Rock and soul band from Towson area evolved from the Vicounts and later became known as the Gremlins. In spring of 1967 WCAO DJ Paul Rodgers suggested they call the group Froggy & the Gremlins, as the name of a guitar playing frog character on the 1940s-‘50s Buster Brown television show.
Original members were Dave Gostomski (lead vocals ex-the Heard), Chris Saunders (guitar), Ken Killion (guitar), Bob Hardin (keyboards), Dennis Gould (bass ex-Brambells), and Buzzy London (drums). The group became one of the original house bands at the Bluesette.
The group performed a mix of R&B and rock including covers of Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, Booker T., Beatles (Sgt. Peppers era), Doors… Their signature song was the Vanilla Fudge version of “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” complete with a big light show. Froggy & the Gremlins worked many gigs with WCAO DJ’s Paul Rodgers and Kerby Scott at fire halls and armories. In 1967 Froggy & the Gremlins (along with CJ & the Legends) were warm-up bands for a Wilson Pickett show at the Pikesville Armory.
Froggy & the Gremlins appeared on the Kerby Scott Show on March 23, 1968 lip-syncing to their prerecorded version of “Things We Said Today.” In December 1968 Scott once again showcased the band on his show, proclaiming them “one of Baltimore’s 10 best bands!” They also performed on a TV show hosted by Ron Richman filmed at an old theater on Park Heights Avenue.
In summer of 1968 the band was hired by WCAO DJ Alan Field to record the “Run Right to Read’s” commercials he had written for the drugstore chain. The jingle was recorded at Virtue Studios in Philadelphia. Later that summer the group recorded a promotional tape for Black & Decker. The Van Sant-Dugdale advertising agency rewrote the lyrics to the Motown song “Dancing in The Street” to help inspire the B&D sales team. Angel Marie (of the Lexingtons) sang lead on the track that was recorded at Bradley Studios.
Froggy & the Gremlins also performed several times at the Zoo Club in Brooklyn (owned by Ron Richman), Club Venus, Towson VFW, high school dances, private parties, Bar Mitzvahs, fraternity parties at BU, Hopkins, UMCP, the U.M.B.C. Spring dance in February 1969…
L-R: Killion, Gould, London, Hardin, Gostomski, Saunders
By 1969 the group went through numerous changes. Gould left the group, the Hardin family moved to Connecticut, and Gostomski began losing interest. The group tried to continue with an assortment of replacement players including Rich Zuchowski (keyboards), and guitarist Mac Ford, formerly of a band called the Spectres whom the Gremlins had originally patterned themselves after. With Ford also came the Spectres manager Dennis Constantine – a protégé of Kerby Scott – who became the Gremlins new manager, but by 1970 the band split.
In 1970 Gostomski, Gould, and London teamed up with former Black River Circus members to form the group Circus.
London later went on to join Legend, Dion’s Streetheart Band, Rosco… Saunders began a career in radio in 1969 with WCBM as newscaster and simultaneously at WFMM as a DJ, then to WYRE in Annapolis… Zuchowski was later with Fable… Ford was later with Iguana, Double Jeopardy…
The group reunited in 2007 to perform at the Bluesette Reunion.
