With NYU student, Jeff Newman from Long Beach, replacing Aaron Prestup on drums, that summer found the Long Island Bravados reunited, playing anew at the ABH and El Patio, at Dickens in Manhasset (later the subject of a book by Pulitzer Prize winner JR Moehringer, and a movie starring Ben Affleck, both entitled “The Tender Bar“), and at Hewlett’s Silver Knight, then renamed the Shindig Lounge.

At the Atlantic Beach Hotel, Summer 1965. Left to right: Bruce Bergman, Gary Gross, Mongo Booth, Jeff Reckseit, and Donny Wickes (sitting in for Aaron Prestup)

Entertainment lawyer Howard Beldock (who handled Grand Funk Railroad among others and was the attorney for Tommy James) was a member at The Plaza Beach Club in Atlantic Beach (where Bruce worked that summer) heard the music and was very much impressed with The Bravados performing. This led to a re-recording of some demos and an introduction to Broadway composer Cy Coleman’s organization. His personnel loved “I Wanna Do It” and were arranging a recording contract until their zeal was dampened upon learning it had previously been recorded. The memorable aspect which emerged from that relationship, however, was the honor of playing a private party at Cy Coleman’s New York apartment (in the Fall of 1966), attended by celebrities like Tony Bennett and Timothy Leary.  That the great Broadway composer, Tony, Emmy and Grammy winner Cy Coleman appreciated The Bravados is, however, another hint of how good they were.

Late that summer of ’65 they appeared on The Zacherle TV show, Disc-O-Teen, on WNJU/47 out of Newark, New Jersey. (Zach had his own hit “Dinner With Drac” a few years earlier.) They opened with “I Wanna Do It”, played their repertoire for the dancing teens for an hour and at the end of the show with the credits on the screen, Jeff was singing “Great Balls of Fire” whilst Zacherle was hitting him over the head with a long plastic horn-typical Zach mayhem. Sammy Turner (“Lavender Blue”, “Always”) was the other featured act that day, the same season The Doors were on the show and the week after The Lovin’ Spoonful were the designated attraction – all to give a sense of the company The Bravados were keeping by then.

Zacherle as the “Cool Ghoul”