Bluepower.com is a great website that is owned by "The Mods" former A&R man (John Rhys Eddins)of "IMPACT RECORDS". IMPACT RECORDS was owned by Harry Balk and located in Detroit, Michigan during the 1960's. BluePower brings you the best in Internet Radio, from legends of the past to brand new acts. Be sure to check out John's great website where you will find lots of info on the blues.
Toledo, Ohio is known for many things, Rock and Roll is not usually considered to be one of them. Toledo has in the past, and continues to turn out exceptional talent. A history of the Toledo early rock scene in the 1960's and 1970's The Sting Rays photo courtesy of Bob Gingrich, founding member. Bob Gingrich of the Sting Rays band has assured me that he would love to receive e-mail from old fans of the Sting Rays from back in the 1960's. The band had many fans in the entire Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan areas. E-Mail the group by clicking on their name below.
The "Rock band" MYTHIAH, was originally formed in the Toledo, Ohio four years ago. In 2005 The band relocated to Lawrenceville, Georgia which is North East of Atlanta. This young rock n' roll group is rvery talented and I am not just saying that because they are my grandsons. I am glad these guys got something out of my gene pool because they rock! To Book MYTHIAH for a concert just use the E-Mail address below and that will put you in touch with their manager who handles bookings arrangements for them.
Here is a link to the new Mythiah website at ReverbNation.com http://www.reverbnation.com/mythiah Here is a link Youtube.com where you can view and listen to some video's by Mythiah http://www.youtube.com/mythiah Ruby Starr (November 30, 1949 - January 14, 1995) was born Constance Henrietta Mierzwiak in Toledo, Ohio. Starr started performing at the age of nine under the stage name Connie Little and was later billed as Ruby Jones during the 1960s. In 1971 she was signed to Curtom Records and recorded her first album, Ruby Jones. Shortly after that album's release, Black Oak Arkansas lead vocalist Jim "Dandy" Mangrum saw Starr singing in an Evansville, Indiana, club and convinced her to join his band. At this point she assumed the stage name of Ruby Starr. The above photos show only a few of the great rock n' roll groups that existed in the greater Toledo, Ohio area during the 1960's. There were many more great bands in Toledo during that era but I have no photos of them to share on this website. Should anyone viewing The Mods website have photos of other Toledo area bands from the 1960's and you would like to share on them with viewers of this website, please email your photos to themods1966@yahoo.com The Silvertones - Canton, Ohio This group was originally called THE SILVERTONES but later changed the band's name to THE ANGRY. I met these guys online and conversed through emails with one of the members. Check out their new Website!
Whitehouse, Ohio
1963-1966
Click on the Sting Rays photo above
to learn more about this 1960's band!
Toledo Sports Arena - Toledo, Ohio
Seated is Lucky Stiles,drummer
(standing left to right) Jack Stiles , guitar , lead vocals
David Schmuhl , bass guitar
Bob Gingrich , lead guitar
The Rogues
Toledo, Ohio
1963-1966
Denny Boyle, guitar - (far left)
Rodney Stevenson, (guitar)
Joe Bruton, lead vocals (center)
Donny Peterson,drums (behind rest of band sitting)
Jim McKinley, bass - (far right)
The Rogues photo is courtesy of
Bob Gingrich of The Sting Rays band
Toledo, Ohio
1963-1970
Left to right
far left, standing - Terry Smith, Lead Guitar, Harmonica, Lead Vocals
Center, standing - Larry Music, Rythmn Guitar, Backup Vocals
Far right, standing - Larry Smith, Bass Guitar, Backup Vocals
Center, horizontal - Fred Jablonski, Drums, Backup Vocals
THE MODS photo courtesy of Toledo City Paper
The members of MYTHIAH consist of my 3 grandson's, who are pictured here left to right... Tyler (Bass Guitar, Keyboards & Vocals) - Jacob (Drums/Percussion) - Casey (Lead & Rythmn Guitar & Vocals).
"aka" Connie Little and Ruby Jones
Hometown - Toledo, Ohio
Constance Henrietta Mierzwiak
11/30/1949 - 01/14/1995
Connie, we miss you!
Starr toured with the band for several years at the height of their success and was featured in their Top 30 single "Jim Dandy". In 1974 she began touring on her own again as Ruby Starr & Grey Ghost (members: Gary Levin, Marius Penzner, David Mayo and Joel Williams) and released a self-titled album in 1975 on Capitol Records. Her second album, Scene Stealer, also on Capitol Records was released in 1976. During this time she continued to open for Black Oak Arkansas and other acts such as Black Sabbath and Edgar Winter. Starr also toured with Blackfoot from 1977 to 1978. Her third and last album for Capitol, Smoky Places was released in 1977.
By the dawn of the 1980s, Starr had formed a new band called Grey Star. They issued a pair of recordings which included 1981's Grey Star and 1983's Telephone Sex. Star formed her final group, Henrietta Kahn, in the late 1980s. In the early 1990s, Starr was diagnosed with cancer. She died at home in Toledo in January of 1995.
After her death, several archival releases that featured Starr were issued, including the live Black Oak Arkansas recording, Live On The King Biscuit Flower Hour 1976, and a reissue of Ruby Starr's debut album, retitled as Stone Junkie.
Discography Albums
Ruby Jones (Curtom 1971)
Ruby Starr & Grey Ghost (Capitol 1975)
Scene Stealer (Capitol 1976)
Smoky Places (Capitol 1977)
Stone Junkie (Sequel, 2000)
With Black Oak Arkansas
Street Party (Atco 1974)
Balls Of Fire (MCA 1976)
Live On The King Biscuit Flower Hour 1976 (Capricorn 1998)
Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_Starr
- Other Toledo Bands from the 1960's - No photos available
In addition to The Mods, The Sting Rays and The Rogues; I would like to mention a few more of the great Toledo area bands that I personally remember in the 1960's and they are; The Prophets, J. J. and the Jammers, and finally Connie & The Blubeats. Connie was a classmate of mine at Sylvania High School (class of 1967). Her full name was Constance Henrietta Mierzwiak but she was better known in the Toledo area as "Connie Little" and during 1964 her group, Connie and The Blubeats and my group known as The Mods played in the 1964 Battle of the bands at the Toledo Sports Arena. After that Connie left the Toledo area and went out into the world and became known as "Ruby Starr".
(February 24, 2009) Greg Myers a former Toledo, Ohio musician contacted me by email regarding two bands that he was in during the 1960's. Greg was the Lead Singer for The Undertakers and he also played keyboards for JJ and The Jammers. Hopefully Greg will be soon sending me some photos of these two great Toledo bands so I can post the photos here.
Signed, Larry Smith - former bass guitarist for The Mods
(These groups have exchanged links with THE MODS)
A sixties garage band formed in Chicago, IL in 1965. This group recorded a 45-RPM on the ORLYN label and had a song titled, "THE GIRL WITH THE LONG BLACK HAIR." I met one of the members from this band online and we exchanged several emails with each other. Check out their new Website!
This website launched on 01/20/03
Webpage was last updated on 02/21/2010