Gar Francis is an American singer-songwriter.
Gar Francis grew up in North Plainfield, New Jersey in the early sixties. Francis started playing the guitar at an early age, By the 1970s, he formed a New Jersey base band called The Rockids, who were regulars at CBGB's and Max's Kansas City in Manahattan, NY. In the 1980s Francis wrote a song called "Baby, It's You" for the band Ricochet. Francis also did session work as a guitar player on Billy Idol's recorded version of "Mony, Mony". Francis joined Sticky Fingers, a Rolling Stones Tribute band.
In 2005, Francis began writing and playing guitar for the 60s garage rock band The Doughboys (New Jersey) [1] on their album called "Is It Now?" Francis produced the hit single "Black Sheep", which was voted No. 2 "Coolest Song In The World for 2008" on Little Steven's Underground Garage.[ citation needed ] Francis officially became a member of The Doughboys at about this time. [2] Gar continue to write and produce his own original songs. His single called "Rocket" was written as a tribute for those serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. It because a hit when he perform it in front of men and women at Ft. Dix, NJ.[ citation needed ]
The Doughboys' second CD Act Your Rage produced another hit single called "I’m Not Your Man", which Little Steven's Underground Garage picked for "Coolest Song In The World" the week of September 5, 2009. It was voted by the station's listeners as "#3 Coolest Song In The World" for 2009. [ citation needed ]
In 2012, Francis participated in the creation of two songs which appeared in the indie film Fairhaven which premiered at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival. [3] The songs were "Turn Your Love On Me" by The Doughboys (New Jersey) and "The Bank Of The River" from Francis' Americana album The More Things Change, The More They Stay Same. [4]
As of 2013, Francis continued to write songs for independent artists under the Bongo Boy Records label including The Easy Outs, [5] [6] Jana Peri, Jean Lozier [7] Genya Ravan, Kelly Caruso, [8] a Mississippi Delta juke joint band The Groundhawgs, as well as a bluesman by the name of Plainfield Slim. [9] [3] and Mark Lindsay [10] [11]
In 2014, Francis joined the group The Satisfactors, who released an album The Satisfactors on Bongo Boys Records. [12]
Steven Van Zandt, also known as Little Steven or Miami Steve, is an American musician and actor. He is a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, in which he plays guitar and mandolin. He has appeared in several television drama series, including as Silvio Dante in The Sopranos (1999–2007) and as Frank Tagliano in Lilyhammer (2012–2014). Van Zandt has his own solo band called Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul, intermittently active since the 1980s. In 2014, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the E Street Band. Van Zandt has produced music, written songs, and had his own songs covered by Springsteen, Meat Loaf, Nancy Sinatra, Pearl Jam, Southside Johnny, Artists United Against Apartheid, and the Iron City Houserockers, among others.
The U.S. state of New Jersey is located in the Northeastern United States and is part of the Mid-Atlantic region.
Genya Ravan, a.k.a. Goldie is an American rock singer and music producer. She was lead singer of the Escorts, Goldie and the Gingerbreads, and Ten Wheel Drive.
Goldie & the Gingerbreads was an all-female American rock band from 1962 to 1967. They were the first all-female rock band signed to a major record label.
Kenny Aaronson is an American bass guitar player. He has recorded or performed with several notable artists such as Bob Dylan, Rick Derringer, Billy Idol, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Foghat, Sammy Hagar, Billy Squier, New York Dolls, and Hall and Oates. Since 2015, he has been the bass player for The Yardbirds.
North Plainfield High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grade from North Plainfield, in Somerset County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as part of the North Plainfield School District. The school is fully certified by the New Jersey Department of Education and has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools since 1929, with the school's accreditation extended for seven years in Spring 2012.
Underground Garage is the name shared by two related, but different radio outlets that present Rock 'n' Roll and Garage Rock on radio: a syndicated show and a satellite radio station. Steven Van Zandt, best known as a guitarist in Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, is the founder and supervisor of both outlets. Both play a mixture of past and current Garage Rock, and feature one song as "The Coolest Song in the World This Week.’’
Richard X. Heyman is an American singer-songwriter and musician. Heyman is a founding member of the Doughboys.
"I'm in Love" is a song credited to Lennon–McCartney and possibly written by John Lennon. In 1963 the English Merseybeat band the Fourmost made a recording of the song at the EMI Studios, produced by George Martin.
Gabriel Mekler was an American songwriter, musician, and record producer who attained fame in the 1960s, helming albums for Steppenwolf, Three Dog Night, and Janis Joplin. He also collaborated with R&B singer Etta James for two critically acclaimed albums in the early 1970s, mixing blues, soul, and then topped it off with Genya Ravan production jazz and rock.
"Tuesday Afternoon" is a 1968 song written by Justin Hayward that was first released by English rock band the Moody Blues on their 1967 album Days of Future Passed and later released as a single.
The Doughboys are an American rock band from Plainfield, New Jersey, United States, who were active in the mid-1960s, and re-formed in 2000. They have been active ever since, and have cut three albums of newly recorded material since their reunion.
Geoff Palmer, also known by the stage name Geoff Useless, is an American musician from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, now living in Madison, Wisconsin. He played bass and provided backing vocals for The Queers straight out of high school, and played guitar and did lead vocals for The Guts and The Nobodys.
Dub Proof is an Asbury Park, New Jersey-based reggae band, mixing in elements of dub reggae, old school hip-hop and funk.
Bongo Boy Records is an American record label founded in 2010 by songwriter Gar Francis and Dutch entrepreneur Monique Grimme.
Myke Rocco Scavone is an American harmonica player and vocalist best known for his work with the bands The Doughboys, Ram Jam and The Yardbirds.
Sharkmuffin is an independent DIY rock band from New York City.
Jackson Pines is an American folk rock band from New Jersey.
Dentist is an American rock band from New Jersey.
Ricky Byrd is a rock and roll guitar player, singer, songwriter and producer. He spent over a decade as a member of Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, where he contributed music and background vocals to two platinum albums, I Love Rock 'n Roll and Up Your Alley, the gold certified Album, and four others for the band.