Bubble Puppy and Demian

                From 1967 until around 1970 Roy, Todd, David, and Rod were The Bubble Puppy. We're in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame in an exhibit called "One Hit Wonders" cause we were. Our Song Hot Smoke and Sassafrass reached number 14 in the national Billboard Magazine charts in 1968. We performed on Dick Clark's American Bandstand when we were just kids! We lived together in the country in Austin, or in big house in Houston, where we jammed, wrote songs, and had fun. We changed our name to Demian around 1970 because people associated us with Bubble Gum music, which we definitely were not! We had been touring with Steppenwolf. Their bass player became our manager and we moved to Los Angeles and changed our name to Demian. (Both Seppenwolf and Demian were written by the same author). We still had a record deal and sounded great on the day we called it quits at the Tropicana hotel in 1971. Here are photos and memories of some of the best times of my life.

Dave at Pat Keel's house in Houston circa 1967. We had stayed up all night tripping and listening to the new Led Zepplin album. 

The Bubble Puppy and Crew at our landlord's house in Houston 1968. Our house was just down the block.
               

Dave and George Bush                Dave and George Clinton
At the house of Nick St. Nicholas, Demian's manager in L.A.
               
Bubble Puppy and Parliment/Funkadelic in Detroit at a pre-show Radio interview 1968. I have almost no memory of this picture being taken!
               

Bubble Puppy on the set (I think!) of American Bandstand in '67 or '68

Texas Top 40 Songs: 1955-2001

29. "Hot Smoke & Sasafrass," Bubble Puppy (#14, 1969) The 13th Floor Elevators' "You're Gonna Miss Me" is the quintessential Texas psych anthem, but Bubble Puppy's "Hot Smoke & Sassafras" charted higher. Formed from the ashes of Corpus Christi's Bad Seeds, Bubble Puppy landed in Austin in 1967, honing their sound at the Vulcan Gas Company. Moving to Houston to record for International Artists, the quartet's forward-looking amalgam of psychedelia and hard rock took off in 1969. The band eventually relocated to California before calling it quits in 1972.


Bubble puppy and crew in our landlord's  private graveyard!
               

home