PLEASE GO TO THE TOP NJ BANDS SITE AND VOTE FOR FRAGILE! <--- CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR FRAGILE!
Fragile was founded in 1970. The original group had 3 members: Joe Dorio ..boards and guitar, Bruce Bush on bass guitar and Mike Kurti on drums. Somewhere around 1972 the group added Steve Gordeuk, called "The Young One" by many, but definitely the lead guitarist the band needed to be able to cover the songs of that era; Van Halen, Led Zep, Frampton, etc.. Tom Pulkowski joined shortly after Steve as our sound man extraordinaire.
Fragile worked the clubs in the Central Jersey area for approximately eight years. The Shady Lane was probably one of the best places for large crowds and great exposure. Many of you reading this probably "grew up" with Fragile at the Shady Lane or Kingwood Inn (Razberry's) or Huckster's. The Huckster's fire... now THERE is a piece of Fragile history.
Every piece of equipment was completely destroyed in the fire, but the band pulled together and "sucked it up", bought all new equipment and were ready to play the following weekend!
If you were ever at the Circle Diner after a Fragile gig, you know they always had fun! Some of their road trips took them to Lafayette and Lehigh University frat parties, Beach Haven NJ, Tavern on the Green in NYC and Jerry Blavat's club in Mount Holly NJ. Many of you may also have experienced the lighter side of Fragile by having them play for your wedding or banquet, junior prom or Elk's Hall dances.
Around 1978, Mike got a job with American Airlines as a pilot and Jeff Campbell joined as the new drummer. Fragile continued on for a few more years, and then Steve left to pursue a full-time position with "Gandalf". Fragile retired.
Or did they ?
On May 7, 2006, Bruce saw Joe in the parking lot near Nolde's Pianos and told him he was getting together with Steve... well... the three of them got together and some of that old magic came back! They blew the dust off their old amps and decided to do it again. In need of a drummer, they called John Leon. He said he'd just come over and "help out" until they could find a permanent drummer. Three rehearsals later, John told them he wanted to stay on.
The only thing missing was a strong vocalist. 30 years of smoking (and whatever else) had taken its toll on our voices. Steve said he had heard that Tina (originally from The Shotguns) was looking to get back out and sing again. One phone call and one rehearsal later, Tina Rose became the newest Fragile member.
So, here we are looking to make some great music for all of our old (and new) friends and have fun! We hope you'll join us!
We all had a good time last night. Thanks for playing at Cryans :-). See you soon! Thanks for letting me sing, as well, much appreciated. I love singing with you guys :-)