Biography
In 1966 the Bruthers issued their lone single, coupling “Bad Way to Go” with “Bad Love.” After its later appearance on Pebbles, Vol. 8, the A-side came to be viewed as one of the most prized mid-’60s garage obscurities. It also ranked among the rawest such performances ever licensed by a major label when RCA pressed it, its breakneck and constantly changing rhythms, frenzied looping guitar and organ figures, and venomous put-down lyrics evoking a garage band performing inside a harem. Although the quartet cut additional material for RCA in the same taut and slightly unhinged style, the company declined to release anything further and dropped the act; several of those unused RCA recordings later appeared on a Bruthers compact-disc anthology.
The Bruthers were in fact siblings—Alf Delia, who composed most of the original songs they tracked (among them “Bad Way to Go”), Frank Delia, Mike Delia, and Joe Delia. The Pearl River, New York quartet had begun playing together in the early 1960s and, by the middle of the decade, came under the management of Sid Bernstein, whose clients also included the Young Rascals and the Blues Project and who had promoted the Beatles’ mid-’60s concerts in New York City. The single generated no commercial response, relying on subsequent rediscovery by garage collectors that began with its inclusion in the Pebbles series and reached a peak with a complete Sundazed CD in 2003 assembling both sides of the 45, the remaining RCA outtakes, and demos recorded in 1965 and 1967. After the group disbanded in 1967, keyboardist Joe Delia worked as a sideman for numerous artists, performing on and arranging David Johansen’s 1987 hit “Hot Hot Hot” while also scoring numerous feature films, documentaries, and television series. Guitarist Frank Delia later directed music videos for the Ramones, Wall of Voodoo, and Jefferson Starship, along with episodes of various television series.
The Bruthers were in fact siblings—Alf Delia, who composed most of the original songs they tracked (among them “Bad Way to Go”), Frank Delia, Mike Delia, and Joe Delia. The Pearl River, New York quartet had begun playing together in the early 1960s and, by the middle of the decade, came under the management of Sid Bernstein, whose clients also included the Young Rascals and the Blues Project and who had promoted the Beatles’ mid-’60s concerts in New York City. The single generated no commercial response, relying on subsequent rediscovery by garage collectors that began with its inclusion in the Pebbles series and reached a peak with a complete Sundazed CD in 2003 assembling both sides of the 45, the remaining RCA outtakes, and demos recorded in 1965 and 1967. After the group disbanded in 1967, keyboardist Joe Delia worked as a sideman for numerous artists, performing on and arranging David Johansen’s 1987 hit “Hot Hot Hot” while also scoring numerous feature films, documentaries, and television series. Guitarist Frank Delia later directed music videos for the Ramones, Wall of Voodoo, and Jefferson Starship, along with episodes of various television series.
Albums
