Didn't Richie Faber start That Band with Les and Frank and also wrote four of their hits?

Answer 1

Yes! Richie was approached by Frank Bua through a mutual friend at East Jefferson High School, Lenny LaBiche'. Richie and Lenny were selling magazine subscriptions as a part time high school job.

And who were the "Crew-Captains" of this outfit? Two notorious high-school pranksters, Frank Bua and Les Grey! As it turned out, Frank and Les were looking for a bass player to start up a new band on a bet no less! Les had never sung. Frank was taking drum lessons for about three months, and Richie, already a well known drummer in the New Orleans Teen-Band circuit, had recently taken interest in the electric bass.*

Les and Frank were very popular local characters and although Richie didn't see a lot of music promise in the proposition he was impressed by their "P.R"prowess and popularity with the girls.

Meantime, Les and Frank somehow had convinced another popular local guitarist Glenn Acombe to consider joining the new group. Not much later Richie showed up at a rehearsal with his new friend and super - talented musician Jeff Miller.

Richie was later to recall of that eventful evening,

" All I remember about that night is us all laughing on and on about nothing.

I didn't even care about the music because I could tell one way or the other this was going to be fun. "

(A comedy team perhaps, one of their early managers once mused.)

The final line-up was formed at that instant. They rehearsed like crazy and got very good in a hurry. Soon after they also got very popular playing at all the cool local clubs, eventually becoming the house favorite at the renown

"Fat Harry's".

When U-Doe Records (owned by Frank Udoe of Progressive Foods) came-a- knocking, Richie was ready with three very clever songs written for the band's "minor harmony" sound that had developed, and a fourth, slightly more "pop" song he penned with Jeff Miller. Not long after they began handing out cards -

"MillerFaber" Songwriters.

Theses tunes were respectively

1. "Better Things To Do" (Faber)

2. "Sorry" (Faber)

3. "No Commin' Back" (Faber)

4 "The Wrong Side of The Street" (Miller-Faber)

That's the Story!

*Although Richie had accomplished some technique by following around the great Eric Schwartz, Bassist for New Orleans Super Stars "the Dimensions", he had yet to play the bass professionally and surmised that this new band of Les and Frank's wouldn't go far with all these "beginners". It would be a great opportunity to develop on his new instrument, he thought, having not the slightest clue of what wild events were very soon to follow.