The Clams

A 1970s novelty band which lasted two days doing one recording session. Their "Close To You" cover had success when played on WNBC by Bruce Morrow as an example of a bad record, however his audience loved it, it was added to the station's playlist, and the single went top 40. Unfortunately CTI Records had only pressed enough copies to send out for radio promotion, so the single was not to be found in stores anywhere. The band later returned to the studio and did five tracks trying for an album deal, to no success, and did some Doctor Pepper radio commercials for Don Elliott Productions, which were rejected by the ad agency. The band's name is from musician's slang for a wrong note.
Lineup: Tony Levin (bassist), Pete Levin (keyboardist), Steve Gadd (drummer), Michael Holmes (pianist/musicologist), Vinnie Pasternack (guitarist/washboardist).