Billy Arnell And The Sparkles

Billy and Lou started the group together, they lived less than a block apart in Fair Lawn NJ. Later they added friends: Eddie Hoffman (organ) and Jack Gullone (drums). Eddie became a teacher somewhere in Long Island. Jack ended up living in Northern NJ. He graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in Massachusetts. The group played all over locally and by chance, meet Joe Martin of Apex-Martin Distributors in Newark, NJ. That meeting led to the "Tough Girl" recording session. When they did the first version of Tough Girl, the producer (the original one) wasn't happy - nor was Joe Martin. So he fired that producer and brought in George Kerr. George didn't like the band, so they redid the entire thing without the Sparkels, only with Billy singing and Lou on guitar. George brought in Eric Gale on guitar, Bernard "Pretty" Purdie on drums, Bobbie Banks on Organ, and a forgotten bass player. In addition they used the studio horn section that Lou arranged for plus two trumpets, two saxes and two vibes players.