The Strangeloves were a band created in 1964 by the New York-based

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

songwriting A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

and

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

team of

Bob Feldman Robert C. Feldman (June 14, 1940 – August 23, 2023) was an American songwriter and record producer, best known for his work in the 1960s with fellow writers Jerry Goldstein and Richard Gottehrer, including " My Boyfriend's Back", "I Want Cand ...

, Jerry Goldstein, and

Richard Gottehrer Richard Gottehrer (born June 12, 1940) is an American songwriter, record producer and record label executive. His career began as a Brill Building songwriter in the 1960s. His first number one record as a songwriter and producer was " My Boyfr ...

. They initially pretended to be from

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The Strangeloves' most successful singles were "

I Want Candy "I Want Candy" is a song written and originally recorded by the Strangeloves in 1965 that reached No. 11 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. It is a famous example of a song that uses the Bo Diddley beat. Original version "I Want Candy" ...

," "Cara-Lin", and " Night Time".

History

Before the invention of the Strangeloves, Feldman and Goldstein had been working together as songwriters since 1959,Bill Kopp, "Strange Daze", ''Record Collector'', #502, February 2020, pp.74-78 and recorded a couple of non-charting singles as the duo Bob & Jerry in 1961–62. From 1959 to 1961 they were members of various non-charting studio-based recording groups such as Bobbi and the Beaus, Ezra and the Iveys, and the Kittens. They linked up with Gottehrer in 1962, formed FGG Productions, and scored hits for other artists including 1963's " My Boyfriend's Back" by the Angels. By 1964, the

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring two or more women in music, female singers who generally vocal harmony, harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female p ...

sound in which FGG Productions specialized was going out of fashion, due to the prevalence of

British Invasion The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when Rock music, rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of Culture of the United Kingdom, British culture became popular in the United States with sign ...

-style beat groups. To keep up with market trends, FGG decided to create a ready-made foreign beat group themselves. Deciding that they could not convincingly fake British accents, they opted to pretend to be Australians. According to the press releases and publicity material issued about the group, the Strangeloves were three

brothers A brother (: brothers or brethren) is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingl ...

named Giles, Miles, and Niles Strange, who were raised on an Australian sheep farm. The brothers' fictional

backstory A backstory, background story, background, or legend is a set of events invented for a plot, preceding and leading up to that plot. In acting, it is the history of the character before the drama begins, and is created during the actor's prepara ...

involved getting rich with the invention of a new form of sheep crossbreeding (the long-haired "Gottehrer" sheep allegedly registered with the Feldman-Goldstein Company of Australia), which allowed them the time and financial freedom to form a band. In publicity photographs, the three posed in

zebra Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped coats. There are three living species: Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), the plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and the mountain zebra (''E. ...

-striped vests and with African drums, Gottehrer later commenting: "Nobody in the US in 1965 really knew any Australians." The story did not exactly capture the public's imagination, but the Strangeloves' singles still performed respectably well, especially in the United States. Similarly in 1969,

Crazy Elephant Crazy Elephant was an American bubblegum pop band (music), band noted for their 1969 hit record, hit single (music), single, "Gimme Gimme Good Lovin'". History Crazy Elephant was a recording studio, studio concoction, the Marzano-Calvert Stud ...

was promoted in ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' magazine as allegedly being a group of Welsh coal miners. The Strangeloves' first single, as the Strange Loves, "Love, Love (That's All I Want from You)", reached No. 122 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The group's subsequent releases were as the Strangeloves. When their second single, "I Want Candy", written and produced in collaboration with

Bert Berns Bertrand Russell Berns (November 8, 1929 – December 30, 1967), also known as Bert Russell and (occasionally) Russell Byrd, was an American songwriter and record producer of the 1960s. His songwriting credits include "Twist and Shout", "Piece ...

Bang Records Bang Records was created by Bert Berns in 1965 together with his partners from Atlantic Records: Ahmet Ertegun, Nesuhi Ertegun and Jerry Wexler. The first letters of their names (Bert, Ahmet, Nesuhi, Gerald) formed the label's name. Forming the ...

, became a hit in the middle of 1965, the Strangeloves found themselves in the unfamiliar and uncomfortable position of performing live. This short-lived experience was followed by a road group composed of four

session musician A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a reco ...

s who had helped to record the Strangeloves'

song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

s. The musicians in the initial road group were bassist/vocalist John Shine, guitarist Jack Raczka, drummer Tom Kobus, and saxophonist/vocalist Richie Lauro. In early 1966, the road lineup was replaced by a trio of FGG studio musicians that more closely adhered to the founding concept: guitarist Jack Raczka (Giles Strange), drummer/vocalist Joe Piazza (Miles Strange), and keyboardist/vocalist Ken Jones (Niles Strange). In 1968, bass player Greg Roman became an integral part of the band. All studio material continued to be performed by Feldman, Goldstein and Gottehrer, with additional session musicians as required. While performing on the road in Ohio in 1965 as the Strangeloves, Feldman, Goldstein, and Gottehrer came upon a local band, Ricky Z and the Raiders, led by

Rick Derringer Richard Dean Zehringer (August 5, 1947 – May 26, 2025), known professionally as Rick Derringer, was an American musician, producer and songwriter. He gained success in the 1960s with his band, the McCoys. Their debut single, " Hang On Sloopy", ...

(who was Rick Zehringer at the time). Recognizing their raw talent, the producers immediately brought the band to New York, recorded Derringer's voice over an existing music track from the Strangeloves' album, ''I Want Candy'', and released "

Hang On Sloopy "Hang On Sloopy" (originally "My Girl Sloopy") is a 1964 song written by Wes Farrell and Bert Berns. Rhythm and blues vocal group the Vibrations were the first to record the tune in 1964. Atlantic Records released it as a single, which reached ...

" as a single under the name

the McCoys The McCoys were a rock music, rock group formed in Fort Recovery, Ohio, United States, in 1962. They are best known for their 1965 hit single "Hang On Sloopy". Originally named Rick and the Raiders, they changed their name to "The McCoys" from ...

.Bronson, Fred (2003). ''The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits'', p. 184. Billboard Books. . The Strangeloves' only LP, ''I Want Candy'', was released in 1965 on Bang Records, with several of the album tracks having been released as singles. Other singles by the Strangeloves appeared on

Swan Records Swan Records was a mid-20th century United States–based record label, founded in 1957 and based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It had a subsidiary label called Lawn Records. History Swan Records had enjoyed chart success with several U.S. ar ...

and

Sire Records Sire Records (formerly Sire Records Company) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Records. History Beginnings The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gotteh ...

. The Strangeloves continued recording singles, with moderate American success, through 1968. In their "home" country of Australia, they only scraped the bottom of the singles charts, but a real Australian group, Johnny Young & Kompany, had a hit in Australia in 1966 with a

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of c ...

of the Strangeloves' "Cara-Lin" (retitled "Cara-Lyn"). The FGG trio also collaborated on a charting 1965 single credited to the Beach-Nuts, and took on the guise of the Sheep for two charting singles in 1966. Feldman and Goldstein (without Gottehrer) also recorded charting hits in 1966 as Rome & Paris, and in 1969 as the Rock & Roll Dubble Bubble Trading Card Co. of Philadelphia 19141. On his own, Goldstein wrote, produced and arranged a 1966 solo single, "Watch The People Dance," under the name Giles Strange, which failed to chart. Feldman and Gottehrer also issued a non-charting 1970 single ("Right On" b/w "Shakey Jakes") as the Strange Bros. Show. The following credit appeared on most Strangeloves records (as well as several other records produced by FGG): "arranged and conducted by Bassett Hand." Bassett Hand was a tongue-in-cheek pseudonym for the band's creators. Two instrumental singles credited to Bassett Hand were released around the time the Strangeloves were getting started: "In Detroit" (1964) and "The Happy Organ Shake" (1965). Neither single charted nationally, although "In Detroit" appeared on a Chicago top-40 list as an "Up 'N' Coming" song in October 1964. In December 2018, after a gap of 53 years, Feldman, Goldstein and Gottehrer sang together, backed by the band

Yo La Tengo Yo La Tengo (Spanish language, Spanish for "I've got it"; also abbreviated as YLT) is an American indie rock band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan (guitars, piano, vocals), Georgia Hubley ...

, at a surprise show at the

Bowery Ballroom The Bowery Ballroom is a New York City live music venue located at 6 Delancey Street in Manhattan's Bowery neighborhood. The venue has enjoyed a fabled reputation among musicians as well as audiences. In 2013, industry insiders polled by ''Roll ...

in New York City.

Post-Strangeloves careers

Their songs have been recorded by

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the , was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined Decorative arts, crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., ...

The J. Geils Band The J. Geils Band (formerly known as The J. Geils Blues Band) was an American rock band formed in 1967, in Worcester, Massachusetts, under the leadership of guitarist John "J." Geils. The original band members included vocalist Peter Wolf, h ...

The Fleshtones The Fleshtones are an American garage rock band from Queens, New York. They are the only band that debuted at CBGB in 1976 that has not had an inactive year. History 1976–1979 The Fleshtones were formed in 1976 in Whitestone, New York, ...

Aaron Carter Aaron Charles Carter (December 7, 1987November 5, 2022) was an American singer and rapper. He came to fame as a teen pop singer in the late 1990s, establishing himself as a star among preteen and teenage audiences during the first years of th ...

George Thorogood George Lawrence Thorogood (born February 24, 1950) is an American musician, singer and songwriter. His "high-energy boogie-blues" sound became a staple of 1980s US rock radio, with hits like his original songs "Bad to the Bone" and "I Drink Al ...

, and

Bow Wow Wow Bow Wow Wow are an English New wave music, new wave band, created by manager Malcolm McLaren in 1980. McLaren recruited members of Adam and the Ants to form the band with then 13-year-old Annabella Lwin on lead vocals. They released their deb ...

. Gottehrer went on to fame as a

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

of early

CBGB CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in the East Village, Manhattan, East Village in Manhattan, New York City. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for ''Cou ...

performers including

Richard Hell and the Voidoids Richard Hell and the Voidoids were an American punk rock band, formed in New York City in 1976 and fronted by Richard Hell, a former member of the Neon Boys, Television (band), Television and the Heartbreakers. History Kentucky-born Richard H ...

the Fleshtones The Fleshtones are an American garage rock band from Queens, New York. They are the only band that debuted at CBGB in 1976 that has not had an inactive year. History 1976–1979 The Fleshtones were formed in 1976 in Whitestone, New York, ...

, and Blondie, as well as being the co-founder of

along with

Seymour Stein Seymour Steinbigle (April 18, 1942 – April 2, 2023), known professionally as Seymour Stein, was an American entrepreneur and music executive. He co-founded Sire Records and was vice president of Warner Bros. Records. With Sire, Stein signed ba ...

. He also worked with Robert Gordon, who was one of many who revitalized

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre, it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western musi ...

in the late 1970s, and produced the critically acclaimed first album by

Marshall Crenshaw Marshall Howard Crenshaw (born November 11, 1953) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and guitarist best known for hit songs such as " Someday, Someway", a US top 40 hit in 1982, " Cynical Girl", and " Whenever You're on My Mind". He is ...

. In the 1980s he continued with successful albums by

the Bongos The Bongos are a power pop band from Hoboken, New Jersey, that emerged from the New York City arts scene, primarily active in the 1980s, led by Richard Barone. With their unique musical style, they were major progenitors of the Hoboken indie-pop ...

, their frontman

Richard Barone Richard Barone is an American rock musician who first gained attention as frontman for the Bongos. He works as a songwriter, arranger, author, director, and record producer, releases albums as a solo artist, tours, and has created concert events ...

the Go-Go's The Go-Go's are an American all-female Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1978. Except for short periods when other musicians joined briefly, the band has had a relatively stable lineup consisting of Charlotte Caffey on lead guitar ...

and many others. He later founded the influential independent distribution company The Orchard. In his role as a producer and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

, Goldstein also continued to have an effect on the music world. He suggested to the band Nightshift that they team up with

Eric Burdon Eric Victor Burdon (born 11 May 1941) is an English singer and songwriter. He was previously the lead vocalist of the rhythm and blues, R&B and Rock music, rock band The Animals and the funk band War (band), War. He is regarded as one of the Br ...

, which became

War War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

, and had the

Circle Jerks Circle Jerks (stylized as Ciʀcle JƎʀᴋs) are an American hardcore punk band, formed in 1979 in Los Angeles, California. The group was founded by former Black Flag (band), Black Flag vocalist Keith Morris and Redd Kross guitarist Greg Hetso ...

on his Far Out Productions management company and LAX

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

. All three members of the Strangeloves appeared in interviews in the feature documentary film ''BANG! The Bert Berns Story'', which was co-directed by Bert Berns' son Brett Berns, together with Bob Sarles. Bob Feldman died on August 23, 2023, nine days after his 83rd birthday.

Backing band

Road group (1965) :John Shine (vocals and bass guitar) :Jack Raczka (guitar) :Tom Kobus (drums & vocals) :Richie Lauro (sax & vocals) Road group (1966-1968) :Ken Jones (a.k.a. Niles Strange) (vocals & keyboards) :Jack Raczka (a.k.a. Giles Strange) (guitar) :Joe Piazza (a.k.a. Miles Strange) (drums & vocals)

Discography

LPs

*''I Want Candy'' (1965 -

)

Charted singles

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Strangeloves, The American pop music groups Garage rock groups from New York (state) Musical groups established in 1964 Musical groups disestablished in 1968 Musical groups from New York City Bands with fictional stage personas Bang Records artists