They really should have been huge, but they only had the one chart record - a six minute version of "Land Of A Thousand Dances" split over two sides!

That came out on Chattahoochee Records CH668 and got to 67 on Billboard in March 1965.

Unfortunately, KRLA which was the biggest station in LA at the time, preferred the version by another Mexican-American outfit, Cannibal & The Headhunters, and that sold more, eventually getting into the Top 40.

Thee Midniters followed it up with "Whittier Boulevard" which was released as a single in July 1965 on Chattahoochee Records CH 684. ("Thee Midniters" was chosen because of a problem with Hank Ballard's band, The Midnighters).

Chattahoochee spent some money on the single, having had a major hit with the Murmaids "Popsicles & Icicles" about a year earlier, and it got a lot of airplay, but for some reason or other, it failed to chart and I think they only did one or two more singles before the band moved across town to Whittier Records, on Whittier Boulevard.

The same tune, but re-titled "Down Whittier Boulevard" was released in 1967 as a vocal on the A side featuring Godfrey Kerr from KTYM, and as an instrumental on the B side - this time appearing under the name Godfrey & Friends.

I don't like the vocal version - it is very tame in comparison with the original, and anyway, the "vocal" is basically Godfrey doing a very laid-back spoken bit.

Thee Midniters released about 15 singles on Whittier Records, between 1966 and 1969, but after that, although the band continued (and as far as I know, is still in existence), they did little recording.

Casey Kasem used them a lot for promotions around LA, they also backed visiting singers, such as Brenton Wood etc, and they were a big influence on Los Lobos for example.

• RE: there is always something new - John 06/28/2010 11:24:08 EDT (1)