Review by Breezy Point Resort, Minnesota:

If bass is the foundation of rock-n-roll, then Johnny Green is one of its master masons.

Present at the creation -- he's pals with just about every rock artist, agent, promoter, record producer who still lives -- Green's guitar artistry has anchored dozens of sound tracks over the last 40 years.

But he's best known as the founder and leader of The Greenmen who performed the theme song for the Sixties' Batman series and appeared in some of its best-remembered episodes, 27 in all. Think of green-haired villains as the Joker's sidekicks.

Green, now 55, still travels the club circuit with The Greenmen just as he always has, but he's never enjoyed it more, he says.

That's because he's discovered a new singing sensation in Rhonda Marie whose bell-ringing voice has been rockin' the house at Breezy Point Resort's Marina Restaurant and Lounge since mid-July.

She's the lead singer in the group's high-volume "variety" show designed for the after-dinner crowd. The Greenmen perform Monday through Saturday, starting at 9 p.m., July 17 - August 5, 2000.

If the husky power of Aretha, with a touch of Whitney's high-pitched trumpet, describes Rhonda Marie, nothing alone can describe Johnny Green: bass player, rock legend, promoter par excellence, record producer, booking agent, and a vacuum cleaner of entertainment history and many of its most important performers.

But most of all he's a showman -- some call him rock's version of Liberace -- and he butters his audiences with everything from rock classics to blues to swing, punctuated with magic, Batman humor and his famous lip-smackin' fire-eatin' act.

Expect to dance up a storm to Green's bass -- and the fire-play of Larry Kozian of Chicago on lead guitar, Randy Daniels Beidelschies of Columbus, Ohio on keyboards and harmonica, and Eddie Coleman of Minneapolis on drums.

Kozian is a classically trained, seasoned guitarist who plays a mean Stevie Ray Vaughan set, with Beidelschies' south-Texas harmonica and voice adding to the piece. Kozian then switches to his classical guitar for a crisp rendition of "Maleguena."

Coleman entertains with a number of drum routines that demand audience participation, and Beidelschies takes the singing lead on many of the group's classical rock and blues pieces in The Greenmen's broad-brushed itinerary.

Rhonda Marie turns to the keyboards and percussion when Daniels leads, and she even brings out the old accordion from time to time.

" The Greenmen play to the crowd as well as any band out there," the Marina's manager Bud Stone says. "If you want to dance the night away, The Greenmen is the group to help you do it."

Green, who makes his home in Annandale on the west side of the Twin Cities with his wife, Jennifer, and their five children, is showcasing his latest lead singer this summer at night spots across the Upper Midwest.

They have two CDs in the works -- one featuring Rhonda Marie in country songs written by Kozian -- which will be released later this year by American Classic Records. It was produced by Dick Wagner who has been behind albums by the Pointer Sisters, Air Supply and several other headliners.

The band's timetable suffered a brief but painful setback when Rhonda was diagnosed with cancer. The 30-year-old singer underwent surgery and radiation treatments at the University of Michigan recently, but reported to Wagner's studio each night for the band's recording sessions. Her prognosis for complete recovery is excellent and she's back in full stride with the summer tour after a two-month recovery at home with her parents in Michigan.

The band heads for Four Bears Casino in Bismarck for an engagement with Billy Ray Cyrus and will perform at the Mill City Music Festival in Minneapolis later this month, "green hair and all," Green says.

A native of Green Bay, Green came up with the dyed-green look -- his band's trademark until about 10 years ago -- as a tribute to his hometown and "a gimmick that brought us instant national attention in the early rock scene," he says.

Now he relies on the emerging talents of Rhonda Marie, a trunkful of musical themes that fit any audience, and a group of skilled and experienced position players who say they sense a surge of even greater success for this version of The Greenmen.

That's because of Green's extensive network in the entertainment and recording business. Consider some career highlights for a sense of Green's place in rock history:

* Johnny Green and The Greenmen have toured with the Rolling Stones, the Beatles and many other legends of rock;

* They've been featured in concert with Bob Hope and toured with Hope's USO troupe in Vietnam and Thailand;

* They've performed for four presidents and a governor who became president;

* They headlined a tour that included performances before the Shah of Iran and King Constantine of Greece;

* And they've been a marquee attraction for years on the Las Vegas Strip.