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In 1968, the band switched focus, going electric and recruiting two fellow musicians from Boston band The Hallucinations, drummer Stephen Jo Bladd and vocalist Peter Blankenfeld, a fast-talking former WBCN disc jockey with the air name Peter Wolf. Funk"), and harmonica player Richard Salwitz (" Magic Dick"). Originally named Snoopy and the Sopwith Camels, the group was an acoustic blues trio with Geils on guitar, bassist Danny Klein ("Dr. The band started in the mid-1960s while John Geils was attending Worcester Polytechnic Institute for a couple of semesters after transferring from Northeastern University in Boston (where he lived in "The Playboy Room" of the Gamma Phi Kappa Fraternity).
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Beginning in 1999, the band had several reunions prior to the death of its namesake, J. After Wolf left the band in 1983 to pursue a solo career, the band released one more album in 1984 with Justman on lead vocals, before breaking up in 1985. They performed a mix of cover songs of classic blues and R&B songs, along with original compositions written primarily by Wolf and Justman, as well as some group compositions written under the pseudonymous name Juke Joint Jimmy, representing compositions credited to the entire band as a whole. The band played R&B-influenced blues rock during the 1970s and soon achieved commercial success before moving toward a more mainstream radio-friendly sound in the early 1980s, which brought the band to its commercial peak. Wolf and Justman served as principal songwriters. The original band members included vocalist Peter Wolf, harmonica and saxophone player Richard "Magic Dick" Salwitz, drummer Stephen Bladd, vocalist/keyboardist Seth Justman, and bassist Danny Klein. Geils Band / ˌ dʒ eɪ ˈ ɡ aɪ l z/ was an American rock band formed in 1967, in Worcester, Massachusetts, under the leadership of guitarist John "J." Geils.
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Rock, blues rock (early), new wave (late) Not pictured: Seth Justman, Danny Klein, Stephen Jo Bladd
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