The Other Four

The Other Four were a San Diego garage band that released three singles in 1965 and 1966, the last of them appearing on the Decca label. Most of the group had played in the Man-Dells who put out an unimpressive single in the winter of 1964/1965. The Other Four's 45s were better but still rather unexceptional efforts that were pretty typical of what countless other bands in the United States were doing at the time. The singles varied between standard pop/rock garage; a more slickly produced harmony pop/rocker ("These Are the Words"); a tune with a folk-rockish riff that sounded a bit like the Monkees at their hardest-rocking ("Once and for All Girl"); a pointless cover of Kenny Dino's 1961 hit "Your Ma Said You Cried in Your Sleep Last Night"; and a daintily arranged tune ("How Do You Tell a Girl") that was a little reminiscent of the mid-'60s Beach Boys' productions, though of course not remotely in the same league. Members Rick Randle and Norman Lombardo later played together (and were the songwriters for) the Brain Police, a San Diego psychedelic group that recorded an obscure demo album in 1968. All six tracks from the Other Four's singles are available as bonus tracks on the CD reissue of the Brain Police's demo LP, titled The Brain Police, on Normal/Shadoks. ~ Richie Unterberger