The Housemen

by Natalie Barry

Students of Hastings High School from the mid-1960s may remember a group of young men (three village residents, plus a city boy) who were members of a band called The Housemen. This group of friends were good musicians and played at several of the high school dances. The Society recently received some information about this band from Bob Russell (HHS Class of ‘65), a long-time member and contributor to our organization. He shared with us a number of photos, a recorded song, plus some recollections from classmate and band member Steve Collins. The following is a trip down musical Memory Lane in Hastings, circa 1965.

In mid-junior year, classmates John Houseman and Steve Collins formed The Mustangs, who played their first gig at a St. Matthew’s dance and were paid $50, which worked out to be $12.50 per band member. Steve recalls: “The original drummer was Bob Zabronick (HHS Class of ’64), who played standing up, like Dave Clark of the Dave Clark Five. The original rhythm guitar player was John Fagan, from Yonkers. John enlisted in the service after our junior year and, heroically and amazingly, survived as a medic in the famed 101st Airborne in Vietnam. When Bob Zabronick graduated from HHS in the spring of 1964, he was briefly replaced on drums by his cousin, Ritchie Nichols, and, soon after, by Carl Peachman. Alec Hirschfeld from New York City joined the group as rhythm guitarist, after brief stints by Alan Freedman and Gil Gale (both HHS Class of ’65). Around the start of the Class of 1965’s senior year, the band became The Housemen, in honor of John, who was always the leader.”

Bob says: “From the photos, you can see how very much they were influenced by the Beatles. For four guys age 17 years old, they played well, and could cover many of the popular songs of the day. Those of us who are still alive, whether we live in Hastings or elsewhere, remember this little band. The song, I believe, is a treasure.”

Alec played rhythm guitar on this recording, with Carl Peachman on drums, Steve Collins on bass, and John Houseman on lead guitar. The song is called “We Two,” and was written by John, who is singing lead vocal, while Steve and Alec harmonize in the background. The original reel-to-reel tape recording was pressed into about 10 glass/vinyl copies. Decades later, Steve transferred the song from his own very scratched copy to MP3, and emailed it to Bob. According to Bob, “What we have here, I believe, is the only known recording of a song written, performed and recorded in Hastings-on-Hudson in the 20^th century.”

Bob could be right, although if he isn’t, we’d love to get more recordings if they’re out there. We hope you enjoy this bit of Hastings’ musical history. A recording of the song is provided below.

Natalie Barry is the president of the Hastings Historical Society.