The Numbers & Their 1983 "Anthology '64-'67" Album on Bomp! Records: EXCLUSIVE Terry Tutor Interview

We uncover a lot about these long-lost '80s retro power-poppers: Their Texas roots, their unexpected connection with The Who, and their slithering alias! The good news? They're dropping a new album!

If there’s such a thing as “The Great Lost Album” or “The Missing Vinyl Link,” Anthology ‘64-’67 by The Numbers may qualify.

Discogs puts it this way: “Their album was presented as an original ‘60s band, as a joke, but some reviewers and fans took it seriously!”

It was released on tiny Voxx Records (a subsidiary of the late power pop maven, Greg Shaw’s BOMP! Records) in 1983. To date, virtually no musical trace of the band’s lone album exists on the vast expanse of internet bandwidth!

There’s little reason for me to have known about the band or this album in 1983, as I was transitioning, then, from a decade in radio and the record biz (and a long-distance friendship with Greg), to a radical career change, starting with a return to college at age 28.

So, how do I know about this album now, 42 years later?

The guy on the left reached out to me on social media.

So, after discovering the lean scraps of Numbers info ‘net-side, happily, I contacted him! That “guy on the left” is The Numbers’ guitarist/vocalist, Terry Tutor, and he was exceedingly kind and generous with his time in filling me in on the latest (and the earliest) of The Numbers!

Terry and twin brother, Larry, wrote this, the only Numbers song that exists on the ‘net, “I Can’t Sleep at Night.” Larry sang lead and Terry played the guitar solo:

The Numbers:
Terry Tutor - guitar, piano and vocals
Larry Tutor - bass and vocals
Robert Dill - drums and vocals

The Numbers, in order (l-r): Robert Dill, Terry Tutor, Larry Tutor

The Terry Tutor Interview, May 22, 2025

Shopping The Numbers

Terry Tutor: “We were briefly with [Matthew King Kaufman’s] Beserkley Records [based in Berkeley in Northern California’s Bay Area] in 1981, and Greg Shaw had sent us a letter that said our Beserkley thing didn’t work out, and that he would be interested in putting out a record with us. I guess he more than knew Matthew Kaufman’s reputation. The Beserkley thing did fall through, and we moved to L.A. in 1982.

“Throughout our career, apart from Beserkley,” Terry continued, “I have had 8 such [label] meetings, and it always came down to artistic control. I have always spoken for the band in these matters. I always wanted a deal where the company would distribute what we produced. Artistic decisions were mine entirely and the company would simply distribute what I gave them. Well, no major label was willing to give me that kind of artistic control, so I walked on every single one of them.”

The Anthology ‘64-’67 Title for the 1983 Album; What Was the Deal With That?

Terry: “And, no we weren’t a ‘60s band. It was Greg’s idea to create this myth as a send-up of the heralded Nuggets (Elektra Records, 1972, curated, annotated, and produced by Patti Smith Group guitarist, Lenny Kaye) and Pebbles series, on several labels, but also on Greg’s BOMP! subsidiary, AIP (both compilations shown above).

“Greg and I even wrote the liner notes as such. He also found catalogue numbers on ‘60s labels that were between authentic ones, so even record collectors couldn’t be sure if this ruse [was or] wasn’t legit!

Behind-the-Scenes Dirt? Yes, Please!

Terry reveals that “The Who did a contest on MTV to promote their 1982 tour. The grand prize was 1 of Pete Townshend’s guitars, one of John Entwistle’s basses, one of Roger Daltrey’s microphones, and drum sticks signed by Kenney Jones👇!

“We knew the guy who won the contest. So, the electric guitar I used on that Numbers album was Pete Townshend’s # 9 Les Paul (the number was on the guitar), and Larry used the Entwistle Ampeg bass!”

Axes in Action

The Who in N. America, 1982:

I asked Terry about how their 1983 Numbers Anthology ‘64-’67 album was received; I was particularly curious if there was any blow-back to Greg’s “ruse” of this being something other than an early-’80s new recording by a new band.

Terry: “It did pretty well for an independent album in those days. There was enough demand for licensing and touring overseas. I saw a lot of copies in peoples’ hands when we toured Europe. The reviewers all got the joke, and I remember nothing but positive reviews.

“Our new album, with a July 7 release date: New original songs based on our ‘60s roots!”

Birth of The Bordersnakes

I asked Terry about why there’s such a dearth of biographical information about The Numbers online:

“This is probably because for many years following the BOMP association, we went under the name, The Bordersnakes. There is a YouTube channel dedicated to The Bordersnakes that we have nothing to do with as far as putting up content or maintaining.

“And, it’s been there for years. The name change? Well, because genre-wise, it was completely different...The genre could be categorized as ‘Electrified Americana.’ We made six self-released albums as The Bordersnakes.”

One of those albums (self-distributed on green CDrs) was called Love, Blood & Rhetoric, was released in 1999, and featured 14 original songs, of which these are a sampling:

“Poor Hank’s Almanac,” “String Of Blue Lights,” “Angel And The Bad Man,” “Airline Highway,” “Lonesome Standard Time,” “Dawn And The Day,” and eight more.

From 2012, and their Cadillac Jukebox album, “It’s Only Love”:

….and, here they take a breezy turn on Chad & Jeremy’s “A Summer Song” from 1964, written by Chad Stuart, Clive Metcalf, and Keith Noble:

….and, Gene Pitney’s “Hello Mary Lou” gets The Bordersnakes’ attention:

Bordersnakes in the Rear-View…

Terry continues: “Our name change back to The Numbers? There is a guy who has his own YouTube channel, named Matthew Street. He gave an overwhelmingly positive review to the 1983 album (The Numbers Anthology: ‘64-’67), and created a cult following in the Vinyl Community on YouTube.” Hence, the upcoming new album, due in July.

…To the Beginning

“I was a very big fan of The Flamin’ Groovies,” Terry recounts. “The Numbers started playing Dallas clubs when we were still in high school. We used to cover their ‘Shake Some Action’ as an encore.”

The little-heard original version, released in 1976 only on Sire Records/UK (in Texas, we called that “an import”!), and produced by the band. I had the 12” 45rpm, 3-song vinyl that came in a rather flimsy, green, light cardboard sleeve. Joining “Shake Some Action” were two covers: The Stones’ “Paint It Black” (written by Jagger and Richards), and The Byrds’ “Feel a Whole Lot Better” (written by Gene Clark):

The Dave Edmunds 1976 production (Greg Shaw, Executive Producer) of “Shake Some Action” (written by Cyril Jordan and Chris Wilson): In the U.S., the Shake Some Action album was also released on Sire Records, but originally through ABC Records (like the first-issue Ramones records of the day). About a year later, Warner Bros. Records entered into a joint venture with Sire, before acquiring the Seymour Stein-led label outright in 1980, making it a subsidiary:

Back to fellow Houston homeboy, Terry: “Myself and my twin brother, Larry, were born on September 25, 1962 at St Luke’s Hospital in Houston.

“He was born at 11:12pm, and I at 11:15pm. We lived in Houston for our first 6 1/2 years. The family relocated to Grapevine, TX ( basically, they had started building Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport very near Grapevine at that time).

“After 3 years in Grapevine, we moved back to Houston for 2 years. We then moved to Oklahoma for 4 years before moving to the Dallas area. But, a lot of family on both sides lived in Houston, so we would visit often. When we were very young, we would buy our records at Woolworth’s. We came to know the proper record stores when we were older on our visits back.”

After a necessary question about how he got motivated to play music, Terry replied: “Guitar? A couple of things: [Houston’s popular Top 40 AM station] KILT [weekly Top 40 flyer from December 1972, above; Terry and Larry were 10], and the fact that my mother had brothers who were playing bars in Houston with guitars, so it was a combination of those things.”

Coming Soon: Mad Day Out, the new album by The Numbers!

Certainly Note-Worthy: The new FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE/Ramones black Spiral Notebook! Pictured: Brad Kyle with The Ramones, backstage at Houston’s Liberty Hall, 1977! Compact size: 6" x 8" (15.2 x 20.3 cm), with 118 pages of creativity waiting to be filled! Perfect for school notes, lyrics, or ranking your favorite Ramones songs! Now available at the FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE Gift Shoppe!