It was February, 1962 & “Duke of Earl” was #1 in “Billboard”
when 4 young men played their first night together.It was at “The Cottage Inn,” 1 of 334 bars in the Fishtown section of
Philadelphia
.Their names were KIT (
Carson
) STEWART from Bridesburg, on drums & vocals; RONNIE SHANE (Cichonski) from
Port Richmond, on bass; JOHN BRADLEY from
Bucks
County
, on guitar & vocals; and KARL HAUSMAN from Fishtown, on piano & vocals.
As founder, Kit named the new group The KIT KATS & they made $5
apiece that 1st night!Kit
had recently gotten out of the Navy & was taking drum lessons.Wanting to start a group, he hooked up with RONNIE who was accomplished
on Fender Bass.Searching for more
musicians, they inquired at nearby “Brad’s Music Store.”The owner, a music teacher named Harold Bradley, told them of his son
JOHN whom he taught guitar and who had recently gotten out of the Army & was
playing locally with a group called The Chancellors, at “the H & H Bar,”
also in Fishtown. That weekend, KIT & RON went to hear JOHN play & were
very impressed with his guitar sounds & his voice on, “Sweet Little
Sixteen,” the only song he sang with The Chancellors.But, there was something else! In the corner of the stage was a piano
player, standing up & pounding away on the dark upright piano which was
raised up on beer cases.That ol’
piano was rocking back and forth & KIT, who had been stationed down South,
thought, “There ain’t nobody North of Tennessee can play like this guy!I want him!”The 4 met, KIT
gave his spiel & JOHN quit The Chancellors that night to join KIT’S new
start-up band.KARL, the pianist,
was not so easily swayed.He’d
already been playing professionally since the age of 14 &, while KIT &
JOHN were in the service, Karl was living his 18th year traveling,
mainly in
Canada
, with The GREEN MEN, an opening band for The Johnny Cash Show and Flatt &
Scruggs.After a year, tiring of
living out of a suitcase, he returned home, got a nice desk job at
Philadelphia
International
Airport
, bought his 1st car & was content to play weekends & stay
home with his girlfriend.However,
“curiosity killed the Kat” &, as he & JOHN were friends since they
were 13, KARL agreed to, at least, go check out this new band.
“Yo, JOHN! Let me know where youse guys is at & I’ll come see yiz!”
(Philly accent). Two weeks later, KARL was sitting in “the Cottage Inn,”
watching KIT, RON, JOHN & a sax player named Bob Seeger.The horn was off-key, but the band was cookin’ & KARL never knew
that JOHN could sing so high!Yes
sir, this band is good!So, the next
weekend, there was a piano on stage where the sax player used to be.KARL agreed to a, “We’ll see,” basis and then, four months later,
he quit his desk job, & stayed & played, standing up, with The KIT KATS
for the next 12 years!
From weekends in neighborhood pubs, they moved up to 6 & 7 nights a
week by moving downtown playing sailor bars & after-hour strip joints within
1 year.By now, they were 19 to 21
years old! During the day, they constantly rehearsed, either at KARL’S
parent’s house or the
Bridesburg
Recreational
Center
.Each member picked his own songs
that he wanted to sing & gave the .45 record to KARL to work out for the
next rehearsal.KARL would study the
harmonies of various groups & figure out ways to make 3 voices sound like
MORE voices.Then he created his own
arrangements & taught each song, note by note, vocally & instrumentally,
to the other 3.They called him,
“Professor!”They also called
him other things when Karl yelled at them for straying away from his arrangement
or didn’t learn fast enough!Somedays,
there were heated
arguments & KIT, JOHN, & RON went storming out of Karl’s house, but,
they always returned & practiced until they were perfect!KIT did the bookings but KARL gave him
something great to book:the
best-looking & the best-sounding band imaginable!KARL stopped giving JOHN bass vocals & moved him up the scale to sing
soprano-lead parts.Then, KIT &
KARL could sing bass, baritone or tenor under JOHN’S voice &, depending on
the song; KARL could add falsetto voice over JOHN’S soprano lead.Many a time, KARL would bang down on the piano keys yelling, “NO! NO!
That’s not right, &, “*@&+% !!Get
it right!!!”And, when they
finally got it right, KARL would get tears in his eyes listening to their
Angelic harmony & the guys would’ve thanked him if they hadn’t been so
mad at him!KARL got more talent out
of these guys than they ever knew they had!And, through them, he grew also & they became molded into something
wonderful & special: a hard-driving machine with beautiful voices! The Four
Seasons, the Beach Boys, Doo-Wopers and choir boys, all rolled up into one!
To get full-time work, The KIT KATS would audition in, as many as, 4
clubs a night.It was hard work but
they were motivated & it paid off!At
first, club owners thought they were just a bunch of loud, noisy kids but then
they noticed that these boys were good looking, dressed in nice suits, had
charisma & they attracted girls wherever they appeared.In time, the word was out that wherever The KIT KATS were, that’s where
the girls were!So, now the
nightclubs would be packed every night & everyone was happy
9pm to 2 am
(til
3am
in
New Jersey
.)
This new phenomenon caught the attention of Frank Virtue who had the hit
“Guitar Boogie Shuffle” & owned Virtue recording studio.Frank offered free studio time which was perfect because KARL had just
begun composing music and KIT had added lyrics.This was the beginning of a song-writing team that lasted for years.In July 1963, the band had their first single: “ADA DABA HONEYMOON”
released on the LAURIE label.Frank
thought this novelty tune would be a good idea.They loved it in
San Francisco
!In 1964, they recorded their first
album: “THE VERY BEST OF THE KIT KATS” &, in December, their 2nd
single: “YOU”RE NO ANGEL” was released on the LAWN label.It was received well in the South!However,
in 1965, Bob Finiz, a recording engineer, caught their show at “the T Bar,”
a suburban hot-spot.Excited about
the possibilities, Bob told his boss, Harold Lipsius, who was the head ofJAMIE/GUYDENRECORDS &
UNIVERSAL RECORD DISTRIBUTORS.Finiz
obtained free studio time & gave The KIT KATS a great offer!So, one night, after work at 2 am, the guys packed their equipment, drove into the
city in the middle of the night & recorded at JAMIE’S Broad Street studio from 3 till 7 am!Harold
liked what he heard & the boys signed with JAMIE RECORDS & THE DANDILION
PUBLISHING COMPANY, also owned by Mr. Lipsius.For the rest of the year & 1966, KIT & KARL wrote songs with KARL
keeping JOHN’S voice in mind for all the melodies.The group recorded in the afternoons, building a library of songs, while
they continued to support themselves & their growing families by playing
clubs at night.On Memorial Day
weekend 1966, The KIT KATS began spending their summers in Wildwood, at the
Jersey
shore.The nightclub was called
“the
Elmira
” & the band practically lived there, entertaining 7 nights a week,
9pm
til
3am
, with Saturday & Sunday matinees,
3 to 6 pm
.In July, their first JAMIE single:
“THAT’S THE WAY,” was released.It
reached #1 in two cities:
Lancaster
,
Pennsylvania
&
London
,
England
.This was the first time the boys
ever heard themselves on the radio & it was a wonderful feeling!From then on, it was “Standing Room Only” with long lines waiting to
get in.Yes sir, everybody wanted
this band now!
By 1967, The KIT
KATS became #1 in their hometown of
Philadelphia
with their second JAMIE single: “LET’S GET LOST
ON A COUNTRY ROAD
.”Their 1st JAMIE
album: “IT’S A MATTER OF TIME” sold over 80,000 within 2 weeks.The pretty single: “BREEZY,” was released in May.52 weeks a year, they packed ‘em in at nightclubs in the tri-state area
of
Eastern Pennsylvania
, South Jersey & Delaware.By
the time these young men reached the ages of 23-25, they were in the 2%, highest
earning bracket in
America
!Their recording fame &
nightclub appearances made them money, but it was their own unique sound
appealing to young and old alike,their
personalities, plus hard work that made them the best in the eyes of their
followers.By now, even RONNIE had
singing parts but half the time his mike wasn’t on, so, that didn’t last
long!Even so, the money was always
split 4 ways, no matter what!The
band had two rules: #1. Never cheat with the money! #2.Keep your hands off the other KIT KAT’S woman!That was their glue!
The KIT KATS had such a tremendously full sound that they scared groups
the size of “
Chicago
” right off the same stage!Rival
bands hated & feared them but were in awe of The KIT KATS drawing power!Thus began the expression, “Nobody loves the KIT KATS but the
people!”
By now, they had a Fan Club run by Bob & Kay Pagenkemper of
Claymont
,
Delaware
.With KIT’S driving beat &
ways to excite the multitudes into frenzy; JOHN’S mesmerizing them with his
golden voice & country/rock guitar; RONNIE’S incredible bass lines
sounding like an earthquake; and The Philadelphia Inquirer calling KARL “The
Greatest Rock & Roll Pianist on the East Coast,” The KIT KATS forged a
winning combination into a legend!They
appeared with the Four Seasons, Gene Pitney, Doc Severenson, the Four Tops, the
Rascals, Roy Clark, Donald O’Conner, Lou Rawls, Santana, the Iron Butterfly,
Frank Sinatra Jr., U.S. Bonds, the Chiffons, Martha & the Vandellas, Mitch
Ryder & the Detroit Wheels, & they warmed up the crowds before PHILLIES
baseball games.Videos of them
performing their songs were shown on teen dance shows from coast to coast
including AMERICAN BANDSTAND which, by now, had moved from Philly out to
Los Angeles
.They now owned 40 % of the 1,600
seat “RIPTIDE NIGHTCLUB” in Wildwood & ran 7 nights plus 2 jams weekly,
every summer for the next 4 years. “YOU’VE
GOT TO KNOW,” “
SEA
OF
LOVE
” & “DISTANCE” were follow-up singles that year.
In 1968, their second JAMIE album: “THE KIT KATS DO THEIR THING LIVE”
was released, engineered by Joel Fein, as well as singles: “I WANT TO BE,”
“YOU’RE SO GOOD TO ME” & “HEY SATURDAY
NOON
.”There was a feeling that they
were invincible & immortal; a heady experience!They had so many top-dollar offers, locally, that they never had to
travel much more than a hundred miles from home & that kept expenses way
down!They were much more than a
rock & roll band, anyway!From
the start, they did comedy routines as well as razzle-dazzle sketcheslike: “12th STREET RAG,” “MY FAVORITE THINGS,”
“BUMBLE BOOGIE,” “SABRE DANCE,” “PETER, PAUL & MARY,” “CHAD
MITCHELL TRIO” and “MALAGUENA.Their
instrumental recording of “THE NUT ROCKER” was used in the 1984 & 1996
OLYMPICS!JAMIE’S promotion man
was Tom Kennedy &, whenever he would drive out in his Austin Healy & see
the band, they always loved to sit and talk with him.When “The JAMIE/GUYDEN STORY” was released on CD, in 1996, the
booklet inside had quoted Tom as saying, “KARL is probably the greatest
keyboard man since Mozart!”
By the late
‘sixties, the band’s appearance was changing & losing its “The Boy
Next Door” look.Bigger
sound-systems, monstrous 6 foot-high Marshall amps, a “Moog” synthesizer for
the top of thepiano, more drums,
more cymbals, Wa-Wa pedals, Fuzz-Tones, strobe & spot-lighting & a
U.P.S.-Size band truck which was so full with cases of beer that they could
hardly get all their musical equipment in.They
hired Road Managers.First, Barry
Malen, a great friend, who later left to become the police chief of Darby, PA
& then, Al Jent, from Mayfair, who became like a 5th KIT KAT.They hired a former Green Beret and a former motorcycle gang member to
act as doormen & keep law and order!The
band’s personal appearances changed also, as did everyone else’s then.JOHN, (the life of the party,) became BIG JOHN & he grew a full
beard, looking more Celtic than ever & he was the only band member who never
smoked cigarettes!KIT, (the
high-strung racehorse, the P.T. Barnum of the band, always on the prowl,) grew
sideburns & wore vests over psychedelic-print shirts & bell bottom
trousers.KARL, (the stubborn one,
the book worm, the brooder, the visionary, the rebel,) liked khaki military
shirts & flair-bottom pants he’d purchased in
Europe
.He let his hair grow to shoulder
length.Even RONNIE, (the
QUIET-MAN,) looked different simply by retaining his conservative
Young-Republican look.Love ‘em or
hate ‘em, you couldn’t ignore ‘em. The KIT KATS could out-play, out-love
& out-drink every band that tried to compete with them.Unfortunately, no trophies were ever awarded for these feats.
JAMIE now sent these young Philadelphians to “Bell Sound Studios” in
Manhattan
, to record.They also recorded 2
instrumentals under assumed names: “LET’S GET LOST
ON A COUNTRY ROAD
” by The TIK TAKS and “HANKY PANKY” by The PABLO PANCE FOUR.
In 1969, The KIT KATS recorded their 3rd & final album
with JAMIE.Producer, Mike Apsey,
from
Tampa
, engineered the project.Mike loved
a song that was the “B” side of “THAT’S THE WAY” & wanted to
record it for an “A” side single.But,
because the song was out before by “The KIT KATS,” JAMIE released a new
version of “WON’T FIND BETTER THAN ME” with the name “NEW HOPE” as the
artists.It was The BIGGEST HIT The
KIT KATS EVER HAD & JAMIE RECORDS flew the band around the country to play
in cities where it was #1!By the
end of the year, this recording became an international best seller in
North America
,
Great Britain
,
France
,
Australia
,
New Zealand
and on the Armed Forces stations in Germany & South Vietnam.The KIT KATS had reached their Zenith! “TOP OF THE WORLD, MA!”
In 1970, the group worked the Rock-Operas “Tommy,” “Jesus Christ
Super Star” & the Beatles “
Abby Road
” into their act.Their biggest
requests though, were their own material & “The 4 Seasons Medley.”They always ended their evening with a very exciting version of “LIZA
JANE.” The crowds formed Conga-lines for the night’s finale. In the summer
of 1970, JAMIE released the “NEW HOPE” album as well as the new single
“LOOK AWAY,” using Jazz Legend Rufus Harley on bag pipes.
KIT & RONNIE each had big houses built in the suburbs & drove
around in mile-long Cadillacs, smoking mile-long cigars. RONNIE also had a house
at the shore and a28’Boat.
BIG JOHN owned land in
Florida
right next to a new resort being built called Walt Disney World & he loved
his British sports cars as well as his 1940 Packard sedan.
KARL bought a colonial
townehouse on
Delancey Place
in
Philadelphia
’s historical Society Hill.He
drove either his Rolls Royce or his Porsche 911S & he traveled in
Europe
.
“Life is good!We’ll rock
& roll forever!”
But, by 1972, as they continued to live “La Dolce Vita,” tiny cracks
were beginning to appear as a result.One
by one they were turning 30 and were beginning to think differently.They no longer shared the same dream.Now, they each had outside interests.They were no longer the 4 Musketeers & didn’t even feel close
anymore.They were the Golden Boys
but now it was time to hand over the crown.Actually, it was just the way of the world.Things change and it was time to move on.
They left JAMIE and signed with ABC PARAMOUNT in
New York
.They recorded at “Media Sound
Studios” on
West 57th Street
.
PARAMOUNT
released one single: “Taking my Time,” and still has seven unreleased
recordings in a vault in
Los Angeles
.
Those were the days, my friend.We
thought they’d never end, but by 1974, after 12 years together, The KIT KATS
reluctantly parted friends to pursue their new interests.
POST KIT KATS
KIT, became a vegetarian, joined a produce business and marketed a
“Quit Smoking” cassette which he produced.He moved to
Dover
Delaware
& hosted a TV show “YOUNG AT HEART” shown in the DelMarVa area.RON helps to operate a family business and raised a fine family in
Bucks County
,
PA.BIG JOHN, Moved to the Pocono’s
and is heavily involved with his church, he also became caretaker of his
in-law’s vacation resort.Only
KARL stayed in the music business.
In their separate ways, life was good again for the boys, individually,
& even if there was no more contact between them, each one knew that the
other three were well thru‘ mutual friends.
Twenty Three years passed until one night, in May 1997, KARL received a
phone call from The Recording engineer, TOM MOULTON in New York City ( He has
more platinum records than wall space.) Tom said, that everything the KIT KATS
had ever recorded with JAMIE was now owned by “THE BEAR FAMILY,” in Germany,
the largest record distributor in Europe and he is in his sixth month of
digitally re-mastering the entire collection which, when completed, will be
called “The KIT KATS: IT’S ABOUT TIME.”
Released in 2000, the double CD of 44 songs became the KIT KATS biggest
seller ever, world wide!!!!
On
June 16, 2001
, at a party for Philly Dee Jays & hosted by Frank & Harold Lipsius, KIT
& KARL met for the last time.KIT
passed away on
July 2, 2001
.
