With their bright Revolutionary War-style outfits, tri-cornered hats, and energetic antics, Paul Revere and the Raiders were certainly one of the most visual pop/garage rock bands of the 1960s. But beyond that aspect laid a tight, five-piece combo who notched up a string of hits ("Kicks," "Hungry," "Good Thing," "Just Like Me," "Him or Me - What's It Gonna Be"), and a No. 1 smash in 1971 with the socially conscious, pro-Native American "Indian Reservation."

Though the band was named for the keyboardist (actually born Paul Revere Dick!), it was lead singer/saxophonist Mark Lindsay, with his jocularity and teen-idol looks, who usually stood out. And while he left the band in 1975, their best material from 1963-72 is collected on the new double disc The Essential Paul Revere and the Raiders (out today).

Lindsay spoke to Rocks Off about the band's beginnings, supporting Burgess Meredith for political office, and coming face-to-face with one of the most notorious psychopaths of the past century.