[3] After months of rehearsal, the Palace Guard's big break came when KRLA deejay Casey Kasem invited the group to perform on his local television dance show Shebang.

In mid-1965, the group began an extended residency at the Hullabaloo club, on Sunset Boulevard, earning popularity as a need-to-see attraction in Los Angeles.

[7] Two singles followed on the Orange-Empire record label, before the group scored a regional hit with "Falling Sugar" in early 1966, described by music historian Lenny Kaye as "a catchy Moptop-ish toe tapper brimming with youthful fervor".

[8] Rhodes began to have larger ambitions, both as a songwriter and to become a guitarist, leading him to depart the band to form the Merry-Go-Round and reaching number 63 on the Billboard Hot 100 with his song "Live".

[9] His replacement Terry Rae, formerly of the Driftones, an early version of the Yellow Payges, recalls in an interview that prior to leaving Rhodes "used to bring up his acoustic guitar and sing "Yesterday" at the Hullabaloo while he was with The Guard.