- The Juicy Fruits, Phantom of the Paradise, 1973. The band and director Brian De Palma had been students at Columbia U. Didn’t help… Neither rock groups or their record companies were much interested in Brian De Whosis? There was, however, too much Beatle-style friction inside Sha-Na-Na band. It was Na-Na, after all, not Yay-Yay.
- The Beach Bums, Phantom of the Paradise, 1973. Sha-Na-Na was due to play three groups from as early as December 1971. They were still on the production Call Sheet on the day before shooting started. Booked to play Swan, the manipulative, Dorian Grayish rock icon, Paul Williams said he needed to build a group to cope with three different music styles. Together with director Brian De Palma, he started forming their own band(s)… the night before The Off!
- The Undead, Phantom of the Paradise, 1973. Paul Williams called in fellow songwriter Jeff Comanor. Brian De Palma saw John Belushi’s replacement, Harold Oblong, in Broadway’s Lemmings – and he brought in Archie Hahn, another improvisational comic. Gently mix the trio and voilà, three instant (but different) groups. De Palma’s art v commerce opus began peculating in 1969 when shocked to hear The Beatles’ A Day In The Life as Musak in a lift. “It was an era when people were letting young directors make all kind of films,” De Palma said. (Pause). “For a while.”
Birth year: Death year: Other name: Usual occupation: SingerCasting Calls: 3