The Sunrays | I Live For The Sun | Capitol | 1965

“I Live For The Sun” / “Bye Baby Bye” (Capitol CL 15416) October 1965

The Sunrays | I Live For The Sun | Capitol | 1965 | “I Live For The Sun” sing the SUNRAYS sounding like the Beach Boys. They say it’s because the sun makes fun. I See? (Capitol). (Disc Weekly, 02/10/65)

Sun sound with falsettos and counter harmonies from the SUNRAYS with “I Live For The Sun” (Capitol).(NME, 01/10/65)

Article published in Tiger Beat, June 1966

Have you ever dreamed of having a song written especially for you? What girl hasn’t? It’s really not so hard—all you have to do is become an airline stewardess. When a group called the Sunrays boards the plane, be especially nice and catch the eye of the drummer, Rick Henn. Before you know it, he’ll be promising to write a song about you and he’ll keep his promise!

The formula might not work in every case, but it worked for a girl named Andrea, who inspired the Sunrays second hit single. But the Sunrays are no longer thinking about that stewardess because they are busy seeking out their dream girl. A nation wide search for the “Andrea” to whom they have dedicated their first album is being conducted.

If your first or middle name is Andrea you can qualify! All you must do is state in 25 words or less why you want to be THE Andrea dream girl of the Sunrays’ life. Mail your letter along with your picture, address and telephone number to: Tiger Beat, 1800 N. Highland, Hollywood, Calif. 90028. The deadline for all entries is July 1, 1966. The winner will be given a specially designed Sunrays’ hope chest, equipped with five magic compartments named after the five Sunrays. Each compartment will have treasures especially for the girl named “Andrea.”

The Sunrays, Eddie Medora, Vince Hozier, Marty Di Giovanni, Rick Henn and Byron Case are all native Southern Californians and have been playing together as a group since they were in the eighth grade. They kept themselves busy throughout high school playing every weekend at college fraternity parties under the name of the Renagades.

The Sunrays | I Live For The Sun | Capitol | 1965

Three of the Sunrays met Beach Boy, Carl Wilson, at Hollywood Professional School. He was so impressed with their sound that he introduced them to his father, manager Murray Wilson. Mr. Wilson was impressed too and 30 days later the Sunrays recorded their first disc “I Live For The Sun,” also penned by Rick.

Except for Byron who’s 19 years old, all the boys are 18. All are attending college. When success comes fast as it does in show business, it is very easy to give up school for the glamour and fame. But it’s not “easy” for the Sunrays who feel education is very important!

Eddie, who is majoring in interior design hoping to one day become a set designer, says “You can be a millionaire and that won’t make you happy. If you’re an educated millionaire, then you’ve got something.”

Marty, the group’s organist, agrees, “Education is an investment in itself. That’s the way I look at it. It’s like money in the bank.”

It has only been since their first record that the Sunrays have played before concert-size audiences. But often, it’s the “little things” that stick in their minds rather than huge concert dates.

Vince admits, “I’d rather be on stage than anywhere else in the world.”

Marty continues, “We like making other people happy. We’ve sung in hospitals, and believe me, that’s not the easiest thing we’ve ever done. But we did it last Christmas – and it really made us feel good!”

Take away the records and they don’t care

What is it like to, overnight, become attractive to thousands of females?

Marty feels, “It’s just the image that’s attracting. Take the records away and they don’t care.”

Eddie points out, “It didn’t really shock us, because we’ve waited for this so long and when we finally got it, it was happiness, but not as happy as it could have been if it had happened right away.”

Vince adds, “I think if it had happened right away we would have been messed up. We wouldn’t have taken it seriously as a business.”

The thing Marty, says he loves best about being in show business is “traveling. It’s a gas. I can’t stand to sit in Los Angeles 365 days out of the year and look at people and drive down Hollywood Boulevard and watch the zoo parade.”

Eddie comes in, “I like room service,” and Vince jokes, “I like sleeping late!”

The hobbies of these five young men are as different as their distinct personalities. Rick loves to ride motorcycles and surf, which is convenient since he has just moved to a new home on the beach at Malibu. Vince likes hunting and Marty is an avid stamp collector. Byron spends many hours of his free time grooming and riding his own horse. Eddie admits that he loves to swim, play pool, draw and (with all his friends laughing) “take pictures.”

Rick explains, “Eddie goes down to the beach and tells girls he’s going to take pictures of ’em.” Eddie interrupts, “It works. I’ve gotten about 15 dates that way. I say “Would you like to have prints,” and they say “Yeah, here’s my number!”

Though the others tease, Eddie just replies, “Don’t you wish you had a camera like mine!”

It won’t be long before the tables are turned and girls will be begging Eddie, Marty, Rick, Vince and Byron if they can take pictures of them!