The Shademen

The Shademen were from Elyria, Ohio 1964-8. Members : Mike Moore, Bob Sebastian, Steve Olenek, Bill Foss, Pat Barden. The first few times the full band rehearsed, Bob and Steve had shown up in sunglasses. The men in shades provided an immediate choice for the band name- the Shademen. As spring and summer of 1967 came around, the Shademen were in high demand. The band quickly jumped to the top of the local scene and gained a large following, which increased as they played local clubs. The Verann team booked them at Cleveland Recording, where they cut two of Mike Moore's original songs, "Sick and Tired" and "That's Tuff". They pressed up 500-1000 copies. The 45 sold out of the first pressing and a second pressing of 1000 copies was done. (The first pressings have dark blue horizontal lines, while the second pressings have a more sky-blue label and black lines.) In the fall of 1967 the Shademen added a lead singer, a black Elyria High student named Greg Young. Shortly after, the band went to Audio Recording to cut a couple songs. Greg's addition to the band had signaled a direction more towards soul music. The songs were "Strange" and "It's Okay, Either Way". The group had parted ways with Verann and released the 45 on their own. They chose the name Riot records, a typical teenage tweak on the race riots that had inflamed Cleveland the past year. The record was pressed in very limited (100-200) amounts and only a few copies have ever been found. Discography : Sick and Tired (Of Waiting) / That's Tuff (Verann 501) Strange / It's Okay, Either Way (Riot No #)