Sometimes things just work out. Laura writes because she knew Judy in
The Bomarcs and was looking for best buddy Jeanne from the Shy Ones. Laura spilled the beans about her band "the International Silver String Submarine Banned" and mentioned the
Poverty Programme. Band member Dan Modlin notices the mention and provides some info about the band. I search the papers and find an ad for the band, and just maybe, it will generate another lead and we'll uncover another nugget out there!
Band members included:
- Dan Modlin - bass
- Jay Wilfong - Lead guitar
- Jerry DeRome - Drums
- Dave Scott - Rhythm
- Steve Benefiel - organ
Dan offered this info on the band:
"We started playing together as the
Poverty Programme in the summer of '67. Jerry DeRome played drums,
Dave Scott played rhythm guitar, Steve Benefiel played organ, and I
played bass. As mentioned earlier, Jay was the lead guitarist.
Jerry and I had played together in a short-lived band
called
The Temperance Union before we got this band going.
The
Poverty Programme developed quickly and we played
on a very regular basis. We played a lot of jobs after high school
football and basketball games at schools in the region. For as young
as we were, we also got some pretty serious bookings at the
Holiday Inn Weekender Club, Fort Benjamin Harrison, Raccoon Lake,
and our favorite------ fraternity parties at Indiana University.
I also recall some good gigs at the Skateland in Shelbyville....and at the
Regionals in Rushville.
As I recall, we were booked in Rushville at least a couple of times by an
Indy booking agent.... and those gigs might have been for the basketball
sectionals and regionals in 1968. It seems like he put us in a community
building where people could hear us play between game sessions.... or
after the finals. I remember that they billed us as "a psychedelic" act,
largely because we played some fairly progressive stuff (Hendrix, Cream, the
Who, etc.) and because we worked a strobe light and smoke bombs into the last
song of the set. It was a lot of fun..............
We played in the Indianapolis area, but most of us were based in
Hancock County. (New Palestine High, Eastern Hancock, and one from Warren
Central in Indy)
You asked what song we recorded with the recording session we won in the
Battle of the Bands. I had written a song called "Two Years Ahead of
My Time" that we recorded--- in hopes of getting a serious label to pick it
up. The song opened with a three/four time pattern that sounded kind of
East Indian.... so we thought it was fairly progressive for the time.
Jay had a friend who worked in radio in Anderson who liked the song and
encouraged us to shop it around. We sent it to Mercury Records, but they
passed on it. I honestly don't know if a tape copy still exists of that
one."
Thanks Dan for all the info! The sharp-eyed will have noticed that Dan Modlin & Dave Scott did an LP "The Train Don't Stop Here Anymore" at the legendary 700 west studios in the '70s. Dan and Jay are still heavily in the music biz. Jay Wilfong was behind the stunning "Primevil" and "Bucccanner" lp's. Someone has to do the '70s, maybe me someday....................
As for the "
Why Us", I don't know anything yet, but maybe it's the next lead!
One of the reasons I do this is to make sure the facts are correct and the right band members are honored. It's getting to be a long time ago and memories are sometimes short, and often the newspaper, and ads are just wrong. I did a little piece with some tunes earlier on the Idle Few. (Click on the Idle Few to check it out). 
This second pic shows the group as they recorded "Farmer John" and "Another World". John was killed in a car accident returning from an after prom dance in Cambridge City, and was never replaced. Bill was replaced by Paul Romine on bass and this is the recording lineup.
