The Next Five

The Next Five, a.k.a. Toy Factory, was formed in Brookfield Wisconsin in the spring of 1966.

Over the years they've become a favorite pick on Psychedelic Punk compilation albums and MP3 downloads around the world.

The group had three record releases from 1967 thru 1969:

"Little Black Egg" written by Chuck Conlon and "He Stole My Love" written by Eric Olson were recorded at Dave Kennedy Studios, Milwaukee, Wisc. #637 on the Destination Record label, Chicago Ill.
"Mama Said" written by Dixon - Denson and "Talk to Me Girl" written by Eric Olson were recorded at Cuca Studios, Sauk City, Wisc. (engineer, James Kirchstein) #1170 on the Wand record label, New York, N.Y.
"Sunny Sunny Feeling" written by Kornfeld-Morier recorded at Chess Studios, Chicago, Ill. (engineer Stu Black) and "What's That Melody?" written by Eric Olson were #5668 on the Jubilee Record label, New York, N.Y. and was released under the name Toy Factory (not related to Avco Embassy).

Members included Steve Thomas on guitar, Gordy Wayne Olski on bass guitar, Mark Buscaglia on the Hammond organ, Eric Olson on lead vocals, and the drummers were Tom Stewart from 1966 thru 1967 and John Kruck from 1968 thru 1969. The group was managed by Con Merten and produced by Paul Christy.

Click to hear a montage of three songs

Every teenage band in the 60's knew how hard it was to get a song recorded. You needed an established band, a producer, a manager, a recording studio and engineer, a good song, and lots of money, just to get 7 or 8 parts recorded together into a song.

Today's songwriters enjoy the convenience of computers, multi-track digital recorders, drum loops, instrument sounds, everything at the touch of a button, to record one track at a time in the comfort of their own home, and whenever they feel inspired to manifest their vision.

There was an actual turning point from the 60's to now, and that was in 1973 when the Teac 3340S entered the commercial market. At an affordable price, the Teac gave you the same multi-track capabilities as those four track studios of the 60's. Another new technology of the time was the Univox drum machine.

Together, the Teac and drum machine started the home recording revolution - the complete self containment for songwriters of which is the norm today. One of the earliest examples of this technology is Eric Olson's "Springdale '73".

	1. Makin Love Tonite
	2. Kindle My Imagination
	3. Back Stabin Fran
	4. Hey La La
	5. Angel in Blue
	6. When I'm Around
	7. Strike of Fascination
	8. Throw That Thought Away
	9. Intellect High
	10. Woman
	11. Love and Me
	12. Nobody Knew Me

If you would like to purchase Springdale '73, it is available at CD Baby.

Springdale '73 by Eric Olson is a catalog of about 30 original songs recorded in a bedroom at Springdale Apartments in Waukesha Wisconsin in 1973. All tracks were recorded one at a time into a Teac 3340s using a Univox drum machine as the foundation, achieving the same basic results as todays songwriters using multi-track digital tools and drum loops. The Teac and drum machine together opened up creative doors for songwriters everywhere.

Remastered on a Roland 2400 digital recorder, the twelve songs chosen for this album were based on the diversity of the songs and the drum beats supplied by the drum machine. These very original pop songs and unique recordings are one of a kind, and would be a real novelty as an addendum to your record collection.

To contact Eric Olson, you can email him at eo@ericolsonnextfive.com