From DISCoveries - July, 1996

The Buoys

by John Chintala

In 1971, one of the most controversial songs of the early Seventies, "Timothy" by the Buoys, peaked at number seventeen on Billboard's Hot 100. This group from Northeastern Pennsylvania has collaborated with many of the music industry's finest talent, reached the top ten in Holland, and gave a future Tony-Award winner his first taste of success.

The Buoys were formed in the summer of 1964 when Fran Brozena and his cousin Bob Gryziec met Bill Kelly and John Stascak at the Wyoming (PA) fire hall. Like so many "garage bands" of the day, they idolized the Beatles. Unlike most, they had talent. "The first time I saw Bill, he was singing 'All My Loving'," remembers Brozena. "He had an amp and a microphone stand, and we had two mics and an amp; we were using a broomstick to hold the microphone in place. I suggested the four of us get together and my sales pitch to him was, 'just think of all the equipment we'll have!'"

They first called themselves The Escorts, then The Moffets. The final name change was suggested by their first manager, Bill Bachman. At that time, Bachman was a disc jockey on Wilkes-Barre radio station WBAX who was approached by Fran Brozena's dad to hear them perform. "For a band whose oldest member was only fourteen, they played way beyond their years," said Bachman. This new name allowed him to introduce them at local dances as "Bill Bachman and the Buoys from 'BAX." Brozena admits, "We never really cared for the name, but it stuck and people remembered it."

Bob Gryziec recalls that John Stascak's mom also contributed to the band's early development. "We practiced in a room above her bar. She chipped in money for a PA system and individual amps and let us use her station wagon.” With Kelly and Brozena on guitar and the rhythm section of Stascak and Gryziec on drums and bass respectively, the Buoys played throughout Northeastern Pennsylvania at school dances and area clubs.

The first case of internal rumblings occurred in 1967 when Stascak and the band parted ways. Two members of the local group Sound Barrier were brought into the fold: Chris Hanlon replaced Stascak and Steve Furmanski, a classmate of Brozena's, assumed guitar duties. This freed Brozena to alternate between guitar and keyboards, adding a new element to the Buoys' sound. His keyboard of choice: a Hammond B-3. "That was the era of the Young Rascals and Vanilla Fudge; everyone had to have one." explained Brozena. Chris Hanlon brought a visual aspect to the band. "Some drummers get into real technical drumming, I got into acrobatics," recalls Hanlon.  "People know me for twirling and throwing my sticks in the air. Once we did a concert in Pittsburgh with the Guess Who, and I tossed my stick thirty feet in the air and caught it. The audience just went nuts!"

The Buoys' big break came in the spring of 1969 when Bob O'Connell, keyboard player for the local band Mel Wynn and the Rhythm Aces, entered the picture. "I had connections in New York and knew Rupert Holmes and (the late) C. Michael Wright. They worked for Scepter Records and came down to Pennsylvania to audition different bands for the label." Wright was initially interested in signing the group Glass Prism. "But they just inked a deal with RCA Records," continues O'Connell. "So I suggested he go to Pete's Place in Exeter and hear the Buoys."

Wright liked what he heard and introduced the band to songwriter Rupert Holmes, who was using the nom de plume "Julian Gill" at the time. "I had a song called 'These Days' that we cut as a demo for a group whose name, I believe, was Motive: Music," Holmes reminisced. "Wright produced it, and I liked the fact that he had spent some money to have it orchestrated. I fell in love with Bill Kelly's voice and thought he should sing a new vocal over the previously recorded background track. So the only member of the Buoys on 'These Days' is Kelly."

At the same time, the Buoys began recording as a self-contained group. The first song featuring the entire band was a "bubble-gum" piece of fluff called "Smackin' Good Lovin'." "We threw everything in there but the kitchen sink, doot-doots and bop-bops. The demo originally had a great r&b feel, very soulful. We did some ugly things to it," laughs Brozena. "The demo version we heard of it sounded like Stevie Winwood with the Spencer Davis Group," Gryziec recalls. "But Scepter wanted it done as a bubble-gum tune. It was supposed to be a single, but they chose 'These Days' instead."

The B-side of "These Days" was "Don't You Know It's Over," written by Furmanski and Brozena. "We wrote it in Fran's living room," said Furmanski, who sang lead on the tune. "I wish I ad libbed more of the vocal part at the end. Recording was new to me then and I was pretty nervous. Now, I'd know what to do." The song's flange effect, similar to "Pictures of Matchstick Men" by Status Quo, was added to the track after the song was recorded. "These Days," in the words of Fran Brozena, "didn't appeal to a lot of people" and flopped soon after its release in the summer of 1969.

Despite the record's failure, Michael Wright still believed in the Buoys. "He told me he only had one more single he could make with them," remembers Rupert Holmes. "I told him, 'If I were you, I'd do a song that was controversial, something that might even get banned in some places; anything to get the group some notoriety.’”

“Well, it just so happened that I was working on an arrangement of 'Sixteen Tons' for Andy Kim's producer, Jeff Barry," Holmes continues. "I was strumming a guitar and Graham Kerr's Galloping Gourmet cooking show was on in the other room. He was explaining how to prepare some dish while I'm singing the lyrics to 'Sixteen Tons': Some folks say a man's made out of mud, muscle and blood and skin and bone. And I said, ‘That sounds like a recipe.'  Then I thought, 'That's it! Cannibalism!’ And I made the connection with the group being from Pennsylvania that was known for its coalmines. So I came up with the story of three miners who are trapped in a cave-in and two of them have to eat the third in order to survive. It wasn't something sexual or drug-related, but it was controversial!" 

Rupert's original version of "Timothy" was quite different from the Buoys' hit recording. "He showed it to us on piano and it was very slow, almost like a funeral dirge," recalls Brozena. As Bob O'Connell remembers, "I told him I thought it was dragging, and to pick up the tempo a bit. And that's how it eventually got that Credence Clearwater Revival kind of feel." The song opened with Steve Furmanski playing an A Minor/G/D chord progression on a Gibson 335 and was propelled by Bob Gryziec's bass playing. "Rupert told me to play whatever I wanted," Gryziec reminisced. "Well, I was listening to Jack Bruce back then and wound up overplaying. Rupert said, 'You're ruining the song, keep it simple.'  So I tried to play something a little different yet still in the pocket. I was using an Epiphone bass at the time." Rounding out the song's unique sound was Howard Reeves' horn and string arrangement and an impassioned lead vocal by Bill Kelly. There was a slight problem with Kelly's guitar during the recording of "Timothy" as Rupert Holmes recalls. "The strum that Bill was doing was so heavy that the high E string kept going out of tune. During the take, I had to stand there holding the tuning peg and keep retuning the guitar while he was playing."

"Timothy's" flip side was a Cowsills-styled tune called "It Feels Good.” According to Bill Kelly, "We hated it! Anyone who tells you different is lying. We never played it out live." Steve Furmanski agrees with Kelly's assessment. "Michael Wright had us record it as a favor for someone." "It was a throwaway song," recalls Bob Gryziec. "I remember Rupert saying that it needed a bridge section, and he sat down at the piano and played one off the top of his head. That's the best part of the song. It was recorded in only two takes."

Originally released in early 1970, "Timothy" did well in several regional radio markets, but failed to chart nationwide. "It wasn't really promoted the first time around," said Brozena. A 16- millimeter promotional clip of the song was filmed in the studios of Scepter Records. Unfortunately, only one copy was made and its whereabouts is unknown.

The single's lack of success resulted in several changes in the Buoys' organization. Bob O'Connell felt his contributions were being overlooked. "I sang backup on ‘Timothy’ and was involved in the production. I remember seeing the first proofs of the record label, and I wasn't credited for the production assistance. But that stuff happens all the time in the music business. There are no sour grapes on my part. I consider myself fortunate to have had the presence of mind to suggest them to Michael Wright and I'm glad I contributed in some small way to the success they had."

Bob Gryziec left the group in 1970 saying he wanted to try something "heavier". He joined the band Great Bear, who released an album on Scepter later that year. Marty Straub was brought in as his replacement. A song Straub wrote with Steve Furmanski, "Streams Together" ultimately resulted in more personnel changes. "We listened to 'Golden Slumbers' from the Beatles' Abbey Road album and wrote it with that song in mind. Marty wrote the lyrics; it originally had about ten verses! Everybody liked it. It was supposed to be a single, but things fell through. That's when Marty and I left," recalls Furmanski.

The group was reduced to the nucleus of Kelly, Brozena, and Hanlon. There was even some talk of totally breaking up. But a chain of events in late 1970 breathed new life into the band. One of Scepter Records' promotional people believed in "Timothy" and pitched it to WKBW in Buffalo, New York instead of the new B.J. Thomas single he was supposed to be plugging. That started the ball rolling. Scepter re-serviced the record and major markets such as Chicago, Detroit and Washington D.C. placed the song in heavy rotation. Fran Brozena recalls, "A couple of us were in a car and 'Timothy' came on the radio. We thought it was (local radio station) WILK. When the song was over, the announcer said, 'That's the pick hit of the week here on WCFL in Chicago.' We pulled over to the side of the road and did a Chinese fire drill around the car!"

As the record picked up airplay across the country, the controversial subject matter resulted in it being banned in several cities. According to Rupert Holmes, "Nobody in New York City remembers that song. WABC was the only powerful AM Top 40 station and they wouldn't play it." Hoping to appease radio programmers and listeners alike, Scepter issued two promo-only releases of the single. The first one had the word "hell" bleeped out of the second verse. "WLS in Chicago played that version of the song," recalls Chris Hanlon. The second one replaced the lyric "My stomach was full as it could be" with "Both of us fine as we could be." "I remember going into the studio and re-recording that line," said Bill Kelly. "If you listen closely to that version, the tempo actually slows down a bit before I sing those lyrics. You can tell it's edited in there."

Scepter even issued a press release stating that the "Timothy" eaten in the song was a mule, not a man. "The controversy was helping the record and they (Scepter) tried to disown what the song was about; and you can't have it both ways," said Holmes. To make matters worse, many Northeastern Pennsylvania residents believed the song was about the Sheppton (PA) mine disaster that occurred about a decade earlier, where a very similar occurrence actually happened. To this day, Holmes insists he didn't know about the Sheppton incident until after the song was already released.

"Timothy" eventually peaked at number seventeen in Billboard and number thirteen in Cashbox. "The listening-audience made that record a hit. It wasn't so much the radio stations, but the people heard it and said 'is this what I think it's about?' Then the station would catch on and pull the song off the air which only made people want to hear it more," Holmes said.

Scepter had toyed with the idea of releasing an entire Buoys album in the past. Now with a hit single on the charts, the project was given the green light. By this time, the Buoys had recruited two new members. Carl Siracuse was previously in the band Glass Prism, the group Michael Wright was originally interested in recording. After releasing two albums on RCA Records, Glass Prism broke up. Siracuse joined the Buoys in November 1970 as a guitarist/keyboard player. Around the same time, Jerry Hludzik was brought on board to play bass. The lineup of Kelly, Brozena, Hanlon, Siracuse and Hludzik recorded the Buoys' debut LP in late December 1970.

The album is an eclectic collection of songs, half written by the group, the other five by Rupert Holmes. Combining vocal harmonies reminiscent of Crosby, Stills and Nash, a full string section, unique time signatures and instruments such as flutes and harpsichord, the Buoys' created an album that still holds up well.

Side one opened with what would be the Buoys' next single, the Rupert Holmes composition Give Up Your Guns. "I was scoring my first movie, a low-budget western (The Animals) starring Keenan Wynn, and I fell in love with writing western-sounding music, " reflected Holmes. "I decided to write a song in that style for the Buoys. It had a good string arrangement; we used four violins and four cellos."

"When we first heard "Guns,” we just loved it," said Carl Siracuse. "Someone really should make a movie based around that song like they did for (the Eagles') 'Desperado'." Billboard magazine gave the single a favorable review in its issue of June 5, 1971, noting the songs' "compelling lyric line, strong lead vocal and arrangement." Unfortunately, it might have been too much of a stylistic change for the public to accept. Siracuse remembers, "Word got back to us that a programmer from WKBW said, 'They had a lot of nerve coming out with something so different.' There was a negative attitude toward that song from several stations. We just wanted to show our versatility, and not get stereotyped."

"Guns" marked the first time the group used flutes on a record. Both Carl Siracuse and Bill Kelly took turns playing the instrument. "I loved Jethro Tull's music," reminisced Kelly. "Those deerskin boots I'm wearing on the album cover were just like the ones Ian Anderson had; he was my hero. Carl was already playing the flute for a while and I picked it up quickly. We used to get together at Jerry (Hludzik's) apartment and figure out harmony parts."

Featuring Kelly's lead vocal and a flute solo by Siracuse, "Give Up Your Guns" peaked at number eighty-four in Billboard and placed slightly higher in Cashbox, reaching number eighty-one. It would be the Buoys' final chart hit.

The next three songs on side one were original group compositions. Castles, written and sung by Fran Brozena and featuring him on harpsichord, was a heavily orchestrated track with a medieval story line. Sunny Days, with Chris Hanlon playing a variety of percussion instruments, Jerry Hludzik handling the lead vocal, and Kelly's flute solo, was the shortest song on the album. It was followed by one of the strongest tracks, Memories. Brozena again sang the lead vocal with Kelly and Siracuse contributing some interesting counterpoint flute lines.

Closing side one was the Rupert Holmes composition The Prince Of Thieves. This song features a myriad of heavily syncopated percussion sounds with a middle-eastern flavor wrapped up in a 5/4 time signature. "I had to come up with a riff that would hold that meter together. I'm also doing handclaps on the song," recalls Holmes. Carl Siracuse was very reluctant to sing the lead vocal. "I didn't think it really fit me at all. It was difficult to sing. While we were recording it, I kept saying to Rupert, 'Please let someone else sing it, I'm ruining it.' I thought it called for a different kind of voice. I mean, it's called 'The Prince of Thieves' and I'm singing it softly; I tried to sing it with more force, but Rupert said that wasn't the feeling he wanted for it."

Side 2 led off with Timothy and was followed by the Jerry Hludzik-penned Tell Me Heaven Is Here. "I wrote it at a barbershop in Ashley (PA)," Hludzik said. The song switches to a double-time feel and features a great guitar solo by Bill Kelly, which he played on a Gretsch Country Gentleman through a Marshall amp.

Bloodknot, a Rupert Holmes song about life in a juvenile center, followed. It was the third and final single released from the album. Billboard noted its "offbeat story line set to a driving rhythm" when it was reviewed on October 2, 1971. Unfortunately, the song did not chart. "I always thought it should have been better received as a single," remembers Holmes. "I was trying to take the rhythmic feel of 'Timothy' and add a sense of desperate urgency with the lyrics that Bill Kelly could do so well. He really sounded like a tortured youth. My point in writing the song was to show how you could be corrupted by the very system that's trying to help you. If you weren't a hardened criminal before, you'd sure as hell be one by the time you were released from the facility." Chris Hanlon wished "Bloodknot" had been released as a single before "Give Up Your Guns.” "In those days, almost every band's second song sounded just like their first. I think things might have worked out better if "Bloodknot" was the second single and "Guns" the third."

Fran Brozena handles the lead vocal on Tomorrow, another Rupert composition. According to Holmes, "There's a real sense of sadness to that song; it's quite pretty. I love the harmony vocals at the end."

The album concludes with Bill Kelly's Absent Friend. "A lot of my friends were going to Vietnam and not coming back. The lyrics weren't very specific, but it was about the pain of losing someone close to you. It's really a commentary from the soul," said Kelly.

The front cover photo was taken in front of a restaurant called Timothy's in New York City. "The writing on the awning wasn't airbrushed in," said Chris Hanlon. "That was really the name of the place." The inside and back cover photos were shot at Madison Square Garden's Steer Palace. "There's an inside joke as to why the words 'dinner music' are listed on the back cover," Carl Siracuse said. "The Drake Chain of radio stations wouldn't program 'Timothy' between the hours of five and seven p.m. because they thought it was too gross to play during the dinner hour!"

The Buoys' manager, Tom Fox, recalls "There was a lot of pressure to get the album done as a follow-up to (the single) ‘Timothy.’ It was more work than fun. I worried a lot during the recording sessions. It was exciting, but stressful." Released in the summer of 1971, the LP "bubbled under" Billboard's album chart and peaked at #202. Reviewing it in the issue of July 31, the magazine called the Buoys "a most entertaining group whose storytelling style is unique in rock music and (who) know the fine art of ensemble performance."

Following the album's release, the Buoys performed a series of one-nighters across the country. Jerry Hludzik recalls one memorable appearance. "We were playing at the Whiskey A-Go-Go (in Los Angeles) and the guys from Led Zeppelin were in the audience. They had just finished a concert at the L.A. Forum"

After Scepter Records folded in 1972, the Buoys, along with Rupert Holmes, signed with Polydor Records. They recorded an entire album of original material, but only two singles were released. The entire Polydor deal was a fiasco from the get-go. Rupert Holmes accepts part of the blame. "Polydor expected me to go in and write more 'Timothy's' and I thought the Buoys deserved the chance to showcase their own songs. My presence on the album was as a supervising producer and occasional arranger. It was supposed to be the Buoys' own album, and that's not what the label wanted."

To show just how disheartening the situation was, Rupert shared the following story. "I remember one awful day when all of us were in the (Polydor) office and (the label) said they couldn't release the album because there wasn't any cover art. And the guy who signed them said, 'Don't you have a generic photo of a rock band where you can't see their faces? Can't we just put any group on the cover?'"

The two singles were more polished than the Scepter tracks as the band moved away from the orchestral sound and adopted a heavier rock feel. Recorded at Media Sound in New York, Polydor released the first single, "Don't Try To Run" in the spring of 1973. "That song got some airplay in Hartford, Connecticut," Carl Siracuse remembers. "I promoted the song on that station with an in-studio interview, sandwiched between Tony Orlando and Jim Croce, but there wasn't any product in the stores. We asked to speak to Polydor's national promotional manager in New York, since the record was starting to take off in Hartford, and we were told that they didn't have one anymore!"

The B-side, "Dreams," featured some great three-part harmony, trademark Bill Kelly high notes at the end, and an interesting piano solo courtesy of Rupert Holmes. "It changed the whole feel of the song; it was wonderful" said Fran Brozena. "I think Rupert's a genius."

The final single released by Polydor was Liza's Last Ride, named after Holmes' wife. Surprisingly, the song was covered by a band from Spain, Los Angelinos. "I actually got little piddly royalty checks for a while from their version," laughs Bill Kelly. "Six bucks here, a buck fifty there." Kelly's solo composition "Downtown Singer" was issued on the flip side. "It was written about a local musician named Lex Romane. He sang John Prine-type songs. You know, harmonica and acoustic guitar. He was the inspiration behind it."

During the recording of "Liza's Last Ride," Carl Siracuse was asked to make an unusual contribution to the song "Living For The City" from Stevie Wonder's landmark album Innervisions. "We were overdubbing the baritone sax part on ‘Liza’ when one of Stevie's engineers came down to the studio and said, 'we need somebody with a gruff voice' and everyone pointed at me. So I went upstairs, and the engineer said they needed somebody to say, 'get in the cell n----r. ' Well, I was very reluctant to say that word. But we did three takes of it and I thought it would be re-cut later by somebody else. Here, when the album came out, I realized they used my voice."

A track that was recorded for the Polydor album still remains one of the band's favorites, "Look Back America." "It was our version of ‘Cowgirl In The Sand’ by Neil Young," recalls Fran Brozena. "When we played live, it was one of our best-received songs. But once (the) Vietnam (War) ended, it didn't really apply anymore." The Buoys' manager, Tom Fox, called it "very fitting for the times. It was my personal favorite." And Jerry Hludzik remembers, "When we played with the Grass Roots, (their singer) Rob Grill loved it."

Another track they recorded in the early seventies was Rupert Holmes' "Pittsburgh Steel." According to Hludzik, "we did that as a demo only. I was reading the lyrics off a piece of paper in front of me. It's a pretty embarrassing performance." Lyrically, the song evokes images of "Timothy". But in this tune, the workers in a steel mill revolt against their boss by shoving him into a vat of molten iron. "I was trying to recapture the gentle magic of 'Timothy'," laughed Holmes.

After the Polydor debacle, the Buoys made one last-ditch attempt at recording and released a single on the independent Ransom label. Both songs were suggested by their new record producer, Michael Kamen, who is now a top soundtrack composer and co-author of the Bryan Adams' hits "Everything I Do I Do For You" from Robin Hood and "Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman" from the film Don Juan DeMarco. The tracks "Don't Cry Blue" and "Borderline" were recorded at New York's Hit Factory. Fran Brozena believes "those two songs were the best-produced. That's what we always wanted to sound like. I still enjoy listening to them." The Buoys' sound changed at this time when Carl Siracuse assumed bass duties and Jerry Hludzik switched to guitar. This gave the band a twin-lead guitar sound that was so prevalent in mid-'70s music.

When the Ransom single failed to generate any interest, the band was divided into two separate camps. Kelly and Hludzik wanted to continue writing and recording original material and try to land another national recording contract. In the words of Fran Brozena, the other guys "were burned out trying to make it big and just wanted to have some fun. We were always a good cover band and that's the direction we chose to pursue."

Kelly and Hludzik formed Jerry Kelly and released an album, Somebody Else's Dream on Epic in 1978. They were backed on the LP by Pete Cetera, Danny Seraphine, Lee Loughnane, and Laudir deOliveira of Chicago as well as legendary session guitarist Earl Slick. This led to their formation of a self-contained band, Dakota, whose eponymous album was released by Columbia in 1980. Dakota toured as the opening act for most of Queen's "The Game" tour that year, playing to sold-out audiences across the U.S., including three nights at Madison Square Garden.

The third Dakota album, Runaway, was issued by MCA in 1984 and featured Bill Champlin and Danny Seraphine of Chicago, Toto keyboardist Steve Porcaro, and Ernie Watts on saxophone. Dakota split in 1987, but two years later, a song Kelly and Hludzik originally produced for local musician Jimmy Harnen in 1986, "Where Are You Now?" reached number ten on Billboard’s Hot 100. In recent years, Hludzik co-wrote two songs that were recorded by the Oak Ridge Boys: "Too Many Heartaches" from the album Monogahela and "Don't Give Up" from their American Dreams LP.

Bill Kelly is now based in Nashville and has worked with Canadian country superstar Charlie Major. This led to an appearance with Major on TNN's broadcast of the Canadian Country Music Awards.

Steve Furmanski rejoined the Buoys in 1977 and a new guitarist/vocalist, John Buckley, was brought on board. This lineup found great success in, of all places, Bermuda. "That was the highlight for me," said Carl Siracuse. "We did two or three shows a day and the audience changed every couple of days. We were always playing for different people," recalls Chris Hanlon.

In 1979, "Give Up Your Guns" was released by EMI in Holland and became a Top 10 record. Kelly and Hludzik did a week's worth of appearances to promote the single in that country. "They really rolled out the red carpet for us," remembers Hludzik.

The Buoys continued playing clubs throughout the 1980's. Brozena, the last founding member, left in 1985 and was replaced by Dave Murray. The Buoys finally called it a day in 1987.

In the summer of 1991, twenty years after the success of "Timothy," Tom Fox attended the christening of Fran Brozena's son. Most of the Buoys were there also, and Tom suggested the idea of a reunion. After discussing it with Bill Kelly, who was very receptive, it was time for the members to bury the hatchet after fifteen years of estrangement. "There were still a lot of tensions that had to be resolved from when Jerry and I left," admits Kelly.

Rehearsals went smoothly and the concert was held at Genetti's Manor in Dickson City, on the day after Thanksgiving. Kelly, Brozena, Chris Hanlon, Carl Siracuse and Steve Furmanski performed together for the first time since Gerald Ford was President. "It was such a kick!" said Kelly. "I look over at Fran and I see that fourteen-year-old kid. Steve doesn't look a day older or five pounds heavier than he did. Chris still has that gleam in his eye like he's about to get into trouble. And Carl's the same guy I remember from 1970. It was wonderful!"

Before the show started, Carl Siracuse was a bit apprehensive. "I was so scared. I hadn't been that nervous since I first started playing out live." But his fears faded once he saw the throngs of people that came to hear them. "You couldn't find a place to park. There were reunions in the audience as well. People pointing to each other from across the dance floor and hugging each other and shaking hands." It was a magical night for Tom Fox, too. "They say you can't go back again, but I wanted to try. That night, we did." Since then, the Buoys have reunited on a semi-annual basis.

Although "Timothy" peaked on the charts over 30 years ago, the Buoys' music hasn't been forgotten. "Timothy" was included on four CD compilations: Rhino Records' Have A Nice Day Volume Five and Dr. Demento's 25th Anniversary Collection; the Scepter Records Story box set, and the Time-Life mail-order release AM Gold 1971. The Buoys’ LP was released on CD by Collectables, a reissue label based out of Narberth, PA. It contains 8 bonus tracks; four of them previously unreleased.

For the 1995 Christmas season, the Buoys paid homage to their roots by recording a medley of The Beatles' "Everywhere It's Christmas" and "Christmas Time Is Here Again" for a regionally released charity album.

Since his days with the Buoys, Rupert Holmes went on to produce, arrange, and conduct Barbara Streisand's Lazy Afternoon LP and the concluding cuts on her For The Record box set retrospective. He also co-wrote a tune with Streisand, "By The Way," which appears on her Collection album. In late 1979, he reached number one on the Billboard charts with "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)," and had a Top Ten follow-up hit, "Him.” His 1986 Broadway musical The Mystery of Edwin Drood won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical. The following year, he wrote "You Got It All," a number one Adult Contemporary hit for The Jets. Holmes continued to show his versatility by writing both the music and scripts for the AMC television show Remember WENN, a nostalgic look back at the "golden age" of radio.

Although many people might refer to the Buoys as “one-hit-wonders,” that assessment isn't really fair. To do so would diminish the many years of good times and great music they brought to audiences around the world. And in the end, isn't that the true measure of success?

This article originally appeared in the July 1996 issue of DISCoveries, an international record collecting publication.