- The Critters
The Critters were a successful American pop group with several hits in the 1960s.
The group formed in
New Jersey whensinger -guitarist Don Ciccone andsaxophonist Bob Podstawski joined local group the Vibratones, comprising Jim Ryan (lead guitar ), Ken Gorka (bass), Jack Decker (drum s), and Chris Darway (keyboards). They named themselves The Critters in emulation of similar band names likeThe Animals .They signed with
Kapp Records , and, in 1964, pickedJohn Sebastian 'ssong "Younger Girl" for their first release. However, because Ciccone, Ryan and Podstawski were then all accepted atVillanova University , the record was not completed until late 1965. "Younger Girl" became a minor pop hit in early 1966, and was followed by Ciccone's song "Mr. Dieingly Sad", which reached # 17 later in the year. The group had their final chart hit with "Don't Let The Rain Fall Down On Me" in 1967, hitting #39.The original band split up when Podstawski, Ciccone and Decker joined the armed services, and Darway left for art college. Ryan and Gorka then attempted to maintain the group with new members for some time.
Later, Ryan recorded and toured with
Carly Simon before working as a studio guitarist. Ciccone joinedFrankie Valli and The Four Seasons, and later toured withTommy James and the Shondells . Gorka now ownsthe Bitter End inGreenwich Village .Chris Darway went on to form "Johnny's Dance Band", a popular group in the
Philadelphia area in the late 1970s, followed by an extremely odd, but entertaining group known as The Chet Bolins Band [http://www.geocities.com/trentonmusic/pages/jdb.htm] .External links
* [http://www.tsimon.com/critters.htm Further information]
* [http://www.donciccone.com Don Ciccone website]
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