The Nightcrawlers were a product of the post-Beatles garage band explosion that rocked Florida during the mid-60s. Hailing from Daytona Beach, on the eastern Atlantic coast of the state, the NightCrawlers became one of the first Central Florida bands to have a local regional "hit record". They sparked many a flame in the hearts of central Florida wanna-be rock stars during that era.

The Nightcrawlers basically descended from two Daytona area high-school combos: "The Group": composed of Sylvan Wells (bass), Pete Thomason (rhythm guitar), Rob Rouse (sax) and Kentuckian, George Brown (lead guitar) -- and -- "The Craftsmen": a folk group, that featured Charlie Conlon on guitar and vocals. George Brown had played in a band in Louisville called the Nightcrawlers and that is where the name would eventually come from. The groups first gig was in the Fall of 1964 when Sylvan Wells had taken a job for which he had no band. The job was only three days away -- but as luck would have it -- after a few phone calls -- the NightCrawlers were born. The guys managed to make five songs last about two hours.

The NightCrawlers were: (above: L->R) Tommy Ruger (drums), Rob Rouse (vocal, harmonica tambourine), Charlie Conlon (bass, vocal), Sylvan Wells (lead guitar), Pete Thomason (rhythm guitar, vocal). Often referred to as the sixth NightCrawler, Mike Stone was brought on board when recording wiz Lee Hazen insisted they needed a manager to get local radio station, WROD, to play their cover of an old Buddy Holly tune called, "Cry". Hazen had been recording the group at his studio "The Cottage" (which was little more than a glassed-in back porch kitchen, covered wall-to-ceiling with egg crates) in Ormand Beach. Mike got the record pressed and soon the guys were hearing themselves on the radio. Stone would eventually get the boys a "deal" with Florida music biz legend, Henry Stone (no relation), who would be very instrumental in getting the bands' records out on the market.

Never considered to be super-pickers, the one thing the NightCrawlers had were original songs - great songs - in a time when very few local bands were writing their own material. Their simple haunting melodies, thought provoking lyrics, and interesting arrangements made the NightCrawlers stand out. Charlie Conlon was the group's writer and was responsible for their biggest hit "The Little Black Egg". That song would spark much controversy among the many who believed the lyrics to be interracial. Conlon recalls writing the song when he was sixteen, about a childhood experience (when he was eight) involving a neighborhood kid who showed him a speckled egg in a bird's nest he had found in a tree in his yard-- the epitome of innocence.

“The Little Black Egg” single was recorded and first released in the late summer of 1965 and moved in and out of regional charts across the country until finally making Billboard (#85) in February 1967, ironically upon its third separate issue. The record had a life of it's own and just wouldn't die. Additionally, the original NightCrawlers line-up had been defunct for almost a year at that point. The band recorded singles on the Lee, Marlin, Scott and Kapp Records labels but none would have the longevity of "The Little Black Egg". That guitar lick was known to every real and imagined guitar player in the South East. If the song could have been a coordinated hit everywhere at once, it would have no doubt been one of the mid-60s "greatest hits".

The original band was only around for a little more than two years. They were only doing it until it came time to go to college. Who knows what would have happened if they had intended to make it a career.