Tropical Jon's EVOLUTION OF ROCK 'N ROLL: JOHNNY FRAGA, BASSIST EXTRAORDINAIRE!

 

 

THE ROCKETS' l-r; Dennis Robbins, JOHN FRAGA, Dave Gilbert, John 'Bee' Badanjek and Jim McCarty

September 27, 2010: Brother John Fraga, bassist with Nolan Strong and the Diablos (on Mind over Matter) passed away 




John was also the original bass player with THE ROCKETS, he passed away at 69 (born July 1, 1941).

     It’s been a year since one of the coolest, most righteous bass players in DETROIT ROCK ‘N ROLL passed away, and we still think about him all the time.

          I met John when he was one-fourth of the four piece power house band called THE ROCKETS (John “Bee” Badanjek, Jim McCarty, Marc Marcano and JOHNNY FRAGA). They played regularly at The (Infamous) ODYSSEY, the bar I managed in Ann Arbor, Michigan. 

http://tropicaljon.blogspot.com/2011/06/infamous-odyssey-bar.html

The Rockets--Big Bass Notes by JOHNNY FRAGA…

          Not gonna write a bunch on this, because my friend RetroKimmer did a decent story when John passed last year—Check out the link below.

RetroKimmer Story about John Fraga 

John wasn’t just a ROCKET (AS IF THAT WASN’T PLENTY!)—He  also worked with The Bee on a few projects:

 http://badcatrecords.com/BadCat/ROCKETS.htm

          And, John wasn’t JUST another cat out of THE Motor City, he had roots all over the place… Check out what John was doing in (of all places!) Iowa…
http://www.midwestmusicmasters.com/bands3.aspx?name=Enoch%20Smoky

WE MISS YA JOHNNY FRAGA—ROCK IN PEACE, BROTHER!!!