ALLAN “JAKE” JACOBS
The band, now redubbed the Magicians, added Allan “Jake” Jacobs (guitar and vocals) and John Townley (guitar and bass) when Mike Appel and Everett Jacobs left the band. The band became better known when they replaced the Lovin’ Spoonful as the house band at the Night Owl nightclub in the Village. At one point, Felix Pappalardi – later of the hard rock band Mountain – was interested in joining up as the bass guitarist, but it didn’t work out. They even managed to score an appearance on a local CBS television show called Eye on New York – quite a coup considering that they did not have a hit song or an album.
Following the break-up of the Magicians in 1967, Alan Gordon and Garry Bonner became successful songwriters, particularly with the Turtles; they composed two of the band’s biggest hits, “Happy Together” and “She’d Rather Be with Me”. Allan “Jake” Jacobs later recorded as Bunky and Jake, and also as Jake and the Family Jewels.
(December 2011)
