Glenn M. Taylor, guitars, keyboards, vocals * Christopher Bolger, guitars, bass, vocals * Ben Asher, bass, vocals * Tony 'Al' Dente, drums, percussion, vocals * Joe Alexander, guitar, vocals Bob Cianci, drums, vocals Peter Scance, bass, guitar, vocals	Chris Roselle, guitar, bass, harmonica, vocals Bill DiMartino, drums, percussion, vocals Keith Theall, bass, vocals Al Egizi, guitar, vocals Ron Weinstein, guitar, bass, harmonica, vocals Pete Bremy, bass, vocals Dave Hirschberg, drums, vocals
Gary Evans, keyboards, harmonica, guitar, vocals Jerry DeLisio, saxophone(s), flute, vocals Russ Crapella, guitar, vocals Michael Muro, guitar, vocals Ray Longchamp, guitar, mandolin, vocals Brian Wiley, bass, vocals Len Kirk, drums, vocals Shawn Bartels, guitar, keyboards, vocals Joe Coghlan, drums, guitar, vocals * Indicates original Kootz / OMJ band-member; (see history)

Greg Hollenbeck - Drums, percussion, vocals

The ride started in 1964 and the only dates that are remembered are the start to present for obvious reasons when it comes to a career in Rock 'n Roll. I auditioned for Fred Kelly (yes the brother of Gene Kelly/"Singing In The Rain") who was in charge of putting acts together for the 'New Jersey Pavillion' at the 1964 World's Fair in New York. I got the gig along with another unknown at the time Joe Walsh. I forget who was on piano and bass but I should have stayed in touch with Joe but who knew? OH WELL!!! A string of bands followed one of them being The Fugitives which included Ricky Blakemore and Bobby Daniels (later members of Fandango, with 4 Albums on the RCA label) which yielded a single on London Records that broke into the top 100 on the Billboard Charts (with a bullet!). We played all the hot clubs at the time in NYC (Trudy Hellers, Arthurs, The Nite Owl, Cafe' Wha, etc.). I think the single eventually reached somewhere in the 50's. What a hoot!

More bands followed after the break-up of The Fugitives when we didn't get to number one.

I then became involved in the Rockland County music scene which had some great bands and clubs and which also landed me a gig in a band called Anthem (better known locally as the 'Silver Caboose'). I replaced their drummer, who had just started a family and couldn't tour to support the album (on Buddha Records, w/ producer Stan Vincent; Five Stair Steps/ 'Ooh, Ooh Child'). That was my first gig with a fellow 'Kootzer' Gregg Hollister. It was great to walk into WNEW with the promo man for Buddha and have Allison Steele just throw the album on the turntable and play 4 tracks off the album. Just try that today.....

More bands; (sound familiar?). The next notable 'tour of duty' was with a road company for the play 'Jesus Christ Superstar'. A lot of interesting venues on that gig. Two of them that stand out were The Sullivan Theater (open/outdoors) at the base of the Washington Monument in D.C.; we were scheduled to open for James Brown... who never showed. So there we were in front of 250,000 people expecting 'The King of Soul"..... so we dumped all the Jesus Christ songs and hit them with things like 'Freedom Jazz Dance', etc.... We had them rocking!!! The other strange gig on that tour was the Detroit Women's Prison (talk about a captive audience!!!). The tour ended with an offer from Todd Rundgren to produce the band, but because of the size of the band (I think it was about 14 pieces!!) the deal never came together. More bands (some good, some not so good) along with the personal thrill of being a musician trying to find good musical situations....

A friend, Gary Van Scyoc was playing bass with 'Elephants Memory' (John Lennon's NYC band). I was working on some demos with another friend (Mark Gillian) who was a staff songwriter for Don Kishner Music at the Record Plant (NYC) with Jack Douglas engineering (who went on to produce John Lennon, Aerosmith). As luck would have it, downstairs in 'Studio A' that night, Gary was recording with Elephants Memory. To make a long story longer, we finished up the demos and went downstairs..... and there I was doing percussion overdubs and listening to the playbacks in the control room with not only John Lennon which was mind blowing enough.... but also with Phil Spector who was producing!!! ENOUGH SAID!!!

More bands, more gigs. The standout band through this period was The Michael Gregory Band, again teaming up with Gregg Hollister. At the same time two old friends of mine Stephan Galfas and Peter Roulinavage, (The now defunct House Of Music Recording Studio/West Orange NJ) had me in for some recording dates. I worked there with various artists, the most notable ones being Deodato, and the Brecker Brothers, but I also had the opportunity to jam with people like Kool (from Kool and The Gang), Brand X, Jack Bruce, Will Lee, and Leslie West! Also during this period I performed at one of the last shows hosted by Murray 'The K', backing up Gary US Bonds, and Sam The Sham, at the old Stanley Warner Theater in Jersey City NJ....

I've also performed with Joe Lynn Turner (Fandango/Richie Blackmore's Rainbow), Rhett Tyler (one of the best blues guitarists... even when Stevie Ray Vaughn was still alive) and Vince Martell (Vanilla Fudge) who brought me on a gig at the 'Woodstock '95 Concert' at the original site. I hadn't been there since the original party back in '69...

Besides laying down the beat for The Kootz, I am currently involved in several projects.... Among them, is my own endeavor, a collaboration with Eric Stewart (singer/songwriter, produced by as well as serving as an opening act for Peter Frampton)... which if it comes together...... well, let's just say that I have the island 'picked out'..... Ah, the peaks and valleys of Rock 'n Roll!!!

If you haven't been booted 'off line' by now, that's my story 'to date'.... It may not all be pretty... but I've always done it 'without a net' and it's the way it's gone down so far....

Hope to see ya at one of The Kootz gigs soon!!! It's a real kick. PEACE!!!
GH.