The Four Preps, appearing on Rocketing Rhythms for Armed Forces Radio in August 1961.
Probably a fair guess that most people (of a certain age) won’t know who The Four Preps are (or were) – and also a fair guess that most people of a certain age before them will know exactly who they are and may most likely have several albums in their collections.
Funny thing about Pop Culture; it doesn’t adhere to any specific set of generations or years. Pop Culture is that set of situations and personalities (in this case musicians), which immediately cast a person back to a specific space and time. The space and time which would inform them of those elements which were so crucial to growing up and waxing nostalgic. Coming of age, indeed.
The Four Preps were a singing group from Los Angeles, who got started after winning a Talent Show at their High School (in this case, Hollywood High) in 1957. During the course of their careers they maintained a dedicated group of fans, and were an influence in vocalizing well into the 60s. It was no secret that Brian Wilson was a fan of The Four Preps as well The Four Freshman, he was instantly taken by the rich vocal harmonies these groups produced, which The Beach Boys emulated.
The Four Preps were huge during the later 50’s all the way to the late 60s, after which they broke up and splintered off in many different directions. Only one of the original members survives to this day. They did leave a legacy of five albums, probably countless anthology albums and many soundtracks, so making a discovery should be not difficult.
The program, Rocketing Rhythms was produced for The Armed Forces Radio Network in the early 1960s. It featured interviews with numerous guest artists and was a popular show at the time. However it was never broadcast domestically and these shows were pressed on disc for distribution to Armed forces wherever military units were stationed.
’nuff said – press play.
And we’re still trying to prevent loss of the collection. So . .
