Imagine this: A record collector peruses a flea market. He comes across an old acetate demo album, crudely labeled "The Rayne," a band he's never heard of. Curious, he buys it, spins it on his home turntable...and loves what he hears: Snappy, original pop songs clearly of a mid-60s vintage. He hunts down a former Rayne member who confirms that he's stumbled across what now comprises the contents of this vinyl disc: never-before-released recordings of a once-promising band from Yonkers, NY.

The Rayne were teen musicians from Roosevelt High School in Yonkers NY (lead guitarist Len Epand, bassist Hank Mishkoff, and keyboardist/rhythm guitarist Barry Sarna) and nearby Tuckahoe High School (singer Lisa Pereira [now Sarna] and drummer Paul Martin). A friend of Len and Hank's named Steven Tallarico - another Roosevelt HS musician and local rock star - had compiled a list of names he was considering for his band, and he agreed that Hank and Len's band could use the name he didn't choose. Tallarico opted for "Chain Reaction," and so Len and Hank's group became "The Rayne." (BTW: Steven Tallarico became Steven Tyler, the leader of one of the biggest names of the rock era: Aerosmith!)

Playing covers of top-40 hits, The Rayne stood out for its tight multi-part harmonies. Hank and Barry blended well - but Lisa, with her range and golden tones, could knock a song out of the park (a la The Rayne's take on Spanky and Our Gang's hit "Sunday Will Never Be the Same"). The new band played the usual local high-school mixers, church and country-club dances, and private parties. They even drove down to NY's Greenwich Village to play the legendary Bitter End Cafe and Cafe Wha.

To get to the next level, Hank and Barry started composing original songs. In 1967, the band found a sound engineer who ran his own home recording studio in nearby White Plains. So they booked a Saturday session. (No school!) The recording process was rudimentary. The band played the instrumental parts on one track; then Barry, Hank, and Lisa crowded around a single mic to cut vocals on a second track. Lisa was even able to harmonize with herself when the two tracks were mixed to a second recording machine, creating a finished monaural recording. Pleased with the results, they booked a second session and cut a few more songs. It's fun to hear the trendy psychedelic influence of the times in some songs, as well as a more classic, hooky, and timeless approach in others.

Hank and Len took the glassy acetate discs to some NYC record-biz people, and they did manage to generate some interest. Sadly, The Rayne was unable to follow up. Hank, Barry, and Paul had committed to leave for various colleges in the fall of 1967. Though the band would later regroup for a few more gigs, once Len and Lisa also left for their colleges it was over for the band - but not for the individual members who would go on to significant successes on their own.

Lisa Sarna went on to sing lead with a group called Texas. Then she joined punk/funk star Rick James and performed all over the world and on many popular television shows in the '70s and '80s, including Saturday Night Live, The Grammys, and The American Music Awards.

Barry Sarna became Shalamar's music director; he wrote songs for Janet Jackson and for The Whispers; he played keyboards for Eagles Glenn Frey and Joe Walsh; and he appeared with Band from TV - doing much of that while also teaching history in Burbank (!).

Len Epand authored a music-biz book with Kenny Rogers and became an SVP with PolyGram and Arista Records. He created music-video production company Flashframe Films and political-ad production company EpandMedia and recorded original songs on the side.

Hank Mishkoff played bass in other groups with regional success (Holy Moses, The Brothers Graff). After that he developed software and websites (via his company WebFeats), and he even wrote and published a novel.

Paul Martin retailed specialty autos until his untimely death in 2013. He would have been thrilled to see this release.

Happily, the remaining members of The Rayne stayed in touch just in case a record company wanted to release their music on a vinyl record more than 50 years later.