Twisted Tales: New Colony Six Attacked by Friendly Fire

For this special post-Independence Day edition of Twisted Tales, we offer a history lesson from a bygone era. For on this occasion we honor a platoon of intrepid American soldiers, clad in their Revolutionary War uniforms, who were the last line of defense in holding off the invading hordes from Britain. Of course, I'm referring to the regiment of brave militiamen known as the New Colony Six (pictured left), who formed in the Midwest in the mid-1960s to beat back the British Invasion being spearheaded by the likes of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Animals. And the colonial forces might have emerged victorious if they had only beefed up their numbers when they had the chance. An explanation follows:

The New Colony Six formed in Chicago in 1964, right at the apex of the first wave of the British Invasion. Their name itself was a reaction to the sounds from Old Blighty dominating the American charts that fabled year, as was the band's distinctive 18th-century-uniform-inspired stage wear. And the group knew the best strategy to defeating your enemy was to think like them: The garage-rock-heavy sound proffered by the sextet was a Yankee stew made up of the best of the British beat group offerings. Thus armed, the New Colony Six quickly established themselves as one of the biggest concert draws in Chicago, but they couldn't draw flies outside the Windy City. So in early 1965 they struck out for sunny California to take a stab at the national fame a band of their caliber richly deserved.

The boys from Chi-town, upon reaching Los Angeles with an eye to sharing a home, rented out the downstairs half of a duplex on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, with the knowledge that another band dwelt upstairs. But coincidentally, and to the New Colony Six's shock and surprise, the other group happened to be Paul Revere and the Raiders (pictured above, right), who had recently relocated from Portland, Ore. to seek their own national fame, and who were also known for their stage garb consisting of Revolutionary War military uniforms! One would think that the best course of action would be to combine forces to ward off the invading Brits by forming, say, Paul Revere and the New Colony Eleven, but each colonially clad combo maintained its integrity, with diverging fortunes.

In mid-1965, Paul Revere's quintet were tapped by Dick Clark to become regulars on his rock & roll TV show 'Where the Action Is' and racked up an impressive string of hit singles in the process. Their downstairs neighbors, on the other hand, after securing only four gigs after six months in L.A., returned defeated to Chicago, tricornered hats in hand. Quickly re-establishing themselves, the New Colony Six garnered several regional smashes with their accomplished garage rock from 1965 to 1967. But in 1968 the group softened its sound and finally scored a couple of national Top 40 hits with the dreamy pop ballads 'I Will Always Think About You' and 'Things I'd Like to Say.' And with that capitulation to middle-of-the-road music, the American Counterrevolution lost six of its bravest fighters after a long, arduous campaign.