The Sharks Sacramento 1985

The Sharks – Brief History by Jeff Reiss When Tye Hartall returned to the US following ten years abroad in Australia and New Guinea, he and Jeff Reiss formed the Sharks in 1981 in Sacramento, California. Tye was the driving creative force, the guitar player, lead singer, front man, promoter, agent and charismatic leader. He made it happen. Jeff played bass guitar and provided support with operations. Their partnership worked. They had good energy and it got better and more fun as the act morphed and became more successful over the years. The Sharks was a popular “local bar band” that developed a loyal following in the various communities where they performed. They played an exciting selection of covers; Rock-a-Billy, Oldies, Popular and Country. They never recorded any original material. The Sharks first performances were at open mike nights and pizza parlors in Sacramento. Tye made lengthy trips back to New Guinea to trade with natives for artifacts for his sales at various art shows in the US. Therefore, the Sharks reformed and brought in new personnel for the next couple years. This video was shot in 1985, at the height of the Sharks popularity in the Sacramento/Central Valley area. (BTW, very few bands had videos at that time.) This is just prior to the band reforming and moving to Hawaii. The Sharks on this video are:

• Tye Hartall, Lead Vocals and Guitar
• Jeff Reiss, Bass Guitar
• John King II (JFK 2nd), Drums and Percussion
• Steve Crowell, Lead Guitar, Backup Vocals and Keyboard

It was the early 80’s. We were in our early 30’s. A new direction in the music scene was the resurgence of Rock-a-Billy, recall The Stray Cats and others. Rock-a-Billy was the identity that we cultivated, and it was Hip. New Wave was In And we had Skinny Ties. At the time there was a vibrant local club scene and there were lots of small venues to play. We got plenty of Thursday, Friday and Saturday night gigs all around town. Tye scored more bargain-priced secondhand band equipment, stage lights, effects, a mixing board and PA with a sound man and a van for all our people and stuff. We were road ready and eager to play anywhere, small venues or the Big Stage. We played up and down the Valley from Stockton to Redding, over to Sonoma, up to Tahoe and many places in between. Lodi was one of our favorite recurring gigs. In the hot Summer, it was awesome to play outside at cool places by the River. We had a regular gig at the California State Fair/Cal Expo in the Beer Garden. In the Summer our schedule was packed. We sometimes played up to eight gigs a week when we got a wedding or other daytime jobs. We played some classy dinner places starting with our Dinner Set, soft songs. Then we’d crank it up to get people dancing in the third set and punch it up with borderline Heavy Metal and Big Endings in the final set. Tye would mold and fit in to the various venues. He connected with the audience, and he was cool. We played mostly yuppie and upper scale clubs, but sometimes we tried to cross over into different genres, like country. It was a stretch and we could almost pull it off with Elvis, Ricky Nelson, etc. We played a couple Punk/New Wave clubs and our share of “rough” clubs in remote out of the way places. In October, 1985 we reformed the band and relocated to Honolulu. That was super risky, but we were rewarded. In December the Sharks departed overseas on their “Far East Tour” with the US Air Force. We played on bases in Tokyo, Misawa, Okinawa, the Philippines, and Guam. Upon returning, Tye and Jeff moved to Maui and reformed the Sharks again. They played all over Maui. Jeff dropped out and Tye reformed the band a few times over the years. Tye resumed his travels to Southeast Asia and formed the Sharks in Thailand with expats from Europe and Australia. Tye returned to his hometown in Rockford, Illinois to be with his mom who was in failing health. Tye formed the Sharks in Rockford, Illinois with local musicians. They played area clubs, parties and weddings. Early in 2016 Tye was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Upon hearing this he said, “As long as I can see my Cubs win the World Series, I will die a happy man.” (This was a very remote possibility at the time.) Tye’s friends came from all over; Australia, Europe, California and locally to be with their old, and for many “best”, friend to gather with Tye and watch the Chicago Cubs (7 exciting games) win the 2016 World Series. Tye Hartall passed away a happy man a short time afterward. Everyone who knew him loved him. Former Sharks, fans, or anyone who wants a conversation, please send me an email at: jreiss50@gmail.com Rock on, Jeff Reiss