New Cyrkle Interview

 

THE CYRKLE: STILL SHINING

BY DANIEL COSTON

In 1966, The Cyrkle and “Red Rubber Ball” caught the attention of the world. As an American group to be managed by Brian Epstein, the band watched as “Red Rubber Ball” went to No. 2 on the American charts, kept out of No. 1 by Epstein’s biggest clients, The Beatles. The Cyrkle then toured with The Beatles that summer and went on to have another hit that fall with “Turn Down Day.”

On October 2, The Cyrkle will release their first new single in 52 years. It will sound very familiar to many listeners. The band’s new version of “Red Rubber Ball” retains all of the hallmarks of the band’s classic sound. Along with the band’s new video for the song, the new version is like the return of an old friend, after too many years away.

In addition to new versions of “Red Rubber Ball” and “Turn Down Day”, the band also recorded new versions of fan favorites, and “Feelin’ Groovy,” the song that the band turned down in 1966. The new songs will also be part of a new album that the band is planning to record in 2021. 

Founding vocalist and guitarist Don Dannemann, and longtime keyboardist and vocalist Mike Losekamp fill in the details on the new songs, alongside current members Pat McLoughlin, Scott Langley and Don White. 

Coston: What was like to be part of a Cyrkle recording session, after all these years? 

PAT MCLOUGHLIN: For me, this is a surreal dream coming true. Historically, The Cyrkle had a remarkable, albeit short recording legacy and now I have the honor of being a part of that legacy. The recordings sound wonderful, fresh and has that one element that you can only hope will occur and that is magic. 

DON DANNEMANN: It was an up and down event for me. I have a belief that the value of groups in our age range is the wonderful memories that come back when hearing our music. And since the original recording is alive and well, why bother to try and duplicate magic? It turned out to be a nice bonding experience with the group. And it turned out to have been the last time we were all together as the coronavirus hit. In trying to duplicate “Red Rubber Ball,” I found that we missed some important elements in our initial recording. I went back and forth with Rusty Yanok, our recording engineer, on minute aspects of the song, including adding some guitar overdubs in my home studio and sending him the files. But all that work produced a very good new recording of “Red Rubber Ball” that I and the group can be proud of.

MIKE LOSEKAMP: I was excited in the days leading up to that first day of recording. Recording in a professional studio for the first time since 1973 was a real thrill for me!

SCOTT LANGLEY: This was the coolest thing ever for me as a musician. It's always been an honor to be part of The Cyrkle and add to the legacy of the band. These guys have become like family, so to get to do this together has been great fun. Studio work is always challenging as a drummer, playing clean tracks, capturing the right feel, getting the right sounds, all while keeping the tempo together. But for this band, there's an extra layer because everything has to be right. Not every day right, but Cyrkle right.

DON WHITE: Definitely an honor. It doesn't hurt that I truly enjoy playing the songs. 

Coston: What’s remarkable is that once the intro and first verse kicks in, it’s obvious that it’s The Cyrkle. What makes the sound of the band so unique?

PM: A goodly amount of the credit goes to Don Dannemann, who has his own, very special unique style as an artist. My initial recognition of this fact was literally at our very first band practice. This was the practice to determine if all of the members could work together and sound great. We were working on a Paul Simon song called “59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy).” We did the song a couple of times and we quickly began to sound like The Cyrkle, and not Harpers Bizarre or Simon and Garfunkel. I turned to Don Dannemann and said, “Now I know why The Cyrkle sounded like The Cyrkle. It’s because of you!” This is not to discount the other original member, Mike Losekamp. Mike is a real musician and can break a song down to individual parts quickly and accurately. He of course had all the parts distributed to the other band members and obviously he knew his role from the band’s hey-day. It absolutely worked in aces.

DD: After “Red Rubber Ball” and “Turn Down Day,” we were recording a promo for The United Way and the producer John Simon, as he listened to the recording, said, “Don is the sound of The Cyrkle.” In our recent recordings, as I was singing the lead on one of them, the guys commented that as soon as I started doubling my voice it immediately sounded like The Cyrkle. I’m blessed to still have that voice.

ML: I believe it’s the vocals. Don Danemann’s lead vocal and my adding the second part creates two part harmony and The Cyrkle’s unique sound. Then the added intricate harmonies really get the listeners’ attention.

DW: Don and Mike have a lot to do with it. Their feel has rubbed off, for sure.

Coston: The response to the single and new video has been resounding positive. People still want to feel better, which “Red Rubber Ball” still does.

SL: At first, I thought a video might be more effort than it was worth, but boy was I wrong! The response has been fantastic and it's really awesome how people react to that song. If we somehow made someone's day a little brighter, it was all worth it.

DD: When “Red Rubber Ball” first became a hit, I thought of it as a cute song. But based on meeting fans since our revival I’ve come to appreciate “Red Rubber Ball” as one of the great feel good anthems of the 1960s. Three typical comments that I always hear are, one, it was my first 45 and we played it to death, two, the upbeat feeling got me through my divorce, and three, military personnel who often say “Red Rubber Ball” got them through many battles in Vietnam. We always get standing ovations for “Red Rubber Ball” at our concerts. So whether it’s the original recording, our live performance, or the new recording and video, I’m proud to be a part of this upbeat anthem that has meant so much to many thousands of people.

PM: My personal reaction is a sense of accomplishment. I have always been a goal oriented person, but to successfully reach your most cherished dream means that you have to fail often, and you have to take risks all along the way. That can, as it did in my case, take decades to finally reach the acme of what I set out to accomplish as an artist, songwriter and entertainer. So now, to hear and read about so many positive reactions to both the video and the new recording is very, very gratifying. It took over fifty years, literally starting in my bedroom, where I pretended to be in the band, playing my air guitar and singing along with the song, to actually becoming a contributing artist on that same song. It is a sense of reaching a state of self-actualization.

ML: Paul Simon and Bruce Woodley’s lyrics from “Red Rubber Ball” of, “I think it’s gonna be alright, yea the worst is over now” really are appropriate in the Covid era and still lift my spirits!     

Coston: You not only recorded “Red Rubber Ball” and “Turn Down Day,” but you also re-recorded a fan favorite, “The Visit,” with Mike Losekamp on vocals. Mike, what it is like to record this song again?

ML: “The Visit” is very special to me. It was my first lead vocal I recorded in a professional studio, which was Columbia Studios, in New York City in 1967, and an experience I will never forget. To have the chance to record it again and improve on the original, via the most modern recording techniques and equipment, was a dream come true.

PM: I would like to add that ‘The Visit,” although never released as an A side single, has been one of the most requested songs from the original Cyrkle catalog. It is not uncommon to have someone approach us about using the song in a movie. We even had a request from a rap artist who wanted to sample the song within his own recording. So, the song’s impact was far greater than I believe the original lineup ever visualized. And if I may state my humble opinion, the new version stays true to the original, but has a better arrangement, performance and sonic mix, than the original cut heard on the band’s Neon album.

Coston: You’ve also recorded “Feelin’ Groovy,” a song that The Cyrkle turned down, originally. What is it like to finally have this song be recorded by The Cyrkle?

DD: In our show, I talk about the brain freeze that occurred when Paul Simon offered the song to us. I love that we’re now making the recording that we should have made 54 years ago. I believe what we’re doing now is close to what we would’ve done back then. Once again, as with “Red Rubber Ball,” I’ve been back and forth with engineer Rusty Yanok fine tuning the performance and mix. I’ve asked for some drum replays, some vocal fixes, playing around with how much reverb to add to the vocals, and one more thing that I really hope will be a wonderful addition. I’ve asked our bass player Mike Shoaf to take the attitude that our original bassist Tommy Dawes had in “Turn Down Day.” “Turn Down Day” has a wonderful bass line that is almost like a guitar solo. I thought there might be a place in “Feelin’ Groovy” to do that same thing, not trying to copy but just having fun with some cool and noticeable bass lines. Shoaf did that, Rusty sent me a few takes, and I did a little editing to make it even better. We are presently fine tuning exactly where to put it in the mix.

ML: Another great Paul Simon composition! My recollection of the reasoning behind forgoing that song is that we had already made the decision that “Please Don’t Ever Leave Me” would be the third Cyrkle single release. I’m not sure why we didn’t add it to the Neon album. I'm happy we are performing it as part of our concerts and will have it released in the near future. 

PM: This to me is very important as it relates to The Cyrkle’s legacy. Some musical historians have suggested that not recording and releasing “Feelin’ Groovy” when it was personally offered to the band by Paul Simon, ranks as one of the top ten blunders of all time. To me, we are at last going to amend history. It will be a brand new single, which is the band’s first in over fifty years, to be released as a single in early 2021, backed with “The Visit.” My goal will be to see if our version will climb the charts as the original did.

SL: This is the one I really wanted to see us record. It's like having a "new," "old" Cyrkle song and the current guys in the group got to record it! I can't wait for everyone to hear it. It really feels like the way The Cyrkle would have done it back then.

Coston: Do you all have plans for a new full-length album?

DD: We’ve been greatly encouraged by fans to do a full length album. A few tracks were started and several more songs are being considered, but the process is on hold due to the coronavirus.

ML: We do! We have already begun recording new Cyrkle original material written by myself, Don Dannemann, Pat McLoughlin and Mike Shoaf. We will be working hard to complete the album but will take the time to create a collection we can all be proud of.

DW: We have plans for ten songs.
PM: We do, and we all cannot wait to get back to the studio once the pandemic concerns have been resolved. We have a ton of pent up energies that need to be expressed musically. The new album should have elements of the traditional sound of The Cyrkle, with a more advanced musical direction reflective of growing as adults over fifty years. Don Dannemann will have a majority of original content on the new album, as well he should, but he has been more than generous in allowing all of us to include a few of our own compositions on the album. He was open to having an eclectic product to deliver, and his open-minded attitude will enable that to become a reality. It also gives the audience an opportunity to not only hear some of Mike Losekamp’s compositions, but also to give him more vocal exposure than he had when he was a member of the original lineup. The Cyrkle is blessed to have a sizeable collection of great singers within the current lineup, but what might surprise even our oldest fans is that he is the most gifted singer in the band. We are hopeful that this approach will give The Cyrkle an opportunity to reconnect with our wonderful and loyal fan base, but hopefully bring in a new collection of Cyrkle fans to the fold.

Coston: Anything that you would like to add? 

PM: Just want all of the die-hard fans to know that the newer members of the band truly appreciate what The Cyrkle means to them.  It is a banner we proudly and willingly carry, and that we will do all we can, and more, to ensure that we give then one more important album for them to enjoy and hopefully cherish.

ML: I can’t wait to get back out on the road again and perform for all of those fans who have been unbelievably receptive to the reunited group!

DD: I’m very thankful to be in good health and good voice. It is a thrill and an honor that at 77 years old, I’m still able to perform and able to meet and share stories of what “Red Rubber Ball” has meant to so many fans.