[Vintage-Audio] Some Trivia Help

[Robert Nickels]

Duane,

In addition to Gerry's answer to the question you asked, here's a bunch 
more info about the Sunrays, just for grins...hey it's still summer!

Your correlation with the Beach Boys was right on the mark, as you'll 
see.  This is from an interview with the band leader, Eddie Medora - I 
thought it might be of interest to others.

73, Bob W9RAN

**We were called the Renegades.  We were a garage band rehearsing in my 
parents home in Pacific Palisades.  We were in 7th and 8th grade.  I saw 
a band  perform called the Riptides - they had a local hit called 
Machine Gun.  My name is Eddy Medora and I was the lead guitar player  
for the Sunrays. After I saw the reponse from the crowd, I knew I wanted 
to start a band.   We played all over West L. A.  There were five of us 
- Marty, Darrol,  Mike, Ricky, and myself.   We were doing pretty well 
when Mike moved away.   Darrol also left.  In the first year of high 
school, I met Steve and Vince.  These guys did not have a band.  They 
were both good musicians. They asked if they could join our band.  We 
auditioned them.  After we heard them play, I knew they had all of our 
votes.   So we continued to perform throughout California as the 
Renegades.  I played saxaphone, Marty played keyboard, Ricky played 
drums,  Steve played lead guitar, and Vince played bass and rhythm 
guitar.   I changed high schools.  I enrolled in Hollywood 
Professional.   /In 1963,/  I met Carl and Dennis Wilson of the Beach 
Boys.  At that time the Beach Boys had ten double-sided hits on the 
charts.   Carl heard our band, The Renegades, and thought we were 
fabulous.  Carl mentioned us to his dad, Murray Wilson, who was looking 
for another group to manage.  Carl set the audition up.   We were at the 
Beach Boys home in Hawthorne until 4 AM.  He said if we listened to him 
we would have a hit record in six weeks.   Murray told us to go home and 
write songs.  "I Live for the Sun" was our first hit.  Steve left the 
group at this time to try and make it on his own.  He was replaced by my 
friend, Byron.   "Andrea" was our second hit.   All these releases were 
on Tower Records label.  The label was created just for us so we would 
not be on The Beach Boys label, which was Capital Records.**

*
We all started playing in a band in 8th grade.  As the Renegades, we 
recorded songs under the following names:  The Snowmen,  The Rangers, 
(pre-Sunrays).
Kim Fowley produced these songs.   I played saxaphone in the Renegades 
and rhythm gutiar.   Our first song recorded was "Sidewinder."  These 
early songs can be heard on our box set called "Vintage Rays."  The 
Sunrays sang 5 part harmony.  We were really a blues and soul band when 
we started out.   It was 1964 when our first Sunray release was a song 
called " Car Party,"  which Murry wrote.   It did not do well at all.   
I wrote  the song  "I Wanna Know" about our group breaking up.   Ricky 
wrote a song called "Our Leader" for Murry Wilson's Christmas present.  
 Murry cried when we gave him the record on Chritmas Eve.  We all paid 
for the session.  Hial King, a friend and a musical genius, came aboard 
to help arrange and write songs for us.   Murry hired Don Ralke to help 
arrange our vocals and songs we wrote.  The song "Andrea" was written 
about a flight attendant we met on one of our flights.   Glen Campbell 
did play guitar with me on "I Live For the Sun."  Murry Wilson was the 
niecest man ever.   We never saw any abuse towards us or his sons, the 
Beach Boys.  Capitol Records did start a new label, Tower Records, just 
for The Sunrays.   If we did not smile on stage we would either have to 
stand on our heads or pay a $100.00 fine, which would go into a fund for 
music accessories.  Barney Kessel (Jazz Guitarest), Mickey Rooney's 
stepdad, used to help us arrange some of our songs.  I did fraternity 
parties with Bruce Johnston, pre-Sunrays.  Mike Adams and the Red 
Jackets were a band we admired.  We liked them so much we asked them for 
their red jackets,  which they gave to us,  pre-Sunrays.  
*