When I first saw The Show Stoppers in the fall of 1964, they were known as The 3 Majestics. At that time, Glens Falls, New York had many rock and roll bands (The Ones, The Motions, The Mark IV and The Sundowners, to name just a few) and the big deal for most of them was to play in Lake George, the local hotspot.
By Mary Ellen Barlow |
I believe it was 1965 when The 3 Majestics evolved into The Show Stoppers with Bat (Dan) McGrath on drums, Don Potter on lead guitar, Greg Barton on guitar and Jay Capozzi. Eventually Tony Dee (DeZago) joined the band playing drums and Bat moved up front to do lead vocals with Don Potter.
The Show Stoppers played many battle of the bands shows at the Rialto and Paramount Theaters in Glens Falls and the surrounding area; they also made it to Lake George and the Albany area before heading west, ending up at the 414 Club in Rochester, New York. The Show Stoppers were discovered by the legendary John Hammond and signed to Columbia Records. They released two singles in 1966 and 1967: “Turn On Your Lovelight” / “Nothing To Say Today” (Columbia 4-43914) and “Once More With Love” / “If You Want To, Why Don’t You” (Columbia 4-44184). It was said that The Show Stoppers were way ahead of their time...unfortunately, the band broke up before “time” and what they were already doing could catch up to each other.
After the break-up of the band, McGrath and Potter became a folk duo and ran the only successful coffeehouse in the history of Rochester. To this day, they are extremely popular and are considered Rochester’s “own”; both have remained in the music industry and both are still performing. |
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| Dan (Bat) McGrath |
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| Tony Dee (DeZago) |
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