Tracing musical influences back through the layers of popular culture can be reminiscent of an archeological dig. When I first saw this clip, I felt as if I’d stumbled upon a prior civilization.
“I’m Marv.” “I’m Glen.” “I’m Ed.” “I’m nervous.” Who were these people?
Contrary to their billing, the Four Preps were not graduates of an elite private preparatory school, but a group of friends who attended Hollywood High. They originally formed to compete in the school’s annual talent show, but managed to get signed by Capital Records in 1956. Two years later, they enjoyed their biggest hit with “26 Miles.” Bruce Belland, the group’s ostensibly nervous leader, admitted that it was a “corny” piece that he wrote in fifteen minutes without ever having set foot on Catalina Island, the subject of the song.
For a time, the Preps were the all-American band. They played backup to Ricky Nelson on the Ozzie and Harriet Show and performed in the original Gidgit movie. They were clean cut, wholesome, and sometimes stultifyingly bland, but did not lack harmony or a wry sense of humor. They are said to have influenced a later California-based sensation, The Beach Boys. And in the early 1960’s, they were repeatedly honored by Billboard Magazine as the “nation’s number one college concert attraction.”
After that, the Preps never reached the charts again, but their story was far from over. More on that next time.