the purple gang formed in north hollywood in late 1965 with a membership composed primarily of students from north hollywood high school. the band chose their name based on the infamous chicago gang of the same name. according to former member marty tryon, "i am pretty sure the name the purple gang came from rosemary richland. she told us about the gangsters in detroit that were called the purple gang during the 1930s. they got us purple shirts with puffy sleeves and away we went." their original lineup consisted of bob corff (vocals), alan wisdom (guitar), mark landon (guitar), marty tryon (bass), harry garfield (keyboards), and tom atwater (drums) and their sound was influenced by bands such as the beatles, the byrds, and love. the band's lead singer, bob corff, knew l.a. music promoter tony richland, who became the band's manager, and would later be associated with harry nilsson. wisdom and tryon had played in another local band, the tegrams. they made their first live appearance playing in front of a gas station, an event which, according to popular legend, prompted drummer atwater to coin the phrase "what a gas!"