Here's a cool slab of Keyboard driven Powerpop for ya. Catchy tunes, great harmonies and snappy drum work, make this platter a must. The Aristocrats, originally a three piece from Harrisburg, PA formed in 1979. This, their only offering was self released.
Ray Burkett has a YouTube channel, where he's posting old Aristocrats videos. If interested, you can find it here, The Aristocrats 1981.
Line Up
Jay Spiegel - Drums
Ray Burkett - Guitar, Vocals
Frank Tittiger - Bass guitar, Vocals
Joe Trojcak - Keyboards
15 comments:
Nice!! Great posts!!!
sounds as a 60s beat band, great guitars and flotte rhythms.
Like a the A-Side more because the flip is too extreme wild & furious, but even not bad at all. Interesting record!
Thanks for the comments guys, glad you liked the record.
Jay went on to play with The Velvet Monkeys and Gumball.
Thanks for the info mooshie!
I want to thank you for featuring my record. I’m Raymond Burkett. I wrote the songs, sang and overdubbed the vocals, as well as played the guitars and bass on this record. My friend Joe Trojcak was on keyboards and Jay Spiegel on drums. It was our only professional record. But I wish we had done more. We made it in the summer of 1981 when we were all home from college. But I have many more songs from that era. We are now in the process of digitizing, creating videos, and uploading them to YouTube. So stay tuned, there are more Aristocrats to come! Thanks again and all the best, Raymond Burkett
My pleasure Raymond. It's a great record. Thank You for the info and for making it! Please keep us updated. I'd love to hear more Aristocrats tunes. Thanks for reaching out!
Hello again Frank, I hope all is well. As I mentioned previously, we are slowly digitizing and creating videos for more of my Aristocrat songs. We recently uploaded two videos to YouTube. One is the demo version of My Date and the other is a tune entitled Police State. If anyone’s interested they can easily search on YouTube for: The Aristocrats 1981 and the two videos should come up. It’s only a start with many more to follow. I’ll keep you apprised. All the best, Raymond Burkett
Hi Raymond, Happy Holidays! Hope is well with you and your family as well. Thank You for the update. I enjoyed the videos; looked very period. Where were they shot? It's hard to tell but is that a 76 Camaro??
Thanks Frank, they’ll be more videos to come. My Date was shot in the autumn of ‘79 as a college film course project while we all attended Harrisburg Area Community College. It was shot around my hometown of Middletown, PA. The grand building seen was the old Jednota Orphanage that we were lucky to have access to. It’s sadly been torn down and now a huge warehouse occupies that location. The Camaro belonged to my cousin Frank, the bass player in the band. I know he bought it used around ‘78, so it could be a ‘76. I’ll have to ask him when I next see him. The Police state video was shot over a year later around Christmas of ‘80, while we are all home from our various colleges. Once again it was shot outside of Middletown PA at a massive 19th century stone arch railroad bridge that is still used daily by Amtrak. The location is known as Conawago Cut. The open field shots were filmed on the nearby Sunset Golf Coarse. I learned of all these locations while exploring and riding dirt bikes as a kid. Boy those were the days!
Nice! Thanks for all the info Raymond. Definitely looks like you guys were having a good time. I don't believe I've ever been to Middletown. I live in the Lehigh Valley, so I'm not too far away though.
I checked with my cousin and that was a 1975 Camaro. Merry Christmas and happy new year!
I was close...lol. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Raymond!
Hello again Frank. I hope you’re doing well and not getting hit by too much snow today, as we are here in DC. I wanted to let you know there are four more new Aristocrat videos now up on YouTube. If you’re interested and could use a good laugh, once again just search on YouTube for The Aristocrats 1981 and four more pop ditties should appear. We have many more to go. I’ll keep you apprised. Take care, Raymond Burkett
Hi Raymond, Hope you're healthy and doing well. We had some but nothing too serious. The thing I like most about your videos is; you guys appear to be genuinely having fun! Thank You, keep them coming and Take Care!
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