Majic Ship

Arising Out Of Adolescent Garage Band The Primitives Which Played Primitive Covers Of British Invasion Tunes The New Primitives Came Together In New York City In 1966 Originally Composed Of A Group Of High School Friends Ray Rifice Guitar Tommy Nikosy Guitar Rob Buckman Drums And Mike Garrigan Vocals . Soon The Band Increased To A Group Of Six With The Addition Of Bassist Gus Riossi. Jeff Bilotta Was Finally Added As The Organist And Added The Key Ingredient To The Soft Rock Sound That Instantly Popularized This Band And Created Two Hits. Nightthime Music And Hummin... ..See Later.. They Kept A Busy Performance Schedule Throughout The Next Few Years When Their High School Commitments Allowed It. In 1968 Rifice Left The Band To Attend College But At About The Same Time Former '50s Crooner Turned Manager Johnny Mann Saw The Band Live And Promised To Get Them A Recording Contract. Philip Polimeni Replaced Rifice On Lead Guitar And The New Primitives Became Majic Ship. Mann Introduced The Band To The Tokens An Immensely Popular Group Made Internationally Famous With The Single The Lion Sleeps Tonight. The Tokens Relied Heavily On The Souful Organ Solo Of Jeff Bilotta And Help This Band Produce Their First Single "Night Time Music." It Became A Local Hit Even Gaining The Band Some National Airplay As Did Their Second Single "Hummin." Lead By Organist Jeff Bilotta With Strong Vocal Harmonies Of Mike Garrigan And Tom Nickosiy The Band Continued To Peruse A Soft Rock Repertoire That Lead To Innumerable Live And Very Popular Performances. After Much Touring And A Couple More Singles Majic Ship Found Their Way To A Studio To Record Their Self-Titled Debut Album In The Summer Of 1969. At This Time Jeff Bilotta Left The Group And Went On To Complete His College Education And Subsequently Medical School. Then The Majic Ship Melded Hard Rock Pop And Psychedelia In A Way Similar To Fellow New Yorkers Vanilla Fudge. The Band Continued On For The Next Couple Of Years With Plans To Record A Second Album But Those Plans Were Nixed When The Band's Shared House In Staten Island Burned To The Ground In 1971 Taking With It Virtually All Their Recording Equipment And Instruments. Without Any Insurance The Band Members Called It Quits. ~ Stanton Swihart All Music Guide read less