The Meridians : Roger Bruno, Felix DeMasi, Bill Adair & Tommy Brown
The Meridians (1) (Tarrytown, Westchester,NY)
aka The Ideals (8)
Personnel :
Roger Bruno (Lead)
Felix DeMasi
Bill Adair
Tommy Brown
Discography :
The Ideals
Unreleased :
1962 - New Love
The Meridians (1)
1965 - Blue Victory / Have You Forgotten (Parnaso 102)
Biography :
In Tarrytown, in the early nineteen sixties, there lived a young Brazilian musician named Tim Maia, who was destined for greatness, although few who knew him at the time would have guessed it. Tim sang in a vocal-harmony group called the Ideals with Roger Bruno, Felix DeMasi, Paul Mitranga and Bill Adair, and wrote the words to the group's only recorded song, "New Love," whose rhythm reflected Maia's world-music aspirations; somehow, he had persuaded the great Brazilian drummer Milton Banana to play on the demo.
The Ideals : Roger Bruno, Bill Adair, Felix DeMasi, Paul Mitranga & Tim Maia
The
song was never released commercially. The Ideals were planning on
shopping it around to different labels, but the group's career was
derailed when Maia was busted in Daytona Beach, Florida, for smoking pot
in a stolen car, and after six months in jail he was deported to
Brazil.
The Ideals : Roger Bruno, Felix DeMasi, Tim Maia, Paul Mitranga & Bill Adair
Not
long after, Roger Bruno, Felix De Masi & Bill Adair replaced him
with Tommy Brown, and the Ideals became the Meridians. The group was
mixed - 2 African-Americans (Tommy Brown and Bill Adair) and 2 whites
(Roger Bruno and Felix DeMasi) . They recorded a couple of sides, "Blue
Victory" b/w "Have You Forgotten", which got them some radio play and a
small tour, opening for the Duprees. But by then vocal-harmony groups
were giving way to rock bands. Bruno went out to Hollywood, where he and
Ellen had some success as songwriters. Tim
Maia contributed to Brazilian music within a wide variety of musical
genres, including soul, funk, bossa nova, disco, romantic ballads, pop,
rock, jazz, baião and MPB. He introduced the soul style on the Brazilian
musical scene. Tim Maia is internationally recognised as one of the
biggest icons of the Brazilian music. He recorded numerous albums and
toured extensively in a long career.
Songs :
The Meridians (1)
Have You Forgotten Blue Victory