Most listeners who remember them think of Earth Quake as a mid-1970's band, but the group's roots go back a decade earlier. Indeed, the group's roots go back to the mid-1960's band scene in San Francisco, where -- originally known as Purple Earthquake -- they were more than a little bit unusual. The most visible groups working in the city at the time tended to put a combined druggy/folkie spin on electric music, but Earth Quake, consisting of John Doukas (vocals), Robbie Dunbar (guitar, piano, vocals), Stan Miller (bass, vocals), and Steve Nelson (percussion, vocals), were more of a power-pop-cum-hard-rock outfit. They were much closer in spirit to the Flamin' Groovies or the Chocolate Watch Band than, say, to the Grateful Dead. They were good enough to attract the attention of Matthew King Kaufman, an aspiring manager who hoped to carry them to national fame and, toward that end, landed them a contract with A&M Records in 1970.
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