The Headliners Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1964-1966   Mike Hickman, Ed Salamon (guitar) and John Catizone (keyboards) in front, Dennis Auth visible on drums in back.   The Headliners were formed in the fall of 1964 by classmates at South Hills Catholic High School (Class of '66). All except Mike were from Brookline, and had previously attended Resurrection elementary school together. Mike was from the adjoining Dormont neighborhood. The group auditioned for DJ Steve Rizen, of KQV radio, and were advised to get bigger amplifiers. The Headliners took his advice and were soon performing at KQV record hops (including the Monroeville Fire Hall, St. Bartholomews in Penn Hills, and St. Josephs in Mt. Oliver), as well as at teen nightclubs (including the Downtown Au Go Go, Giant, and Jet Set Au Go Go) in the Pittsburgh area. The Headliners appeared on shows with local recording artists including The Marcels, The Fenways, and Johnny Daye. Other Pittsburgh bands playing the same venues at the time included The Three Sounds, The Glendellas, The Scroobys, Me And The Organization, The Igniters, The Undertakers, The Rizen Sons, J. and The Soul Brothers and the The Triffids. KQV DJ Chuck Brinkman dubbed Ed "Pittsburgh's answer to Mick Jagger", although the group thought of itself as more of a "blue eyed soul" group than a beat band. The Headliners made a demonstration record of "Little Latin Lupe Lu" b/w "Money" which features Ed and Mike singing in a Righteous Brothers style. It was duplicated on Gateway Records acetates. John did not appear on this recording. The Headliners first lineup fell apart in the summer of 1965. In order to fulfill dates that were already booked, Ed teamed with a group from the McKees Rocks section of Pittsburgh, The Travelles, and they appeared with him as the Headliners. Coincidentally, a local Black vocal group began using The Headliners and released a record that began getting airplay at that time. The situation came to a head while the Headliners were driving to a show for DJ Al Gee of WZUM at the Rankin Elks, a Black venue, and they heard themselves promoted as the "Highlanders" on the radio. The "original" Headliners went on for a few more months and then dissolved, rather than compete for that name against a group with a record on the radio, The group was proud of its ability to be accepted by black, white or mixed crowds, according to venue. Ed then formed a short lived group, The Avengers, with some other guys from Brookline, then joined The Rockers from nearby Mt. Oliver, after the group approached him at the Loaves and Fishes coffeehouse in Shadyside. The Rockers were invited to tour with The Fifth Estate ("Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead"), but Ed decided to stay in Pittsburgh finish college instead and stopped performing. Bob Shannon wrote in Radio and Records on September 7, 2001: "Ed Salamon loved rock'n'roll, but with no Brian Epstein to guide their fortunes, his group's only recording, a demo of "Money" b/w "Little Latin Lupe Lu" , went nowhere. The band fizzled out, and Salamon headed off to college"   Personnel: Original Lineup Ed Salamon - Rhythm Guitar/Vocals Mike Hickman - Vocals John Catizone - Electric Piano/Guitar/Vocals Frank Carey - Guitar/Sax/Vocals Dennis Auth - Drums Second Lineup Ed Salamon - Rhythm Guitar/Vocals Mike Hickman - Vocals Dennis Auth - Drums Al Boss Rick ? Final Lineup Ed Salamon - Rhythm Guitar/Vocals plus the group formerly known as the Travelles (Karl, Jim and Bob) Influences: At the time when other bands wanted to be the Beatles, The Headliners wanted to be the Temptations. Ed was inspired by the success of The Skyliners, who were from an adjoining neighborhood. Setlist Sample: "My Girl", "Little Latin Lupe Lu" and "Do You Love Me" were among the standard Top 40 songs that were expected of them, but The Headliners were noted for performing many "Pittsburgh oldies" like "Wine Wine Wine" (The Nitecaps), "'69" (The Arondies), " Lovely Dee" and "You're On Top" (The Untouchables). Equipment: Ed's equipment included a sunburst Kent guitar (part of a set from Lomakin Music which Ed and John bought the same day), and Silvertone Twin Twelve amp. Rehearsal Space: Rehearsal space was generally John's living room. Band Vehicles: "I remember us once taking our equipment on a bus to play at the Penn-Shady Ballroom" Fashion Statement: Ed says "We normally dressed in suits or sport coats, which is how we were required to dress for school at South Catholic. The school always hassled me about the length of my hair, which was certainly not long by today's standards. In fact, I had to get my senior picture retaken with shorter hair so I could be in my yearbook." Best Gig: The best gigs were always the hops for radio disc jockeys, because we got to hear the group talked about on the air. These DJs included KQV's Chuck Brinkman, Dex Allen and Hal Murray, WZUM's Al Gee and WAMO's Porky Chedwick. Gig from Hell!: Ed recalls the Headliners gig from hell being a Porky Chedwick record hop where the group followed Stax recording artist Johnny Daye. "Each time Johnny would kick up his foot, some guys in the audience would try to pull him off stage. We worried that things would get even rougher by the time we went on. Johnny's manager, Joe Rock (who had managed The Skyliners and would later manage the Jaggerz), opened his briefcase and showed us a gun. He told us not to worry, that he would stay until we finished our set and make sure we got off ok, which he did." Ed and Joe remained friends until Joe's death in 2000. Last Gig: None listed.   The Headliners final lineup (Ed Salamon with band formerly known as the Travelles) left to right: Jim, Karl, Ed and Bob.        Where are they now? Spring, 2004 After graduation, Ed worked in radio until 2002, and also remained connected to music by writing liner notes and/or producing retrospective albums for The Skyliners, The Casinos, Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, The Dominoes and many others. He is now Executive Director of a nonprofit radio organization based in Nashville and, at this writing, has not been in touch with any of the other group members for decades. "Although I may have been the frontman, John Catizone was the true musician. He was the one who taught the rest of the group the songs. As I recall, he joined the Navy and later taught music at Lomakins. I bet he's still out there somewhere playing piano." -Ed Salamon     Information contributed by Ed Salamon  ed_salamon@crb.org

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