The Invictas

The Invictas
Background information
Origin Rochester, New York, United States
Genres
Years active 1961-1970, 2004-present
Labels
  • Sahara
  • Bengal
Members
  • Herb Gross
  • Jim Kohler
  • Dave Hickey
  • Dave Profeta
Past members
  • Bruce Hickey
  • Mark Blumenfeld

The Invictas (sometimes called Herb Gross & the Invictas) are an American garage rock band from Rochester, New York who were active in the 1960s, but re-formed in 2004 and have been intermittently active since. They were one of the most popular local bands in the Rochester scene during the 1960s, scoring a regional hit with "The Hump" in 1965.

History

The band formed by Herb Gross (aka Herb McGovern) in Rochester, New York in 1960.[1] [2] Their initial lineup consisted of the band's leader Gross on guitar and vocals, along with Bruce Hickey on guitar, Dave Hickey on drums.[2] In 1961, while Gross was attending the Rochester Institute of Technology, he expanded the band to include Jim Kohler on bass, and Mark Blumenfeld on lead guitar and the band renamed themselves The Invictas.[2] The band’s name was inspired by the Buick car of the time known as the Invicta, meaning "invincible" in Latin.[2] The Invictas, who used a black hearse with their band logo painted on the side to haul equipment and travel form gig to gig, became a regular fixture Tiny's Bengal Inn, a local club.[1]

The group attracted the attention of Steve Brodie's Sahara label.[3] Their debut single, "the Hump" b/w Long Tall Shorty," was released in 1965 on Sahara.[1][4][3] Just before going into the studio to record the single, the band had to bail their keyboard player from jail, so that he could participate in the session.[1] The song received airplay on the East Coast and was a hit in western New York, reaching #1 position in Rochester and other places, leading the band to claim that they "outsold the Beatles" locally.[1][2] The band's popularity exploded and they opened for famous acts such as the Beach Boys, Jay and The Americans, the Shirelles, Gary Lewis and The Playboys, the Young Rascals, and Otis Redding.[2] According to Gross, "Girls were chasing us. We could play pretty much wherever we wanted to play."[1]

The Invictas recorded an album entitled The Invictas a Go-Go, which was produced by Dave Lucas and was hastily recorded during a weekend session in New York City in 1965.[1][3] It consisted of several Gross-penned tunes such as "Do It" and "The Hump," as well as covers of popular songs like "Hang On Sloopy", "Land of a Thousand Dances" and "Satisfaction."[3] The group was not satisfied with the results, feeling that the project had been rushed.[1] The band cut three more singles for Sahara Records and its sister-label Bengal.[4] In early 1966 the Invictas released "Do It" b/w "The Hook". They followed it with I'm Alright" b/w "Stuff" later in the year.[4] In 1967, they released "The Detroit Move", a blue-eyed soul number inspired by Detroit's Mitch Ryder, backed "Shake a Tail Feather" on the B-side.[4] Facing the prospect of the Vietnam draft after graduation, Jim Kohler he joined the Air Force and Dave Hickey followed suit. The band continued with modified lineups for several more years, but with the constant grind of touring finally taking its toll, the band broke up in the early 1970s.[1]

Herb Gross started an advertising firm and has been active with it for many years.[1][5] Jim Kohler became involved the printing business.[1] The Invictas had a brief and temporary reunion in the 1980.[1] In 2004, Herb Gross and Dave Hickey were watching a blues band perform in Rochester and the singer invited them onto the stage.[1] When Gross came up to sing, to his surprise, the crowd pleaded for him to sing "the Hump."[1] Afterwards, he expressed to Hickey that the band should reunite.[1] So the band got back together with three of the four original lineup, Gross, Dave Hickey, and Jim Kohler and also Dave Profeta, who is now the band’s lead guitarist.[1][2] Proefta also participated in their 1980 reunion. They have been active, playing various gigs and functions since and have been profiled in USA Today and on NBC' The Today Show and still travel in a hearse with their logo painted on the side.[2][1][6] Their collected work from the 1960s is included on the anthology Best of Herb Gross & the Invictas: Á Go Go, which includes their 1965 album Á Go Go along with singles and outtakes.[7][8] Since re-uniting they have released an album of newly recorded material, Let's Party.[9]

Membership (circa 1966-1967)

1960s

2004 to present

Discography

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 "'60s Garage Band Rocks Into Retirement Age". USA Today. USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc. Retrieved December 17, 2015. The U.S.A. Today article says that the band recorded "The Hump" in 1963, but this time frame is unlikely, because (according to Markesich's book) it was not released until June of 1965, which likely places the period of recording somewhere between late 1964 to mid-1965.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Gross, Herb. "The Invictas Story". Herb Gross and the Invictas. Herb Gross. Retrieved January 1, 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "The Invictas". Welcome to Bad Cat Records. Bad Cat Records. Retrieved January 1, 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Markesich, Mike (2012). Teen Beat Mayhem (First ed.). Branford, Connecticut: Priceless Info Press. p. 135. ISBN 978-0-9856482-5-1.
  5. ↑ "TV Production, Advertising, and Entertainment". Herb Gross & company. Herb Gross & company. Retrieved January 1, 2016.
  6. ↑ Garner, Jack (July 22, 2006). "Today Show a Fan of the Invictas" (PDF). Gannett. Democrat and Chronicle. Retrieved January 1, 2016.
  7. ↑ "The Invictas – The Invictas À Go-Go". Discogs. Discogs®. Retrieved January 1, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Best of Herb Gross & the Invictas". Amazon.com. Amazon.com, Inc. Retrieved January 1, 2016.
  9. ↑ Gross, Herb. "Herb Gross & the Invictas". Herb Gross & the Invictas. Herb Gross. Retrieved January 1, 2016.
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