The Sunrays (previously known as the Renegades, the Renegade 5, Larry Tremaine & the Renegades, the Rangers and the Dirt Riders) were an American band from

Pacific Palisades, California Pacific Palisades is a neighborhood in the Westside Los Angeles, Westside region of the city of Los Angeles, California, situated about west of downtown Los Angeles. Throughout January 2025, the majority of Pacific Palisades was severely affec ...

. The group was led by singer/songwriter/drummer Rick Henn, who was a friend of

the Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their f ...

member

Carl Wilson Carl Dean Wilson (December 21, 1946 – February 6, 1998) was an American musician, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys. He was their lead guitarist, the youngest sibling of bandmates Brian Wilson, Brian and Dennis Wilson, ...

. Other members of the band were guitarists Eddy Medora and Byron Case, keyboard player Marty DiGiovanni, and bassist Vince Hozier.

Career

Their first job as the Renegades (in the late 1950s) was at the Seaside Session at Palisades Park in Pacific Palisades. In 1961 they teamed up with Larry Tremaine, and became Larry Tremaine and the Renegades, a

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

cover band, consisting of: Larry Tremaine, Steve O'Riley (now deceased), Marty DiGiovanni, Rick Henn, Eddy Medora (November 28, 1945 – October 27, 2006), and Vince Hozier (February 26, 1946 – March 18, 2007). Tremaine booked them every week at radio dances, UCLA, clubs, celebrity parties, and corporate events. They appeared at Crescendo Interlude on the

Sunset Strip The Sunset Strip is the stretch of Sunset Boulevard that passes through the city of West Hollywood, California, United States. It extends from West Hollywood's eastern border with the city of Los Angeles near Marmont Lane to its western bord ...

with

Joey Dee and the Starliters Joey Dee and the Starliters (also credited as Joey Dee and the Starlighters) is an American popular music group. The group is best known for their million-selling recording " Peppermint Twist" (1961).The group's most notable lineup is consider ...

, the Teen Age Fair at

Pacific Ocean Park Pacific Ocean Park was a nautical-themed amusement park built on a pier at Pier Avenue in the Ocean Park section of Santa Monica, California in 1958. Intended to compete with Disneyland, it replaced Ocean Park Pier (1926–1956). After it close ...

, the after party for the 1963

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

, The

Bob Eubanks Robert Leland Eubanks (born January 8, 1938) is an American disc jockey, television personality and game show host, widely known for hosting the game show ''The Newlywed Game'' on and off since 1966. He also hosted the successful revamp version o ...

TV Dance Party, and every Friday night as the house dance party band at the

San Bernardino, California San Bernardino ( ) is a city in and the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 census, making it the List of ...

Civic Auditorium. In 1963, Tremaine went into the radio stations

KBLA KBLA (1580 AM) is a broadcast radio station in the United States. Licensed to Santa Monica, California, KBLA serves the Greater Los Angeles area. The station is owned by Multicultural Broadcasting, through licensee Multicultural Radio Broad ...

and

KRLA KRLA (870 AM) "AM 870 The Answer" is a commercial radio station broadcasting a conservative talk radio format. Licensed to Glendale, California, it serves Greater Los Angeles and Southern California. The station is owned by Salem Media Group, ...

, and later television, and became the host of the syndicated nationwide ''Casino Royale Dance Party''. In 1964, Murry Wilson, the father of

Brian Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan (given name), Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish language, Irish and Breton language, Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan language, Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. ...

, Carl, and

Dennis Wilson Dennis Carl Wilson (December 4, 1944 – December 28, 1983) was an American musician, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys. He was their drummer and the middle brother of bandmates Brian Wilson, Brian and Carl Wilson as well as ...

, started managing them and changed their name to The Sunrays. Eddy Medora switched from the saxophone to rhythm guitar. Steve O'Riley, who played lead guitar and sang, left the band when "I Live for the Sun" began to break, saying "I don't wanna be in the group anymore, I think I can make it on my own." O'Riley was replaced by Byron Case. Their hits included " I Live for the Sun" (1965) (No. 51 US, No. 20

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 ...

), "

Andrea Andrea is a given name which is common worldwide for both males and females, cognate to Andreas, Andrej and Andrew. Origin of the name The name derives from the Greek word ἀνήρ (''anēr''), genitive ἀνδρός (''andrós''), that re ...

" (1966) (No. 41 US), and "Still" (1966) (No. 93 US). They toured the United States and opened for the Beach Boys in the U.S. and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Discography

Singles

*"Car Party" / "Outta Gas" — Tower 101—September 1964 *"I Live For The Sun" (Billboard #51,

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

#3) / "Bye Baby Bye" — Tower 148—August 1965 *"Andrea" (Billboard #41,

#2)) / "You Don't Phase Me" — Tower 191—December 1965 *"Still" (Billboard #93,

#72)) / "When You're Not Here" — Tower 224—March 1966 *"Don't Take Yourself Too Seriously" / "I Look Baby, I Can't See" — Tower 256—July 1966 *"Hi, How Are You" / "Just 'Round The River Bend" — Tower 290—November 1966 *"Loaded With Love" / "Time (A Special Thing)" — Tower 340—May 1967

Albums

*''

'' — Tower T-5017 (Mono)/ST-5017 (Stereo)—1966

Compilation albums

* ''Vintage Rays'' — Collectable Records—1996

References

External links

Sunrays718
* * * * * Anthony Sommers YouTube channel
"I Live for the Sun", The Sunrays on The Shivaree Variety TV show 11/6/65
* The Sunrays - Topic
"I Live for the Sun"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sunrays, The American pop music groups Musical groups from California