Originators of the classic 45s 'My Baby's Barefoot' b/w 'Love Will Take You Away' and 'Egyptian Thing' b/w 'She Haunts You', The Syndicate was together for less than a year. During their time together, however, they performed several high profile gigs on the Sunset Strip, and recorded other songs that were never engineered. Rhythm guitarist Jim Kobzeff provides more information on the only band he ever played with...
An Interview With Jim Kobzeff
60sgaragebands.com (60s): How did you first get interested in music?
Jim Kobzeff (JK): In junior high school, I played the trumpet. While at Cal State Fullerton, I had a fraternity brother who got me interested in the guitar.
60s: Was The Syndicate your first band?
JK: The Syndicate was the first and only band I played in. It was together for just about year (maybe 14 months). Not long.
60s: Where and when was The Syndicate formed?
JK: The Syndicate was formed in 1964 by Bill Patapoff and me. I was the oldest (22 years) and acted as the leader and accountant. The band was Bill Rash, lead vocals and keyboards; Bill Patapoff, bass and vocals; Rick Cronin, lead guitar and vocals; Bob Bourbon, drums, and Jim Kobzeff, rhythm guitar.
60s: How would you describe the band's sound? What bands influenced you?
JK: Our sound was a blend of blues and rock and roll. We were influenced mostly by the English bands such as The Rolling Stones, Zombies, Kinks, The Who, and more.
60s: What was the local rock and roll scene like in the '60s?
JK: The Huntington Beach area was into surf music and the English invasion.
60: Where did the band typically play?
JK: We typically played at high schools, Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State, wedding receptions and frat parties.
60s: Did you play any of the local teen clubs?
JK: We made one-night stands at several clubs in Hollywood (Ciros, Gazzaris) and the now-defunct Rendezvous Ballroom in Balboa. We played several times at the Long Beach Recreational Park Center. We played a three-night gig in the parking lot for a local car dealership. We did not play any club on a regular basis.
60s: How far was the band's "touring" territory?
JK: We toured exclusively in Southern California.
60s: Did The Syndicate participate in any battle of the bands?
JK: We were in one battle of the bands. I think we were second to Eddie and The Showmen (they did have a popular record).
60s: What other local groups of the era do you especially recall?
JK: I do remember The Surfaris and The Pyramids.
60s: Did The Syndicate have a manager?
JK: Yes, we did have a manager who got us recorded and signed with the record companies, plus got us on two or three local television shows. He was not involved with our weekend gigs; just our record promotion.
60s: How popular locally did The Syndicate become?
JK: We were quite popular in and around the Long Beach–Huntington Beach areas.
60s: What were the circumstances leading to the band's opportunity to record?
JK: We were hired by a friend to record a song she wrote in a recording studio she booked. The engineer that day liked us and asked us to come back and record our own originals.
60s: Where did The Syndicate record?
JK:We recorded in a studio on Melrose in Hollywood. Hanging around a recording studio in Hollywood was always fun.
60s: Did The Syndicate write many original songs? Who was the band's primary songwriter?
JK: The songs we recorded were all originals. Bill Rash and I were the primary songwriters.
60s: Do any other '60's Syndicate recordings exist? Are there any vintage live recordings, or unreleased tracks?
JK: I have a semi-rough demo of four other songs we recorded. I say semi-rough because they never were completely engineered.
60: What year did the band break up?
JK: We broke up in 1965 (maybe early 1966).
60s: What keeps you busy today?
JK: I'm the developer of a real estate software program and don't do anything musical outside my own house. I stay busy marketing my software program to the real estate and Internet community.
60s: How do you best summarize your experiences with The Syndicate?
JK: It was a fun ride.
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We Were A Garage Band In 1964
By Jim Kobzeff
In my graduate year at Cal State Fullerton, a friend of mine (a student at Long Beach State) and I kicked around the idea of starting a band.
We were not accomplished musicians, but I did know a few guitar chords and he liked playing bass. Moreover, given that the "British Invasion" mostly consisted of five-member bands, we figured we were 20 percent a band already; besides, what did we have to lose?
We recruited two more guys from Long Beach State (a lead guitarist and keyboardist-lead singer), and a drummer answered our ad in the local newspaper. Beyond our wildest expectations, within just a few months, almost magically, in the twinkling of an eye, we had become an actual band.
We called ourselves "The Syndicate," I think because we wanted to be perceived as a mafia-like family of bad guys. Nothing was further from the truth, but it sounded like a great chick magnet, so we stuck with it.
Our Assorted Cast
Bill Rash (or "Animal" at his request) did the lead vocals as well as keyboards and harmonica, and by far, was the most talented (but unstable) one. Rick Cronin, lead guitarist, was a smooth Dean Martin look-a-like whose charming good looks made him our most hopeless womanizer. Bill Patapoff, bass player and vocals, was totally in it for the fun and purposed to see the experience as a means and not an end. Bob Bourbon, drummer, our youngest and most starry-eyed member, was so unreliable that he once showed up at a gig without his drumsticks. I was bandleader and rhythm guitarist, with enough talent to pen some songs but never allowed to get close to a microphone.
Our Time in the Garage
Because there were hundreds of songs popularized by British bands containing only three chords, with minimal practice we quickly had a plethora of songs that made my dad's garage sound like (British) heaven. No, it wasn't that good really, but in a closed garage, with Fender amps cranked up to ten, to a bunch of wide-eyed guys looking for satisfaction it was phenomenal.
Our Early Gigs
Finding somewhere to play was easy. We had fraternities, colleges, junior colleges, high schools, wedding receptions, local hangouts; you name it. Hey, in 1964, given our culture's mania with The Beatles, Rolling Stones, The Who, and Zombies, if you had a breath and sounded half-recognizable, you got hired in one of a thousand places.
Our Trip to Hollywood
It was because of a friend of a friend that we first entered a recording studio in Hollywood. We were only hired to record a song she had written, in what was, a small and shabby studio she booked on Melrose. But to us, it was like partying with Mick Jagger. Of course, we had no way of knowing that it would not be the last time.
Our Fifteen Minutes
The recording engineer that day was a Hollywood wannabe taken by our sound. He got those two first songs, 'My Baby's Barefoot' and 'Love Will Take Away,' published at Dore, and after hearing our originals, 'The Egyptian Thing' and 'She Haunts You,' recorded and then peddled those to Dot Records. Consequently, he got us some airtime on local radio, several television appearances, and a few gigs on Sunset Boulevard. What can I say? We loved it, and were ready to suck it up eight days a week.
Our Two-Year Ride
It's strange that many trivial memories created inside a two-year period can endure; but they do. The vintage microphone borrowed from my uncle to get us started; my brother's van with "The Syndicate" painted on its side we sometimes used for "dramatic" appearances; the self-appointed "equipment manager" who longed only to take part in the event; the time we performed unplugged to avoid getting cited for disturbing the peace; the outdoor concert at a car dealership where the night air kept us perpetually out of tune; the time we played on a stage the size of Texas and were unable to hear each other well enough to keep beat.
We never became stars. Our records never sold more than maybe two hundred copies. But we did sign autographs for neighborhood children, were asked regularly by girls for our guitar picks, did mingle with some genuine celebrities, often got pointed out on campus, and never lacked for a date. It was wonderful.
Nonetheless, it all ended; even less noticeably then it began. Perhaps it was because celebrity eluded us, or that our niche became less requested, or that we were individually diverse, with separate goals and ambitions, and simply ready to move on with life. Whatever the reason, we went out in a whimper; in 1966 The Syndicate truly did, just fade away.
There has been little to no contact between the guys since, and I honestly don't know, with the exception of one, where they are today. I can only hope they are well.
Would I do it again? Yes, but I wouldn't wind the clock back to 1964 and purposely relive those days. It was what it was. A star, albeit small and insignificant and with little redeeming value, that for one brief moment in time was a thrill to ride.
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