ArtistInfo

Stark Naked And The Car Thieves

Band,
Rock
A.k.a. The Illusions (21) The Reflections (7)

Stark Naked and the Car Thieves began as an informal vocal group called the Reflections in Indianapolis, IN. In 1965, a recording in a local studio there hit the WLS Top 40 in Chicago in January within a week of when the time Beatles I Want to Hold Your Hand made them. (Chicago Top 40 Charts, 1960-1969, Compiled by Ron Smith, Writers Club Press, 2001). Their record, on Tigre, distributed by All-State, an up-tempo version of the Five Satins classic, In The Still of the Night, remained higher on the list for two weeks until it was discovered that the records' master tape had been lost, or accidentally destroyed. Before the group's next record, In The Beginning, could be released, the Detroit band, The Reflections, had released (Jut Like) Romeo and Juliet. In The Beginning was released as the Illusions, and never heard from again. In 1967, the band, now in California, was picked up for artist management by Jimmy O'Neill (Shindig!) and Seymour Heller (Liberace, Debbie Reynolds) and they began recording for their production company, Greeengrass (Ray Harris and Ed Cobb). From 1967 to 1970, Ed Cobb produced three records with the group at Producer's Workshop on Sunburst Records, distributed by Amy-Mala-Bell Records, and another at American Recording, Ritchie Podlar's studio, released on Attarack MGM. Greengrass later became AVI. Because the name seemed a bit racy at the time, the record company changed the group's name for the first two records, The Pleasure of Your Company b/w Maria, Love and Music, and Remember When b/w Now A Taste Of Tears, to S.N. and THE Ct's. No one know's why that spelling, and done without artist approval. The following two records, Look Back In Love b/w Contact, and Mixed Emotions b/w What Is A Youth? used the band's real name. While these records had success in certain markets, especially Las Vegas, they were not national hits. The band however became a well known band in the most popular west coast venues and was highly successful at the Flamingo and International Hotels, along with dates at the Thunderbird and Caesars Palace. For more information about the band, you can visit the website of a memoir of the band called Things We Lost In The Night, at http://larrjdunlap.com.