February Birthdays 
As far as I know the previous discussion of this is essentially all in discussion of RFB 223.
Arlen Sanders & the Pacifics w/ Hopped Up Mustang
also here.
As pointed out before, essentially Lee Hazlewood's (?) Movin' with lyrics modeled on Hot Rod Lincoln.
The two songs are specifically compared on Youtube here.
I notice in the video of this last that the version of Movin' (by the Squires) is identified as "arr. Romberger" and the Sanders song is credited to Sanders-Romberger. A little googling (Pipl) suggests it's Bill Romberger.
Also per All But Forgotten Oldies:
•"Hopped Up Mustang" by Arlen Sanders is included on the following compilation CDs: Hot Rods & Custom Classics [BOX SET] and Get A Board!. "Hopped Up Mustang" by Arlen Sanders (a.k.a. Arlen Sanders With The Pacifics) was recorded in 1964 as a single b/w "A Letter To Paul" (Faro 616). This novelty song was written by Bill Romberger and Arlen Sanders and is a take-off on "Hot Rod Lincoln." Arlen Sanders was a DJ at KRLA-Los Angeles around the time this record was released.
This is Bill Romberger's own story of the Pacifics a/k/a the Squires from that YouTube comparison.
Uploaded on Feb 16, 2012
These two records are what dreams are made of, and how reality competes with those dreams, especially true for the Squires.
We were hired to play the Friday evening "Sock Hop' in Crandall Gym for the "All Poly" weekend Friday night February 21, 1964. This was the dance that welcomed all the Cal Poly students from the Pomona campus to visit our Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Campus.
During the dance, we noticed two fellows standing across the room, not dancing, but watching us intently... we paid them no mind, except that when the dance was over they came over to us and wanted to know what that song was that we played 3 or 4 songs back... We weren't sure what song they were talking about until they clarified that it was a repetitive instrumental. "Oh! That was Movin'" we decided. They proceeded to tell us that they wanted to record us playing that tune. No one believed them... "...but we have A.C. Auditorium reserved for that very purpose" they told us, "Could we be there at 9 am tomorrow morning to do the recording?" We still didn't believe them and continued to "tear down" the band equipment and moved on, ignoring them. Butch went off and had some libations, The rest of us went home and to bed, not at all concerned about what tomorrow would bring... or maybe we all had some libations with Butch that night... can't remember.
The next morning I awoke to some furious pounding on my door "Bill, Bill, get your stuff, those guys are serious! They are for real! They are setting up tape recorders and everything and even have condenser mics" It was Sandy, who was smart enough to get up and check out A.C. Auditorium to see if they were really there! And they were! Jack Williams and Ed Hardenburgh of Starlite Records were there sitting in the middle of the seats with their Crown 15 ips 4 track machine in front of them. They were ready! Were we?
A.C. Auditorium was a lecture hall that held approximately 400 students. The seats were wood, no soft cushions on the back or seat. The floor was inclined so the back row was higher than the front row and the platform was a 2 or 3 step up platform about 30' x 25'. It was big and we rehearsed there many times. Sandy's drums were set up in the middle of the platform facing to the front seats, I was off to Sandy's right with my amp facing away from the drums, Butch was a little to Sandy's left in front of him with his amp facing away from the drums to the front and Stan Young was on Sandy's right with his amp facing away from the drums. Each of us had a mic in front of our amps and Sandy got the condenser mic placed above him.
26 takes later we did it! And then they asked for a song for the "B" side. What? The "B" side? What is that? We weren't ready! So now what do we do? They wanted an original... What? An original? No way, We're a cover band! Well, after much head scratching, I said that I had something that I fooled around with while I was practicing guitar... we tried it and named it "Night Road". One take.
So what you hear on "Hopped Up Mustang" is the Squires, renamed the Pacifics. We have been the Pacifics ever since.
The pictures in this video are from a dance at Freemont Hall, one of the dorms on campus. We were the Pacifics then, but consisted of all the Squires, Including Mike Murphy on guitar, Tommy Lee on keyboards and Dan McCauly, vocals.
So what happened to the records? Thanks for asking. Starlite Records after manufacturing some small number of them, sold the track to Faro Productions, who did the Arlen Sanders voice over and added the car sounds, doubled the length of "Movin'" and remixed it slightly to bring up that chugging bass and dropped the lead back a little bit. Arlen Sanders was a big deal disc jockey on KRLA in Los Angles and this record was going to take off because of him! We were going to be the "number one group in the nation". Or so we were told, if everything went as planned. The day "Hopped Up Mustang" was released, Arlen Sanders was not on the air at KRLA.
Timing is everything.You can purchase a copy of "Hopped Up Mustang" from various vendors on the internet. It was included on a couple of "Surfing" albums and is on disc 4 of the 4 disc set by Rhino Records "Hot Rods and Custom Classics" a really great collection of car songs. The best part of "Hopped Up Mustang" is the second gear rubber at the very end of it. Check it out!
If you should purchase the track (and we think you should), none of that money will ever get to us. But that's ok, because we will always have the memories! And because of these two records, we started recording our gigs and because of that we have all these recordings we made back in the middle '60's. Hope you enjoy them!
Love to hear your comments here. And don't forget to check out some of the other Pacific recordings, especially "Bandit's Raid" and maybe "Betty Lou's Got a New Pair of Shoes". They are all full of fun and lots of energy!
Thanks for watching!
Last edited: Sep 30, 2013 12:30:07
