Thursday, January 10, 2008

U.S. MALE - Warsaw Indiana - 1967 - 68

The U.S. MALE, based out of Warsaw, Indiana circa 1967.
Special thanks to Bill Wagoner:

"We played all over the midwest, Detroit, Indy, Ft Wayne, Burlington Iowa, Muncie, etc etc, we opened for a lot of big name bands at places like Tippy Gardens, The Top Deck in South Bend, The Electric Circuit in Elkhart, Edison Lighthouse in South Bend and The Spectrum (I think thats the name) in Indy, Hullabaloo clubs in Ft Wayne and Portage, The Crows Nest East in Detroit and so forth.

We opened for New Colony Six, Music Explosion, Strawberry Alarm Clock, Spencer Davis Group, The Outsiders, and some others.

BTW, we were total hell raisers, part of the charm of the band and our reputation to be truthful. The coats in that picture were stolen in fact. lol They were old band uniform coats and we found out where they were stored and got in and grabbed coats, big plumey hats and stuff, there were stored in a barn and were no longer used. Then were actually wore them to do gigs back to the same high school we got them from. lol (Youth, what can you say, we were nuts)"

Members pictured (back to front - left to right):

Paul Graham - rhythm guitar
Randy Kirkendall - Vocals
Ralph Marol - Bass & vocals
Dan Sullivan - tambourine & backing vocals
Dave Patterson - Drums
Bill Wagoner - Lead guitar

Thanks Bill! Bill was also kind enough to send some additional pictures and we'll have an update soon.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

My name is Rob Puskas and I want to say thanks for putting my Uncles band on your site,(The Blue Angels). It was reaaly cool to see that after all these years. Hope everybody that looks at this site likes what you have put and what my Uncle has written.

Anonymous said...

do you have any photos of the hullabaloo club in portage indiana?

Anonymous said...

Did U.S. Male ever put out any 45's?

vinylfool said...

There are a couple Other US Male bands that put a 45 out, but alas, not these guys.

Anonymous said...

Thanks to T.M. for the link to your page, Bill. As founding member of the New Colony Six, I was honored to see that you placed us first among the "name" bands for whom you opened, and I absolutely remember your band. Who could forget such a moniker, eh? Visit my MySpace page @ www.myspace.com/colonyjr if you are interested in old pics, videos of the current line-up and, of course, some of our tunes; otherwise, take care and keep on keepin' on! Ray

Anonymous said...

Scott Wiley said...

I remember you guys from Carnaby Square when I was about 6 to 8 years old.

My Mom Maxine Wiley ran the dance hall.

I remember I always would stand in front of Dave as I wanted to be a drummer. He would even let me play his drums sometimes.

Those were awesome memories. My sisters and I have often talked about a Carnaby Square reunion.

Thanks for the memories.

Scott

Annie Sullivan said...

Wow this is amazing...This is my father "Dan Sullivan's" 15th anniversary of his death and I was looking at the same picture that is posted on this web cite so I thought I would google the band name...do any of the band members have any of the old band stuff or pictures that I could see or hear?

Anonymous said...

hey scott,

do you have any old posters from their performances? i've been looking for some and i can't find any. i'm trying to find a poster from when they were at the tippy dance hall, too. if anyone has any info on where i can get a poster or two it would be greatly appreciated!

laurie
eirual1027@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

Have you ever performed in Ocoee, Floria?

richerd said...

RIP Bill Wagoner.

George Michael USA said...

I am from Lansing Il and had a band named the U S Males from 65-67. We played the Hulabaloo, Dex Card's Wild Goose, Purple Poodle and many a high school prom, sock hop, homecoming dance. We opened for The Cryan Shames, Spirit, The Amboy Dukes, The Blues Magoos, The Outsiders, The Bob Seger System and numerous other local and national acts. When we discovered that there were US Male bands in other states, we changed our name to The Park Avenue Playground and recorded a 45 on the USA label. Sorry, never heard of the Warsaw In. band!

emhprogram said...

I went to high school in Warsaw and I remember Dave, Randy and Ralph quite well. The description above of them being total hell raisers is not something I remember about them. Maybe a little embellishment...?

Unknown said...

I saw Park Avenue Playground at some high school in northwest Indiana in the 60's. I went to Crown Point,In in the 60's. Would love to know more abt Park Avenue Playground and other bands from there. I was in a band that played some high schools and teen clubs back then as well. I really miss that time of my life. Please,please comment back with anything you remember abt music on the local scene from that area. Thanks, Butch

Anonymous said...

You weren't very observant

Anonymous said...

At UCLA, in 1965, I began a rock and roll band which I called the U.S Males, the plural of male. I was the lead singer and rhythm guitar. We played up and down fraternity and sorority row and even played a gig at the Troubadour, in West Hollywood. Of course, "There's nothing new under the Sun"God bless all the U.S. Males!
Ken 77years old . cellphone 805-280-9552