Rock and roll is a family affair for Brian Hyland and his musical repertoire is a lot bigger than any polka dot bikini.
Hyland was in vintage, rocking form Thursday night at Katie Belle’s in Spanish Springs Town Square. His band included wife, Rosmari, singing back-up, and also his son, Bodi, on drums.
“We’re a family and I’m blessed to be playing rock and roll with my mother and father,” Bodi said.
The elder Hyland can still rock with the best of them. He broke in back in 1960 with the all-time summer novelty song, “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini.” Hyland played that song about 20 minutes into his rollicking and at times hard-driving set.
The packed crowd on the lower level of Katie Belle’s sang along and it was almost like singing around the camp fire. But Hyland soon turned the club into rock and roll high school with a couple of mash ups that included Bruce Channel’s “Hey Baby,” and he morphed that song into another classic, “Susie Q,” originally done by Dale Hawkins.
Towards the end of his set, Hyland really turned up the heat. “The other day someone asked me when I’m going to stop singing rock and roll and get a real job. This is my answer: ‘Gonna tell Aunt Mary about Uncle John/He claims he has the misery but he has a lot of fun…” Hyland covered Little Richard’s “Long Tall Sally” and then went into “Slow Down” by Larry Williams.
There was more to come. “This song is for Little Richard and Mitch Ryder, wherever he is,” Hyland said before ripping into “Good Golly Miss Molly” followed by another high-powered number courtesy of Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix, “All Along the Watchtower.”
Despite all the covers, Hyland also delivered his smooth, catchy pop musical essence on his own hits such as, “Ginny Come Lately,” and “The Joker Went Wild.” Then he said, “there was a lot of great music in 1962 and this was our contribution to the summer of ’62.”
Hyland offered a pitch perfect rendition of his aching summer-love teen classic, “Sealed With A Kiss.” Next came one of Hyland’s most memorable hits from 1970: “Gypsy Woman,” written by Curtis Mayfield. “I love that song and people love that song,” Hyland said.
The fans agreed.
“Brian brings back so many memories from the 1960s,” said Villager Carol Booth. “His music just takes you back. ‘Sealed With a Kiss’ is such a romantic song and he sings it just right.”
Jim and Doris DeCanio of The Villages knew Hyland back in his early days. “I showed him a picture we took with him back in the old days,” Doris said. “Brian said, ‘who is that guy in the middle.’ I told Brian, ‘that’s you.’”
“A lot has changed over the past 50 years but he still sings great,” Jim DeCanio added.
The whole show was filled with highlight moments. Rocky and the Rollers opened things up with a jumping jive version of Glenn Miller’s “In the Mood.” The highlight was the band’s horn section – Rick Abbott, Steve Falkner and Bruce Dardi – wailing like the 1940s all over again.
“This is the first time we played that song,” Gerry “Rocky” Seader said after the show. “It was cool.”
The same could be said for Tommy Mara, the doo-wop singer who also performed. He offered some classic street corner harmony on “Who’s That Knockin’” and hit the operatic high-notes on “Cara Mia.”
But the highlight came when Mara called three female singers from the audience – Darla Dysert, Joan Sockett and Mary Wilcox . They teamed with Al Morse of Rocky and the Rollers and Mara to sing the Temptations’ “My Girl.”
The night, though, belonged to Brian Hyland.
“People still love to hear my dad’s music,” his son Bodi said, Although Bodi admits he listens to contemporary artists such as Adele and OneRepublic, he sounded like Bob Seger when he said nothing can replace that old time rock and roll.
