Biography
Early in 1964 the Boston garage outfit Teddy and the Pandas came together, its original roster featuring nominal leader and guitarist Teddy Dewart, vocalist Al Lawrence, rhythm guitarist Joe Daley, bassist Billy "Sonny" Corelle, keyboardist Dickie Guerrette, and drummer Jerry LaBrecque. Daley departed shortly after formation, yet the remaining musicians pursued the project with genuine commitment; repeated performances across North Shore towns such as Danvers, Gloucester, and Manchester soon turned Teddy and the Pandas into a regional teen draw, prompting the group to incorporate, retain attorneys and accountants, engage a PR consultant, and travel with a four-man road crew.
During late 1965 the musicians entered Ace Recording Studios to record their first single, the Dewart composition “Once Upon a Time,” which appeared on the local Coristine imprint. By spring 1966 the track had climbed into the Top Ten on Boston stations WMEX and WBZ, its distinctive texture arising when Guerrette spontaneously switched from his usual keyboard to a harpsichord that members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra had left behind. Northeast success led Musicor to license the single for national distribution, although it peaked only at number 134 on the Billboard charts.
For the band’s second Musicor release, “We Can’t Go on This Way,” session vocalist Toni Wine and guitarist Hugh McCracken contributed; another regional favorite, the single nevertheless fell short of the national Hot 100. Throughout the fall of 1966 Teddy and the Pandas spent six weeks on tour supporting Musicor headliner Gene Pitney and also performed on the Dick Clark program Where the Action Is. Their third Musicor single, “Searchin’ for the Good Times,” proved to be their last for the label; forced psychedelic elements clashed with the group’s raw energy and the record failed to register.
The musicians next moved to Capitol’s Tower subsidiary, yet their sole album, 1967’s Basic Magnetism, likewise suffered from imposed psychedelic production. Before the LP reached stores Dewart exited to pursue college, Paul Rivers stepped in on lead guitar, and within months the band dissolved. The classic five-member lineup reconvened for the first time on October 7, 1983, in Danvers, Massachusetts; fifteen years afterward they began their first new recordings in more than three decades, and 2002 brought the archival collection Rarities and Forgotten Gems, which gathered previously unreleased demos and alternate takes from the group’s original era.
During late 1965 the musicians entered Ace Recording Studios to record their first single, the Dewart composition “Once Upon a Time,” which appeared on the local Coristine imprint. By spring 1966 the track had climbed into the Top Ten on Boston stations WMEX and WBZ, its distinctive texture arising when Guerrette spontaneously switched from his usual keyboard to a harpsichord that members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra had left behind. Northeast success led Musicor to license the single for national distribution, although it peaked only at number 134 on the Billboard charts.
For the band’s second Musicor release, “We Can’t Go on This Way,” session vocalist Toni Wine and guitarist Hugh McCracken contributed; another regional favorite, the single nevertheless fell short of the national Hot 100. Throughout the fall of 1966 Teddy and the Pandas spent six weeks on tour supporting Musicor headliner Gene Pitney and also performed on the Dick Clark program Where the Action Is. Their third Musicor single, “Searchin’ for the Good Times,” proved to be their last for the label; forced psychedelic elements clashed with the group’s raw energy and the record failed to register.
The musicians next moved to Capitol’s Tower subsidiary, yet their sole album, 1967’s Basic Magnetism, likewise suffered from imposed psychedelic production. Before the LP reached stores Dewart exited to pursue college, Paul Rivers stepped in on lead guitar, and within months the band dissolved. The classic five-member lineup reconvened for the first time on October 7, 1983, in Danvers, Massachusetts; fifteen years afterward they began their first new recordings in more than three decades, and 2002 brought the archival collection Rarities and Forgotten Gems, which gathered previously unreleased demos and alternate takes from the group’s original era.
Albums
