George Frayne was studying sculpture and painting at the University of Michigan when he formed a rowdy country band driven by his boogie woogie piano playing. The band moved to northern California after he completed his graduate degree in 1969 where within three months they were opening shows for the Grateful Dead.
Taking the name of a 1950s sci-fi character as his alias, George Frayne fronted the band as Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen. Two years later the group scored their biggest hit with a cover of a 1955 tune Hot Rod Lincoln. A radio DJ in Modesto, Calif., played the song late one night on a whim, the phones lit up, and a major hit was launched. It rose in the charts to the top 10. Before breaking up in 1976, the band toured constantly and recorded seven albums, all making the charts, along with five charting singles,
Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen helped establish the alt-country sound in the early 70s. With Frayne fully in charge the ensemble featured an ever changing roster that always came well prepared to play. Geoffrey Stokes chronicled the band in his mid 70s look at the music industry Star Making Machinery. The bands’ label wanted a hit album along the lines of the soft country-rock of The Eagles, but the band was not inclined to change its raw-edged style.
Frayne continued as Commander Cody long after the original group disbanded, releasing an additional nine studio albums through 2009. Frayne, who passed away last year, was also a successful visual artist. He has one video included in the Museum of Modern Art’s permanent video archive.
