Band of Oz (Beach Band)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Band of Oz is a prominent band of the beach music genre. Starting in the mid sixties with high school students, the band turned professional in the early seventies with a core group mostly from the Greenville, North Carolina Rose High School Stage Band, that featured Chuck French on trumpet, Gary Warren saxophone, Randy Hignite keyboards, Jim Heidenreich drums, Johnnie Byrd bass, Buddy Johnson vocals and Keith Houston guitar. In 1971 Billy Bazemore replaced Johnson.
In 1978, the group recorded and released their first single Shaggin. This was followed by Star of My Life in 1979, and national radio airplay. They performed 200 to 300 shows per year throughout the 1980s amidst massive personnel restructuring. In 1995 they released the hit single Shama Lama Ding Dong, the People's Choice Song of the Year at that year's Cammy Awards, and one of the most requested beach songs of all time.
In 1997, the band was inducted into the Beach Music Hall of Fame.
