The Five of Us

Hey You / I Don’t Believe

Platt Records GMJ 8149

May 1966

The Five of Us

Hey You / Need Me Like I Need You

Current Records C110

July 1966

The Guilloteens

Hey You! / I Don’t Believe

HBR 446 June 1965

“As far as I’m concerned, we were the best band in Tucson,” said Gerorge “Taco” Miraval, bassist of the Five of Us, in an interview for the “Think of the Good Times” Tucson ’60s comp released on Bacchus Archives in 2002. They certainly were one of The Old Pueblo’s most popular combos, packing local clubs such as The Dunes and The Embers and opening for headliners such as The Young Rascals and The Knickerbockers. The group started as a surf/instro combo called The Impressions, added vocals and changed their name to The Temptations and once the Motown group of the same name hit, changed their name to The Five of Us. Their first 45 was released in 1965 backing Elvis alike Tommy Gardner on lead vocals. Once Richard Gomez joined on keyboards there were six of them, but this time, they kept their name! The group decided to release a 45 consisting of covers of both sides of a record on the Los Angeles-based Hanna Barbara Records label by Memphis, Tennessee’s The Guilloteens, “because we thought we could do it better,” said Miraval. A month later, KTKT’s Dan Gates made a deal with Los Angeles DJ “Emperor” Bob Hudson to release “Hey You” on his Current Records label. Hudson decided that using “Need Me like I Need You” would give the single a better chance at “cracking the market.” Unfortunately, it didn’t. In 1967, Five of Us members Alex Valdez and guitarist Paul Canella joined The Yellow Balloon and toured the country on their hit record “Yellow Balloon” which you can read more about in a previous Vintage Vinyl Tucson. George Miraval and Richard Gomez joined Tucson’s The Poppies. 

This article appears in Nov 9-15, 2017.

4 replies on “Vintage Vinyl”

  2. I remember George (Taco) Miraval. Very nice guy. Remember playing football at a park in the center of town. He gave me a hard time for not making a tackle that I should have made. He was right, I should have. Oh, well. Still remember him fondly. He was really was a nice guy.

  3. Nice to see someone in contact with George. He joined The Poppies a couple of months before I left.A superb bassist,just great to work with.Later on Paul Cannella replaced me,and sometime after that Richard Gomez replaced keyboardist Steve Solomon.It’s a bit off topic,but Poppies drummer Rusty Terry (RIP) told us right around then that he would have been in the Larry Cox accident if he hadn’t declined the job that Rick Mellinger eventually took.
    Dave Hopping

  4. I remember very well The Poppies when I was on the air at KIKX and KTKT. Incredible band that I heard many, many times, especially at The Dunes!

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