Dad's Links

The Aquatudes - Dad's "real" band plays surf and other instrumentals. They're a power trio of guitar, bass, and drums. The group has been together since June of 2007 and is busy assembling a rockin' repertiore of covers and originals. Watch for them at a venue near you.

NESMA, which stands for North East Surf Music Alliance, is the glue that holds the surf scene in the northeast U.S. together. This group of 70+ dedicated surf bands show the kind of cooperative spirit that makes the world a better place - and they know how to throw a heck of a great party, too!

The Rooks - A groovy power-pop band from New York, lead by Michael Mazzarella, Dad's former bandmate from the Broken Hearts (unsung 1980's Hartford, CT indy-pop group)! There's even a Broken Hearts section of the Web site these days. Check out the old photos of Dad and the other BH's in their youth.

WWUH Radio's The Greatest Show from Earth - Tune into a long-running University of Hartford radio show hosted by the enigmatic Voice of Delorenzoid. The show spotlights mid sixties psychedelic, electronic music, and progressive rock (and occasionally, DNB). The Greatest Show From Earth can be heard every Sunday evening between 9:00 PM and midnight (Eastern Time). It's the last blast before the work week begins again, so tune in, turn on, and freak out! On December 15, 2002, the Voice of Delorenzoid was kind enough to invite Dad to appear on his show. They yakked for about an hour and a half, played lots of Dad's music, and Dad even played 3 tunes live. What a night! Here's a photo from that show (Dad brought the Void guitar).

Cynthia Dodd, Creator of Glorious Gardens is the long-standing enterprise of Dad's long-standing wife. The company specializes in high-end exterior garden design and construction for discerning customers. Another division called Plantscapes provides interior landscaping services to commercial clients.

Dad's friend from the Broken Hearts, Jamie Beckett, has his own site and has written a novel titled Burritos and Gasoline. He has also written many articles in the last several years on aviation-related and politically-oriented subjects. Jamie has an easy-going manner and a great sense of humor in his writing.

Surf Guitar 101 - Dad's longtime interest with surf guitar brought him to this cool site. All you need to know about people, equipment, shows, bands, etc., is available here. There's even an annual compilation of member-submitted music available for download. Dad has the honor of being included in the 2006 compilation. He's listed as Tom "Noisy-Dad" Bittel, with his tune, "Bongo-Shomngo."

Hyped to Death CD Archives - A great source for forgotten and just-below-the-surface music from the late 70's through the mid 80's, or in their own words: "The world's finest, longest, and cleanest-sounding CD collections of rare, obscure and undiscovered independently-produced * American punk; **Power-pop and poprock; *** Home-made post-punk, new wave and D.I.Y.; **** U.K. & Irish punk & mod, ***** U.K. D.I.Y., etc." Check out their "Teenline #8," collection, which includes "Tuesday Evening Girl" by the Broken Hearts. Fun stuff!

The Paisley Pop Label - Another great source for power-pop and the like. New music, old music. They "put the paisley back in underground." Paisley Pop is responsible for rereleasing the Broken Hearts album on CD, including 11 bonus tracks (many live!) to compliment the 9 original album tracks. A class outfit.

tenorguitar.com is a neat source for anything you'd ever want to know about the 4-string tenor guitar. Dad has one of these, a Stella, and recommends that you check this site out if you're interested.