D.C. based psych-rock recording group evolved from The Hangmen. Guitarist George Strunz, and bassist/keyboardist Steve Benderoth (ex-Centaurs) answered ads for musicians to join the Hangmen, a D.C. area group with a pending recording contract with ABC Records. Lead vocalist Tony Taylor remained the only thread between the Hangmen and this new group that would eventually become known as Graffiti. The other members were Jon St. John (guitar), Steve Dahlem (bass), and Richie Blakin (drums).
Steve’s friend Kathy Jewell recalled that “they all moved to New York City to record the ABC album and renamed the band ‘The Collection.’ For a year, the band lived at the Hotel Albert on 10th Street in NYC while they toured and wrote songs for their upcoming album… “Then ABC decided the group should have a more acid-rock type image and renamed the group. This time the band got the name ‘Graffiti.’”
Graffiti photos from their ABC album:
They recorded their album at the Hit Factory in Greenwich Village. The band broke up a year later when a New York advertising agency, Benton and Bowles, asked Steve to write a jingle for Maxwell House Coffee. The commercial was a hit and Steve left the group to begin a career as a successful commercial jingle composer from 1969-1995, where he wrote well known jingles for Ford, Eastern Airlines, Nestles Crunch, 7-Up, Clairol, etc…
Strunz, an extraordinary guitarist, was introduced to the Bluesette music scene by friend Nils Lofgren and later played in the Baltimore group Ames Oakes. He went on to become a successful flamenco guitarist. Dahlem was later with local D.C. band Pielke… Blakin became a studio engineer.
“Benderoth’s college friends Michael McKeown and David Lander (of Laverne & Shirley fame) asked Steve to join their mock rock group Lenny and the Squigtones” according to Kathy “Steve took a year sabbatical from jingle writing to join the group as a bass player and gave himself the name ‘Dwight Knight.’ The band toured and released the album “Lenny and the Squigtones.” Steve liked to introduce himself on stage as “Dwight Knight from Balamor” and would then proceed to talk to the audience in “Balamoreese.”
Steve passed away in New York on March 16, 2007.
Record releases by Graffiti:
1968 ABC 11123 He’s Got the Knack / Love in Spite
1969 ABC 11182 Do You Feel Sorry / Girl on Fire
1968(LP) ABC 663 Graffiti
