The Clique

“THE CLIQUE” (a.k.a. The Roustabouts and The Sandpipers) - In 1964, five guys got together to form a band. After several additions and deletions, the group finally consisted John Kanesaw on drums, Bruce Tinch on bass guitar, Cooper Hawthorne on lead guitar, David Dunham on saxophone and Larry Lawson on piano. They were known then as The Roustabouts, and performed around the Golden Triangle area of East Texas. Larry Lawson recruited Bill Stringer from Orange, Texas to become the band’s manager. The band decided to change its name from "The Roustabouts" to "The Sandpipers" in January of 1966. "The Sandpipers" played all the popular venues in the area, making more money and getting tighter all the while. In April of 1966, David Dunham’s friend from Lafayette, Louisiana, Randy Shaw joined the group as their lead singer. Randy also played various horns, including the trumpet and sax. By this time, the band was becoming extremely popular and was playing gigs all across the state. In May of 1966, the band was enjoying regular gigs at The Grass Menagerie and The Bamboo Hut on the beach in Galveston, Texas. "The Boogie Kings" and "The Countdown 5" were their main rivals and each band played in one or the other place. In July of 1966, the band still known as "The Sandpipers" opened for "The Dave Clark Five." "The Sandpipers" won KNUZ’s Battle of the Bands in Houston, Texas in April of 1967. This was a great launching point for the band and made a major leap in the band’s popularity. Shortly after this accomplishment the band changed its name from "The Sandpipers" to "The Clique." They were also offered an opportunity to record at a local Houston studio called, Andrus Studios owned by Walt Andrus. By the summer of 1967, "The Clique" had recorded “Splash One” and “Stay by Me”. “Splash One” soon became the fastest and largest selling record in Texas and the Southwest market. The song stayed on the Houston charts for a record number of weeks. “Splash One” also achieved the number 113 spot on the national charts that same year. The rest of that year and on into 1968 the band played even farther away from home in cities like Dallas, Austin, Corpus Christi, as well as cities in Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Mississippi. "The Clique" also gained exposure by performing on music television shows in Houston and Fort Worth. The band’s fan club was growing increasingly large and they had a regular following at all their gigs. The Clique began opening for such groups as, "The Association", "Sam and Dave", "George Carlin", and many others. Associated Artists became their production company and their record label changed from Cinema Records to Scepter Records. During this time the band was managed by Don Gomez.In July of 1968, Larry Lawson and Cooper Hawthorne left the group. They were replaced by Sid Templeton on guitar/keyboards, and Bill Black on guitar. Bruce Tinch and John Kanesaw left the group in 1969 to attend college full-time and play locally in the Beaumont and Port Arthur area. Oscar Houchins joined the group at that time as their new keyboard player. John was replaced by Jerry Cope on drums. Bill Black eventually left the group. So, the new Clique lineup consisted of lead singer-Randy Shaw, back-up vocals and horns-David Dunham, lead guitarist-Sid Templeton, keyboards-Oscar Houchins, bass-Tommy Pena, and Jerry Cope on drums. During this time the band was managed by Vince Alfonso, Jr. Now with the completed Clique album finally released on White Whale Records, the band gained immense popularity and became a nationally known band. The Clique album included four songs that reached the top 100 nationally, including “Superman”, which was later covered by REM, “I’ll Hold Out My Hand”, “Sugar On Sunday” written by Tommy James (of The Shondells), which reached the top 20 spot nationally, and “Sparkle and Shine”. During this time the band was managed by Lenny Stogel. The band criss-crossed the country playing major concert stages with the likes of Grand Funk Railroad, Brooklyn Bridge, the Guess Who, and Tommy James and the Shondells. The band appeared on several major television shows including, The Dating Game, Something Else with John Byner as host, and Upbeat out of Cleveland, Ohio. The Clique members moved back to Los Angeles, California in 1970. John Kanesaw came back to the band, and replaced Oscar Houchins, who had decided to pursue an acting career. Other changes soon followed, including the replacement of John with a new keyboard player from The James Gang, one David Jackson. The band continued to tour out West with stops in cities including; Seattle, Vancouver, Calgary, San Diego, and Honolulu. The Clique made its final appearance in Olympia, Washington in April of 1972. ***************************************** THE CLIQUE-The Clique were forever pulled out of semi-obscurity when R.E.M. covered "Superman" for their Life's Rich Pageant LP; semi, not total, obscurity because some late '60s fans still remembered The Clique's "Sugar On Sunday," which reached the Billboard Top 30 in late 1969. The Houston, Texas band had been previously named The Sandpipers, but changed it for obvious reasons, recorded a few fine sides for Scepter Records, were then snapped up by White Whale, and released their self-titled album in 1969. The Clique is a fine example of various late '60s pop styles, and serves as a fine gateway into the earthier sounds of the early '70s. The album was produced and (mostly) co-written by the legendary Gary Zekley, who employed L.A. studio cats like Hal Blaine and Leon Russell to flesh out the sound, but it never would have been as powerful a statement without the expressive, rich vocals of The Clique's Randy Shaw. The album opens with the aforementioned "Sugar On Sunday," a Tommy James cover which stays true to James' patented blue-eyed gospel sound. Other standouts include the Northern Soul belter "Hallelujah!," the bubblegummy "Judy, Judy, Judy" (Cary Grant was nowhere to be found on this track), the Partridge Family-esque (!) 'Soul Mates,' and the yearning "Shadow Of Our Love," but the most memorable track will always be "Superman," a primal slice of pop-psych that wouldn't' have been out of place on The Troggs awesome Cellophane LP. Bonus tracks include the non-LP Tommy James covers, "Sparkle And Shine" (which eked into the Billboard Top 100) and 'I'm Alive,' a heavy rock version of "Memphis," and the four Scepter sides, recorded in late '67-early '68. These are probably the best Clique tracks, exemplars of that classic garage sound, and are most revealing of the band's Houston roots. Their cover of the 13th Floor Elevators 'Splash 1' is suitably mysterious, "Stay By Me" is kinda like psych Beau Brummels, "Love Ain't Easy" is absolutely great folk-garage, and the frantic "Gotta Get Away" offers some nice baroque passages. The usual fine liner notes by Steve Stanley round out this excellent package. www.Revola.co.uk - David Bash

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