"Bend me, Shape me", The American Breed

Out of the 1960s Chicago sound that spawned The Buckinghams, The New Colony Six, The Shadows of Knight, and The Cryan' Shames, came The American Breed, a very popular band on the Chicago club scene.
Formed in 1966 in Cicero, Illinois, the Breed first saw life as Gary and the Knight Lites. Gary Loizzo was their vocalist, Al Ciner played guitar, Lee Graziano was the drummer, and Chuck Colbert played bass.
While with Acta Records, the group cut several singles which failed to chart well beyond the Chicago area. It wasn't until their fourth single, "Bend Me, Shape Me" that their music took off. The song climbed as high as #5 nationally in early 1968 and that success led to appearances on American Bandstand and other national TV programs.....David Galassie
Check out the dance steps by the band. This step was the benchmark move by most bands in the 60's.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• 60's
• oldies

[cuddlybear260]

Check out the guy playing trumpet and the drums at the same time at 2:17....NICE!

[serilopr]

Great song Great memories!

[yalecheerleder]

wake me shake me shake me wake me - now I know the true title

Bend me Shape me any way you want me Hmmm

[2ajjames]

Fantastic group of that day! The Latino dude has great rhythm! The weight workout could have been deleted, though, but that has nothing to do with the great tune.

[revup67]

interesting promo clip - the drum riff here is played on the snare but in reality it is supposed to be the rack tom

[Farinadog13]

@cuddlybear260 My neighbor in the Galewood Neighborhood in Chicago, Lee Graziano.!

[bobtoeback]

This is the version of the song I heard on the radio :o

[pcetra030965]

@curbelo1919 I must say the same to you, nobody I know remembers this show either. I too am glad to know there's someone else on this planet that remembers Now Explosion. I remember it being kind of like an evening version of American Bandstand.

[curbelo1919]

@pcetra030965 u r the first person i know of that remembers the now explosion. i was beginning to think i was imagining it. not only did it play way into the night when other channels had signed off, it would play unexpectedly during the day. i think to fill in yankee rain delays. 10 years before MTV.

[pcetra030965]

I can remember hearing this song for the first time on a NY show called Now Explosion. I was no more than 4 but I remember it was on every Sat. nite, my mom & sister would never miss it.

[dogleg97]

Don't exactly remember when I heard it, I knew it was around the time I joined the USMC, and I enlisted in Chi Town...being a Chicagoan who never flew on an airplane till I enlisted and flew out to the west coast for boot camp.

[ponder1972]

@wildnites558 I know that Charles Colbert had a hand in discovering Rufus...which featured Chaka Khan. Good looking out. Any day that I learn something new is great day! One love