In 1963 Rockdale, Maryland based Dave Kalman began to intensify his songwriting efforts. Heavily influenced by the Beach Boys, Jan & Dean, etc., much of his early work carried the signature of surf music. In 1964, Dave met Dave Buckman, a displaced Baltimorean just returned from California. The two Dave’s immediately hit it off and began to create a sound that would develop into both the Shoremen and the Brian & Dave “Tomorrow People.” Dave Buckman’s smooth voice and gift for harmony provided unique styling and a competitive sound. Recording at David C. Smith’s Marmon Avenue garage studio, the duo cut nearly 100 songs over a 5-year period.
L-R: Dave Buckman, Brian Allan (Dave Kalman).
Photo courtesy of Dave Kalman
Prior to the first release Dave Kalman began using the pen name of Brian Allan as an artist, writer and arranger. All of his label credits through that period carry the Brian Allan moniker. Dave Buckman shortened his name by using his middle name for his surname. He became David Mark. They began calling themselves the Shoremen, a name suggested by WCAO disc jockey, Les Alexander. Their first release on the Wynwood label was “Look into Her Eyes” b/w “She’s Bad”. It had modest success in the Baltimore/Washington area and was selected as a “Hometown Sound” on WCAO. The group followed this with a seasonal song “The Wonder of Christmas” b/w “The Day All My Dreams Come True”, which unfortunately was released too late into the holiday season to have any impact. Their final Shoremen release “Dance, USA!” b/w “I Expect Too Much” again had modest local airplay, but was highly regarded by the group’s growing fan base. “Dance USA!” was an interesting melding of the Liverpool sound and surf music, reflecting the changing music business trends of the era.
Around early 1967, Brian and Dave started creating more philosophic and folk-rock oriented material and changed their name to Brian & Dave “Tomorrow’s People.” They played many coffee houses in town, including the Peabody Beer and Book Stube, UMBC’s Collage, as well as numerous local TV appearances on Johnny Dark’s TV Show, a regular spot on New Wind Blowin’ and the Kerby Scott Show. They also auditioned for the Mike Douglas Show in Philadelphia. The only recording released under this name was “Time of the Year” on the Bomar label, which got considerable airplay in the Baltimore area, but was only a modest success.
As a band, the Shoremen included Dave Mark (Buckman) on rhythm guitar, lead vocal and backup vocals, Brian Allan (Dave Kalman) on lead guitar and vocals, Kip Kurzman on bass guitar (ex-Imperials), and Bob Reincke on drums. This was the essential lineup for the vast majority of the Shoremen and Brian & Dave’s music, except for the recording of “Dance, USA!” where Chris West played drums and Neil Ulman played bass.
A little-known accomplishment of Brian & Dave was the writing of Catonsville Community College’s Alma Mater by Dave Kalman and the demo production of the song sung by Dave Buckman.
Dave Buckman, a psychologist, relocated to Tallahassee, Florida, where he also continued playing guitar. Dave Kalman worked as a consultant, photographer, and continued as a very active songwriter with much material in Nashville and associated publishing houses. Dave’s song “Can’t We Start Over Again” by the O’Roark Brothers was a pick hit in Billboard, Cashbox and Record World magazines in 1981 and has earned national and international radio play. Kalman continued to play the Baltimore area club circuit. In 2003 Dave released the CD single “Johnny U” b/w “Streets of Baltimore” as Three Down & the Moose.
Brian’s 2003 CD tribute to Johnny Unitas
In 2023 Brian and Dave released a retrospective CD featuring 15 Shoremen tracks and 14 Tomorrow People tracks. Brian Allen (Brian St. August) commented in the liner notes: “One day early in the onset of the Covid 19 pandemic, I rediscovered my large box of reel to reel tapes that included the recordings of The Shoremen and Brian & Dave Tomorrow’s People. Sadly, many of the tapes were too brittle to place on my (reel to reel recorder). Thankfully I discovered a company in Ohio that specialized in resurrecting old and deteriorating tapes. The company is Curtis Media Transfer and they did a masterful job giving the songs new life and allowing this release to be launched. In addition, the new CD’s were remastered by Bill Pratt of Bratt Studios in Woodlawn, MD, to increase fidelity.”
Also see Tomorrow People.
(Thanks to Dave Kalman for the Shoremen bio).
1965 Wynwood 1956 Look into Her Eyes / She’s Bad
1965 Wynwood 2062 The Wonder of Christmas / Day All My Dreams Come True
1966 Wynwood 2088 Dance, U.S.A.! / I Expect Too Much
1967 Bomar 401 The Time of The Year / Cumberland Railroad (by The Tomorrow’s People)
2023(CD) Neatface 1025 The Shoremen – Tomorrow’s People Retrospective
