Towson area Top-40 and progressive rock band. Members included Mitch Foote (lead vocals, bass), Winn Krozack, Jr. (guitar, keyboards), Scott Lucas (synthesizer, vocals), Bob Dill (keyboards ex-Visions of Red), later replaced with Rick Elliot who was later replaced with Jordan Rudess. Drummers for the group included Dave Kennick, Brian D. Richardson (ex-Mirage), Andy Armetta (ex-Exit, Expressway, and later with Threshold…), and Mike Kelly (ex-Bock, Revolution). The group went through many personnel changes and is estimated to have had over 25 members over the years.
The band played all the Baltimore area clubs on the “695 circuit” while also traveling to Ocean City and places as far away as The Attic in North Carolina, and a weeklong engagement at the Great Gorge Playboy Club in McAfee, NJ. Apricot Brandy also appeared at the Putty Hill Festivals where they once hired a plane to fly the banner “Apricot Brandy rocks the day at Putty Hill!” The group opened for many national acts (Steppenwolf, etc) and were hired to do the productions for local concerts utilizing their state-of-the-art PA system and special effects.
Highlights to their stage show included a light show, fog machines and an array of pyrotechnics including flash powder, flash pots igniting weather balloons filled with hydrogen, a flaming tambourine and a gong that went up in flames. In addition to the special effects, large PA system and other equipment, transportation required two 24-foot trucks.
Bob Dill recalled of the bands he was in “Apricot Brandy was the most [visually] popular with the fire act and the explosions… I think I counted 34 explosions in the course of 3 sets. Had a lot of fun in that band and there were a lot of principals in the schools that said… Had I known you were gonna do that!!!! Sure have some stories there. Like the weather balloons we filled up with propane and set them off at the Putty Hill Rock Concert… The fireball that went up was quite impressive… The radiant heat was as well… I think I had an instant suntan from that one…”
L-R: Winn Krozak, Mike Kelly, Scott Lucas, Bobby Dill, Mitch Foote
In 1978 their original song “Reach for The Sky” was included on the first “98 Rock Album.”
By the late ‘70s the original Apricot Brandy had splintered off in different directions. Lucas kept the band alive with various new members into the ‘80s including lead vocalist Fran Bryant (later co-formed Tail Gunner)… In the ‘80s Lucas retained the group name and formed another incarnation that included former Possessed members Rick Hutchins (guitar), and Glen Hutchins (drums), with Mike Swam (guitar), and Mark Lambert (bass). They performed at many high school dances, colleges, teen centers, and some club work. This group finally split in 1986.
Kennick later joined Outrageous. Foote, Krozack, and Richardson went on to form U.S. Bang. Krozak later joined Rolz Royce. He also continued to provide sound systems for countless local and national groups at some of the large clubs including Coast to Coast, Seagull Inn, and Hammerjacks concert hall. Dill was later with Pentagon, Inner Realm, Cat & the Burglars which changed to Cat Trax.… In ‘00s Rick Hutchins played the Harford County club circuit in acoustic duo Ed (Arrison) & Rick. Rudess (see bio) was later with Speedway Blvd., Dream Theater, and solo projects…
Prior to joining Apricot Brandy, Rick Elliott had studied at Peabody. He went on to further his musical education at Catholic University in D.C., Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, and the Eastman School of Music in Rochester where he received a doctorate in musical arts. Since the late ‘80s Rick taught music at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. In 1991 he became the main organist for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. The group released over 30 albums during this period.
In his own words, Rick relates “As a teenager in Baltimore, Maryland, I played in a rock band called Apricot Brandy (I was not a Mormon at the time!). I built a theremin, which I played on various parts of my body during the solo section of an Emerson, Lake & Palmer medley. I had installed a magician’s “fingertip flashpot” inside the theremin, with a trigger so that I could shoot a ball of fire into the air at the end of my “solo.” One night I took to the dance floor among the teenagers, did my solo, and then watched in horror as the ball of flame shot out at a downward angle (due to over-packing the flash paper) and went straight for a dancer’s head. Fortunately, he ducked in the nick of time and I was spared embarrassment and a possible lawsuit.”
“The end of my theremin story is that Vivian Rudow, a noted Baltimore composer, placed an advertisement in the newspaper seeking a theremin. In responding to her ad, I found that she was composing a piece for bassoon and theremin, wherein the bassoonist played the theremin with his feet at the same time he played the bassoon. I built her a theremin, after which she told me that I should get out of music and into electronics, where I could make more money and be a lot less miserable. I can’t help thinking that I’ve done the right thing in ignoring her advice. I may not be rich, but I sure ain’t miserable.”
“P.S. I still haven’t been able to persuade our producer to let me do a flame-throwing theremin solo on the Tab Choir broadcast.” Rick.
