with a “melody” composed by Ted Nugent.)
Original sheet music issued by Brent Music Corporation, an EMI affiliated U.S publisher founded by Bob Shad, related to his label, Brent, and associated with Mainstream Records.
While it’s no secret musicians embellish their careers, recollecting events differently than others, it’s obvious the rare Ted Nugent photo, above, depicts more than just a one-off causal encounter between the Amboy Dukes’ founder and Ray Skop: they were more than just acquaintances.
There’s no doubt Ray Skop loved rock ’n’ roll and successfully adapted his college education as a high school science teacher into an accomplished career in artist management: he developed the careers of two Miami bands, taking them from teen hall dances to “house band” gigs at five-star hotels, booked national record company conventions, and then negotiated deals with three record labels: two with Columbia and Capitol Records.
So, while there’s no official documentation: Ray Skop’s past skills in discovering and developing bands would surely impress Ed “Punch” Andrews for a staff position hire with Hideout Records. The same holds true for Bob Shad employing Skop at Mainstream Records — in some capacity between 1967 to 1969, during the time the Amboy Dukes released their three albums, with their second, 1968 effort featuring their best-known hit (before their move to Polydor in 1970). Then, courtesy of these (assumed) additional skills learned under the aegis of Andrews and Shad, Skop incorporated Shagg-Skop Productions.
The Detroit Shaggs’ is a tale of “what ifs”: If not for the Vietnam draft derailing their career (as it did with Detroit’s the Coronadoes on Dot/Paramount). If the Shaggs’ debut single charted in the U.S and Europe (as did Rick Stevers with Detroit’s Frijid Pink). Only if . . . as music aficionados today would search eBay for the rare sheet music to “She Makes Me Happy” alongside the Amboy Dukes’ “Journey to the Center of the Mind,” as well-aged cover bands reproduce both songs as those-were-the-days classic rock-loving curmudgeons like this writer enjoy a glass of suds at a local dive watering hole hosting live music.
Ray Skop — who surely wanted to repeat the local, mainstream successes of Detroit managers, record label and club owners Ed “Punch” Andrews, Jeep Holland, and Russ Gibb, the latter operated the infamous Grande Ballroom — was quite the character; one filled with a well-liked, colorful, impresario bombast on equal to the managerial infamy Kim Fowley (The Runaways), Jerry Brandt (Jobriath), and Tony Defries (David Bowie, Iggy Pop). While his claims curls a few Motor City eyebrows, again: there’s no doubt Skop had the skills to nurture Miami bands from the garage, to the studio, and to airplay on the radio: as is the case with the Sunshine State, teen-rock concerns the Modds and the Shaggs.
The mid-1967 sextet version of South Florida’s the Shaggs — after several of the original members left for the Kollektion.
Left to Right: Mark Watson, Jack Heideier, Cleve Johns, Craig Caraglior, Doug Romanella (seated foreground), and Don Ricketts (white shirt/vest).
The Shaggs of Miami
The first recorded work of the Shaggs, “It’s Too Late” b/w “Anytime,” was released in 1965 on the Miami-based Abco Records — but as backing for two Abco artists: Cynthia Williams and Perry Gordon, on their respective A and B-sides. The Shaggs rose from the ashes of three, earlier Miami bands: lead vocalist and lead guitarist Craig Curtis and drummer Greg Shaw hailed from the Deltonas, bassist Don Ricketts hailed from the Modds, and rhythm guitarist Cleve Johns Jr., hailed from the Voyagers. And amid those bands, the various members were also part of the revolving door of the short-lived the Invaders; their eventual single, “She’s a Tiger,” became a local hit courtesy of Miami’s 560 AM WQAM.
The Deltonas — consisting of Craig Curtis on lead vocals and lead guitar, John Mascaro on rhythm guitar, Don Ricketts on bass, and Greg Shaw on drums — cut a 45-rpm demo, “The Unlucky Man” b/w “Lisa, in October 1964.
Forming in early 1965, the Modds — which featured John Mascaro and Don Ricketts from the Deltonas, lead vocalist Dean Liapis, a one-time, short-lived Shagg in Dennis O’Barry on lead guitar, and drummer Dewey Bond — fared better in their recording endeavors, which began with the recording of 45-rpm demo covers.
The Deltonas, Christmas 1964, left. The Modds, 1965, right.
As John Mascaro reflected on his 50-plus years of South Florida-based friendship with Ray Skop, he recalls the dedication of the Southwest Miami Senior High School science teacher to his students didn’t end in the classroom. Impressed by the Modds’ popularity among the student body by self-booking teen dances and Police Athletic League-sponsored events, such as the popular Fireman’s Hall in Hialeah, in addition to the Dade County-wide buzz on the band by way of their multiple appearances for Friday and Saturday night events at Miami’s The Place, and the two-stage set-up at The World on Biscayne Blvd., as well as weekly Sunday events at the North Miami Armory and the outdoor concerts at Greynolds Park, Skop booked Mascaro and company for “grown up” house gigs at the prestigious Miami Beach hotels the Fontainbleau (that hosted performances by Frank Sinatra) and the Deauville Beach Resort, where the Modds performed on the hotel’s Napoleon Ballroom stage — the same stage where The Ed Sullivan Show hosted the Beatles’ second U.S television appearance on February 16, 1964.
Upon Bob Nimer replacing O’Barry on lead guitar — the Modds quickly released a 1965 45-rpm original cut at Bobby Kukoff Studios in Miami. Miami DJ Morton “Doc” Downey — yes, the later famous loud mouth-pioneer of the ’80s “trash TV” talk format — played the A-side, “Don’t Be Late,” on 790 WFUN where it became “The #1 Most-Requested song of the Week” in April 1965 as part of the station’s local talent program.
Encouraged by the WFUN chart-placing, Ray Skop — always the mover and shaker — successfully negotiated a July 16, 1965, appearance for the Modds at the annual Columbia Records Convention held on Miami Beach — as the opening act for the New Christy Minstrels as part of an outdoor patio show that warmed up the crowd for the convention’s main auditorium showcase featuring the Byrds, Paul Revere and the Raiders, Billy Joe Royal, and the Duprees. As result of that well-received appearance, Skop negotiated a deal with Columbia to release the “Don’t Be Late” b/w “So in Love” single that previously gained local popularity on Miami’s 790 WFUN.
Unfortunately, as was the case with many bands of the time: the Vietnam War intervened as the members of the Modds received their draft notices. Their Columbia deal and their dreams were over in an incredible ten-month ride. Years later, “Don’t Be Late” was selected as one of 29 songs appearing on Gear Fab Records’ Psychedelic States-Florida in the 60s, Vol. 3 (2001).
The Shaggs of Miami Arrive in the Motor City
Hoping to benefit from the then thriving local-to-national scene in Detroit, with the major labels Capitol, Columbia, and Elektra Records opening offices and signing local acts for national distribution, Ray Skop — while still a Southwest Miami Senior High School teacher where most of the band members from the Modds and the Shaggs were attending or had graduated — impressed with the quick formation of the Shaggs from the ashes of the Deltonas and the Vietnam-derailed the Modds, decided to change the band’s fortunes by relocating to Detroit. There, the Shaggs recorded their first single proper under their own name — but second overall — for the Detroit-based Palmer imprint.
Rick Tyson, who wrote the Palmer A-side, “Ring Around the Rosie,” also wrote and produced several late ’60s releases for the North Miami-based label Trip Universal, for the likes of Big Bruce, the Broadway Jets, the Common Market, Fellow John, Generation Gap, Man, and Mike Moore. Tyson and the Shaggs’ Craig Curtis worked in an even earlier Miami band, the Hornets, which issued one lost single (song titles unknown) on the Wand imprint in 1964. Craig Curtis and Richie Chimelis co-wrote the B-Side to the Palmer single, “The Way I Care.” At this juncture in the band’s career, now a quintet, the core of lead guitarist Craig Curtis, bassist Don Ricketts, and drummer Greg Shaw were rounded out two, new members: rhythm guitarist Bob Kellett and lead vocalist Richie Chimelis.
When discussing influential local labels in Detroit, Motor City aficionados are quick to mention Jeep Holland’s A-Square, the Hideout and Palladium imprints operated by Ed “Punch” Andrews, and Harry Balk’s Impact — while many forget Irving Biegel’s contributions assisting local bands recording that all-important first single.
Palmer Records is oft misconstrued as an outgrowth or sub-label of Motown Records, as result of Indiana-born staff Musical Director Milt Olsson and Staff Producer Tom Schlesinger serving as ex-Motown creative executives. Another ex-Motown staffer, Al Rosner, the assistant to Palmer’s General Manager Irving Biegel, was also a Motown transplant.
The Miami Shaggs on Detroit’s Palmer Records.
Irving Biegel, after his own four-year stint with Motown, operated Detroit’s Golden World, itself a Detroit-based label started in 1962 by soul singer Eddie Wingate (by 1968, Golden World, as well as its sub-labels, merged into Motown when purchased by Berry Gordy). In 1966, Irving Biegel left Motown to become the General Manager of the Palmer imprint. Owned by the family-based The Handleman Co., a Detroit-based “record rack jobber” retailer, Palmer ceased operations as quickly as it started, when Biegel departed the smaller upstart for the nationally-successful Philadelphia’s Bell Records in 1967.
One of Detroit’s most coveted gigs for local bands — in line behind the newly-opened Grande Ballroom, was the 1,000-person capacity, Detroit Riverfront-located The Roostertail, which was doing great business with its multi-band, “Sunday Night at the Roostertail” events for the non-alcoholic, 18 to 21 crowd, as well as their “Upper Deck” shows where local bands could support established headliners appearing on the venue’s main stage. While Ray Skop managed to get the newly-transplanted Miamians on the stage — it’s their only known, major gig in the city. That’s not to say Skop wasn’t successful in booking other venues: there’s simply no other accounts of the Motor City outsiders booking gigs at such popular, local venues as the Silverbell Ski Lodge, the Mount Holly Ski Lodge in Oakland County, the Crow’s Nest, and the Village Cave in Lake Orion, and certainly not at the Hideout(s) or Palladium clubs managed by Punch Andrews.
The Miami-to-Detroit Shaggs’ one confirmed booking — that lasted for about a half of a month, from late June to July 1966 — was as the “house band” at the Le Club a Go-Go. The “venue” isn’t mentioned in any Detroit rock tomes as a “happening” local band venue of choice because, located at 20 West Adams Street in the basement of the above-ground The Brass Rail: Le Club a Go-Go was a gentleman’s club, aka a strip joint. Ray Skop promised the boys a steady gig so they didn’t have to get day jobs — and he delivered.
Coupled with the fact the Palmer single didn’t climb Detroit’s local radio charts, with the Motown-executive-guided label abruptly shutting down, thus ceasing the single’s promotion— and probably just good ‘ol fashioned homesickness for the warmer Florida weather — the Shaggs packed up and moved back to Miami, sans Ray Skop, who opted to say behind. One major highlight for the band: Skop took his charges to see the Beatles for their second and final appearance at Detroit’s Olympia Stadium on August 13, 1966.
Back home — with lead vocalist Richie Chimelis and rhythm guitarist Bob Kellett gone, Craig Curtis, along with the rhythm section of Don Ricketts and Greg Shaw, and rounded out with a returning Cleve Johns on guitars and Mark Watson on keyboards — the Shaggs cut their final single, “You Got Me Hummin’” b/w “I Who Have Nothing,” in September 1967 for Bob Blount’s Miami-based Power Records. As with their Palmer single, the Power single failed to chart or attract major label interests.
By 1967, ex-Shaggs rhythm guitarists Jack Heidler and Cleve Johns, bassist Mike Latona, keyboardist Mark Watson, and drummer Doug Romanella became the Kollektion, releasing another lost, one-off single, “Savage Lost” b/w “My World is Empty without You.”
The prolific Craig Curtis, while juggling the ever-changing rosters of the Shaggs, was also a member of the Miami-to-Tampa the Birdwatchers, which cut several singles from 1963 to 1967. The band served as one of the many aliases of a studio congregation known as the New Rock Band. Fronted by Curtis, the collective — which featured Duane Allman on bass (later of the world-famous Allman Brothers), Eddie Martinez on drums, and Robert Pucetti on drums, recorded long-lost, one-off singles on one-off labels, under the Apollos, the Glass Bubble, Mousetrap, and Security Blanket.
The 3 Deuces, Left to Right: John McDaniel (vocals, bass, six-string guitars), Stan Burger, and Don Hales (six and twelve-string guitars).
The Roots of the Shaggs of Detroit
While the South Florida teen bands the Deltonas, the Modds, and the Shaggs stumbled out of the garage and onto the radio airwaves and stage, the Shaggs’ drummer Stan Burger formed his first band, the Three Deuces.
“We were just these kids forming our first band. Don Hales lived a few houses down from me, while John McDaniel lived past Don and was friends with him. Our sets were all covers, featuring stuff from the Byrds and the Hollies. We did ‘Eight Miles High,’ which sounded great because Don played a 12-string and we were great at harmonies. We played at places like the White Oaks Inn. A few school dances, too.”
Some six decades later, Stan Burger was surprised to learn — and was not aware his old friend Ted Pearson made it as far as recording an album for Capitol Records — about his peripheral connection the one of Detroit’s infamous albums: Phantom’s Divine Comedy: Part 1, recorded by Pearson and featuring his long-time cohort, bassist Harold Beardsley — by way of their mutual membership in the teen band, the Revolvers³, which came after the Three Deuces.
The Revolvers: Left to Right: Harold Beardsley, Ted Pearson, Don Hales, and Stan Burger, later of the Shaggs.
“I wasn’t in the Revolvers that long, as I joined the Shaggs in the summer of 1967, so I don’t remember much. I knew Ted from Oxford High School. I didn’t know Harold Beardsley, even though he attended Oxford High, and I met him through Ted. Ted and Harold came to know Don Hales through me. While I don’t recall us performing or recording original material — regardless of that flyer [from November 4, 1967] you sent me that says the band was ‘releasing a new single’ — I do recall Ted particularly loved singing Cream and we did a lot of Doors tunes. He sounded a lot like Jim Morrison, even then. We played The Limberlost often, as it was a popular teen hangout in the day, as well as The Mount Christie Ski Resort in Oxford quite a few times and The Roostertail for their all-ages events. I believe I was out of the Shaggs by the time of that flyer [in fact, the Revolvers’ earliest documented show was in July 1967], so maybe the Revolvers continued with another drummer.”
The Revolvers opening for Scot Richard Case and Panic & the Pack on November 4, 1967, at Club Limberlost.
The Revolvers did, in fact, continue with another drummer: Jim Roland, who remained on and off with Ted Pearson’s endeavors as the pop-covers the Revolvers transitioned to the heavier-originals outfits Madrigal, and then Walpurgis (aka Walpergis for a time, with keyboardist Paul Cervanak of Echoes of a Broken Mirror). That latter, third stage of the band with bassist Harold Beardsley, and under the auspices of Ed “Punch” Andrews — where co-manager Gary Gawinek handled the band’s business dealings and recording side, while Joe Aramini road managed the touring side — were rechristened as “Phantom” for the recording of the Phantom’s Divine Comedy effort in late 1973.
Madrigal, behind the Silverbell Hideout, 1968. Left to Right, with ex-Revolvers Ted Pearson (tree), Don Hales (bass), and Jim Roland (vest; drums), with a new member, Ray Campbell (guitars; keys).
While the Revolvers developed their career, future Shaggs’ studio bassist and songwriter Robert Burwell’s previous band, Wilson Mower Pursuit, became one of the most popular groups in the Detroit area from 1967 to 1969 by way of their multiple performances at the Grande Ballroom, both as a headliner and as an opener for the Byrds, Procol Harum, and their idols: Albert King and B.B. King.
Formed in 1967 as an all-male, blues-based rock group, Wilson Mower Pursuit was reportedly named after a fictional blues singer named Wilson Mower, of whom the band was in “pursuit.” To that end, the band’s lead guitarist, Paul Koschtial, was influenced by the likes of B.B King and Albert King; as blues-based rock fell out of favor, Koschtial led the band down a more traditional, non-blues commercial path. By the fall of 1968 — and with the female-fronted Jefferson Airplane all the rage — that path led the band’s manager to sign Stoney Murphy from an up-and-coming all-female concern, Feminine Touch. Koschtial then gave way to another, equally revered blues-based guitarist who supported Pinetop Perkins on his Detroit dates: Rick “The Lion” Stahl (from the Sincerely Yours who recorded for Harry Balk’s Impact). Retreating into a self-imposed exile from music after the Pursuit’s failed attempt at a record deal with the Who’s manager Kit Lambert for his Track Records-imprint, Stahl came out of retirement in the early ’80s to join Pendragon: the commercialized pop concern of Ted Pearson, the mastermind behind Phantom’s Divine Comedy from 1974. Out of frustration, the Pursuit replicated the MC 5’s gimmick of recording, albeit self-produced without label support, their debut album, Live at the Silverbell, prior to their disbanding.
“After the Pursuit, I got together with the really talented brothers Roy and Perry Rouse to form the Roustabouts,” recalls Robert Burwell. “My friendship with the Rouse brothers goes back to my working with their oldest brother Ernie who started the first band I was in at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, the Suitcasers. I also worked for a time with Randy Rouse in his band, Heat. The Suitcasers is where I picked up my “BeatleBob” handle at EMU, as I was the first person on campus to grow a Beatle haircut.
“As for the Roustabouts, we split up after a possible contract with Bob Crewe, of the Four Seasons fame, fell though. While I went back to college, Roy and Perry reformed the Mk. II version of the Roustabouts; I met a girl in school who inspired my writing ‘She Makes Me Happy,’ and the newly formed Roustabouts — which Ray Skop renamed the Shaggs by that point — booked an audition with Capitol Records for eight hours of recording time at Pioneer Recording Studios [where the Rationals and the Detroit Vibrations, aka Frijid Pink, recorded]. I played bass on both sides of the single because the bass player [Jim Gilliam] wasn’t cutting it. ‘Mean Women Blues’ features Roy Rouse doing his best ‘Elvis’ on the side, while Perry sang lead on the B-Side I wrote. The guitarist — and a pretty good one, at that, on both sides — was Doug Preston who, years later, ended up doing a life sentence for murder, but I do not recall the circumstances.”
The Shaggs’ U.S single, #P-2511, issued in June 1969. It was issued in the same month — after the Shaggs release — with singles by the Five Man Electrical Band and the Steve Miller Band.
The Rouse Brothers Rock the Motor City
“I do remember,” interjects Stan Burger, “when recording the single, me, Roy and Perry, standing in the booth, under the microphone, singing vocals over the backing track. I thought, ‘I’m recording for Capitol Records like Bob Seger. This could be big.’ (Seger released his Capitol debut single, “2 + 2=?” from Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man, in 1968.)
“Those were exciting times playing in the Shaggs,” Burger continues. “I went to Oxford High School with Roy and Perry, where we were in the school choir together. But Ted [Pearson] was heavily into baseball and on the school’s team, so he wasn’t in choir with us. But that’s how I came to join the Shaggs: on the invite of Roy and Perry, and I left the Revolvers, since the Shaggs were a more lucrative concern. We did a lot of Beatles covers on Ray Skop’s urging, which was fine because Perry Rouse was really great at singing Beatles’ tunes. We all idolized the Thyme out of Kalamazoo [three singles from 1966 to 1968] and we tried to be like, sound like the Thyme. They opened for Jimi Hendrix and we wanted that for the Shaggs.
“As for the Shaggs from Miami, their single [on Palmer] was not a part of our sets,” Burger recalls, “but in addition to the Beatles covers, we did a lot of Roy Orbison and Elvis covers, also at Ray’s request, which is probably why we recorded ‘Mean Woman Blues’ as our A-Side. Roy [Rouse] of course, was great at sounding like Roy Orbison and Elvis, even Jerry Lee Lewis, which we also covered. Perry [Rouse], again, was great with the Beatles songs.”
It’s unfortunate that, while Claude Demetrius’s “Mean Woman Blues” charted multiple times, courtesy of Elvis Presley and the Jordanaires’ version as part of the motion picture soundtrack to Loving You (1957), as well as by Jerry Lee Lewis, who released his version as the B-Side to his European release of “Great Balls of Fire” (1957), and Roy Orbison’s version for the B-Side of his single, “Blue Bayou” (1963), the chart success was not repeated by the Shaggs.
While most Detroit garage bands disappeared without recording a long-forgotten single, and even fewer successfully recorded a long-forgotten single, Stan Burger is a Motor City musician fortunate enough to have his drumming survive as part of overseas-bootleg compact disc compilations dedicated to ’60s U.S teen bands: a fate that blessed-plagued Detroit’s the Ascots⁴, as well as Rick “The Lion’s Stahl’s pre-Wilson Mower Pursuit concern, Sincerely Yours⁵, with their respective, one-off 45-singles. While the Shaggs’ Capitol single was issued in stateside in June 1969 — the same month as Capitol releases by the more chart-successful the Five Man Electrical Band and the Steve Miller Band — the single was pressed in Germany and issued across Europe alongside the Bob Seger System’s “Noah” released in July 1969, from the group’s second album, Noah. Courtesy of having a widely-distributed single on a major label, the Shaggs leapfrogged other Motor City bands with highly-coveted gigs.
The Shaggs German-single, #1 C 006 80 149, issued in June 1969, was followed by the Bob Seger System’s “Noah,” # 1C 006–80 150, also issued in July 1969, from his second album, “Noah,” released in September 1969.
“Since we had a single on a big label, Ray booked the Shaggs into a lot of clubs, like the Silverbell Ski Lodge, the Mount Holly Ski Lodge in Oakland County, the Grande Ballroom, the Crow’s Nest, the Village Cave in Lake Orion, Something Different in Southfield, The Clawson Hideout, and Village Pub in Birmingham, and there were a lot of high school events,” recalls Stan Burger. “The Silverbell was particularly memorable: It was a fixed up old barn out on Bald Mountain Road that had a dance floor on the second level with a stage at the other end. The first floor had a stage and dance floor with a big working fireplace. Most nights bands played on both stages. The Shaggs opened gigs for Bob Seger (November 2, 1968) and SRC (August 24, 1968) at the Silverbell. They opened for Tim Buckley (July 22, 1967) at the Grande Ballroom, which we sometimes headlined (one confirmed date was on August 19, 1967). They opened for Meatloaf when his band, Popcorn Blizzard, played Something Different in Southfield, and Ted Pearson’s next band, Madrigal, was on the bill (January 10, 1969). They opened for Wilson Mower Pursuit there, as well (February 7, 1969).
The Shaggs — misspelled — opening for Tim Buckley at The Grande Ballroom on July 22, 1967.
“During the very early, local days of Bob Seger’s career, he needed a backing band for one of his dates at the Silverbell, so the Shaggs did that gig,” continues Stan Burger. “We also did our Byrdsy B-Side, ‘She Makes Me Happy,’ on Robin Seymour’s Swingin’ Time on CKLW-TV Channel 9, which was a pretty big gig in the day: to make it to television. He was a popular disc jockey on WKHM and he played our single, while another station, WABX-FM, also aired the single and the Shaggs appeared at a station benefit concert, as well (February 9, 1969), and I believe that was one of my last gigs with the band.”
The Shaggs Leave the Rock ’n’ Roll Circus
As is the case with most teen bands on the Detroit scene, such as Waterford’s the Coronados⁶, as well as the previously-mentioned the Modds of Miami, the Shaggs’ career momentum — that chance “to make it big,” as Stan Burger reflected during the recording of their single — was lost as result of the Vietnam War.
“I was drafted into the Army in the summer of 1969. I served from September 1969 to September 1971. So, I was out of the scene for two years and lost touch with everyone. That’s why there was never another Shaggs single or any momentum from the first one.
“When I returned from the war, I got back into music with Circus, which was Doug Preston from the Shaggs, Bob Sexton, and, for the life of me, I can’t recall his name, but he was a relative of Doug’s. That was the earliest version of the band. As with my previous bands, we covered a lot of popular songs. We were around for a while and played Lake Orion’s Royal Oak Inn, Waterford’s 300 Bowl, and the Mount Holly Ski Lodge, with its Swiss Chalet-styled building and big wood trusses. It was there I’d seen early shows by Bob Seger and Terry Knight and the Pack, so again, it was nice to follow in their footsteps on that same stage.
Circus, 1972-73: Left to Right: Stan Burger, bottom; Doug Preston, middle; Bob Sexton, right.
“As for the Rouse brothers: Roy Rouse got together with Robert Burwell, once again, in another version of the Roustabouts, with Perry, and another brother, Randy. Randy had his own band, Goodness, based in Lake Orion that played the circuit in the late ’60s. The Rouse family was a large one: seven brothers in all. By the late ’70s, the Rouse brothers formed a country-rock band, Summit, which was Roy and Perry on lead vocals, and their brother Randy. They released a nice album, Life’s a Dream [1981, rounded out by Marty McCarrick on drums and Ed Kubilus on piano, saxophone, and trumpet]. In fact, Don Hales from the Revolvers put out a hard rock album around that time with his next band, Jacobs Kelly. Roy and Don both had successful careers as oldies acts. Don was with the Fast Eddie Band for a number of years and Roy was popular Elvis tribute artist.”
Summit, lead by the three Rouse brothers, rounded out by Marty McCarrick on drums and Ed Kubilus on piano, saxophone, and trumpet.
The Jacobs Kelly and Count and the Colony Connection
Former Revolver Don Hales joined Jacobs Kelly (no apostrophe for “Jacob” ) — starting in 1967 as inspired by a tree-carved valentine from a guy named Jacob to a gal named Kelly, professing “Jacob’s Kelly”)— a Ted Nugent-cum-Grand Funk Railroad-inspired, AOR-driven trio, in 1972. Eventually expanding to a quintet, and then settling into a quartet during twelve years of regional Midwest touring, Jacobs Kelly released three independent singles and one vanity-press, ten-song album between 1977 until their 1984 dissolution. As the “house band” at Pat’s Northview Lounge on Portage Avenue in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, Jacobs Kelly memorably entertained officers at Kinchloe AFB, in addition to’80s head bangers at Flint’s beloved “metal bar,” Contos (during the ’70s Contos was a multifunctional gas station and used car lot that offered a funky cocktail lounge to enjoy while waiting for your car wash), Mr. G’s Lounge on Bristol Road, Good Times on Clio Road, and Detroit’s 300 Bowl. Jacobs Kelly consolidated their local success opening for Bob Seger at the IMA Auditorium (Industrial Mutual Association) in Flint.
Jacobs Kelly, from their lone album issued in 1980, Left to Right: Bill Douglas, bass guitar; Don Hales, guitars; Bob Frakes, drums; Randall Curtis, lead vocals.
The album was digitally remastered to streaming platforms in 2005.
Count and the Colony of Bay City, Michigan.
Butch Burden, aka “The Count” (top, lead vocals), then, middle to right: Don Hales (bass) and Larry Wheatley (lead guitar), then front, left to right: Fred Bingham (drums) and Richard “Dick” Brown (keyboards/saxophone).
It is a point of contention among Detroiters that Don Hales of Jacobs Kelly (as many incorrectly remember the band as “Jacob’s Folly”) was also a member of the mid-‘60s teen garage band Count and the Colony as a bassist (at some point after the Revolvers, it seems — which none were aware of until Stan Burger provided his insights on the Shaggs to this writer, first, in May 2024).
Signed to the Pa Go-Go label alongside fellow Flint, Michigan-based Question Mark and the Mysterians, the Colony released two singles in 1966/1967.
In a since lost web-based interview with Larry Wheatley by garage rock historian Mike Dugo: just before joining Count and the Colony in 1965, he and Don Hales were in the Bushmen. In addition, according to Stan Burger, he and Don Hales — later of the Revolvers — were in the 3 Deuces during the same time frame. Thus, it is this writer’s opinion that it’s mere coincidence and there were two “Don Hales” in the Detroit/Flint area that happened to both be musicians — but compare the band photos of the Revolvers, Count and the Colony, and Jacobs Kelly — and decide.
Both sides of the Count’s two singles have been remastered and reissued to several garage rock compilations — vinyl and compact disc — issued between 1982 to 2021.
The Detroit Shaggs Concert Dates 1967 to 1969
* Images Provided with Source Credit
Top Row: Left to Right:
* July 22, 1967: Grande Ballroom (Detroit): Opening for Tim Buckley on the second date of two dates held July 21–22. Birmingham, Michigan’s Ourselves opened first night. Credit: Rock Posters.com, San Francisco. (Newspaper Print Advert for the same show, above.)
* August 19, 1967: Grande Ballroom: Headlining/Saturday Night local show w/Mothers Little Helper and the Troyes, opening. Credits: (2) Poster & Newsprint Advertisement/Mike Delbusso’s Splatt Gallery.
* August 24, 1968: Silverbell (Ski Lodge) Hideout (Auburn Hills): Opening for SRC. Credit: Artist James Render’s Archives Facebook.
Bottom Row: Left to Right:
* November 02, 1968: Silverbell Hideout (Auburn Hills): Opening for the Bob Seger System, with Asian Flu. Credit: Artist James Render’s Archives Facebook.
December 27, 1968: Something Different (Southfield): Opening for Van Morrison on Friday. Iggy Pop’s Prime Movers opened on Saturday, December 28.
January 10, 1969: Something Different: Undercard for Ted Pearson’s post-Revolvers concern, Madrigal, with Popcorn Blizzard (Meatloaf’s band), Train, and the Underground Wall.
January 17, 1969: Hideout #3 (Clawson): Opening for Toronto, Ontario’s Mandala.
* February 7, 1969: Something Different: Opening for Wilson Mower Pursuit. Credit: Mike Delbusso’s Splatt Gallery.
* February 9, 1969: Village Pub (Birmingham): WABX-FM Benefit Concert for the Birmingham Youth Assistance Program (with nine other Detroit bands). Credit: Vernon Fitch of Pink Floyd Archives: Birmingham Michigan Poster.com.
February 14, 1969: Crow’s Nest West (Westland): Opening for Plain Brown Wrapper.
* March 28, 1969: Village Pub: Headlining, with Poor Richard’s Almanac. Credit: Vernon Fitch of Pink Floyd Archives: Birmingham Michigan Poster.com.
June 27, 1969: Village Cave (Lake Orion): Headlining, with Licorice Philosophy.
Listen to the Music
In March 2025, Grapefruit Records, the garage-psych rock imprint of the U.K-based Cherry Red Records (which released new material from Detroit expatriate Suzi Quatro over the years), reissued the Shaggs’ “She Makes Me Happy” as part of their three-disc homage, Motor City is Burning: A Michigan Anthology 1965–1972. The Shaggs come full circle on the compilation, as they share its nickel-plated grooves with their idols, the Thyme.
Prior to Cherry Red’s official reissue, “She Makes Me Happy” notably appeared on the U.K-imprint Cavestones: Vol. 15 (2007), and the Australian-imprinted retro-series Wlyd Sydes: Vol. 9 (2008), among others lesser quality compilations catering to ’60s music.
The Shaggs entry in the compact disc’s booklet — featuring Stan Burger’s photo contribution (right click and enlarge for reading).
In 2021, the Rouse brothers’ reissued their 1981 album, “Life’s a Dream,” by their country-rock concern, Summit, to digital-streaming.
Detroit’s The Shaggs with “She Makes Me Happy” b/w “Mean Woman Blues,” issued on Capitol Records in 1969, courtesy of Robert Burwell, the copyright holder.
Here’s the all new, 2025 version of Bob Burwell’s most successful single, “She Makes Me Happy,” with a band track by Paul Frank Koschtial (from the Pursuit) and vocals by Jon Lindahl.
It’s part of Bob’s new digital album, “Consortium,” representing the best of the songs from several artists and singer/songwriters he had the great fortune to work with during his 60 year career. You can enjoy the album on Bob’s Broadjam, Bandcamp, and Soundcloud platforms.
Full album and single discography of ex-Revolver Don Hales with Jacobs Kelly.
The Shaggs of Miami’s A-Side, “Ring Around the Rosie,” on Palmer.
Summit with their 1981 album.
END
Thanks to Stan Burger and Robert Burwell for their time, with a special appreciation to garage rock historian and Jeff Lemlich and musician John Mascaro for their reflections on South Florida’s burgeoning music scene in the composition of this essay.
More Rock ’n’ Roll Tales from the Motor City
Another Ted Nugent Sidebar with their Atlanta Concerts
Take a “deep dive” Into the World of Obscure Cinema
© 2025 R.D Francis. Inquiries regarding this essay can be addressed to the author at francispublishingmail(at)aol(dot)com.
