The Strangers were a 1960s group featuring Gene Lamarr (best known for his 1958 cult rockabilly classic “That Crazy Little House on the Hill”), Willie Kellogg, Joel Scott Hill, and Harold Kirby. The lineup was similar to Hill's band Joel Scott Hill and the Invaders, which featured Kellog and Kirby and recorded a few singles, as well as opening for the Rolling Stones on November 1, 1964, at Balboa Park Bowl.
Gene Lamarr later retired from music to take a job working for General Dynamics. By the early 2000s, he was back to occasionally playing guitar around bars in Poway and was building a home recording studio when he suffered heart failure and passed away in April 2007. The March 2011 issue of newly revamped Goldmine magazine included an article about Lamarr.
Strangers guitarist Joel Scott Hill later replaced Al Wilson in Canned Heat. Hill also recorded with Kathy Young and did session work for Monogram Records with artists like Chris Montez. He also played with the Flying Burrito Brothers, recorded an album with Chris Etheridge and John Barbata, and played in a 1980s band called Sierra. Solo singles like "I Thought It Over" were released on the Trans American label.
In 2016, while living near Pittsburg, Kansas, Hill contracted a staph infection and, after suffering complications, passed away on May 29.