The Story ..................
It was 1965 in Piscataway, New Jersey when Laszlo Reti, his brother Tommy, Dominick Cortez and Tony Barletta fooled around in Tony's basement hoping to get a band together. Laszlo played lead guitar, Tommy played bass, Dominick played rhythm guitar and Tony played drums. Tony Barletta invited Roger Gary to join them as their lead vocalist. This "new group" became "The Continentals
(Tommy Reti, Dominick Cortez, Tony Barletta, Roger Gary, Laszlo Reti - circa 1965)
The band decided that they needed to add a keyboard to complete the band and in 1966 brought in Ed Figiel. Ed traded his accordion in for a Farfisa mini-compact organ. The band changed it's name to "The Ultraviolet Shades".
Listen to a vintage live recording of
The Ultraviolet Shades covering GLORIA.
Shortly thereafter, Dominick left the band and Tony was replaced by drummer Bob Giglio. Once again the band changed its name and Witches Brù was born!
Witches Brù played the local scene in the Piscataway and Plainfield area of New Jersey. Venues included Piscatway High School, the South Plainfield PAL and the Hullabaloo in Manville, New Jersey. They also opened for such acts as Cab Calloway, Jackie Vernon and The Parliaments ((I Wanna) Testify - George Clinton).
Watch a vintage video of Witches Brù at the Hulabaloo in Manville, NJ in 1966 .........
( Witches Brù perform at Faber School in Dunellen, NJ in 1968)
Witches Brù had their last gig at The Cave in New Jersey on December 31, 1968. What was the last song they played?........the Rolling Stones tune, "The Last Time". The boys went their separate ways....college, armed forces, marriage, etc. However, Ed and Roger remained close friends.
July 10, 2004 Roger, Laszlo, Ed and Bob got together socially to reminisce about the good-old-days. Tommy Reti was unable to join due to a debilitating illness. One thing led to another, and after attending the Doughboys reunion gig in February 2005, and with some coaxing, the guys decided to get together to "make some noise".
The band had its first reunion on April 2, 2005. The four remaining members joined forces at Bob's house in Piscataway, NJ. Bob had all the equipment...drums, guitars, amps and a console organ. Roger brought a borrowed PA system. They played songs like GLORIA, Midnight Hour, Ain't Too Proud To Beg and 96 Tears. It was just as though it was yesterday. The chords, the lyrics, the beat....it all came back to them.
The band now needed a bass player to replace Tommy Reti. Roger approached his son-in-law, Chris DeMarco about playing bass guitar. Chris is a trained classical pianist and could also play 6-string acoustic guitar and drums. Chris decided to give it a go and became the 5th member of Witches Brù. The boys got together on May 14, 2005 for their first official rehearsal.
The new Witches Brù..................
The next few years were somewhat of a struggle. After numerous auditions and replacement players, Roger Gary remains as the original member of the band. He is joined by Chris DeMarco on bass guitar, Fred Nelson on lead guitar and Dave Reese on drums.
The band recorded a demo CD of five cover tunes, increased their set list and continues to play at various venues in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.