THAT BAND: Was it the 1910 Fruitgum Company or the Ohio Express
that played a concert in Bradford in the late 1960s?
Not long ago, we had stated unequivocally that it was the former
but several people are just as certain it was the latter.
That discrepancy sent us to the Internet where we landed in
Bubble Gum hell trying to separate one band of that genre from
another — no easy task.
Our research revealed the two groups were similar in many ways,
even at times sharing musicians and recording some of the same
hits. Both bands apparently were “created” by the same
promoter.
Kathy Roberts of Cyclone was the first to call and identify the
band as Ohio Express. At the time of the concert in 1969, she was a
junior in High School and lived in Duke Center. Among other stellar
numbers, it performed, “Yummy, Yummy, Yummy.”
Greg Dennis dropped us this e-line, “I just wanted to mention
that I, too, was in attendance at the 1910 Fruitgum Company
concert, held at the High School auditorium in 1969 or so. I
believe the band UFO was the opening act.”
“The concert was attended not only by local youth, but many
adults were there, too. One other memory of that night was that
there was a very brilliant shooting star that entered the
atmosphere above Bradford, traveling from north to south. There was
much talk about that shooting star in 7th grade science class at
Fretz the next day.”
Peggy Cheuka, class of ’69, Bradford Central Christian, sent us
an e-mail about another group and even attached a copy of the
ticket.
She writes, “With all the mention recently of ‘big name’ groups
who have performed in Bradford, it stirred my memory (no small
feat) of going to see Jay and the Techniques at Bradford High.”
“I found my ticket, preserved in plastic no less, showing that
the group performed on March 8, 1968, at Bradford High, as part of
the University of Pittsburgh’s ‘Winter Weekend.’ The back of the
ticket is autographed by the members of the group. I wonder how
long I stood in line for that and why.
“By the way, the cost of the ticket was $3 and two of their big
songs were ‘Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie’ and ‘Keep the Ball
Rolling.’”
