THE BRAVADOS, A 60s collegiate rock band

Despite the auspicious beginnings of ’62-’63, both at Cornell and later at the Blossom in the summer of ’63, the band didn’t initially hit its stride that college year of ’63-’64. Mongo Booth busted out of Cornell (for the first time) so the group needed to scuffle for a lead singer. An apparent solution appeared in the form of a (name forgotten) big man on campus who inveigled his way into the band as the vocalist. He had enough influence to garner jobs-certainly meaningful and a main reason for his hiring-but was not a strong or professional vocalist. This weakness was exacerbated by the need to hire pickup bass players because only Bruce Bergman and drummer John Hubbard remained from the Bravados of the second semester of ’62-’63. When after a few months the new singer’s shortcomings dissipated the special qualities the group might otherwise have possessed-they just weren’t distinctive- the status quo became untenable and a change was required.

Townie Jerry Spriggs was a noted local African American vocalist who was both an outstanding singer and a compelling performer, well experienced with a number of Ithaca bands. Why he was available was pure happenstance, but that was just good fortune for the Bravados. Spriggs came aboard with spirit. They were now better and much more exciting so that college year concluded on a high note after all, presaging the accomplishments that were shortly to follow.

Even back then it was a long-time landmark. Coming over the crest of the Atlantic Beach bridge, one was struck with the large red neon sign dominating the view above the ocean’s horizon, proclaiming simply, “LOU’S”. For any number of years before that summer of ’64, Lou’s earned an eminent reputation as an “in” place for the stylish, recognized as a haven for upperclassmen and a post-college sophisticated crowd.

Inwood’s Lou Calabria and his brothers Joe, Tony and John were the proprietors but had entrusted band hiring to astute entrepreneur Hank Engelbart of Far Rockaway (later to become a Cedarhurst merchant of some note with a surf and ski shop on Central Avenue).

Composed of the same players who had so honed their musical skills at The Blossom the summer before (Mongo, Bruce, Gary, Jeff and Aaron) The Bravados’ audition set consisted of Nathaniel Mayer’s “The Village of Love”, Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me”, Dion’s “Drip Drop” and the Isley Brothers’ “Shout”. With a terrific vocalist and a tight band, the presentation was rousing. Hank had never heard anything quite like it before-the Ithaca/soul/fraternity party sound was just different. Startling too, he hired the group on the spot for the whole summer. Then the thrill began.

The booking was to be for every Friday and Saturday with Friday the big night. For the first few Fridays, things were busy, but not overly so. Besides their theme song, King Curtis’ “Soul Twist”, then recent additions to the repertoire included Roy Orbison’s “Down The Line”, Jerry Lee Lewis’ “I’m On Fire”, Bobby Freeman’s “C’mon and Swim”, Mel Torme’s “Comin Home Baby”, The Beatles’ “Slow Down” and “You Can’t Do That” and The Stones’ “Tell Me”-all danceable and dynamic- but the word needed to get around. Meanwhile, Lou was charging $3.00 per head for guys, entitling the patron to two drinks – a fairly stiff admission fee for those days, equal to more than $32 in 2025 currency. (Entrance to the 1964 World’s Fair was only $2.00.) Gals were free because the presence of the women drew the men.

When word spread that there was a great band, dance contests (someone from Hewlett named Charlie Crane won every week) and sharp girls in profusion, Lou’s became an instant mecca. At the height of that summer, one Friday night Lou’s scored over 800 enthused patrons. This was a remarkable turnout, incomparable for the time, duplicated nowhere else and extraordinary for a place of that size. The party spirit was palpable; the music and the crowds created a genuine and singular synergy of excitement, remembered by the Bravados of that summer as the most enjoyment they ever experienced playing music.

Some Bravados during the Lou’s 1964 summer:

This success generated bookings for The Bravados to play dances in the expansive ballroom at the widely known El Patio Beach Club in Atlantic Beach – inspiration for the beach club in the movie “The Flamingo Kid” – (since the 1970’s renamed the Sands at Atlantic Beach) and to be the back-up band for visiting stars such as The Tymes (on July 13, 1964) and The Duprees. They played a like job that same summer at Lido Beach’s leading venue, the Malibu Beach Club, there backing The Shirelles.

(The sacred building that housed Lou’s still remains, but it has long since been converted into the Atlantic Beach Village Hall, site of a band reunion twenty years later.)

Summer 1984, Reunion at Lou’s. Left to right: Bruce Bergman, Gary Gross, Jeff Reckseit, Mongo Booth, and Aaron Prestup.

Summer 1984, Reunion at Lou’s. Top left to right: Bruce Bergman, Jeff Reckseit, and Aaron Prestup. Bottom left to right: Gary Gross, Mongo Booth.

That summer had been hugely successful, but only Bruce, Mongo and John Hubbard were at Cornell.  The re-formed Bravados were joined by Rochester Cornellian, John DeWitt on bass and when Hubbard left school into that fall semester, Ithaca College’s Joe Mooney on drums – now a trim four instead of five-piece group.

In addition to the usual compliment of fraternity parties, including a number at Lambda Chi Alpha (125 Edgemoor Lane)-from which a precious reel to reel recording of two appearances has been preserved-

Top: At Lambda Chi Alpha, Cornell, from left to right: Mongo Booth, Joe Mooney (hidden), John DeWitt, and Bruce Bergman. Bottom: External view of Lambda Chi Alpha, Cornell.

– and a dance at the Risley Hall Dorm, the group garnered the direction of Bobby Comstock’s manager, John Perialas of the Valex Agency, who was the leading entertainment booker in the region.  

Top: Bravados on the job at Risley Hall, Cornell, from left to right: John DeWitt, Mongo Booth, Bruce Bergman and Joe Mooney. Bottom: External view of Risley Hall, Cornell.

’64-’65 Bravados pose at Risley Hall, from left to right: John DeWitt, Bruce Bergman, Mongo Booth, and Joe Mooney.

That led to – among others – many more bar gigs in Ithaca, as well as The Dahlia in Elmira, The Hollywood in Cortland, and one on the west side of Route 96B which stood approximately where the John Thomas Steakhouse opposite Ithaca College had been for many years. (This relationship also opened the door for Bruce to become Perialas’ liaison to Cornell to book the Animals for IFC Weekend and the Beach Boys for Spring Weekend in 1966.)

On Friday, January 15, 1965, they appeared at the Elks in Ithaca at the corner of Corn and Green Streets from 9:00 – 1:00 and as the ad in the Cornell Daily Sun of that date observed: “Tonight, be there…things shall swing.”  And so they did, evidenced by their return to the Elks on Friday, February 19,1965 when the mention in the Sun was: “Tonight 10:00 – 1:00, boss sounds abound.”

At AEPi, Cornell, from left to right: Mongo Booth, Joe Mooney, Bruce Bergman and John DeWitt

Playing at AEPi, Cornell, wild revelers almost obscuring Bravados to the left.

Meaningfully, the Bravados were also the band at the Ithaca College “Farewell Ithaca” dance on May 21, 1965.

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)

Prominent entertainment lawyer Howard Beldock, who represented such varied greats as Grand Funk Railroad, Tommy James, Johnny Carson, Gene Pitney, The Temptations, Joe Cocker and Marvin Gaye, was a member at The Plaza Beach Club in Atlantic Beach where Bruce worked that summer. He heard the music and was very much impressed with The Bravados performing. This led to an engagement to play a party at his Atlantic Beach summer home on August 14, 1965, and to a re-recording of some demos with 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”

Bassist John DeWitt decided to form his own group and, regrettably, the wonderful Mongo Booth busted out of Cornell-replaced, however, by another Cornell African-American, the soul sounds of the fabulous one herself, Soni Edwards. Cornell senior and Ithaca native Gene Coggshall ’66 assumed the bass chores and instilled in The Bravados a deeper familiarity with songs of Ithaca bands as well as an appreciation of the emerging Bob Dylan folk rock sound to augment the soul and party theme. The musical repertoire was thereby enhanced with such songs as Chuck Berry’s “I’m Talking About You”, Dylan’s “She Belongs to Me” and “Like A Rolling Stone”. They quickly became regular performers at The Travelers and one of their dual dates was appearing there on December 3, 1965 from 4:00-7:00, then from 9:15-12:15 at The Melody Inn. On January 7, 1966 the Sun reported: “The Bravados-Shake it down to the soul sounds of Soni Edwards at The Travelers today 4:00-7:00”.

At the Straight, Cornell, Fall 1965. Left to right: Gene Cogshall, Soni Edwards, and Bruce Bergman

At the Straight, Cornell, Fall 1965. Left to right: Gene Cogshall, Soni Edwards, Bruce Bergman, and Joe Mooney

From left to right: Bruce Bergman, Soni Edwards and Gene Coggshall, Joe Mooney (front)

From left to right: Joe Mooney, Bruce Bergman, Soni Edwards and Gene Coggshall

Willard Straight Hall, Cornell, where The Bravados performed

At Christmas time the Long Island Bravados were together again and one of the indelible appearances was at the popular Leone’s in Long Beach.

Back at Cornell, fraternity party work continued, including at Alpha Epsilon Pi, Beta Sigma Rho,

At Beta Sigma Rho. Cornell, From left to right: Gene Coggshall, Joe Mooney, Soni Edwards and Bruce Bergman

and for the parents’ weekend party at Tau Epsilon Phi. Especially memorable was a major dance at the Straight. They also became regulars at Ithaca’s Alt Heidelberg and traveled to Bridgeport University to be reunited with Gary Gross and Mongo Booth at a party there in the Spring of 1966.

Bravados at Bridgeport University, Spring 1966. From left to right: Gary Gross, Gene Cogshall, Bruce Bergman, Jeff Newman, and Mongo Booth

Earlier that year, the son of then well-known television personality, Garry Moore, opened a terrific club where Route 366 and Route 13 intersected on the way to Cortland. Called The Boxcar, it was just that, a retired train car. With a partial glass floor and most people’s introduction to imported draft beer in frosty mugs, it was a unique and fun place. Moore’s son and Gene Coggshall originated the idea of busing Cortland co-eds to The Boxcar on Friday afternoons, with free admission for the ladies to encourage them and thereby attract Cornell men. Although hard to imagine now, females were a small minority at major schools back then, resulting in male students often visiting predominantly girl’s colleges like Cortland – known then as a teachers school. (The road trip in Animal House is essentially an accurate depiction of this.) Gene designed posters and distributed them at Cortland; the proprietor hired the buses. The blurb in the Sun recited “The Bravados at the Boxcar with the soul sounds of Soni Edwards and multitudes of screaming Cortland coeds, Friday March 11, 1966, 4:00 – 7:00 P.M”. That very night they also performed at the Alt Heildelberg from 9:45 – 12:45. On Saturday the 12th they played at the Travelers in Ithaca from 9:00- 12:00. “Boss scenes, boss sounds” said the Sun. And the crowds came. Chalk-up another enduring group of appearances for The Bravados.

They returned to The Boxcar on April 22nd from 4:00-7:00 and were still playing Friday nights at the Alt Heidelberg on Eddy Street in Ithaca just before graduation in June ’66 closed the chapter of The Bravados at Cornell.

Copy of the original advertisement in The Cornell Daily Sun, May, 1966

Bravados Summer 1966, Riis Park, NY. From left to right: Larry Laufer, Gene Coggshall, Jeff Newman, Bruce Bergman and Mongo Booth

They were college graduates now and other things were on the horizon: Bruce would begin Fordham Law School in the Fall; Jeff, NYU Law School; Gene would return to Cornell to obtain his MFA; Mongo was at liberty.  But for that summer, Gene came down from Ithaca and was ensconced in a bungalow apartment in Far Rockaway, just before the whole area was leveled. Returning to the group from the 1961 version was Larry Laufer, now on the newly popular Farfisa organ. This was to become the most professional Bravados to ever play.

One particular success of that season were regular appearances at Glen Cove’s Do Drop Inn – for decades thereafter the well-known La Pace Restaurant at 51 Cedar Swamp Road.

The real celebration of that summer, though, was the previously mentioned Straw Hat on Jericho Turnpike in Mineola.  Owned by a St. John’s University alum, it attracted a large and loyal following of St. John’s University students and graduates.  The Bravados’ college fraternity party mien was perfect for the venue and the group was booked for Friday and Sunday nights.  Opposite them on Saturday nights was Billy Joel’s band, The Hassles.  Of course it wasn’t until years later that the boys knew the group was Billy Joel’s; back then Billy was just one of the young guys in his group. All they recognized at the time was that The Hassles were outstanding, which made for dynamic weekends of music with those two bands on the stand – precisely why crowds were there.

Every night was akin to a party, The Troggs’ “Wild Thing”, The Rascal’s “Good Lovin”, The Zombies’ “She’s Not There”, The Kinks’ “You Really Got Me”, The Outsiders’ “Time Won’t Let Me”  and James Browns’ “Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag” being typical fare.  It’s what the patrons wanted and what The Bravados offered.  The “Monkey Waddle” was a big hit with the crowd too and the band hinted that there was a scatological version which the fans then waited for all summer.  On the very last Sunday of the summer run, the off-color version was finally played and everyone went wild.  It was a fitting conclusion for what was really the end of an era; college was over, the last joyous, carefree summer after college reached a finale, responsibility abruptly arrived, and neither The Bravados nor the music would ever be quite the same.

The Bravados Summer 1966, Belle Harbor, NY. From left to right: Mongo Booth, Bruce Bergman, Larry Laufer, Gene Coggshall, Jeff Newman.