Jodimars
The Jodimars was an American rock and roll band that was formed in the summer of 1955 and remained active until 1958. The band was created by former members of Bill Haley & His Comets who had quit that group in a salary dispute. The unusual name of the group came from the first letters of the first names of the founding members: Joey Ambrose (saxophone), Dick Boccelli (aka Dick Richards) (vocals), and Marshall Lytle (string bass). Other members included Chuck Hess (guitar) and Max Daffner (drums).
The group initially recorded for Capitol Records, scoring a few minor hits such as "Well Now Dig This" and "Let's All Rock Together." In 1956, the Jodimars became one of the first rock and roll acts to take up residence in Las Vegas showrooms. Soon after, they left Capitol and recorded for several smaller labels with no success. By 1958, the band had virtually broken up, though Lytle attempted to revive the group with a series of demo recordings later that year, though he was the only member of the core band to actually take part in the recordings (members of Ricky Nelson's band worked on the recording session instead) and they sat unreleased until 1995.
By the 1960s, the Jodimars were only a memory, with Lytle going into real estate, Ambrose becoming a pit boss in Las Vegas, and Boccelli/Richards becoming a stage and movie actor. In 1987, the band reunited for a series of concerts in conjunction with a simultaneous reunion of the original members of Bill Haley's Comets. Today, Lytle, Ambrose and Richards continue to tour the world as part of the Comets, but always make sure to include a couple of Jodimars songs in each show.
In 1963, the Beatles recorded a version of the Jodimars' "Clarabella" for BBC Radio, while the song "Well Now Dig This" inspired the name of the popular British music magazine, Now Dig This.