New England Music Scrapbook
The Bagatelle

A black and white nine-man group specializing in soulful material, sometimes a bit tongue in cheek. -- Lillian Roxon's Rock Encyclopedia1

Bagatelle
"Such a Fuss about Sunday" b/w "What Can I Do" (45, ABC, 1968)
11 P.M. Saturday (LP, ABC, 1968)

The Lost was a truly legendary mid-1960s Boston rock and roll band. Three members of the Lost -- Willie Alexander, Lee Mason, and Walter Powers -- at times performed as part of Lost shows, calling their trio the Mere Bagatelle. When the Lost broke up, Mason organized what became a new nine-member outfit, the Bagatelle. Though neither of his Mere Bagatelle mates accepted the offer to join the new group, sometime later Willie Alexander replaced Bob Degan in the lineup.5 The Bagatelle opened for acts ranging from the Temptations to the Yardbirds, and other then-hot bands such as Moby Grape and Procol Harum. At one time or another, the Bagatelle worked a mime and a fire eater into the act.6

The Bagatelle's sole album, 11 P.M. Saturday, includes both live and studio recordings. It's heavy on covers -- excellent ones -- of songs that were hits for the likes of Sam and Dave, James Brown, and Sam Cooke. Lillian Roxon, in her groundbreaking Rock Encyclopedia, noted that the Bagatelle album includes "a nice piece of musical satire." A few tracks, such as the traditional, and very beautiful, "Every Night When the Sun Goes In," vary the program wonderfully. "Everybody Knows" and "Back on the Farm" feature Willie Alexander. "Everybody Knows" is an essential Alexander performance -- a song that he originally recorded with the Lost.


1. Lillian Roxon, Lillian Roxon's Rock Encyclopedia, paperback (New York: Grosset and Dunlap, Universal Library, 1969, 1971).

Roxon published her Rock Encyclopedia more than three decades ago, at a time when a racially diverse rock band was still thought to be remarkable. This was true even more so for the predecessor group, the Lost, which had an interracial membership in its early days.

2. This name is given on the album jacket as David "Turk" Bynoe.

3. Lillian Roxon gave this name as Mark "Swifty" Gould.

4. This name is given on the album jacket as David "Redtop" Thomas.

5. In the meantime, Willie Alexander played in the Grass Menagerie and PPMWW.

Willie "Loco" Alexander, as he is sometimes called, is a key figure in Boston's rock history; and he is exceptionally well represented at this site.

6. Most of our information about the Bagatelle comes from Gary Burns' excellent notes which appear in the booklet that accompanies The Lost Tapes '65-'66 (CD, Arf! Arf!, 1999).

Copyright © 2002 by Alan Lewis. All rights reserved.

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