A chronological list of the bands that Hirsh has performed with.

BERKSHIRE
Hirsh Gardner, drums/vocals
Steve Grimm, guitar/vocals
Peter Stahl, bass/vocals
Elysee Thierry, bass (Pandoras)

A three-piece club act which also played out as Crossfire from 1969-1973. It was future New England -er, Gardner's Berklee College band. Stahl had worked with a pre-Aerosmith Steve "Tylerico" in Chain Reaction, in Sunapee, NH. in 1968-69. Grimm showed in 1987 in the respected Chicago-based rock act, Bad Boy. 1971-72 bassist Thierry had once played in the all-female Pandoras.

CROSSFIRE
Hirsh Gardner, drums/vocals
Steve Grimm, guitar/vocals
Peter Stahl, bass/vocals

This trio played out concurrently as Berkshire in the late sixties and early seventies. Hirsh eventually went on to form the band New England. Not to be confused with the big money NH based cover band, Crossfire (w/Jody Ring). That act wasn't founded until 1979.

JACK
Hirsh Gardner, drums/vocals
HELP! Hirsh refuses to tell me about this band. Help!
(Just kidding. So what about it.)

FATBACK
Hirsh Gardner, drums/vocals (Jack/Crossfire/Berkshire)
Jimmy Waldo, keys/vocals
John Fannon, guitar (Flash Pudding)
Jeff Dinger, bass

Gardner, Waldo and Fannon would go on to Target and then New England. This act was playing clubs in 1973, when, lo and behold, their demo tapes and a major interest by Atlantic Records allowed them to tour the country.

TARGET
Hirsh Gardner, drums/vocals (Fatback/Jack/Crossfire/Berkshire)
John Fannon, guitar/vocals (Fatback/Flash Pudding/Jumping Jack Flash<?>)
Gary Shea, bass
Jimmy Waldo, keys/vocals (Fatback)
Ken Mele, vocals (Flash Pudding)

The group featured the immediate future members of New England with a Ken Mele on vocals. They played regional clubs from 1975-77. The core played out as Fatback with one Jeff Dinger on bass.

NEW ENGLAND
newenglandrocks.com
Hirsh Gardner, drums/vocals (Target/Fatback/Jack/Crossfire/Berkshire)
John Fannon, guitar/vocals (Target/Fatback/Jumping' Jack Flash)
Gary Shea, bass (Target)
Jimmy Waldo, keys/vocals (Target/Fatback)

Drummer was Ludwig rep and local producer (who learned trade from Mike Stone of Asia, Queen, and Journey fame). He became a member of Cowboy Mach Bell's The Wild Bunch. Shea and Waldo ended up in the West Coast HM aggregation, ALCATRAZZ. (Waldo still in LA writing new age tunes for movie and TV scripts). Two videos were culled from the first LP. "Don't Ever Want To Lose Ya" (a monster international hit), and "Punk." "Dirty Dreams Tonight" also scored it's share of airplay. The act headlined 4 national tours, selling out the Santa Monica Civic Center in the first gig in 1979. They also supported the likes of Journey (see Steve Smith), Styx, AC/DC, Kiss, Molly Hatchet, 38 Special, Cheap Trick, etc. Act is still selling overseas as late as 1998. Plans are to re-release the 2nd and 3rd albums as CD's and issue an all-new collection of 10 tunes!

"New England" (LP, Infinity, 1979)
"Explorer Suite" (LP, Elektra, 1980)
"Walking Wild" (LP, Elektra, 1981) Produced by Todd Rundgren
"Don't Ever Want To Lose Ya" (45, Infinity 50013, 1979) #40 6-16-79

THE WILD BUNCH
Mach Bell, vocals (Joe Perry Project/Thundertrain)
Hirsh Gardner, drums/vocals (New England)
Mark Normand, bass (Last Child/Kevin & The 45's)
Ted Anderson, guitar/vocals
Danny Hargrove, bass/vocals (Joe Perry Project/Rage)
Hal LeBeaux
Glen Otenti
Lewis A

Power crunch stuff from some veterans of the genre. Act formed New Year's Day, 1985. Players had passed in and out of the Bell-Gardner collaboration formed when Joe Perry returned to Aerosmith in May of 1984. DC-area native Anderson joined in March of '85. Act featured a strong frontman for this kind of stuff. The group appeals bent to "The people that wanna see four-wheelers crush little cars."Singer "Cowboy" Mach Bell, who fronted the Joe Perry Project from 1982-84, was also an accomplished cartoonist, drawing the irreverent, tongue-in cheek "Rockin' Tomatoes" strips.Former bassist Dan Hargrove played an upside down Les Paul Bass and possessed a 7 octave vocal range. Drummer Hirsh was well known as a producer and recognized nationally as a Ludwig drum clinician and a drummer of merit when he was with his band New England. Normand gigged in the Aerosmith tribute act Last Child before going west to handle chores in the national HM outfit KEEL.