I heard a story back in the Sixties about an unknown rock and roll band that had traveled to Viet Nam as part of a USO show to entertain the troops. This band was packed into the back of a supply truck to be driven to their gig out in the country someplace. Along the way the Viet Cong ambushed the truck and sprayed the back with machine gun fire. At least some of the band members were killed.
I don’t remember the name of the band except as I recall they had the word “bubble” in the title such as The Bubble Machine or something like that. I can’t find any reference to them on the Internet either so if anyone out there remembers any details about this story please add them in the COMMENTS section below.
It’s possible that story was just a rumor but on this Memorial Day I thought I’d remember some noncombatants who were in a war zone on behalf of our armed services and died along with our fighting men.
There have been rock and rollers who actually served the country as soldiers. Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Cash and Jerry Garcia are some of the more famous ones. And let’s not forget ACDC were honorary members of the US Military when our troops used their music as psychological warfare against General Manuel Noriega of Panama.
I don’t remember the name of the band except as I recall they had the word “bubble” in the title such as The Bubble Machine or something like that. I can’t find any reference to them on the Internet either so if anyone out there remembers any details about this story please add them in the COMMENTS section below.
It’s possible that story was just a rumor but on this Memorial Day I thought I’d remember some noncombatants who were in a war zone on behalf of our armed services and died along with our fighting men.
There have been rock and rollers who actually served the country as soldiers. Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Cash and Jerry Garcia are some of the more famous ones. And let’s not forget ACDC were honorary members of the US Military when our troops used their music as psychological warfare against General Manuel Noriega of Panama.
Below is a follow up left as a comment by one of our readers for those of you too lazy to click on the COMMENTS.
AnonymousMay 28, 2012 3:47 PM
I found this on the internet in German and used Google Translate to come up with this:
On July 5, 1968, the bus gets the band "Brandi Perry & The Bubble Machine", which is carelessly traveling without military protection, in South Vietnam on the way to Vung Tau in an ambush, either by troops of the Viet Cong or the South Vietnamese army. The drummer and keyboard player Phil Willis + Kurt Pill, both only 17 years old, are killed, the bassist and vocalist Jack Bone + Paula "Brandi Perry," Levine are injured more or less difficult.
"Brandi Perry & The Bubble Machine" are also the subject of the documentary "Entertaining Vietnam" by Mara Wallis about musicians who attended the American troops in Vietnam.
On July 5, 1968, the bus gets the band "Brandi Perry & The Bubble Machine", which is carelessly traveling without military protection, in South Vietnam on the way to Vung Tau in an ambush, either by troops of the Viet Cong or the South Vietnamese army. The drummer and keyboard player Phil Willis + Kurt Pill, both only 17 years old, are killed, the bassist and vocalist Jack Bone + Paula "Brandi Perry," Levine are injured more or less difficult.
"Brandi Perry & The Bubble Machine" are also the subject of the documentary "Entertaining Vietnam" by Mara Wallis about musicians who attended the American troops in Vietnam.
I found this on the internet in German and used Google Translate to come up with this:
ReplyDeleteOn July 5, 1968, the bus gets the band "Brandi Perry & The Bubble Machine", which is carelessly traveling without military protection, in South Vietnam on the way to Vung Tau in an ambush, either by troops of the Viet Cong or the South Vietnamese army. The drummer and keyboard player Phil Willis + Kurt Pill, both only 17 years old, are killed, the bassist and vocalist Jack Bone + Paula "Brandi Perry," Levine are injured more or less difficult.
"Brandi Perry & The Bubble Machine" are also the subject of the documentary "Entertaining Vietnam" by Mara Wallis about musicians who attended the American troops in Vietnam.
This was the URL link:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.highdive.de/deadpopstars/vietnam/index.htm
Am 5.Juli 1968 gerät der Bus der Band "Brandi Perry And The Bubble Machine", die unvorsichtigerweise ohne militärischen Schutz unterwegs ist, in Südvietnam auf dem Weg nach Vung Tau in einen Hinterhalt, entweder von Truppen des Vietkong oder von der südvietnamesischen Armee. Der Schlagzeuger Kurt Willis und der Keyboarder Phil Pill, beide erst 17 Jahre alt, kommen dabei ums Leben, der Bassist Jack Bone und die Sängerin Paula "Brandi Perry" Levine werden mehr oder weniger schwer verletzt.
"Brandi Perry And The Bubble Machine" sind auch Gegenstand des Dokumentarfilms "Entertaining Vietnam" von Mara Wallis über Musiker, die die amerikanischen Truppen in Vietnam betreuten.
The translation flipped names... actually Phil Pill and Kurt Willis
ReplyDeleteTrue story has been posted SP4 David K.Hamilton U.S. Army saved Paula Levine during ambush and gave his own life in the process. Hamilton was a 19 year old resident of Malden Massachusetts.
DeletePaula Levine attended SP4 Hamilton's funeral in Malden MA and returned to his family some of his possessions that he had entrusted to her in while lying mortally wounded, he is credited with saving her life along with two other band members by ordering them to "play dead" while the Viet Cong were present.
We remember him as a true American hero.
This is the true story about what happened to Brandi Perry and The Bubble Machine in VietNam July 1968.
ReplyDeleteSP4 David K.Hamilton U.S.Army who was assigned to the HQ Company, 1St. Logistics Command volunteered to drive a pickup truck with the band and Brandi (Paula Levine) to a camp for a performance when they were ambushed by Viet Cong forces on Highway 15 in the middle of a combat zone, according to Miss Levine, Hamilton, a Malden MA. native was covered with wounds when he threw himself over the actress and ordered the rest of the troupe to "play dead". Two band members died and two survived, the survivors credited SP4 Hamilton with their survival by listening to his commands to stay still and play dead so the enemy wouldn't kill them. The actress Paula Levine flew from Hollywood to Malden MA to attend the funeral and bring Hamilton's belongings that he entrusted to her before he died. Hamilton was 19 years old, his name is etched on the VietNam Memorial Wall along with over 58,000 of our brave American heroes.
Respectfully,
Jack Marino, US Navy 1967
Malden Veteran
I went to school and was a neighbor to one of the young men who was killed that day. The names were however mixed up.. His name was Phil Pill. He was a funny, smart and talented entertainer all through high school. We had just graduated high school when he took this trip to Viet Nam. I was deeply saddened when I had heard the news.
ReplyDeletethere was only 1 surviving member from the attack.. the bassist named jack bone.i heard the whole story from jack. how do i know this? because he is my neighbor here in los angeles.
ReplyDeleteActually Brandi survived as well...Jack Bone
DeleteActually Brandi survived as well....Jack
DeleteI grew up in Sherman Oaks/Encino area and knew Phil Pill and this tragic story is indeed true. The last time I spent with Phil was holding on for dear life as he and another older than me friend took myself and my brother on a motorcycle ride up on Mulholland. Phil was full of life and a nice guy! Such an unfitting end, just to wind up as another tragedy of a war, we never should have been involved in, in the first place.
DeleteCurt Willis grew up down the street from me, and tried to teach me drums. I never learned well, but watched him play. That was in Inglewood, California, a suburb of Los Angeles near LAX airport. I don't think his mother ever recovered from the loss. He had a younger brother also. Some of us asked the government to place his name on the Viet Nam memorial wall, but since he was a civilian entertainer, he did not qualify for inclusion.
ReplyDeleteI met them when I played there in viet nam...I had shots coming at me once...I did many bases over seas and here at home..Since I was never drafted I felt it was one way I could pay back our hero"s over there...I got my daft notice when working with my band in Fort Wayne Indiana..I came here to live and work again and its funny,the guy I rode on the bus with to Indy was a singer..Didn't know him before the trip but knew him well by the time we made indy..He went I was turned down because I had a family and this was 1962..the singer was from Fort Wayne he had been on Bandstand with the hit "this time" Troy Shondell and he passed on last year..Another famous band Tommy James took his friends last name "the Shondels".....God bless our troups and I would do it again.....Paul New Stewart
ReplyDeleteI spent 10 weeks there in 1969 entertaining troops. There is something most Americans are not aware of. They saw the Bob Hope shows on TV but had no Idea of the so-called unknown entertainers that played the Enlisted, NCO and Officers clubs throughout South Viet Namm from Saigon to Da Nang. Sometimes 3 shows a day. Usually traveling to these shows in vans without any protective escorts or Air Conditioning. When performing at larger Bases we usually did travel with heavily armed caravans. But most of the time we were on our own. We were not part of the USO but booked by a local LA agent and worked for a company called LAD Productions in Saigon.
ReplyDeleteWe were supposed to be Helicoptered to a do a show In Vung Tau but last minute it was decided to drive us. It was about a 2 hr drive from Saigon. The driver we had was not one of the usual guys which we had become very close to. About an hour into the drive the driver says "This is about where the Bubble Machine got shot up" ....... "What!?" He says "Oh you guys never heard about that'? "Aww NO!" He explains about a year before that there was an American group, Brandi Levine and T Bubble Mchine, traveling to Vung Tau to do a show and were stopped by VC killing two members along with their driver. The others played dead and survived......
I'm planning on writing a book about this little known brief bit of unknown Viet Namm history and what these show did for the morel of our troops. Most of the entertainers there at the time were from the Philippines and a few from Australia but very few from America. When they heard you were from America "The World" as they called it the response was just something I can't describe.
All this time I thought it was Goldie and the Bubble Machine. I heard about it from the girls I played with in Vegas,who had toured all over. The were stranded in Nam by a crooked agent..
ReplyDeleteIts a true story. My boyfriend's sister was a close friend to Phil Pill. She said Phil tried to get his band signed up with the USO and was turned down. Refusing to take NO for an answer, Phil convinced his father to finance his bands trip so they could go independently. They were told since they are doing this on their own, they could not be provided with much protection, if any, which is extremely dangerous. That didnt stop 17 year olds! Where were adults?? I heard they were attacked and that Phil was killed, the girl survived and someone else because they had bodies on top of them and they played dead which saved their lives.
ReplyDeleteWisps of this tragic event came back. In 1968 I was at the Phoenix Playboy Club and two surviving members recounted the story of how two of the band had been killed by the Viet Cong. The only difference was that they didn't mention a bus but rather that the shooting had happened on a street. It could be my memory is playing tricks.
ReplyDeleteThis group had performed on our Army Base in Bien Hoa this day. I and a fellow MP escorted the group to the road that would lead away from the Long Binh, Army Base. We said our goodbyes as they headed down the road toward Vung Tau. The road was notorious for being mined, as well as a potential for an ambush. The next day we were informed that they had been ambushed.(former 101st Abn. M.P.)
ReplyDeleteI am glad you take pride in what you write. This makes you stand way out from many other writers that push poorly written content. rock and roll
ReplyDeleteJust this evening I was showing my Mom a film trailer for a Vietnam war era film called “The Greatest Beer Run Ever” when she recalled the story of a boy she went to high school with. His name was Phil Pill & he had just graduated from U.S. Grant Highschool in North Hollywood, California in February of 1968. She recalled he was a real fun and nice guy and would have big parties at his house. He was also a member of the Grant High school band. She recalls hearing that Phil was traveling to Vietnam with his band and had ultimately been killed while traveling in a vehicle with his band mates. The way she recalled the story was quite sad and tragic. I couldn’t imagine an 18 year old boy traveling to a war zone to play rock ‘n roll music for US troops….:and never coming back home to the San Fernando Valley. We looked up his name and found this content: It’s absolutely a true and tragic story.
ReplyDelete