About Band
Folkie Mike Rothman migrated up to Albany , New York from Yonkers to attend junior college. He became fast friends with another kid from downstate , Lester Figarsky a Dave Van Ronk devotee attending Albany College of Pharmacy. He was drafted to play electric bass. They added another future pharmacist, George Milne on drums. He didn't have a bassdrum pedal, but nobody seemed to care. From Schnectady, five miles out Central Ave. came Parker Kennedy. Singer, songwriter, and hippie extraordinare. And from Albany's student getto, singer, Parker Wheeler. An embryonic drummer ,two folkies, and two frontmen named Parker,it was the birth of The Bougalieu. They built an incredible following on Thursday Nights. SUNY college kids, Albany hippies, and Washington Ave hoodlems wondering why chicks from New York City were freaking out in their neighborhood bar. The New Stadium Tavern.Legal drinking age in N.Y. in 1966 was 18. And they would serve you if you looked 16. What a scene. In the Winter of '67 they opened for The Young Rascals, sans one Parker, at The RPI Fieldhouse over The Hudson River in Troy. By Spring they were packing the small room on Friday and Saturday nights at The College Inn up in Saratoga famous for it's horseracing and Skidmore College rich girls.Road bands working the big room began to copy their style and spread their name. That June ,George graduated. Smashed his drums on stage and went home to Long Island to dispense pills.They had a few original songs,a huge following, it was The Summer of Love and The Bougalieu wanted to get real.
One afternoon Rothman was holding court at Aunt Fanny's Garage.Head shop.Bill Gallagher a local boy who had just droped out of school in Boston wandered in, guitar case in hand looking for a band. Mike, on the spot, said, "You're in". They heard drummer Larry Scarano in some greaser bar. Lester liked his foot.He was in. July 1967 The Bougalieu had their new lineup. Lot's of hair, chicks, pot ,and white crosses. What a good time it was. After an amazing Labor Day weekend up at Lake George, the band drove the 200 miles down to the Roulette Studio in New York City. The session recorded two originals, "When I Was A Children" and "Let's Do Wrong".They made several takes of each song. Parker kept bouncing off the wall away from the mic. With no overdubbing, the whole band was live each time, which made for several different sounding versions.
While the band was doing an eight week gig in Newport, R.I. Roulette released the 45 "When I Was A Children" ( A side) B/W "Let's Do Wrong". It climed to #9 on Albany's WTRY. Billboard Magazine gave it a favorable review.There were two weeks of packed to the rafters gigs in their hometown. Then a bizzare week in Greenwhich Village with go go girls and an agent who wanted them to wear suits. The record was getting airplay in Florida so The Bougalieu went South.They instantly landed a house gig with The Blues Image ( "Ride Capitan Ride") in a hippie haven on the shadey side of Miami. Within the four months down there, Larry got arrested for sleeping in his car behind the club, Bill had to fly his Wife home to have their baby, Parker needed a hernia operation from screaming every night, Mike and his wife grew to hate the road, Lester got very depressed, and their road manager got prison time for LSD possession. The band decieded to go back to Albany.
With an inept replacement for Parker, one Eddie Saxe ,the band limped through the Summer of '68 at The Aerodrome in Schnectady opening for the likes of, The Hassles ( Billy Joel's Vanilla Fudge influenced band) and Steppenwolf (Magic Carpet Ride). A couple of dead end studio experiences in New York City followed and The Bougalieu played their last gig in August 1968 at a State Fair in Altamont, N.Y.
Popular thinking is that Roulette Records lost interest in promoting the band when they passed on a five year record deal over a phrase in the contract giving the label "artistic controll".
In 1992 Sundazed Music released, "Psychedelic Microdots Vol. 3 . My Rainbow Life". It had two versions of "Let's Do Wrong". One was the released take with the snaredrum cranked up.The other has a great feedback laden guitar outro. Why Roulette didn't cut these two takes and mix them into one is further proof that the Mob backed label wrote them off before they reached their true potential.
Mike Rothman (Michael Havelin) works as a sign language interpreter in N.C. and has written two photo how-to books.
Parker Kennedy owns an Italian restaurant in Raleigh, N.C.
Lester Figarsky has a sportscar business in Albany
Bill Gallagher records with various bands in Seattle and builds custom guitars in Boise, Idaho
Larry Scarano is a stand-up comic and drummer (aka Larry Copcar ) in Los Angeles
