The Mod Squad was a trio, conceived in 1987, featuring Karen Deal on keyboards, keyboard bass and background vocals, Rodger Stephan on drums and vocals, and Joey Donovan on guitar and vocals.
For several years the Mod Squad played the psychedelic era music of the late sixties and early seventies... the Chambers Brothers, Spirit, Jimi Hendrix, Cream, the Rascals, the Lovin Spoonful, the Animals, Paul Revere & the Raiders, Santana, the Grassroots, the Kinks, the Who, the Moody Blues, the Yardbirds, Savoy Brown, the Dave Clark Five, Every Mother's Son.
The band appeared regularly at Selena's in Old Hyde Park Village, Skipper's Smokehouse in North Tampa, Cafe Creole in Ybor City, J.J. Higgins and Chevy's in Carrollwood, Cha Cha Coconuts on the St Petersburg Pier, MacDinton's in SoHo Tampa, Jungle Jack's in North Tampa and Blueberry Hill on Harbour Island. There were appearances at Guavaween, Gasparilla Pirate Fest, the Gasparilla Night Parade, Skipper's Smokehouse's Freaker's Ball and a TV appearance on the Friday Extra Concert Series at Lowry Park's bandshell in 1988.
The Mod Squad found themselves opening for some of the music heroes of that byegone era- sharing the stage with Spirit, Marty Balin (Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship), Mark Farner (Grand Funk Railroad), Peter Noone (Herman's Hermits), Mike Pinera (Iron Butterfly, Blues Image), the Spencer Davis Group, Savoy Brown and lots of others that I can't remember right now...
They also performed as the backing musicians for the "Q-105 All-Star Band" featuring the star DJ's from Q-105... Mason Dixon, Chuck Bear, Ronnie "Night Train" Lane and Bobby Rich.
By 1989, Karen left the band for marriage and motherhood, moving to California with her husband-to-be, Marty Balin, of Jefferson Airplane/Jefferson Starship/KBC Band fame (not to mention a pretty stellar solo career).
Rodger has had his hands full, globe-trotting ("hey Rodger, can you manage a gig at Skipper's on the 22nd?".... "no- I'll be in Amsterdam that weekend"), running his business and playing drums with the powerhouse sixties showband "COO COO CA CHOO".
Joey continued playing for a while with "the proper authorities", finishing out prior Mod Squad obligations and adding a few other venues for a couple of years. He is the guitarist for a couple of local bands- notably "the LINT ROLLERS" and "the THIRD BAND". He's the proprietor of DONOVAN AUDIO DESIGNS, designing, selling and installing pro audio systems wherever duty calls.
Tragically, Karen passed away on November 19th, 2010. Marty lives in Tampa with their beautiful daughter, Delaney.
RIP Karen
