Look in any book on the History of Rock and Roll and you will find Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen  The band's name was inspired by 1950's film serials featuring the character Kommando Kody and from a feature version of an earlier serial, King of the Rocket Men, released under the title Lost Planet Airmen. The band's founder and leader, George Frayne, took the stage name Commander Cody.  Among many other achievements, this eight  piece super band's album Deep in the Heart of Texas is one of Rolling Stone Magazine's  top 100 albums of all time.  Its no wonder Billy C Farlow, the lead singer, also played trumpet and blues harp. The fiddler, Andy Stein, played saxophone and  the guitar player, Bill Kirchen, played trombone.  Cody  the piano pounder, doubled on Kazoo. And they all sang. They toured non stop to a legion of dedicated fans across the globe and back and recorded seven original albums before the band finally broke up and each member went their separate ways in 1977.

Since the breakup, each band member has continued the legend by fronting and recording their own smaller groups, sitting in with each other from time to time,  and doing occasional band reunion performances.  

In 1986, the Commander Cody Band recorded the powerful album, Let's Rock! that was released on Blind Pig. Let's Rock! does just that, featuring  compositions in the old Cody tradition like "Truck Stop at the End of the World" and "Rockabilly Funeral" among others. The Commander Cody Band  relocated  to the east coast in 1997 and  has been going strong ever since. Cody and his group are still wowing crowds at festivals, giant biker conventions and college concerts in the U.S. and Europe,  as well as sleazy, down home, uptown and/or very posh roadhouses and bars. As of late Cody has also been artist  in residence as well as boogie woogie pianist extraordinaire on The  Legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruise extravaganzas. George  Frayne is also a highly respected and sought after artist, having received his bachelor's degree in Design from the University of Michigan and a master's degree in Sculpture and Painting from the Rackham School of Graduate Studies of the University of Michigan. He has taught at  the University of Michigan and Wisconsin State University, and has had his art exhibited at numerous shows.  

Today the  Commander Cody Band features Mark Emerick on guitar, Steve Barbuto on drums, Chris Olsen on pedal steel, and Randy Bramwell on bass. Cody is still trying to pound his piano  into submission.  And they all sing.