The Castaways
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
|
Related e |
|
Featured: |
The Castaways are an American garage rock band from the Twin Cities in Minnesota.
Their first and only hit single was "Liar, Liar". Written by band leader James Donna and Denny Craswell, produced by Timothy D. Kehr and released by Soma Records, it reached number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1965. "Liar, Liar" is featured in the films Good Morning Vietnam and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. The Castaways may be seen performing "Liar, Liar" in the 1967 beach movie, It's a Bikini World.
Band history
The original members were James Donna on keyboards, Robert Folschow and Dick Roby on guitar, Roy Hensley on bass guitar and Dennis Craswell on drums. Folschow contributed the distinctive falsetto vocal on "Liar, Liar".
In the early 1980s two members, Folschow and Craswell, led a west coast version of the band under the name The Castaways in Pismo Beach, California. Folschow, who was using the stage name of Bob Leroy, played guitar and a keytar on many songs, including "Liar, Liar", which had the distinctive piano intro/riff. The two had local musicians such as B3 organist Dennis Hayes providing additional keyboard and bass backup.
Bass guitarist Hensley died on 8 June 2005Template:Fact and was buried in Fairmont, Minnesota. The Castaways continue to perform today, although according to their website (http://www.thecastawaysrock.com/), Donna is the only founding member still in the line-up.
