Top-40 rock and originals band from Harford County formed in late 1964. Originally known as Mike & the Minutemen, they won 1st place at the Mayfair Battle of the Bands on July 4, 1965, and tied for 1st place in the semifinals at a Teen Fair Baltimore Civic Center Battle of the Bands in 1965. With a falling out at the Civic Center there were some personnel changes and the line-up settled as Mike Shacochis (lead vocals), Ed Davis (lead guitar), Bub Deskin (12 string guitar), Dave Drumm (bass), Rod Stancliff (organ), and John Messenger (drums). This line-up became known as the Serpents.
Predating Alice Cooper’s antics of the ‘70s, the group featured a mascot boa constrictor named Sam which Mike often wrapped around himself during performances. They always playfully taunted the audience by talking about how long it had been since the snake had last been fed. The Serpents were seen at Teen Town (Aberdeen Teen Center), Victory Villa Community Center, various high school dances, and a notable show at the Red C Discotheque at Towson Presbyterian Church on October 21, 1965 which drew a crowd of over 700 teens.
In 1967 the group made a couple of trips to Decca Studios in New York and cut demos. The last sessions were done on June 8 – the same day that they were scheduled to perform at a Middle River Jr. High dance. The group rushed back to Baltimore just in time to fulfill their promise to the delight of many fans. The group performed their originals “Land of Love,” “Tiger Tiger,” “A Nickel’s Worth of Happiness,” and “New Generation.”
In July 1967 Stancliff was replaced with Butch (?) on organ, and Messenger was replaced with Lee (?) on drums.
The group, managed by Al Cullen, concentrated on their original compositions and eventually bought their own recording equipment. In early 1968 Serpent Studios opened, equipped with a state of the art $16,000 4-track system. Other bands recorded demos at the studio including the High Tyde.
Stancliff later joined the Electra-Tones. Deskin (see bio) went on to join the New Diablos who released a version of the Serpent’s song “Land of Love.” He went on to join Wanted, and also did some other recordings in the ‘70s-80s. Shachochis joined Babies of Aggression, Yowza Dowza, Flow…
