I have been trying to locate members of The New Breed for a long time with no real luck. The confusion surrounding this band has proven to be quite a hardship to research, for in trying to cross facts many inaccuracies are found. The New Breed was another great Dallas area group headed up by the master writer and vocalist Ron Price. Ron wrote Texas hits such as “Wishy Washy Woman”, and “My Girl” for Jimmy Rabbit. He also wrote the tune “Didn’t We Have a Good Time” for The Mystics, another Dallas group, which is where some inaccuracies surface.


Many sources falsely accredit Price as one of the musicians who played with The Mystics. I contacted Bud Buschardt who was part owner of GPC Enterprises in the 60s. GPC was the booking agency that promoted The Mystics. I Hoped Bud would have some information on The New Breed or could confirm or deny whether Price was in The Mystics. He was under the assumption that Price was in the group as well, but was not really sure, being that it had been forty years and that he only booked the group. He was nice and mailed me some great promo shots of the Mystics and some publicity prints.


Bud pointed out that in “Journey to Tyme” (Texas discography of 60’s psych), The Mystics and The New Breed were listed as the same group. Bud told me to try to contact Robin Hood Brians out of Tyler, TX. Robin had recorded and produced The New Breeds last record in 1968 “I’d Like To See Her Again/High Society Girl.” Robin Hood, as most know, is one of the heavy hitters when it comes to recording and production in Texas. He is known for recording Jon and Robin, Kenny and The Kasuals, The Moving Sidewalks and Jimmy Rabbit. I tried to contact Robin Hood for a while with little luck.


In the mean time I stumbled upon an interview at Garage Hangover with Dave Mitchell, the bassist from the Mystics. He confirmed that Price was never in the group, that he only wrote their single. Price became affiliated with The Mystics after they won a battle of the bands. This set them up with a single on the Spectra label, out of Dallas, who Price had been working with at the time. This interview shows many scans of the band lacking any photos of Ron Price. Mitchell claims that the Spectra label and the In Crowd label (The New Breed’s first label) had some affiliation. The two labels, according to Mitchell, mislead the public to believe that The Mystics became The New Breed, to give the band some publicity. I then tracked down a man by the name of Gerald Peirce, who was in a group named the Mystics and soon after joined another group called The New Breed. As it turns out there was another Mystics from Port Neches, TX and another New Breed from Beaumont, TX. For a side note Peirce was in a group named The Basic Things also from Beaumont; check it out on Garage Hangover.

I also stumbled upon a great interview at 60sgaragebands, where Bill Looney from The Penthouse Five, another amazing Dallas group, spoke of some affiliation with Price. The Penthouse Five used to play gigs in Dallas with The New Breed and actually recorded one of Price’s tunes, “Don’t Mess Around With My Dream”. This interview seems to reflect that Price was in The Mystics as well.

Around this time I received a call back from Robin Hood, he told me that he didn’t remember the exact details, but he thought that the group consisted of a few brothers and that he would contact Ron Price to verify. When Robin called me back I learned that Ron Price had passed away several years ago from multiple strokes. Robin Hood told me that Ron’s brother, who Robin spoke with on the phone, said the band consisted of five brothers. He also claimed to be the vocalist on “I’d Like to See Her Again.” The brother also said the group at one time had played as Roy Orbison’s backing band? Robin told me that he didn’t feel comfortable giving me the brother’s name or number and that he would forward my email to him so he could contact me. That email never came…

I am posting this hoping one of our readers will solve the mystery. If a person was to look close at the scan of “P.M. or Later”, D. Morris was credited as well as R. Price, proving that at least a portion of the writing crew was not of relation. BMI doest not reflect D. Morris, only Ron Price as the writer. Another thing that is funny to mention here is that after this track was pressed regionally, the Jamie Label picked it up and sited the production to Ray Price instead of Ron Price. Yet another bit of oddness for this group, the first release of “P.M. or Later” contains lyrics where the second release on Jamie is a straight forward instrumental. I want to apologize for the poor condition of the In Crowd release of “P.M. or Later,” it is the only one I have turned up as of yet. If anyone has any information about The New Breed or Ron Price please contact us and we will reference your contribution.

The New Breed Discography

In Crowd 001 – Sunny/P.M. Or Later
Jamie 1341 – Sunny/P.M. Or Later
In Crowd – Little Bit of Soul
In Crowd 1234 – Big Time/Summer’s Comin’
Fraternity 1003 – I’d Like To See Her Again/High Society Girl

LISTEN: The Mystics – Didn’t We Have Good Time

LISTEN: The New Breed – High Society Girl

LISTEN: The New Breed – P.M. Or Later

LISTEN: The New Breed – P.M. Or Later (In Crowd release)

In the early 60s, John Howard Abdnor Sr. an insurance/business mogul turned record baron started Abnak Records in Dallas. Abdnor’s son, John Abdnor Jr. was the primary vehicle for the musical venture, as an outlet for the young adult’s creative interests. Abdnor Sr. quickly realized the monetary value to a successful record label when he signed The Five Americans and became their manager. Abdnor also started up the subsidiary label, Jetstar.


Abdnor Jr. recorded a few uncharting singles on his fathers label, in 63’ and 64’ only gaining airplay in his hometown of Dallas. Because of his father’s connections, scored a single on ATCO to reach a national audience. After this failure, Abdnor was paired with female vocalist Javonne Braga, forming the duo Jon & Robin. Javonne’s name was changed professionally to Robin, being a replacement of Jon’s original partner Robin Beavers, who wouldn’t work with Abdnor and quit before the group recorded any material. As Jon & Robin, Abdnor finally reached a national audience charting nationally in the top 20’s in 1967 with their hit “Do It Again A Little Bit Slower.” The duo’s backing band was a five piece known as The In Crowd.

LISTEN: Jon & Robin and The In Crowd – Dr. Jon (The Medicine Man)

Due to a family engagement I was unable to post this past Thursday, so I am going to make a short post about a group in which I have been unable to find any real information. I have about five or six singles in the same boat, which I have been sitting on because of a lack of information and sources. I have been researching this group ever since I picked this disc up at the record store I work at Breakaway Records. I know the group is from Texas and the single “What To Do” was recorded in 1967. This track and the flip have popped up on a few comps, most notably Texas Flashback and I found a copy on popsike, but of course no real information about the group. I really enjoy this single for the recording on “What To Do” is very primitive giving this track a crude and raw feel. I love how the first line of vocals is almost inaudible. The flip “Worms” has much more of a later sixties blues influence with straight forward guitar solos. Hope you enjoy, by the way if anyone of our readers has any information about this record label or this group please comment or email us and I’ll post up your info and source you as well.

LISTEN: The Modulation Corporation – What To Do

This week I have been off of my feet due to a bike spill. Being that the record convention was this past weekend, I was able, prior to the spill, to dig up some new Texas fuzz. So please bear with me, next week will return to a normal length.

The Countdown 5 was formed out of the demise of a group called The Dominoes, a high school band, from Texas City, Texas. The Bamboo Hut was a Dance club in Galveston, Texas where the group became the house band. The Bamboo Hut would be a place for, practicing and performing and really tightening their sound, which later put them on the billboard top 100. In 1965, the Countdown recorded the single “Bamboo Hut,” recorded on the Pasadena label Pic 1. The single carries over a frat rock sound from the early sixties, a high-energy dance number, showing homage to their original stomping ground. The honkin’ saxophone layered over a theme of constant beach parties at a grass hut, just seems to have fallen out of a Frankie Avalon picture. “Bamboo Hut,” never stirred much attention for the group except for a local Galveston following.

Countdown 5, two years later recorded “Uncle Kirby,” this single gave the group a spot on the national charts. This track starts out with a slow psych tone, which drops out to reveal a paint peeling screamer, “I’m Gonna Get Rich.” This screamer was the beginning of an evolution of The 5’s sound, which continues with their singles to follow. The group changed labels to a local Galveston label, Toucan Records. It seems that the group, at the same time, released this single on the Houston Cinema label, but I cant figure out which came first, but I think the Toucan press was a much smaller local press. “Uncle Kirby,” later turned up on the Texas Flashback Compilation.

LISTEN: Countdown 5 – Bamboo Hut

LISTEN: Countdown 5 – Uncle Kirby (from Brazil)

Most psychedelic bands evolved their sound from surf rock or garage rock from the fifties and early sixties. The Proper Circle, coming from the beachfront city of Galveston, Texas, followed this evolution in music. The Proper Circle was formed out of the demise of two other bands, The Tempests and The Sonics (not to be confused with the group from Washington). The group was a five a piece with band members coming and going, the main members were: Phillip Ochoa – drums, George Bolton – vocals, guitar, keyboards, Neal Witwer – bass, guitar and vocals, Cheryl “Cher” Comeaux – vocals and Jim Milan – bass, guitar and vocals. Two other young men would play with the group from time to time being Warren Potter – rhythm guitar and Johnny Maisel – guitar. I would like to point out the band members in this group range in ages from 16 -18 years old, which is astonishing, considering their talent. The bands manager was Robert Ochoa who was Phillip’s brother. Robert provided some financial backing for the band, being that all of the members were teenagers without disposable incomes, in the way of instruments and amplifiers.

The group recorded “One Day Love” in the Goldstar Studios in Houston for the Picture label. This single “One Day Love” would be Picture’s last pressing before the demise of the label. Their drummer Phillip Ochoa wrote “One Day Love”. The Proper Circle recorded a slew of singles on the Picture Label starting in 1966 and ending in 1968. This track in particular has a Free Design feel with driving dark eerie keyboards, a touch of fuzz, however still retaining an almost folk influenced harmony. The Proper Circle changed their name in 1968 to The 1900 Storm giving homage to their Galveston roots. This change was lead by the loss of George Bolton from the line up to be replaced by Roy Crawford. The group went on to tour in the golden triangle with such acts as Moving Sidewalks, The Clique and The Sixpence. While the band changed their name, the one defining quality they assumed was their amazing harmonies, even being compared to such bands as the Cowsills, which was an influence on the Partridge Family.

LISTEN: The Proper Circle – One Day Love