Emerging in 1966 from the remnants of Rare Breed, the Ohio Express of Mansfield, Ohio, quickly became one of the most prominent acts riding the late-’60s bubblegum rock wave. Joey Levine handled vocals while Dale Powers and Doug Grassel split guitar duties, Jim Pflayer played keyboards, Dean Krastan held down bass, and Tim Corwin sat behind the drums. Guided by the production team of Jerry Kasenetz and Jeff Katz, the group logged multiple appearances on the era’s pop charts.
A reworking of a Rare Breed number titled “Beg, Borrow and Steal” gave them an early foothold, yet the real breakthrough arrived with the sugary pairing of “Yummy Yummy Yummy” and “Chewy Chewy,” both million-selling singles issued on the bubblegum powerhouse Buddah Records. Their last chart entry came in 1969 when future 10cc leader Graham Gouldman took the lead vocal on “Sausalito (Is the Place to Go).” For the following two decades the band’s identity remained fluid. In the mid-’70s Kasenetz and Katz briefly assembled an entirely new roster to perform the hits at Long Island clubs and bars, though that placeholder lineup disbanded after a short run.
By the 1980s original drummer Tim Corwin had recruited fresh members and launched the act onto the oldies circuit, where they specialized in the late-’60s catalog. That incarnation resurfaced in 2012 with the album Bubblegum Days, a collection of newly recorded versions of the group’s signature tracks alongside additional bubblegum-era covers.
