Luke Hartmere was a friend of JP Valentine and a member of their band JP & the Wishing Stars in 1953. Luke initially mocked JP's cousin Bingo Zohar for his unusual moves and appearance, but changed his mind after hearing Bingo perform the then-new music style called rock and roll, especially after a record Bingo had shown Luke got Luke's girlfriend to become intimate with him. Luke and the other members of the Wishing Stars wanted to add rock n' roll music and dancing to the band's line-up, though JP refused.