Historical

Biography

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SpaceArk was a pioneering Los Angeles-based Soul/Rock group formed in 1973 and dissolved in 1979. The band's status is inactive.  New and original fans can listen to SpaceArk's music and learn about the group.  This website is maintained by Peter Alan Silberg, founding member and lead guitarist.   

Your comments and messages are welcome on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/SpaceArk.lasoul

or email

spaceark@mail.com.

Listen to and download SpaceArk music at  spaceark.bandcamp.com

==========================  "Welcome to My Door"
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Peter Alan Silberg was born in London, England, and his parents emigrated to Los Angeles, California when he was 6 years old in 1955.  He grew up in the beach city of Santa Monica, and took up guitar after seeing Dick Dale "King of the Surf Guitar" perform at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in 1961.  Peter was playing viola in the school orchestra but once exposed to the power of the electric guitar, it became a lifelong passion.

During high school, Peter was the lead guitarist for a San Fernando Valley surf band "The Intoxicators" (1963-65).  The group performed at school dances and local clubs, playing surf rock and 1950's R&B songs.  The Intoxicators won numerous battle of the band competitions, and secured a small recording contract with TJ Records, and recorded tracks for TJ Records' solo artist, Mel Thompson. A 45rpm single was released - "Goin' Down That Lonesome Road" and "I Never Look For Trouble", both catchy folk-pop songs that went nowhere.

In 1965, Peter joined Epic Records recording artists "The Bad Boys" who released the first rock version of the classic song "River Deep Mountain High" (later made famous by Dick & Dee Dee, and Tina Turner).  The Bad Boys' records didn't chart and Epic dropped them, and live bookings dried up. 

Peter next joined the "The Black Watch" (1966-71).  One musician, keyboardist Mark Weitz, later joined "The Strawberry Alarm Clock" (Incense & Peppermints).  Peter would perform with this group for a few years. 

As music tastes changed, Peter also joined "The Glass Menagerie", a San Fernando Valley band, whose members attended Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, CA.  They played songs by The Beatles, Rolling Stones, and other British Invasion groups who had taken over the radio.  The group performed at school dances and local clubs, playing British Invasion hits, and music by The Byrds, Arthur Lee & Love, The Grassroots, The Leaves, and The Doors.  The Glass Menagerie was a headlining group at the Hollywood Teenage Fair, and won Battle Of The Bands awards.  When some of the band members graduated and went to college out of state, the group fell apart.

In the late 1960s, Peter rejoined The Black Watch, now a quartet featuring Dolores Hardy, the wife of bass player John Jakus.  Dolores was a talented vocalist who could sing any style of music (and later performed with SpaceArk in the mid-1970s).  The Black Watch played local clubs,  private parties, and college stadiums in Southern California.  They shared the stage with The Challengers, The Bobby Fuller 4, Sam The Sham & The Pharoahs, The Coasters, The Standells, The Strawberry Alarm Clock, Ben E. King, and other bands from Los Angeles. 

Playing with The Black Watch provided steady weekend work, performing Top 40 radio hits.  Tiring of playing mostly pop music, Peter formed a backing band with bassist / vocalist Robert Fisch, and they supported an early 1970s R&B vocal group.  They performed at R&B clubs in Southern California for about a year.  Both Peter and Robert liked classic R&B as well as Rock & Roll.  After the R&B bookings slowed down, they decided to form a hard rock trio, and added a female vocalist.  As a quartet, they performed at local clubs, small stadiums, and US military base clubs through early 1973. Bassist Robert Fisch handled booking and promoting the group.  Peter and Robert wrote some original material but did not attempt to market it.

While playing hard rock was preferable to playing Top 40 pop or R&B hits, Peter was not playing original material in a band and did not have any industry contacts.  As his opportunities were slim in Los Angeles, he thought by returning to London his luck might change.

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SpaceArk's Beginnings
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A few weeks before Peter was to leave Los Angeles, the phone rang and songwriter/singer Troy Raglin introduced himself.  Troy was seeking a guitarist and songwriting collaborator, and had selected Peter's profile listing at the Musicians Contact Service in Hollywood.

They got together and Troy played songs he had recorded with Capitol Records in San Francisco, under the name of Troy Dodds.  Troy had relocated to Los Angeles to seek a new recording contract.  He mentioned he had many industry contacts who would be interested in hearing new material.  Peter liked Troy's energy and enthusiasm, and decided to stay in Los Angeles. 

The duo spent the summer of 1973 writing songs and recording home demos.  It was apparent something special was happening between the two musicians.  Troy had a natural gift for melody, composed song lyrics easily, and was a strong vocalist.

Their demos were presented to Troy's industry contacts, but no contract offer resulted. So the next step was to form a group to perform live, and hopefully attract label interest.  Musicians were auditioned, and players with talent and compatible personalities were found, and the band came together.  They decided to call themselves SpaceArk, which was Troy's idea.

During the 1970s, opportunities to play original music in Los Angeles was almost non-existent, unless an artist was signed to a record label and their records were on the radio.  So up and coming bands performed "hits of the day" to secure club bookings.  SpaceArk's live sets included songs by Marvin Gaye, The OJay's, The Commodores, Earth, Wind & Fire, and other R&B acts of the early 1970's. 

During the first few months of performing at clubs, SpaceArk discovered audiences could be won over by playing radio dance hits and inserting original songs in the live sets.  It became apparent which original songs kept people on the floor dancing.  Most of SpaceArk's initial bookings were at soul music clubs, and audiences were quick to decide whether a band was in "the groove."  After a few months of playing live, the musicians honed their craft and were successful in getting enthusiastic audience response to their original compositions. 

Over the next few years, SpaceArk performed at R&B soul, rock and roll clubs, and military base clubs.  The clubs provided a great opportunity to play for diverse audiences from all over the USA.  At these shows, SpaceArk gave away 45rpm singles, 8-track tapes, and albums to thank fans and promote the group.  The records would later make their way around the world -- like "messages in a bottle" as the military personnel took the records with them when they were deployed overseas. 

Years later, the original ColorWorld label records became highly valued collectibles in England, Europe, and the Far East, and are classified as "Northern Soul."   The ColorWorld label albums have sold for hundreds of dollars on eBay and other record collector websites around the globe. 

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The Elusive Recording Contract.

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SpaceArk was ahead of its time, were self-produced, and owned the rights to their music.  Unfortunately, SpaceArk was not successful in promoting their music beyond Southern California, and were not able to get signed to a major record label contract.

Record executives did not know how to market SpaceArk.  They agreed the group was unique and talented, but their music didn't fall into a comfortable category.  There also existed a divide between promoting rock and roll, and disco / rhythm & blues acts, and clubs tended to book specific styles of  acts. 

SpaceArk wasn't disco, or rock & roll, and were capable of multiple musical directions.  When they played live, they adjusted the set lists to match audience preferences.  They believed this musical diversity was a strength, but record company executives perceived it less so when contemplating a potential marketing strategy.

From 1974-79 SpaceArk worked diligently, rehearsed 4-5 days a week, and played hundreds of live dates, to fund their recording and promotion efforts.  Two full-length albums and a handful of 45rpm singles were released. 

Seeking to expand, Troy Raglin decided to sign other artists to ColorWorld, SpaceArk's independent record label.  Peter did not agree with this change in strategy, and believed SpaceArk should be the focus until the group was economically successful.  But Troy decided he was a self-proclaimed "record company president" and there was no going back.

Unfortunately, the times were not favorable, and after years of hard work and dedication by everyone involved, the lack of tangible economic success made it difficult to justify continuing the effort.  In 1979, Peter dissolved his partnership with Troy and left the group.  For a short time, Troy formed a new group to perform his songs, but they sounded nothing like SpaceArk.

Factors which led to original band members leaving was Troy's sometimes hard-edged management style and refusal to compromise, his increasing  focus on other artists, and the overall lack of economic success as time progressed.

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What happened to SpaceArk's 

band members?

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In 1980, after Peter left SpaceArk, Troy formed his Fire Mountain record label to market other artists, and promote himself as a solo artist.  A few years later, he moved to the High Desert area of Southern California, and left the Los Angeles music scene, never to return. 

Peter joined "Poly", a 1980's power pop quartet, as a bassist.  Poly performed at Hollywood clubs, seeking to land a recording contract, but were not successful.  Peter then joined a country-rock group, again playing bass, and performed at local clubs for a few years.  When the bookings dried up, he started writing original music with his brother, but did not have success marketing their ideas to independent record labels.  It was apparent time had run out...

In the mid-1980s, Peter changed career directions and joined the computer industry, providing technical services to law firms and multi-national corporations.  Music and guitar continued as a life-long interest.

In 2008, while searching the internet, Peter discovered Troy Raglin, Russell Greene, and Michael McAllister (our photographer and 2nd roadie), had passed away some years prior.   In 2009, Peter learned Dolores Hardy had tragically lost her life in the mid-1980s, the victim of a vicious assault and robbery.

Allen "Kenny" Chavis, the 3rd bass player resides in the Southern California area.  An internet search revealed 2nd bass player Mahlon Hawk resides in the Phoenix area, and Jared Stewart, 2nd keyboardist resides in the LA area. 

Unknown are the whereabouts of Jerry Horton, SpaceArk's faithful roadie and record promo man, and the second female singer who performed with SpaceArk in the late 1970s. 

Reflecting back all these years later, "Rip" was the nickname Troy gave Peter for playing fast and aggressive guitar.  Troy's self-moniker was "Rags" for the patchwork jeans he had a habit of wearing. 

RIP Rags... 

In 2009, Peter came across a YouTube video of Bryan "Skip" Reed's jazz group performing at a restaurant close to where he lived.  He surprised "Skip" with an unannounced visit, and brought original bassist Reggie Austin along.  Peter and Reggie had periodically stayed in touch over the last few years.  A joyous one-night reunion took place and Peter sounded the musicians out about getting together again, but there was no interest - everyone had moved on with their lives...

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In 2026, Peter finally completed a decades' long desire to create complete songs from the old analog cassette recordings of songwriting and live sessions, and release professional radio-ready recordings.   That desire has been fulfilled with the 2026 album  releases.

For general inquiries or for licensing SpaceArk compositions email spaceark@mail.com

Peace to all,

Peter Alan Silberg, founder and lead guitarist of SpaceArk

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