7 PIECE HOUSE ROCKIN BOOGIE BLUES WITH HORNS





AFTER SO MANY YEARS, I STILL HAVE IN MY POSSESION DAT RECORDINGS OF 3 or 4 NIGHTS OF LIVE PERFORMANCES OF "MICHAEL ALAN and THE SNAP" LATER CHANGED TO "THE SURE THING" THE BANDS MUSIC CAN LIVE ON FOREVER AND AS TIGHT AS THE BAND SOUNDED AFTER A FEW REHEARSALS I FEEL THAT THE BAND DESERVES A WEBSITE TO SHOWCASE WHAT THEY DID. ENJOY AND CONTACT ME IF YOU HAVE ANY MORE INFORMATION ON THE BAND THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE. EMAIL ME AT  STUDIOMIKE02@MSN.COM   LET'S BOOGIE,  MIKE PIRKO 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 



​MY HISTORY WITH THE BAND (MIKE PIRKO-LEAD GUITARIST) ​



I HAVE BEEN IN MANY BANDS THRU THE YEARS AND STILL PLAYING IN THEM TODAY BUT I MUST SAY THAT NONE OF THEM HAD THE SWINGING DRIVE AND FEEL THAT THESE GUYS HAD. THERE IS NOTHING LIKE A GREAT HIGH ENERGY BLUES BAND WITH HORNS AND IT WAS A PLEASURE TO BE PART OF THIS BAND EVEN IF MY TIME WITH THEM WAS SHORT LIVED (OCT 1992 TO JAN 1993) LOOKING BACK NOW AT MY 3 MONTHS WITH THEM I WAS VERY LUCKY TO HAVE RECORDED THE 3-4 GIGS I HAD WITH THEM. GOOD MUSIC IS TIMELESS AND EVEN THOUGH IT WAS 1992 YOU CAN'T TELL BY LISTENING TO US PLAY SOME GREAT BOOGIE BLUES. WHAT YOU ARE HEARING ON THIS SITE AE LIVE DAT RECORDINGS WITHOUT A SOUND MAN OR ANY LIVE MIXING. I JUST HUNG 2 SURE SM-57 MIC'S ON THE CEILING AND PRESSED RECORD. I HAD 2 OR 3 REHEARSALS WITH THE GUYS AND MY 1ST GIG WAS AT LA FONDA DEL SOL MEXICAN RESTURANT JUST OUTSIDE OF POUGHKEEPSIE, NEW YORK. LISTEN TO OUR SONGS AND ENJOY.





HOW I JOINED THE BAND



i WAS PLAYING IN THE "WELL DRESSED BLUES BAND" WITH DONNY OUR DRUMMER, TOM HUNTER OUR KEYBOARD PLAYER AND SINGER WHEN OUR LEAD SINGER GUITARIST "BEAN" DECIDED TO MOVE TO SAN FRANCISCO AND PURSUE HIS MUSIC CAREER. DONNY AND TOM MOVEDRIGHT OVER AND JOINED UP WITH MIKE MINDEL AND STARTED THIS BAND. I BELIEVE AFTER THE 1ST GIG AT JD'S TOM DECIDED HE WANTED TO PLAY KEYBOARDS WITH HIS OWN GROUP SO HE DIDN'T STAY. DONNY HAD CALLED ME BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T HAVE A GUITARIST YET AND I SHOULD FIT RIGHT IN WITH THE SWINGING / JAMMIN BLUES STYLE THEY WERE PLAYING SO I WENT TO MY 1ST REHEARSAL/AUDITION AT MIKES PLACE. THAT NIGHT WENT GOOD AND I MET THE GUYS AND MIKE GAVE ME A BUNCH OF SHEET MUSIC. I DON'T READ GUITAR MUSIC I PLAY BY EAR SO AFTER 2 REHERSALS WITH THE 2ND ONE BEING OUR SINGER JONATHAN'S AUDITION. WE HAD OUR 1ST GIG WITH THE BAND AS YOU SEE US HERE AT LA FONDA'S AND I THOUGHT IT WENT WELL. I RECORDED US THAT NIGHT AND YOU CAN HEAR OUR SONGS HERE ON THE SONGLIST. JUST A FEW ARRANGMENT MISTAKES. PRETTY GOOD FOR ONLY A FEW  REHERSALS FOR MYSELF AND MAYBE 2 FOR OUR SINGER JONATHAN



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​THE GUYS AND MY 3 MONTHS WITH THE BAND

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DONNY IS A FANTASTIC DRUMMER. HE WAS VERY QUICK AND HIS STYLE WAS PERFECT FOR THE SWING BLUES STYLE HAT WE PLAYED. I SPENT A YEAR AND A HALF WITH HIM IN THE "WELL DRESSED BLUES BAND" AND WE GOT ALONG JUST FINE.  DONNY IS PICTURED BELOW IN THE LEFT SIDE AND I AM IN THE BACK RIGHT OF THE PHOTO.





 I NEVER MET MIKE MINDEL BEFORE MY 1ST REHEARSAL WITH THE BAND. MIKE DID ALL THE HORN ARRANGING AND CHARTS. MIKE WAS THE LEADER/FOUNDER OF "SILK AND SOUNDS" A POPULAR DANCE/WEDDING BAND FOR YEARS IN THE HUDSON VALLEY NEW YORK AREA. ALSO THE HORNS MIKE AND DOM AS WELL AS JEFF THE BASS PLAYER ALSO PLAYED WITH "SILK AND SOUNDS". JEFF PLAYED AN AWSOME BASS AND HELD THE BOTTOM OF THE BAND TOGETHER. HIS SOLOS WERE FAST, TIGHT AND CREATIVE. DOM'S SAX SOLOS REMIND ME OF THE SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE SAX SOLOIST...JUST REAL WAILING SCREAMING SAX. THESE GUYS WERE VERY TIGHT TOGETHER. JEFF AND MIKE BOTH WENT TO BERKLEE SCHOOL OF MUSIC IN BOSTON MASS. I DIDN'T GET TO KNOW MIKE-JEFF-DOM-MIKE VERY WELL BECAUSE AS WE WERE STARTING TO GET TIGHT,  MY DAY JOB WITH IBM WAS GETTING READY TO LAYOFF SOME 5000 EMPLOYEES AND I WAS FORCED TO MOVE FROM POUGHKEEPSIE NY TO BURLINGTON VERMONT IN FEB 1993 JUST 3 MONTHS AFTER JOINING THESE GUYS IT WAS OVER FOR ME. WHEN I HEAR THESE TAPES OF THE BAND NOW I CAN ONLY IMAGINE HOW MUCH BETTER WE COULD HAVE BEEN AND WHAT WOULD OF BECOME OF US THE WAY WE WERE. MIKE MINDEL ON PIANO WAS ALSO A GREAT SOLOIST AND USED DIFFERENT SOUNDS DURING SOLOS SUCH AS ORGAN , FLUTE, GUITAR, AND WAS ONE OF MY FAVORITE KEYBOARD PLAYERS I HAVE EVER PLAYED WITH. MIKE BURKHOUSE'S TRUMPET PLAYING WAS RIGHT ON....ALWAYS TOGETHER WITH THE SAX. NOT AS MANY TRUMPET SOLOS IN THE BLUES BUT THOSE GUYS HAD A TIGHT FOUNDATION FOR ME TO PLAY AND SOLO AROUND. MIKE MINDEL WOULD GIVE ME PLENTY OF  GUITAR SOLO FEEDOM AND JUST LET ME PLAY LIKE 2 OR 3 VERSES OF SOLOS IN ALMOST EVERY SONG. WHAT A WAILING JAMMIN GOOD TIME BAND THAT I WAS PROUD TO BE A PART OF.​



WHEN I LEFT THE BAND THEY GOT A GREAT GUITARIST TO REPLACE ME FROM WISHBONE ASH AND I AM NOT SURE OF HOW MUCH LONGER THEY REMAINED TOGETHER. PERHAPS IF MIKE MINDEL CAN SEND ME MORE UPDATES OF THE BAND I WILL INCLUDE THEM AND ANOTHER PAGE