Keeping the beat: Pulse (from left) Carl Donnell, Peter Neri, Paul Rosano, Benet Segal, Richard Bednarcyzk, Jeffrey Potter.
Picture courtesy Mascot Records
Pulse Pulse
POISON RING, 1969
V IEWERS OF TV shows including Bob Odenkirk’s Lucky Hank, What We Do In The Shadows and Law & Order: Organized Crime may have heard, in passing, some vintage bluesy psych cues with zip-busting vocals. It’s likely they had no idea who it was. In actuality, they were listening to New Haven group Pulse, who managed one self-titled album in 1968 before passing into hearsay and obscurity.
The group had its roots in Connecticut bands The Shags and the Bram Rigg Set. Both groups were managed by local producer and former dentist Thomas ‘Doc’ Cavalier, AKA Trod Nossel. After mid-’60s 45s on small labels, both groups split in ’67, whereupon Cavalier suggested a rethink. “This was Doc’s plan to create a ‘super group’ with two of the most well-known bands in the area,” says ex-Bram Rigg Set guitarist Peter Neri.