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Simon Stokes
Nick Stokes was born on the 10th of June, 1937, in Reading, Massachusetts, (he would adopt Simon as his professional name when he became a recording artist in the 1960s.) Raised by his grandparents, his early life was one of solitude and isolation. His grandfather was the leader of the Harry D Stokes Orchestra, and a lot of the time young Nick was left home alone while his grandparents were out earning a living in the evenings, which meant he often had to put himself to bed at night. Concerned for his safety his grandparents began to take him out with them, leaving him at the cinema while they worked, where young Nick was exposed to films featuring Dracula, Frankenstein, the Wolfman, the Mummy and other terrors, sparking a lifelong interest in horror movies.

As a teenager Stokes developed a keen interest in music and started his own record hop, spinning discs under the guise of Count Coolbreeze, the Baron of Bop. He had his first taste of success in 1958 after penning a song for The Tornados, a local group from Peabody Ma., which was subsequently entered into a Boston song writing competition. Nick forgot all about the contest until a few months later when he he was surprised to discover that his song, “Breaker of Dreams”, had won. Part of the prize for winning the contest was a record deal, and a 45 by Johnny Mann & the Tornados was issued on the Donnie label in July, subsequently becoming a number one hit in Boston. The song writing credit was erroneously given to “Madruga”, the leader of The Tornados.

After this brief brush with success Stokes took up a nomadic lifestyle, taking inspiration from Jack Kerouac’ s book ‘On The Road’. These road trips took Stokes on a number of adventures before Stokes decided to try his luck in Hollywood in 1962. It was during this time that he teamed up with songwriter Alonzo B Willis III, penning a number of songs for the Rubies, the Tri-Lites, the Ex-Cel Five's, and the Spats. At the end of 1965 Stokes made the transition from songwriter to singer, releasing his first record as Simon T. Stokes, “Big City Blues”/ “Pow! Zap! I’m The Bat!”, in January 1966. This was followed by a number of records variously attributed to Simon T. Stokes, the Flower Children, the Perpetual Motion Workshop, and Rock Bottom & The Candy Kisses.

In 1968 Stokes was employed as a songwriter for Elektra Records, which led to the label releasing the “Voodoo Woman”/Can’t Stop Now” credited to Simon Stokes & The Nighthawks, with the 45 peaking at number 90 in the Billboard Charts in December 1969. Splitting with Elektra, Stokes & The Nighthawks quickly landed a new deal with MGM Records, releasing a self titled album in July 1970. The group comprised of Randall Keith on rhythm guitar, Donald “Butch” Senneville on lead guitar, bassist Bob Ledger, and Joe Yuele on drums. A number of tracks from the album were included on the soundtrack of The Outlaw Riders, a low budget biker movie released in 1971.

By 1973 The Nighthawks had evolved into Simon Stokes and the Blackwhip Thrill Band, recording an album for the Spindizzy label under the direction of producer David Briggs, an old friend of Stokes who had also been a part of the Perpetual Motion Workshop. By this point David Briggs had produced a number of high profile albums, including Neil Young's After the Gold Rush, Alice Cooper's Easy Action and The Twelve Dreams of Dr Sardonicus for Spirit. With it’s hard hitting rock sound and intense and often disturbing lyrical imagery, The Black Whip Thrill Band already had the potential for controversy, but it was the album’s sleeve art by Joe Garrett (a scene of scantily clad women being tortured by depraved monks while a grimacing Stokes tugs on a rope attached to a bound girl who is being whipped by a masked dwarf) that was deemed unedifying, with some stores refusing to stock the record.

In 1974 Stokes signed a deal with Casablanca Records, releasing two 45s for the label later that year. The first was “Captain Howdy”, loosely based on the demonic entity in The Exorcist, which reached number ninety in the Billboard Hot 100, although the follow up 45 “Play It Again Sam” wasn’t so successful. A proposed album release was canceled part way through recording.

Stokes’ next outing was the The Buzzard of Love, released by United Artists in 1977, and featuring a much slicker production than his previous recordings. Some of the tracks have a disco feel thanks to the influence of producer Joe Renzetti. Two 45s were released in support of the album, with “Earthquake” in particular getting a lot of radio play, although this didn’t translate in to sales.

During the 1980s Stokes concentrated on writing material for movie soundtracks, beginning with Under The Rainbow in 1981. After penning songs for Vice Squad and Homer & Eddie, Stokes and Joe Renzetti teamed up again to write a theme tune for the first Child’s Play movie. Chucky was rejected by the film’s producers, but did appear as a promotional 45 on the Apache label. Over the next few years Simon wrote material for a number of low budget productions, often working with former Black Whip Thrill Band members Harry Garfield and Chris Pinnick, including Poltergeist III, My Mom's A Werewolf, Beach Babes From Beyond, and Tammy & The T-Rex, culminating with Head of the Family in 1996. That same year Stokes recorded the Right To Fly (AKA Leary Stokes Duets) album with Timothy Leary and was involved with writing material for Russell Means’ album The Radical. In 2002 Stokes recorded a come back album, Honky, twenty five years after The Buzzard of Love. This was followed by Head in 2008 and Simon Stokes & The Heathen Angels in 2011.

45 Discography
Simon T Stokes Big City Blues/Pow! Zap! I’m The Bat! Warrior 1966

Simon T. Stokes Big City Blues/Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction HBR 1966

Rock Bottom & The Candy Kisses Candy Is Dandy Pt 1/Candy Is Dandy Pt 2 Bullfrog 1966

The Flower Children Mini Skirt Blues/Marching Lovers Castil 1966

Perpetual Motion Workshop Infiltrate Your Mind/Won’t Come Down Rally Records 1967

Simon T Stokes Cobwebs/Big City Blues In Sound 1968

Simon Stokes and the Nighthawks Voodoo Woman/Can’t Stop Now Elektra 1969

Simon Stokes and The Nighthawks Big City Blues/Jambalaya MGM 1970

Simon Stokes and The Nighthawks Ballad Of Little Fauss And Big Halsy/Where Are You Going MGM 1970

Simon Stokes and The Nighthawks Southern Girl/Rhode Island Red MGM 1970

Simon Stokes Captain Howdy/I Fell For Her, She Fell For Him, He Fell For Me Casablanca 1974

Simon Stokes Play It Again Sam/I Know I’ll Get Fed Casablanca 1974

Simon Stokes Earthquake/Who Could Have Told You UA 1977

Simon Stokes Endless Sleep/Air Conditioned Nightmare UA 1977

Simon Stokes Chucky/Chucky Apache 1988

LP Discography
Simon Stokes and the Nighthawks MGM 1970

Simon Stokes and the Blackwhip Thrill Band Spindizzy 1974

The Buzzard of Love UA 1977

Right To Fly PsychoRelic Records 1996 (With Timothy Leary)

Honky Upper Cut Records 2002

Head (Self Released) 2008

Simon Stokes and The Heathen Angels (Self Released) 2011