DARELYCKS  Interview with Steve Lareau by Greg Prevost
Reproduced with permission from OUTASITE issue #4


The DARELYCKS hailed from Fairport, N.Y.  between the years 1964
through 1967. They recorded one killer 45 in  1966 titled "Bad Trip".  The
following is an interview  with lead guitarist and founding member, Steve
Lareau, who at the time of this interview (June, 1978) was lead guitarist
for  The Chesterfield Kings.

OUTASITE:  Exactly when did The Darelycks get together?

STEVE:  September, 1964. I was a sophomore in High School.

OUTASITE: How did you hook  up with the other guys in the band?

STEVE:  I started playing guitar, and this drummer-Andy-he came over to
where I was practicing. I only knew a couple of chords. Then  he and I
started playing together, just doing real simple stuff. "Gloria" was one of
the first songs we learned. A short time later, this kid who lived a couple
of doors up, he came along one day, and joined up as our bass player. Then
we just picked a singer...this kid, he was a friend of ours, he wasn't doing
anything, and he wasn't really a singer...he became our lead singer. Last,
we added Mike Malcom on rhythm guitar.

OUTASITE: How old were you when you started the band?

STEVE : 14!

OUTASITE:  Who were some of your main influences?

STEVE: The Ex-Calibers, John Carpenter & The Shades, The Preechers (from
Rochester), early Rolling Stones, and The Pretty Things. We did alot of
stuff off of their first album , like "Rosalyn".

OUTASITE: Did you ever do any shows with The Heard?

STEVE: No. We played at Guys & Dolls (Buffalo, N.Y.) in a Battle Of The
Bands-they were there, but they weren't playing.

OUTASITE:  How did you come about recording the 45?

STEVE:  This friend of ours, Paul Robinson, he came up with the idea. We
used to hang out  in this restaurant after school called 'Hawks'. He was a
real promoter! Then we got this guy's name-Vince Jans of Fine Records. It
was a bad scene. This guy really milked us. We'd be halfway through the
song, and he'd go "Wait, this jack's not plugged in" just to get more studio
time. Maybe he really did have problems, I don't know, but  it costed us
$600  for 500 copies-guaranteed National Distribution! It was never played
on the radio, not even locally.

OUTASITE: Were you satisfied with how the recording came out?

STEVE: Not really. In the mix , from the tape to press, it really changed
alot. In "Bad Trip",  the guitar ride was like a fuzz ride, and on the
record it  sounded like a banjo ride! Vince said "I cleaned up all that
distortion for you on the tape". He was funny...actually, he was a nice guy.
He said "I really like that "Bear Trap" . He thought that s what the name of
the song was!

OUTASITE: How was the first time you ever played out?

STEVE: Great!  We had two amps, that was it! The bass amp had the bass,
rhythm guitar and lead vocalist in it, and the other one had my guitar going
through it...it was in a Teen Club which used to be a soap factory. Then the
club bought us some nice equipment,which we worked off for $50 a night.

OUTASITE: When did the band break up?

STEVE: Summertime, 1967. Everyone was going to college, and the Vietnam
thing was happening.

OUTASITE: Did you ever have plans to do any other recordings?

STEVE: No, after that first recording, we were discouraged.

OUTASITE: What was the story behind "Bad Trip"?

STEVE: The lead singer wrote it, he was into drugs then, but none of the
rest of us were. He dropped out of school and went to California. It was
more or less about  his experience. To me, it was just a song, and playing
music.

OUTASITE: Did you ever do any radio or television shows?

STEVE: Once, at the Taylor building in Fairport. The guy who ran the place
was really cheap. Jack Palvino from WBBF had this 'Sock-Hop' thing, and he
came down. It was in the dead of Winter-Tony, the owner, didn't even have
the heat on! The bass player had on gloves...you could see your breath! Then
Jack came out, and was just freezing!  There were five people there, and
Jack left after 15 minutes. That was it.

DARELYCKS PERSONNEL:
Steve Lareau: Lead Guitar
Tom Pompino: Bass
John Tiberio: Lead Vocals
Joe Calabrese: Vocals
Mike Malcom: Rhythm Guitar
Andy Bosso: Drums
Jim Gilbert: Keyboards