Biography
A garage band from San Diego known as the Other Four issued three singles across 1965 and 1966, closing out the run with a release on the Decca label. Most participants had previously belonged to the Man-Dells, whose own single surfaced without distinction in the winter of 1964/1965. The Other Four’s 45s improved on that earlier effort yet remained fairly ordinary examples of the garage fare produced by countless American groups during the period. Their sides ranged from basic pop/rock garage to a more polished harmony pop/rocker titled “These Are the Words,” a track carrying a folk-rockish riff that echoed the Monkees at their hardest-rocking, labeled “Once and for All Girl,” a pointless cover of Kenny Dino’s 1961 hit “Your Ma Said You Cried in Your Sleep Last Night,” and a daintily arranged number, “How Do You Tell a Girl,” that recalled mid-’60s Beach Boys productions without approaching the same level. Rick Randle and Norman Lombardo went on to perform together in the Brain Police, a San Diego psychedelic group for which they also wrote the songs, and which cut an obscure demo album in 1968. All six tracks from the Other Four singles are included as bonus material on the CD reissue of that Brain Police demo LP, titled The Brain Police, issued by Normal/Shadoks.