From The Wyoming Valley Observer - January 21 to 27, 1971

Meet The Buoys – Part II

by Joe Middleton

This is the second installment on the “Meet the Buoys” story.
Timothy is a pick hit this week on WCFL in Chicago.

Many producers could care less what a group has to say; their only interest is cutting the session and splitting. Not so with Wright, he demanded that they take little breaks, practice over and over until they reached the point of perfection before running a take, working long hours of his own time without being compensated, only to be sure that the group was really satisfied with what they did.

A major highlight of the session took place when they cut the theme song for a forthcoming movie release. Give Up Your Guns, a number penned by Rupert Holmes for a soundtrack he is working on, is the title tune of a movie not yet titled, which will feature the Buoys as the group performing on the session. This is similar to another artist on Scepter, B.J. Thomas, who had the number one song of 1970 with the title tune from the Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid flick.

Other cuts on their debut album will feature selections written by group members Bill Kelly and Fran Brozena. This Love Is Not The Same by Kelly and Memories by Brozena attest to the fact that the Buoys individually and collectively possess the ability to write, perform, and sustain the pressure of the music scene by being original talents, in every sense of the word.

The genius of Rupert Holmes is once again depicted by the Buoys on a tune called Bloodknot which is right in line with keeping to the “storyline” approach he used on Timothy.

A powerhouse swinger that makes one want to jump up and dance is the sound of We’re Dancin’ Till It Blows Over.

All cuts on the album could prove a hit follow-up to Timothy and feature strong harmony and heavy instrumental tracks. With this in mind, I can’t see why the Buoys won’t start scoring with side-sided hits.

All in all, Wyoming Valley now holds claim to one of the hottest groups in the country. Besides the members that perform in the Buoys, there are a number of people behind the scenes responsible for their success. Joe Van Loon and Alan “Bear” Ecker, the two men accountable for the stage presence of the group, make sure that all the equipment is set up and working before the gig starts.

Joe Van Loon also doubles as Electronics Engineer for the Buoys, as Alan “Bear” Ecker is Audio Engineer. Both have been with the group for a couple of years and feel they’ve been the best group they ever worked for. Seeing this year as the year of the Buoys, they look forward to traveling and meeting new people. The group respects their advice on music as both hope to someday become studio engineers with the helping hand of Mike Wright. Van Loon wants to form a union for set-up men and one wish of “Bear” is to see the Buoys do a little more boogie!

“Couldn’t have been a better choice,” words from the Buoys on the appointment of their new road manager, Tom Fox.

The Scrantonian will serve as an overseer of all activities of the Buoys, including dates, travel arrangements, equipment, with main objective as promotion of the Buoys’ concerts on the road.

When asked to tell about the group, he states, “I realize the group has the potential of becoming one of the top ten major acts on the national scene this year do to the fact that all their heads are in the same direction. Although there are five members in the group, all work as one for the same goal with Mike Wright. Today, the Buoys are a family.”

Fox was very pleased with the session and is confident after hearing the takes that the Buoys will have a chart album in 1971. “There is no way they can miss.”

On the philosophical level, Fox states that the Buoys “intend to be simply nice people to all who they come in contact with.” No ego trips involved with this group.

The main man behind the Buoys is Michael C. Wright. He acts in many positions for the group. Serving as their producer and manager would seem enough for one man to handle, but not Mike. He had developed a close personal relationship with each member of the group and acts as a father to one and all, always being there when one needs his advice. One of his best attributes is the way he handles people; he never loses his kool.

On the professional traits of Wright, the young producer-engineer at Scepter Records, is the head of the engineering department and served on many Dionne Warwick and B.J. Thomas sessions as audio man.

Here’s how the Buoys feel about Mike:

“Close friend, brought us to a point of playing great, taught us a lot of things, like my father, just great,” says Bill Kelly.

“Really been great, stuck with us right along,” adds Fran Brozena.

“Goes to super extremes when I do some recording on my own, won’t say what the extremes are, few bands have a producer who puts so much of his personal time into forming a hit group,” says Chris Hanlon.

“He works the board better than anybody I’ve worked with previously, understanding, deals very well with people, a great guy,” says Carl Siracuse.

“For him to get involved in what the group is doing as much as he does is just great, makes it easy to do studio work, couldn’t ask for a finer manager,” says Gerry. 

“You meet many types of people in the music business and it’s a pleasure to work with such an honest, sincere, and completely devoted individual as our producer,” adds Tom Fox.

Joe Van Loon and Alan “Bear” Ecker state they’ve learned a lot about the business from Mike and note that he’s a very good manager.

Mike and your columnist have been friends from the early days of the Buoys and since that time he has always been willing to do anything I ask, sometimes taking time out of his heavy list of duties to make sure that I’ve got everything together. I can’t go on to express my thanks to him for all he did for me. But I can assure him that I will to anything I can to help add that Buoys gold record to his wall.

There is one other major influential person behind the Buoys. She is Mrs. Diane Wright. Diane projects the overly protective motherly image and serves as sister and girlfriend to the group while in New York. The driving force behind her husband’s success, she shares in his delight as seeing the Buoys with hit product. No man could ask for a finer wife. She’s a fabulous person.

The Buoys and this Jimmy Olsen would like to thank Mr. and Mrs. Wright for the fine treatment we received on our recent trip. After all those Blimpies and Pepsi, it was great to eat a good meal. Thanks again.