Felix Cavaliere - keyboards, vocals; Vinnie Cusano - guitars, vocals; Jack Scarangella - drums; Marty David - bass
After a long and mostly successful career as the lead singer and organist for The Rascals, Felix Cavaliere launched a solo career when they broke up in 1972. Initially signing with Albert Grossman's Woodstock-based Bearsville Records (home of Todd Rundgren, Paul Butterfield, and Foghat), Cavaliere's first two solo releases were not commercial successes. In 1976, Cavaliere moved to Epic Records and decided he once again wanted to be a member of band.
Treasure was a four-piece hard-rock band Cavaliere formed after his second solo LP, Destiny, also stiffed. Treasure (which only made one LP) featured future Kiss member and '80s guitar hero Vinnie Vincent. Back in 1976, when the band recorded and toured, he was still using his legal name, Vinnie Cusano. Drummer Jack Scarangella had worked in various NY-based bands and done session work.
The group made one album of what many felt was calculated, FM-radio friendly rock songs. Epic Records was certain they could break Treasure because of the enormous musical legacy that Cavaliere brought with him. Ironically, over at Atlantic Records, the two other former Rascals, Gene Cornish and Dino Danelli, were trying to make it in a group that was almost identical to Treasure musically, called Fotomaker. But in 1976, Treasure was a tough sell to a music industry that was embracing disco and the corporate rock of bands like Boston and Foreigner.
As with his two initial solo records, Treasure was a commercial flop. When Cavaliere returned in 1979, he was back to using his own name and playing plenty of Rascals material in his solo shows.
This, one of three Bottom Line shows recorded for the King Biscuit Flower Hour during a two-day run, features the most radio-friendly songs from the sole Treasure self-titled LP ("Love Me Tonight," "Innocent Eyes," "When The Sun Shines," and "Jubilation") as well as two R&B classics he had hit singles with while in The Rascals: "In The Midnight Hour" and the 1965 classic "Good Lovin.'"