AM radio was where I first heard rock, as a young teen in the mid 70s, but the station I listened to played old and new songs. I remember hearing “Red Rubber Ball” and “Turn-Down Day” and really liking them. I still like both to this day, and I like the new material too.

Don and Daniel from the band were kind enough to answer a few questions for me.

Andrea Weiss: For those who don’t know you, or only know “Red Rubber Ball” or “Turn-Down Day,” could you give a short history of the band?

Don Dannemann: We originally formed as the Rhondells in Pennsylvania in 1961. In 1965 we were discovered by Nat Weiss, who told us that he was forming a management company with Beatles manager Brian Epstein. That led to us getting signed by Brian Epstein, which led to our Columbia Records contract, which led to our getting a new name from John Lennon, which led to our getting to tour with the Beatles in the summer of 1966. After a few albums, we broke up in early 1968.

In 2016, I was retired, and was sitting around watching TV with my wife Deb, and I got a call from Mike Losekamp. It was really cool to talk to Mike, I can’t remember how many years it had been since I talked to him. He tells me that he’s in a band in Columbus, OH called the Gas Pump Jockeys, and one of his bandmates has this idea that they should revive the Cyrkle. When Pat found out that Mike was a member of the Cyrkle, he actually went bananas. He didn't know it at first. So Pat had this recurring thought, “Why can’t we revive the Cyrkle?” They flew me out to Columbus, and then had it set up to meet the band at lead guitar player Don White’s house, which is where they rehearse. This is kind of funny, because it was set up like a major rock star was coming to Don White’s house. So I walk in. They were all gathered at the front, and they were all worried about, “What is he gonna do when he sees Mike?” When I saw him, I gave Mike a hug. We had dinner there, I think it was pizza. Then we went downstairs to play to see if we could make anything work. We played “Red Rubber Ball” and “Turn-Down Day.” That went very smoothly.

Pat then set up a concert where he booked a theater and held a show. No charge, just invited people, and booked a video crew, and we did a show. His booking agent said, “Yes, you can do it, but you’ve got to have a promo video.” I took all the tracks, and ended up mixing the tracks in my basement studio, which I spent a lot of time doing. We put it out as a Cyrkle live album, and that is what got us started. It wasn’t until fall of 2017 that we actually got our first real booking. That was in Lakewood, NJ. It was a last minute booking, because I think that the Lovin’ Spoonful canceled. Joe Mirrione had to scramble and figure out what he was going to do, and I remember we were shocked that we were only going to do fifteen minutes. We’re used to that now. We ended with “Red Rubber Ball” and we got a standing ovation. That was the beginning of us touring again.

AW: Who are your influences?

DD: The thing that really killed me, in 1955 I had gotten, for my birthday, a new transistor radio. Sitting on our back porch in Brooklyn, just flipping the dial, I came across Alan Freed’s show on  WINS, from New York. The first song that I heard was “Story Untold” by the Nutmegs. That blew me away. I still remember going, “What is this?” You have to be coming from that time period to realize what a deal it was to hear your standard kind of music, and all of a sudden, you hear “Story Untold” by the Nutmegs, which was a typical doo-wop song. I was mesmerized by it, and listened to that show into the evening, and missed a couple of my favorite television shows, because I couldn’t get away from it. That really got my head into, “Wow, I really want to do this.” It was probably 7th or 8th grade that I started taking guitar lessons. I was really turned on by looking at Elvis holding that guitar. I thought, “How cool is that?” It was a really neat thing to hold a guitar, and be a Rocker. The whole Rock scene essentially was my influence.

AW: How did you get to record Paul Simon's “Red Rubber Ball?”

DD: Tommy Dawes was hanging out in Greenwich Village and met a guy named Barry Kornfeld, who had a publishing company with Paul Simon. Tom had also played bass with Simon & Garfunkel for a tour. Tom heard a guitar and voice demo of Paul singing “Red Rubber Ball.” Nat had asked us to look for material, and he heard it, and we said, “Okay, let’s try it.”

AW: I really like your cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s “59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy).” Why did you choose that Simon and Garfunkel song?

DD: We came into the studio one day and Simon & Garfunkel were also in there, just finishing up. Paul says, “Hey, one of the songs we’re working on for this new album we think would be perfect for you guys. Listen to it. It won’t come out from us for a while, so it’ll be your song.” They played it, everyone is bopping around, thinking it was going to be a hit. Then, at that moment, our brains froze, and we looked at each other and said, “Yeah, that’s good, but not right now.” For whatever reason, we didn’t do it. We play it now in our show, and we say, “If we had done it, it would have sounded like this.” And when we play it, you hear a big gasp from the audience, like, “Are you kidding?”

AW: How did you get involved with The Beatles, including opening for them, as recounted on “We Were There” and “We Thought We Could Fly”?

DD: We were playing at the Alibi Bar in Atlantic City, NJ in the summer of 1965. This is when Nat Weiss heard us. He was in town for a convention, and he walked into the bar and heard us play. He introduced himself, and said, “My name is Nat Weiss. I’m a matrimonial lawyer, and I’m good friends with Beatles manager Brian Epstein. We’re going to start a company in America and take on groups. Give me a call.”

After we signed with Brian, and had begun recording with Columbia, we knew that we were going to have to change the name. Brian visited us one day and hands me a business card. I looked at it, and he said, “Look at the other side.” I could barely make out what it said. “The Cyrkle.” “The Crikle?” I said. “No, the Cyrkle. I was talking to the boys,” (and when Brian referred to the Beatles, he called them ‘the boys’) “and I told them that we had this new American band and that they needed a name, and John said, ‘How about the Cyrkle?’” And we all said, “Yes, what a great idea.” I had some trouble with the mis-spelling, but I came to like it. I’m the worst memorabilia person in the world. I probably threw the card out the next day. I wish I had it now.

While we were recording the first Cyrkle album, I had a six-month enlistment with the US Coast Guard. This was a six month active duty reserve, then a total of six years inactive duty. I knew that this would be a bit of a pain in the neck, but at least continue the Cyrkle. But the six months ending was going to be too late for the Beatles tour. I was going to miss the tour, and they were in the process of trying to figure out how to replace me for the tour. Thankfully, we were in the middle of is what I refer to as Andy Warhol’s fifteen minutes of fame, where everything goes right. What happened was the US government, out of the blue, changed the six month requirement to five, and that let me out just in time for the Beatles tour.

AW: “Center of the World” mentions chat rooms and instant messages. How old is the song?

DD: In the late 1990s I decided to give chat rooms a try and ended up meeting the woman that became my wife. I wrote the song in the early 2000s, but that song really did happen to me.

AW: “Singing for Tomorrow” is also very good. How do you feel music has changed since the 60s?

Daniel Coston: (Revival producer): “Singing for Tomorrow” is a new song written and sung by Mike Losekamp, who joined the band in the fall of 1966. Popular music, or music in the Top 40, has definitely shifted its focus to hooks and rhythm, with less emphasis on melody and harmonies. That being said, there is a place for artists like the Cyrkle. People get and dance to the band’s classics, as well as their new songs. People still want to sing along, dance, and enjoy the moment.

AW: Some of the new songs are love songs for adults. Are they meant just for them or for all ages?

DC: To me, the songs speak to love of all ages. The writer’s perspectives may change as they get older, but the hope and wish for love springs eternal.

AW: Do you plan to tour?

DD: Yes! We will be touring throughout the United States this year, including an appearance at Abbey Road On The River in May. Check out the www.thecyrkle.com and our Facebook for updates, and we hope to see everyone soon.