Dave Brady and the Stars

Band History

In the fall of 1965, after playing lead guitar with various bands, the iconoclastic B-3 Hammond organ master Jimmy Hill and I organized Dave Brady and the Stars, the popular Minneapolis based R&B band.

This "cover" band was noted for being one of the first "mixed groups" to widely popularize the Motown style of music (Temptations, Impressions, Imperials, Sam and Dave, Smokey Robinson, Martha and the Vandelas, etc.) in many of the numerous dance clubs around the Twin Cities and the five-state region. This was at a time when the popular songs on the radio were "96 Tears," "Cherish," and "Last Train to Clarksville"! (KDWB week of 10/29/1966)

The band was truly innovative, fresh, and forward thinking at the time and was a definitive contribution to the enduring reputation of the "Minneapolis sound" and the unique quality of musicians from the Twin Cities.

Dave Brady and the Stars performed with many notable acts, including the Mamas and Papas (with hit single "California Dreamin") at then Convention Hall in the Minneapolis Auditorium on October 26, 1966. The "Stars" were regulars as the house band at Magoo's, adjacent to Mr. Lucky's Night Club on Nicollet and Lake in Minneapolis.

They were then out on the road every weekend night, playing many of the 1940's historic dance venues around the five-state region, such as the Prom Center, Mr. Lucky's, the Marigold Ballroom, the Marion, Frederic Ballroom, Ryan's Bass Lake Ballroom, Kato Ballroom, Shliefs Little City, the Bel-Ray, the Medina Center, and many more where 1960's teens got together in large numbers to dance and socialize.

Individual "Stars" members went on to play in other popular bands such as The Del Counts, Danny's Reasons, Class Action, the Mystics, Sounds of Soul, and Willie and the Bees, and national acts such as A&M artist, Rockie Robbins, the Bobby Lyle Trio, and Los Chamacos.

On April 28, 2007, various former members of Dave Brady and the Stars were reunited for a performance and induction into the Minnesota Rock/Country Hall of Fame at the Medina Center in Plymouth, MN.

For more pictures and information visit the band's Myspace music page.