Variety group originated in Glen Burnie led by vocalist Frannie King. The group played country, rock, and soul. Bass guitarist Ben Smith had recently moved to the area from Hampton, Virginia and had freelanced with a couple groups as a guitarist before joining the Frantics. He recalled “the band was made up of an excellent guitar player named Hoy Breedlove, a drummer named Bobby Jay, and me on bass. Bobby Jay was the 17-year-old son of Betty Jay who at the time was probably the finest female singer in the Baltimore-Washington area.”
“We played all around the Baltimore-Annapolis area, including a club in North Baltimore called the Satyr House, which burned to the ground in the course of our run there, and was never rebuilt.” The Frantics also played weekends at the English Pub on Payson Street, and the Double “B” Bar on Wash. Blvd…
Bobby Jay went on to join a group called Freedom. He went to Nashville in the late ‘70s. Smith joined L.C. Smith’s band.
