Tim Tam And The Turn-Ons

Tim Tam and The Turn-On's (the possessive spelling is correct) were an American rock band from Allen Park, Michigan in the 1960s. They consisted of Rick Wiesend, Dan Wiesend, John Ogen, Don Grundman, Earl Rennie and Nick Butsicaris. They met while students at Allen Park High School. The group's name came from the racehorse "Tim Tam" and "Turn-On" from a phrase popular at the time.

The group recorded several singles, such as "Cheryl Ann", "Kimberly", and "Don't Say Hi" (all for Palmer Records, 13401 Puritan, Detroit, MI 48227), but are best known for "Wait A Minute" which went to #76 nationally on the Billboard chart in 1966. "Wait a Minute" was recorded in December 1965 at United Sound Systems, 5840 Second Ave., Detroit, MI 48202, and ran 2 minutes and 17 seconds. The flip-side of the single is an instrumental titled "Opelia" (Palmer Records #5002). Although this instrumental was credited on the label to the group, the performance was actually back-up band The Satellites, with keyboardist Danny Tyrell aka Naimowicz. "Wait A Minute" is a fantastic, uptempo doo-wop love song in the style of The Four Seasons. "Wait A Minute" was written by Rick Wiesand and Tom DeAngelo. The song was a #3 hit in Windsor and Detroit on radio stations WKNR-AM and WXYZ-AM, and in all of Southwestern Ontario , Michigan, Northern Ohio and Indiana by being featured on powerhouse radio station CKLW from which its national exposure evolved.

Rick Wiesand also released two singles under the name Rick Reason: "I Feel So Bad" b/w "I'll Always Remember" (as Rick Reason and The Satellites, Mar-Vel 3300 - this was re-issued in the 1970s with the B-side "Please Me", same label number) and "Please Me" b/w "Two And Two Are Four' (as Rick Reason and His 1965 Million Seller, Glenn 3301), both in 1965.

The group were initial investors in a small apartment complex in Allen Park (14622 Champaign, Allen Park, MI 48101) during the late 1960s and early 1970s. The complex has since been demolished.

Rick died 22 October 2003 from cancer.

Discography: I Feel So Bad (b/w) I'll Always Remember (as Rick Reason and The Satellites) (MAR-VEL 3300 1965) // Please Me (b/w) Two And Two Are Four (as Rick Reason and His 1965 Million Seller) (GLENN 3301 1965) // Wait A Minute (b/w) Opelia (instrumental) (PALMER 5002 1965) // Cheryl Ann (b/w) Seal It With A Kiss (PALMER 5003 1966) // Kimberly (b/w) I Leave You In Tears (PALMER 5006 1966) // Don't Say Hi (vocal) (b/w) Don't Say Hi (instrumental) (as Tim Tam) (PALMER 5014 1967) // I Feel So Bad (b/w) Please Me (MAR-VELL 3300 197?)

References

Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1996 book