Rhythm Guitar, Vocals
Geraldine “Geri” Lombardo was raised in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Her love for music began as a little girl playing on her toy piano and continued after her parents bought her an upright piano and lessons as a preteen. Her desire to play the guitar began during the infancy of the British Invasion. Like so many people at the time, she was greatly influenced by the Beatles’ first television appearance in the United States. On February 9, 1964, 12-year-old Geri remembers watching the Ed Sullivan show when the Beatles performed five songs before a screaming audience.
This was a defining moment for her drive to get into music professionally. In an interview in Ugly Things Magazine (Issue #45), she recalls:
“I was sitting on my living room floor glued to the television, and it seemed like my whole world changed after that. Each day after school, I would lock myself up in my bedroom, playing my Beatles’ album and 45’s over and over again. I would endlessly sing and harmonize to their music.”
The Beatles’ musical influence on her was cemented later that year when she saw them perform in person at the Philadelphia Convention Center in September of 1964. It would be her admiration for this burgeoning British foursome that would eventually connect her with her future bandmates.
In the summer of 1965 at a party with friends in Princeton, she met Dodie Pettit and Molly York, who had previously formed a small folk band with Sheri Oman. Their conversation centered on a common interest: The Beatles, and how they could meet them. Fourteen-year-old Geri suggested that the best way to meet them would to be in a band themselves. Dodie and Molly exclaimed they already had a band, asked Geri if she would like to join, and without hesitation, she agreed.
Realizing she would need to get a guitar and learn how to play it, she approached her father Joe Lombardo for $50.00. However, being the only girl of four children, and the daughter of second generation Italian immigrants, he was not keen on his daughter playing guitar and joining a rock band. After her father resolutely declined her request for the money, she went into her bedroom and cried within his earshot, until he gave in and gave her the money.
Geri singing “You Make Me Feel Good”[/caption]
Now armed with a guitar, her new bandmates Dodie and Molly were more than willing to teach her chords and songs. Determined to learn quickly, she became obsessed with practicing day and night, superseding interests common to most girls her age. Only a month after getting her guitar, the girls started to get local gigs in Princeton, even before their act was perfected. In fact, Geri needed to keep a cheat-sheet on her amplifier with the chords to their song set list to get through those first few gigs.
As the band continued gaining momentum, it became obvious that they would need a manager. Taking on the job was one of Geri’s older brothers, Tom Lombardo, who also would serve as the band’s photographer, chief roadie and bodyguard. He hustled to book them gigs at the Princeton University eating clubs and various colleges in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. In 1967 The Untouchable recorded two songs for a demo record at Hagen’s Recording Studio in Princeton to send to the local colleges and concert venues. Soon the girls were booking larger venues including Central Park, The Electric Circus, Ondine and The Palace Theater on Broadway. They opened up for, or were on the same bill as bands such as The Grateful Dead, Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, The Beach Boys, Jay and the Techniques, Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs, The Lemon Pipers, and many more.
This eventually led them to an audition with Koppelman and Rubin, who also represented The Lovin’ Spoonful. Geri recalled that Charlie Koppelman wanted to sign them right away after hearing them perform “Dancing In the Street” in four part harmony, with only an acoustic guitar and drum sticks to keep the beat. Koppelman assigned staff producer John Boylan to the band to make them ready for the recording studio. Boylan worked with the band for weeks to help them produce a few original songs, and finally booked time in New York’s premier recording studio at the time, Bell Sound Studios.
Geri recalls:
“It was very exciting to learn the professional way to record a song – with a producer – and one track at a time. We loved the idea that we could correct any mistakes and repeat a riff or track until we were happy with the result. Also, someone else was paying for it! This was quite a contrast to our experience recording at Hagens Recording Studio. At that session, we had to get it right the first time as we only could afford enough studio time to record it live one time – no retakes or multi-tracking!”
Geri thought for sure that things were lining up for a national record release and tour, however there had been growing internal and external pressures creating problems for the girls. Soon after they completed recording their first single, “Tollbooth”, the band would break up.
While the recording session didn’t accomplish its intended purpose for The Untouchable, that session did leave its mark in another way. It would be there that Geri’s then love and recent Princeton University architect graduate, John Storyk would step into a recording studio for the first time. Notably Storyk would go on to become one of the world’s leading music and sound studio designers and architects, beginning with his first project in 1969 for Jimi Hendrix, designing the famous Electric Lady Studios in New York.
By the time the Untouchable broke up, Geri was well-connected to the music business, and was able to keep very busy. As John Storyk was designing Electric Lady studios for Jimi Hendrix, Geri relates a humorous story about meeting members of an English rock band she had never heard of:
“One night my friend and recording engineer Eddie Kramer stopped by with a friend of his, and invited me to go to an uptown pub with them. He was a tall, handsome Englishman with curly blonde hair. He told me his name was Robert, but I had no clue who he was. We all got into a cab heading uptown, and on the way we were talking about this and that. He said that he would like to see me again. I said that would be nice but that I was leaving for San Francisco in a few days. He exclaimed: “I’m going there too and will be performing—let’s meet up!” I asked him: “Who are you opening up for?” He looked at me with disbelief and said: “I AM the band!” When I asked him the name of his band, he exclaimed “Led Zeppelin!” I said “Well I never heard of you!”. Hearing this, my friend Eddie chuckled, and it amused Robert too. I did accept his invitation to see them at the San Francisco concert, that’s where I first met Jimmy Page and the rest of the band and actually sat on the stage during that show. I saw them again later that year when they were recording at Electric Lady Studios. When I walked into the studio, there were no empty seats, so Robert literally dumped a female groupy out of her chair, turned to me and said: “This chair is for ladies!” and offered me that seat. That would be the last time I would see them, other than back stage in 1986 when I was photographing a Honeydrippers concert.”
Besides playing guitar and writing songs, she took acting classes at the renowned Herbert Berghof (HB) Studio in New York. She was backstage in the recording trailer at Woodstock in 1969 with John Storyk and engineer Eddie Kramer. Her friendships with performers and those behind the scenes were many. In addition to Storyk, Kramer, and producer John Boylan, this included members of Led Zeppelin, The Lovin’ Spoonful, and Crosby, Stills and Nash. These relationships would open up opportunities for her career to continue in the music industry. She helped with auditioning opening acts at the Fillmore East, and worked briefly in Los Angeles for Bill Graham’s company – Shady Management. Despite all of the opportunities that were available to her, she decided to leave the music business. In the 2017 Ugly Things interview, she explains:
“I kept so busy that I literally burned myself out and became quite ill. During this time I began to question what was really important in life. By 1970, after seeing and experiencing firsthand how destructive the lifestyles in the music business can be, I made the decision to totally leave pursuing a musical career or playing professionally… I’ve never regretted leaving the music business behind.”
Ironically, it would be the past she left behind that would lead her to the next chapter in her life and future marriage. After being interviewed on a popular NJ/Philadelphia radio station (WPST-FM, 97.5) about her experience backstage at Woodstock on the 15th anniversary of the event, she would meet then disc jockey Donald Vetick. During this time, Geri indulged in another passion she enjoyed, photography. Together with Donald’s backstage access and Geri’s previous music connections, she photographed various bands at concerts, including the mega-concerts Live Aid in 1985 and the Amnesty International Conspiracy of Hope in 1986. She also was invited to photograph at the short-lived David Brenner radio show, whose guests included many top musicians and celebrities.
Soon after their marriage in 1987, Donald and Geri organized a reunion of The Untouchable about 18 years after the band’s breakup, inspired by a performance that Geri, Dodie, and drummer Kathy gave at Geri & Don’s wedding reception. After a few days of practice at their old rehearsal house, Dodie, Molly, Sheri, Kathy and Geri booked time in a local recording studio and recorded The Beatle’s “In My Life” and Martha and The Vandellas’ “Dancing in the Street”. Other than a brief basement reunion in 2001 with Dodie, Molly and Geri, that would be the last time The Untouchable would play together.
Working as a real estate broker for 15 years and doing contract work for a law firm for 14 years, Geri kept her creative juices flowing by playing the guitar, writing songs, poetry, selling some of her photos to private buyers, along with writing and composing some commercial jingles for radio stations in the Philadelphia area. Other passions have been international and domestic travel, hiking adventures and cooking.
For over 25 years she and Donald (who began working in film and television production in 1986) have given their time and talents working on the production of educational and documentary films for Jehovah’s Witnesses, traveling multiple times to over 12 different countries working with hundreds of other volunteers on film crews. Geri and Don continue to this day actively volunteering their time helping people and teaching the Bible’s message of good news and hope to people of all nationalities, even taking up the challenge of learning Mandarin Chinese several years ago.
Geri concludes:
“I look back fondly on the time I spent in The Untouchable. It was an exciting and amazing time for me…so different from what all my female peers were doing back in the 1960’s! I really enjoyed writing music and performing with the girls. If we had stayed together, would we have become famous? Would we have had a hit record? Given the attention we were getting, I think that it’s quite possible. But truthfully, having seen firsthand how unhealthy and destructive the rock and roll lifestyle has been to many of those who achieved fame, I have no regrets that it didn’t work out. I still enjoy playing music and writing, but my biggest joys in life have been my family. I have two wonderful sons Joshua and Benjamin, two beautiful grandchildren Rebekah and Caleb and a loving husband for over 30 years. I was also privileged to care for my mother up until her death at age 97. These things, along with a strong faith, are far more valuable than anything fame could have ever brought me.”
