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The Astronauts were an American rock and roll band, who had a minor hit in 1963 with "Baja" and remained successful for several years, especially in Japan. They have been described as being, "along with...(the) Trashmen, the premier landlocked Midwestern surf group of the '60s."〔(Biography by Richie Unterberger at Allmusic.com ). Accessed 22 April 2011〕 For most of their career, the band members were Rich Fifield, Jon "Storm" Patterson, Bob Demmon, Dennis Lindsey, and Jim Gallagher. ==Career== The Astronauts developed out of a group, The Stormtroopers, which was originally formed at Boulder High School, Boulder, Colorado in 1956 by Jon "Storm" Patterson (vocals, guitar), Robert Graham "Bob" Demmon (11 February 1939 – 18 December 2010)〔(Bob Demmon at FindAGrave.com ). Accessed 22 April 2011〕 (guitar), and Brad Leach (drums). In 1961, they became The Astronauts after adding Richard Otis "Rich" Fifield (vocals, guitar) and Dick Sellars (guitar), the change of band name recognising the fascist connotations of the previous name and to pay tribute to local hero, astronaut Scott Carpenter.〔(Mel Fenson, ''When The Astronauts Played Tulagi'', Colorado Magazine Online ). Accessed 22 April 2011〕〔(G. Brown, ''Colorado Rocks!: A Half-Century of Music in Colorado'', p.1959 ). Accessed 22 April 2011〕 Patterson switched to bass, Leech was replaced on drums by Jim Gallagher, and soon afterwards Sellars left to join the US Navy, being replaced by Dennis Lindsey.〔(www.WangDangDula.com: The Astronauts: discography and information ). Accessed 22 April 2011〕 With a line-up of Demmon, Patterson, Fifield, Lindsey and Gallagher, the band gained a strong local reputation, toured as far as Chicago and Dallas, Texas, and released their first single, "Come Along Baby", in 1962, on the small Palladium label.〔 They were signed to RCA Records after a record company executive was impressed by their performance at a local night club, the Tulagi.〔(Boulder Daily Camera: Obituary, Robert Graham Demmon ). Accessed 22 April 2011〕 Their first single on RCA was "Baja", an instrumental written by Lee Hazlewood originally for his friend, guitarist Al Casey.〔(Del Halterman, ''Walk - Don't Run - The Story of the Ventures'', 2009, p.113 ). Accessed 22 April 2011〕 Released by The Astronauts in early 1963, the track was described as "a typical surf instrumental with a reverberation-heavy twangy guitar and driving drumbeat", and reached # 94 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for just one week, the pinnacle of their US chart career.〔 However, they released a succession of further singles on RCA, in an attempt by the record company to emulate the success of the Beach Boys and other surf music-related groups in the charts at the time. According to reviewer Richie Unterberger, "the group shone brightest on their instrumentals, which used mounds of Fender reverb and two rhythm guitars; when they sang, the results were much less successful."〔 Patterson and Fifield shared lead vocals,〔 and the band recorded songs by Roger Christian, Gary Usher, Dick Dale and Henry Mancini, among others.〔 Fifield, the lead guitarist, used a Fender Jazzmaster on the recordings, with an early prototype reverb unit personally loaned to the group by Leo Fender.〔(Seymour Duncan Q&A, No. 82 ). Accessed 22 April 2011〕 Their 1965 song "Tomorrow's Gonna Be Another Day was covered by The Monkees in 1966. As well as a succession of singles and EPs, the band released four LPs over nine months, starting in May 1963: ''Surfin' with The Astronauts'' – which reached # 61 on the ''Billboard'' 200 album chart〔 – ''Everything Is A-OK!'' (recorded live at the Club Baja in Denver, Colorado), ''Competition Coupe'', and ''The Astronauts Orbit Campus'' (recorded live in Boulder). They appeared several times on the ''Hullabaloo'' TV show, and have the distinction of appearing in more beach party movies than any other surf band: ''Surf Party,'' ''Wild on the Beach,'' ''Wild Wild Winter'' and ''Out of Sight.'' Regarding the band's performance in 1964's ''Surf Party,'' the book ''Pop Surf Culture'' states “The Astronauts bang out a thick, reverb-laden instrumental called ‘Firewater,’ and their theme song ‘Surf Party’ happens to be one of the best surf instrumentals ever recorded.”〔Chidester, Brian & Priore, Domenic (2008), pg 168.〕 ''(See Filmography, below)'' In 1964, their record company discovered that they had a growing fan base in Japan, where they outsold The Beach Boys and toured with The Ventures. Five albums and three singles made the top 10 there, with "Movin'" – retitled as "Over The Sun" – reaching number one in the country.〔 In all, they recorded nine albums. Gallagher and Lindsey were drafted for Vietnam before the last album, ''Travelin' Men'' in 1967, and were replaced by Mark Bretz and Rod Jenkins respectively. Demmon also left, being replaced by Robert Carl McLerran, before Fifield and Patterson finally decided to end the band name after a tour of Asia in 1968.〔〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Astronauts (band)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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