If any Canadian outfit had the talent to make it south of the border during the '60s, it was Toronto outfit Mandala. Yet despite recording a string of stunning singles, the group's jazz-inspired soul-rock was arguably too experimental for the mainstream rock market and the group remained one of rock's 'might of beens'.

Mandala started out during the summer of 1964, working as the house band at the club Bluenote supporting visiting US soul artists like The Supremes. Keyboard player Josef Chirowski (b. Mar. 2, 1947, Germany), bass player Don Elliot (b. Dec. 8, 1944, Toronto, Canada) and drummer Whitey Glan (b. Finland) had worked together previously in Whitey & The Roulettes and The Belltones

The trio quickly adopted the name The Five Rogues when former Belltones and original Roulettes singer George Olliver (b. Jan. 25, 1946, Toronto, Canada), and ex-Robbie Lane & The Disciples and Ronnie Hawkins guitarist Domenic Troiano (b. Michaele Antonio, Jan. 17, 1946, Mondugno, Italy, naturalised Canadian in 1955) joined.

The group quickly became a popular local draw and for a brief period of time worked with David Clayton-Thomas following his departure from The Shays in late 1965. During this period, The Five Rogues also recorded a demo 'I Can't Hold Out No Longer/I'll Make It Up To You'. Early the following year, the band decided to reinvent itself and emerged in the summer with a new name and image. 

Mandala is a symbol (a circle within a circle within a circle) used by Buddhist monks as an aid to contemplation and was chosen by the band's manager, Rafael Markowitz (aka Randy Martin), a former TV clown. Markowitz envisioned the band as being a channel for the audience to release its emotions and the newly named outfit returned to the Toronto scene with its 'Soul Crusade', which was met with mass hysteria. 

Mandala immediately made a visual impact with their pinstripe, gangster-style suits and were apparently among the first Canadian bands to use strobe lights at their concerts. Markowitz was also a master at manipulating the media and made sure that the band was one of the best paid on the local circuit.

The US market soon beckoned and Mandala spent more and more time south of the border. In November 1966, the band played at Hollywood's Whiskey A-Go-Go and attracted 1,400 fans to the Hullabaloo a few weeks later, by word of mouth. The following year, the band travelled to New York on a regular basis and appeared on numerous occasions at Steve Paul's Scene. During this busy period, the group opened for The Byrds and The Rolling Stones among others.

As a result, Mandala won a recording deal with the KR label in the US and recorded their debut single, Troiano's 'Opportunity/Lost Love' at Chess studios in Chicago with The Dells providing backing vocals. 

The group's debut single stormed into the Toronto top ten and was quickly followed by another top ten success, 'Give & Take'/From Toronto '67', which was released three months later. During this period the band reportedly began work on an album but it was never finished and Mandala's personnel soon underwent significant changes.

In September 1967 singer George Olliver quit the group in frustration and formed his own band The Soul Children. The new group never recorded however, and Olliver subsequently recorded an album for Firebird Records with a new outfit called Natural Gas in 1969 (the album incidentally includes an Olliver-Chirowski instrumental from the Mandala repertoire, 'Tribute to Rubber Boots'). He later recorded two solo singles, 'I May Never Get To See You Again/Shine' for Much Records and 'Don't Let The Green Grass Fool You' for the Corner Stone label before playing and recording with Toronto band The Royals in the mid-'70s.

Keyboard player Chirowski also left at this point and briefly worked for Canadian Pacific Railways and local groups The Power Project/Freedom Fair before becoming a member of the highly-rated rock band, Crowbar. During the '70s, he worked with Alice Cooper and briefly toured with Lou Reed. 

Mandala duly recruited singer Roy Kenner and keyboard player Henry Babraj from local outfit The Associates, who'd made the obscure recording 'Without My Sweet Baby'. Hugh Sullivan however soon replaced Babraj. The new line-up continued to be a popular local draw and started to gain a modicum of recognition south of the border as well; one of the band's appearances was at the Philadelphia Music Festival in July 1968.

The new personnel signalled a change in the group's fortunes. After Atlantic chief Ahmet Ertegun acted on a tip from producer Phil Spector and bought the group's contract from KR, Mandala returned to the studios to record their 'Soul Crusade' album.

The band reportedly recorded six tracks at Atlantic Studios, New York in February 1968 including the new single 'Love It-is/Mellow Carmello Pallumbo', which was another local hit during the summer. The band completed the sessions for its long-awaited album in April and then returned to Canada. Bad luck however, continued to dog the band; Mandala had intended to tour Canada to promote the record but Elliot was involved in a car accident and the tour was delayed until October.

Despite the setbacks, 'Soul Crusade' received positive reviews in Canada. The album features some choice cuts, including 'Every Single Day' co-written by Troiano with Kensington Market singer Keith McKie and Domenic's 'World of Love' and 'Come on Home'. Local R&B singers Diane Brooks, Eric Mercury and Shawn Jackson are among the cast of supporting players.

Mandala's final single, the non-album tracks 'You Got Me' backed by 'Help Me' was only given limited release in December and the group began to fall apart. Despite the positive reviews, the album failed to attract the sales the group had expected and on January 1, 1969 Mandala played their final date at the Hawk's Nest in Toronto. 

Following the group's demise, Elliot went on to play with hard rock outfit Leigh Ashford while Sullivan moved to Los Angeles to briefly work with Toronto bass player/singer Neil Merryweather, before later doing sessions for former Steppenwolf frontman John Kay (alongside Glan).

Kenner, Troiano and Glan meanwhile brought in bass player Prakash John and made a lone album as Bush (the live segment also features Sullivan) before splitting in 1971. Glan and John subsequently became top session players, working for the likes of Lou Reed and Alice Cooper among others while Kenner and Troiano joined The James Gang after guitarist Joe Walsh left for a solo career. Troiano later joined The Guess Who and established a moderately successful solo career.

Many thanks to Carny Corbett, Bill Munson, Martin Melhuish, Nicholas Jennings and Craig Webb for their help in piecing the Mandala story together. Thanks to Craig Webb for the photos. Hit Parader and Canadian Teen magazine also proved invaluable sources.

I have tried to ensure that the article is as accurate as possible. However, I accept that there may be errors and omissions and would be interested to hear from anyone who can add material or correct any mistakes. I can be contacted at Warchive@aol.com

© Nick Warburton