Chapter 1 "In the Beginning"

It's two weeks after Woodstock. The two Franks (Ferrara & Gilcken) are 16 when Tony (D'Iorio) answered their ad in a Philadelphia paper, "looking for drummer". Immediately the three of us hit it off. We're into Black Sabbath, the Beatles, writing original material and practicing. Early on most of our songs started with a guitar riff and some words. A verse would take shape, then the hunt for the bridge would begin. Tony supplying the lyrics, Frank and Frankie are deep into the chords and notes that become the body of the song. The words start to give the tune a personality, a name. The chorus appears and becomes your friend. You wonder, do we really need another verse, are we going with the two or four bar intro?. You keep pushing. There's nothing else but the Song. The Lead Break! It's time! Frankie never ceases to amaze us with his guitar. We've never heard a lead we didn't like. We're getting close. Last stop! Harmonies. Finally we roll into Tune Town! A place of fullness, satisfaction and purpose. A place where you are finally content with the song and after hearing it loud "one more time", you're able to move on to the next one. Through the process we've never argued about our music. We have strong feelings about what each of us want, but the majority rules and it always been "Unless you convince me, it's this way!"
"Don't run from your dreams when you know there right!" (Slowdown)

The first few months we commuted to a practice hall in South Philly from Linwood, Pennsylvania and Claymont, Delaware, trying out different keyboard players and front men. We had a couple 'local guys' managing us. Once they arranged for us to pick up Jimmy Hendrix, his drummer and bass player (the Experience) at the airport in Tony's Vista Cruiser station wagon (Tony was married with 3 kids, running a chain of discount stores). That night we were on stage watching Hendrix play. Towards the end of the set, he started burning his guitar and kicking his Marshal amps offstage. Nobody had seen this kind of thing before! Frankie got excited (his amp was a Vox Guardsman ). He asked the roadies if he could have them but they said Marshall would re-cone. That night was the first time we were on a concert stage. We knew then what we were meant to do.
"Look beyond the stars to your dreams that shine forever on" (Little Boy Blue)

During our time in Philly we lacked confidence in our vocals so we had a front man, "C.J.". Now C.J. could sing and had all the moves but was into shooting crystal. He would suddenly just run out of practice yelling "You guys sound great!, see you later".
The last time he sang with us was at the mental hospital he was living. We did an original set for the patients. Our first gig!
"My windows there the scenes the same... I'm not here they've lost my name" (My Window)

After going through different front men and keyboard players we decide to stay three piece and called ourselves the "Magic Band". Within a month we left Philadelphia, the managers, Pat's Steaks and set up in the Dess Discount Store basement in Claymont. It's just the three of us now. It is our life. It consumes us. We practice almost every night. Tony's into writing about death, pollution, the meaning of life, God, space and time travel. So we compose our concept album "Death of A Country". We spent 18 months just practicing, playing out maybe two or three times. We played "Death of a Country" so many times we knew it backwards and forwards. The hook in the song was written by Tony on his kid's toy organ. It is his first and last musical contribution. At the same time it was decided that it would be best if he didn't sing and should just stick to playing drums and writing the lyrics! He agreed.
"Can you hear the sounds of progress landing on the moon" (Death of A Country)

The songwriting has always broken down to variations of: Tony writes most of the lyrics, arranges and listens. Frank plays bass, keyboards, sings lead and is usually in charge of coming up with a melody for the hook which probably came from Frankie. Frankie "plays a lot of guitar" sings harmony, arranges and has the best hearing; having destroyed Frank & Tony's.

Chapter 2 "The name is BANG!

During the year and a half of practicing, we enjoyed our time in the basement. Playing for ourselves and the kids who would be outside hanging around the metal sidewalk doors left open for air. The ceiling was so low you had to duck pipes whenever you moved around. At times we would give a "performance" for our friends who would squeeze into the wall of sound and encourage us. We were learning how to write songs, building Voice of the Theater speakers for a sound system and dreaming of the things every band dreams. We were young, loud and determined to "make it".
"If by touching, we all can agree, Nothing can stop us" (RTZ)

Tony was reading Rolling Stone magazine when he came across and article headline "English groups BANG in USA" The story was about the explosion of bands from England appearing in America. To Tony it jumped off the page-- "BANG" now there's a name for a group! "Music shot from guns!" Later on we did incorporate a 12-gauge shotgun into our act. It was an impressive way to start and end a set. We also were pioneers in the use of concert fireworks.
Like most bands, we had no idea how to "make it happen"! Claymont was not a place where record companies, A & R people, producers and managers flocked to. We tried to get something going locally but our music absolutely did not qualify as the famous "Philly Sound". We knew we had to do something. Unknown to us, a series of incredible events were lining up to change our lives forever.
"Finding a place, that's right for me, Falling through space" (RTZ)

Chapter 3 "BANG is in MIAMI"

The Anvil Inn was a bar we went to in Kennet Square, Pa. that always had great live music. The owners Joe & Benny loved us. One of our few gigs was their annual picnic. One night Tony started talking to the bass player of the band performing. Tony never talked to bass players but he overheard this guy say he had been in the group the Classics 4 who had the hit "Spooky". Hey, this was big time. This guy had a hit!. At some point in the conversation the guy talked about a record distributor in Miami, "Tone Distributors". They had a novelty hit going ("Window Washing Woman") and were looking for acts to sign!
Within a week, Tony went to the bank and borrowed a $1000. We bought a tent, rented a trailer, packed up our equipment, and headed down Interstate 95 in the Vista Cruiser to Miami . On the way we mailed out hundreds of postcards to everyone from Walter Cronkite to Lassie, from Warner Bros Records to Daffy Duck. Each postcard was stamped BANG is in Miami". Something was about to happen! We were naive and unprepared for a lot of the business, but like three unsuspecting virgins being led to the Sultan 's tent, we eagerly stepped through the portal opening in front of us. We were about to be transported from the Basement to Bright Lights¡! The 70's were starting and BANG was going to be part of the new music that was being unleashed on FM radio and concert stages everywhere.
"Keep abreast of turmoil times... Prudent people mouth their lines... Watch them work at being not... Pump their ears make them hot" (Certainly Meaningless)

Overview: The first 18 months

Both Franks had dropped out of high school. We practiced, we worked, we ate cheese steak's from Claymont steak shop. A good friend Don Naples took care of our technical needs. We played a local gig at Rockford Park and people around town got to hear about us. Besides "Death of a Country" we wrote s lot of songs like "Lies", "Spoons of Crystal" and "Lord you created a Mess". Tony was running Dess Discount stores, raising his family and painting giant peace symbols on his backyard deck. Frankie was "experimenting". Our hair was growing long. One job Frank had was painting the Dess building in Claymont with a 1" brush. Workers across the street at the Post Office, had a pool going to when he would finish. The building could have been sprayed in two days. Frank took 3 months.

Chapter 4 "A Freak Bearing Gifts"

After being hassled by rednecks in Georgia about our hair, we drove into Daytona Beach. At Frankie's suggestion we went for a walk on the boardwalk. As we're hanging around, another long hair freak , who looked a lot like us, came up and asked if we wanted to buy some grass. Frank bought an ounce (4 fingers of Colombian Gold) for 15 bucks All we needed now were some rolling papers. Walking into this record shop called "Duck Soup" to buy some, we notice a sign in the window announcing a local "Battle of the Bands" the store was promoting. Very excitedly we said to this guy behind the counter "Hey, were a band, can we play at your gig"? He told us it was an old poster and then said, and I quote! "there's a concert tomorrow night in Orlando with Rod Stewart , maybe you can go there and play with him ha! ha! This guy was busting our chops. We spent that night in the tent getting stoned and discussing what had happen earlier. At some point, a red-eyed Tony announced "were going to Orlando and play with Rod Stewart!" What did we know? Ignorance is bliss! We packed up the tent, climbed into the Vista Cruiser and headed to the next portal waiting for us in Orlando.
"Explore a path of peaceful dreams, forget those dreary bummer scenes" (Come with Me)

Chapter 5 "We're from Philly"

The sun was just coming up as we pulled into the Orlando Sport Stadium. The gate was open so we drove right onto the floor . After sitting around in the arena for a while, it was time for us to meet opportunity , make our move and cross through. We started looking for somebody, anybody to plead our case. We eventually made our way back to the office's and BANGed on a door marked private. As soon as this tall thin guy opened it Tony announced , or more truthfully blurted, "We're BANG from Philly and we're as good as any band here tonight! . We have our equipment ready to set up and play. If you like us, let us open the show, if not we'll leave. You've got nothing to loose and you will see and hear something that will astound you"! The clanging of our balls in this guy's face actually pushed him backwards and impressed him enough, he agreed to hear us. This tall thin guy was Rick Bowen owner of East Coast Concerts who partnered with West Coast Concerts the Granddaddy of all concert promoters. We can still see him standing in the middle of the empty arena watching us , arms folded, listening intently with his assistant Jimmy as we played "Death of a Country" and few other songs. The set went great musically and of course we were on top of all our moves. In our minds and hearts we knew we had what it took to be Rock & Roll stars. You have to believe! We were ready. All those months of practice. All those hours honing our craft. All the sacrificing each of us had done had prepared us for this moment in time. We were BANG a Heavy Metal Power Trio. Music shot from Guns! We were stepping through. It was exciting. Our chance, our big break, we passed the audition. Later that night 8,000 kids would be screaming at Rod Stewart & Faces, Deep Purple, Southern Comfort and a new opening act named BANG.
"Keep on the path is clear, see the truth, it's coming near" (Slowdown)

Chapter 6 The Escape Motel & How would you like to play with Steppin Wolf in Richmond

After we performed our 30 minute set, and while the excitement of the night was still all over us, we had to go back out on stage and haul off our equipment in front of the crowd we had just left yelling for more. We had no roadies. The strange looks from the people down front watching us move our stuff made us realized we had a way to go ! This was the third time, in 18 months, we had played anywhere except the basement, .It would be tough going back home to jobs we didn't want, but at least we could tell how we had opened for "Rod Stewart" and "Deep Purple".

Thinking we had done all and feeling like our trip was a success we were surprised when the promoter approached us and said he owned a motel in Ft Lauderdale and wanted us to go there and wait for him.
The Excape motel was a party place. For the next few days that's what we did. When we met him at the airport the first thing he said to us was "how would you like to play with Steppinwolf in Richmond this weekend"? Was he kidding? Steppinwolf! Born to be Wild"! We played in a baseball stadium where the stage was on the pitcher mound. From that performance we have the only recorded film of us playing together.

Around this time we stated to understand what we had fallen into. Rick was East Coast Concerts who partnered with Concerts West the big daddy of all promoters. Signing with Rick meant we would be opening and touring with the top bands of that era. We were about to step onto largest stages in the country with Bands that were household names like,,,,
Rod Stewart, Deep Purple, Steppinwolf, Guess Who, Kinks, James Gang, Mountain, Ike & Tina, Fleetwood Mac (opened for us), Cactus, Uriah Heep, Bloodrock, Dr. John, The Byrds, Alice Cooper, Allman Bros, B.B. King, Chuck Berry, 3 Dog Night, Black Sabbath, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, J. Giels Band, Billy Preston, Peter Frampton, Doobie Bros, Yes, Nazareth, Jethru Tull, Joe Cocker, Savoy Brown, Bruce Springsteen (opened for us), Bob Seger, Edgar Winter, Steve MIller, Buddy Miles and last but not least the Funkadelics
"We don't need nobody to tell us what we want Cause now we know" (Don't Need Nobody)

Chapter 7 "Death of a Country" one takes straight through.

It was time for us to record an album. We went to Criteria studios in Miami and started working on Death of a Country. Ron and Howie Albert were our producers. What fun we had. This was our first time in a recording studio and hearing or music played back loud on those big studio monitors was another dream come true. We knew Death of a Country so well we were able to record it on the first take with very few over dubs. At the time Frankie was the lead singer and Frank sang mostly backup. We used all kinds of effects on different songs. Lots of panning and phasers. Originally Death was a concept album. At end of the album is a recording of the first atomic bomb blast at Yucca Flats. We tried it fast, slow, forward and backward, trying to make it sound right. We finally settled on slow and backwards. This was our first real recording session. Ron & Howie were great to work with. Carl Richardson our engineer went on to do "Staying Alive" and most of the Bee Gees hits.
Must you be a superstar to find your means of living (Questions)

Chapter 8 Capitol Records, same label the Beatles are on. Write me an album, I be back in two weeks

After "Death of a Country " was finished, our manager started shopping the labels. We signed with CAM-USA for worldwide publishing and soon signed with Capitol. This was it. The big dreams come true. Who would have thought all those months in the basement would have lead to a 4 album deal with the label the Beatles were on. Things were happening everyday. It was a heady time.
Capitol decided they wanted a more commercial album then "Death ofa Country", it was raw and wandering, So they sent out producer Michael Sunday who had just produced "Blue Cheer". Mike was a good guy. The first thing he did was see Frank and declare "you are the lead singer" you look like a Heavy Metal lead singer . After he listened to all stuff, he told us, "I be back in two weeks write me a new album,". We did! We wrote the BANG album with the gun barrel and our "Hit" "Questions". We had to argue with Capitol about that song. They didn't want it to be on the album! Goes to show you that most times the band knows what's best when it comes to there music.
Originally the artwork had an ink drawings of the three of us standing in the gun barrel. Capitol's art department came up with the cartoon like BANG explosion, which proved to be eye-catching worldwide and still remembered today. We expected the cover to be a fold out with this great futuristic painting in the inside. (If the artist that did that reads this please get in touch with us, we have no picture of it)
When Mike Sunday came back after two weeks we went back into Criteria Studios and started recording. The first day was spent getting Frankie's guitar sound. His Marshall amp finally ended up out side facing the ocean with a mike in front of it. We were still very naïve about the business so when someone suggested a few minor lyric chances in a couple of songs we said sure!   Later we found he became co-writer on those songs and 25% of the publishing.
Our first Capitol album BANG was getting a big push by everybody. I can still remember the first time we heard one of our songs ("Last Will and Testament") on the radio. We were in two cars heading to Miami for conk chowder at Ernie's with the windows down the music blaring screaming at each other.
Ft Lauderdale and Miami were rotating cuts from our album heavy since that's where we lived having moved from up east. Once we were walking out of the Excape motel and could just barely hear "Future Shock" playing in this hippie van coming up the street. What a trip as it got louder, and zoomed past us.
No time to taste your mothers pie, or freak the ones you meet ("Idealist Realist")

Chapter 9 "BANG Day at Capitol Records"

It's about 3:am, the morning of BANGday 1971 in Hollywood California. Frank and Tony are walking the strip heading back to the hotel from somewhere. At the time, long hairs are viewed with suspicion, especially by the authorities. Being in the middle of the block, we causally crossed the street like we would in Claymont or Philly. There is no traffic, and few people if any. Suddenly police are yelling at us to stop!, put up you hands!, don't move! They cuff us roughly and drive us to jail. Here we are, a few hours from BANGday and we're sitting in jail, for jaywalking. Pacing the locked cell with bars on the ceiling, Tony's only thoughts are - "what if there's a fire". Frank meanwhile is not locked up but standing with the cop's being Mr. Friendly, as usual, laughing, telling BANGstories.. Eventually we get in touch with our manager Rick, who bailed us out in time for the party.

Not having slept yet, we enter the Capitol Tower building later that morning, where we are met with BANG posters, balloons, album covers, guns and explosions. In the elevators BANGmetalmusic is playing. I still remember riding up to the offices of the "big guys" in there expensive suits listening to "Future Shock" as background music. Things are strange and exciting. It was all pretty cool. Big_Guys  Our management hired a helicopter to fly around LA and the Capitol tower dragging a sign that read " Capitol BANG Loves You"! 
We stand tall on a hill  Looking down  Touching the clouds. We had arrived. Wow! Capitol Roof
There came a time later when Capitol called us in and asked us to be more "commercial" and write songs like Hellen Reddy's "I Am Woman"   Truth!    Can you beleve that!

After posing for promo pictures and such, we made our way to the party on a lower floor. For some reason the promotion department associated our name BANG with sex so when we walked into the "big party room", they were showing porno movies made in the 20's, something like Debby does the Keystone cops. At the time it was all a little embarrassing but it was our day and everybody loved us. Hello! Rock and Roll!

I'd like to say we were totally humbled by our good fortune and to a point we were. But we had worked long and hard prepairing for this time. The high from BANGday gave us a confidence and swagger we carry today. We knew we were good and had what it takes to make it.
Latter that week, when we went to court, we brought some BANG albums and promo stuff for the judge and cops. Everybody was happy. They still fined us.
A spectacular view    A world of our own    Looking like giants  Tasting the sweet
Our minds are in focus Our pleasure discreet  (Eve of the End - The Maze 2004)

 

Chapter 10 "Pain and Sorrow won't let me be" (Humble) 

 

To be continued.

Chapter 11"The Gig's Over"
Chapter 12 "Missing Years Missed Friends
Chapter 13 "Rick and "Isle of Hope""