Ronnie & the Rebels

Big bands, little bands, we try to cover them all here! From May 1965 (Race weekend too, for us Indy 500 fans! Jimmy Clark won that year in a Ford powered Lotus)
Ronnie and the Rebels, one of hundreds of bands playing on a Friday night in Indiana. Who are you guys? Where did you go, and would you share a story or two with us!

Nomads - Morgantown - '65-'66

Ok, every state had a "Nomads", and most probably several in the state. These guys hailed from Morgantown, Indiana. The population is quite small (under 1,000), and I imagine this was the only teen combo at the time. Both photos are from July '65, but they look several years apart.

This is one of those bands where I have more contributed names than apparent members.

Associated names:
Harold Collier
Mike Collier
Dan Rueshaw
Skip Wood
Bill Owens
Herbert Brock
G. Means

Any narrowing down of who is who, please fill me in. And if the guy with the '65 Ventures mosrite still has it, all I ask is to let me play "Walk, Don't Run" on it, then my life will be complete!!!

The Premiers - Southport - 1966

For 50¢ (members) or 75¢ for non members, you could see the popular Southport combo, The Premiers, play at the Green-Urban pool in Greenwood, Indiana. Prices have gone up since '66.

Who are these youth you ask?

From left to right:
Gary Davis - organ
Don Gary - bass guitar
Gary Wells - rhythm guitar
Roger Cummings - lead guitar
Jim Krug - drums

Any recordings or post-Premiers music life? Your guess is as good as mine. We are batting about .750 on finding these things out, so I'll keep my fingers crossed! Wonder if any of these guys kept the guitars.....

Him Her & Them '66-'67 Indianapolis

Him Her & Them, granted, it's not the best quality photo, microfilm at it's best. The band formed in 1964. This is for a show in late '66.

Pictured: (and I don't know who is whom)
Bob Dawson
Jinx Dawson (ok, I know which one she is!)
Steve Farber
Greg Johnson
David Larman
Greg Osborne

Jinx, Greg, and David went on to form "Coven". Best known for the song "One tin Soldier" from the movie "Billy Jack", they recorded 2 albums. Jinx has cult following worshiping her as the first Gothic queen. Nice job if you can get it I guess.

Updates galore!

I think I'll try this once in a while.

The Hurd - new photo and info from band member

Velvet Infinity - Band member info

Royal Blues - Partial band member info

**Anyone know of a "Thundermen"?***

prost!

Rogues - 1966

From early 1966, Indianapolis, and I believe Shortridge High School, The Rogues.
How many bands had just 1/2 a 45? All I have found in Indiana is this split 45 of the Rogues and the V.I.P.'s.
And look closely at that label. A Jr. Achievement Co.. How many '60s teen combos in any state released a 45 as a business experiment?
Anyone know what STO-VA-CO stands for?

The Rogues were:

Danny Bonnett - rhythm guitar & vocals
Bill "Willy" Williams - bass & vocals
Vaughn Vernier - drums
Paul Sheehan - lead guitar & vocals
Pete Schmutte - organ

Hear "I'm not that way at all" now!

Any additional info appreciated! I'll do the VIPs soon also.

Additional info delivered! I made a couple mistakes in the original post, isn't that why we do this, to get the history right!

From Paul Sheehan - lead guitar/vocals/writer

"For the record (so to speak), the Rogues were an Indianapolis based band that played central Indiana teen clubs and high school/college gigs from 1963-1966. The band members were from Cathedral and Scecina High Schools (not Shortridge) and included:

- Paul Sheehan (lead guitar & vocals)
- Dan Bonnett (rhythm guitar & vocals)
- Bill "Willy" Williams (bass & vocals)
- Pete Schmutte (organ)
- Vaughn Vernier (drums)

Sto-Va-Co was a Junior Achievement venture, sponsored by Stokely VanCamp. The Rogues, who were well known in the Indianapolis area at the time, won a competition and were selected to be on the record. It was recorded at Jan Eden’s Recording Studio which used to be in the 1400 block of North Meridian Street.

Bill "Willy" Williams, who co-wrote "I'm not that way at all", sang lead on the record.

The posted picture shows Dan Bonnett, with Vaughn Vernier just barely visible in the background. Where in the world did you find that picture … and are there any more around? To the best of my knowledge, we who were in the band have none.

Dan Bonnett and Paul Sheehan later formed Indianapolis based Ezekial Longspur in 1972, and Pete Schmutte joined that group in 1974. For more info about Ezekial Longspur, go to:

www.indiana45s.com/indiana45s_detail.php?recordID=420&group=Longspur,%20Ezekial

If my memory serves me correctly, the VIPs, who did the flip side of the Sto-Va-Co record, were from Shortridge High School.

Sincerely,

Paul Sheehan
Camarillo, CA

Thanks Paul! E*mail me: vinylfool at vinylfool.net and I'll let you know where I found the photo!

Other Five 1966

The Other Five, from Indianapolis, I believe.

Pictured:
Front row -Mike Ryan
Dan Koontz
back row-
Jabe Christman
J. Michael
Lynn Asper

I don't know much about the Other Five other than one 45 on
Baus, or maybe BA-US, hard to tell. Both sides are covers, and you
can hear them now:
Better Come Home
You Really Got Me
You may recognize the name Mike Ryan from the Teen Tones. I think he was the vocalist here also. Any insight appreciated!

Special thanks to J. Michael for the pic!

International Silver String Submarine Banned - update! Howe High School - 1968

I'm pleased to announce a reunion show featuring friends of the blog: "International Silver String Submarine Banned". They will be performing at Howe High School Class of 1968 reunion on Nov. 29th. So all you Howe '68 guys and gals, all I ask is that someone send me a photo!
The photo here is from the Marion County Fair, July 1967.

Original members include:

Dave Smith - rhythm guitar
Mike Kelley - lead singer / guitar
Randy Barnes - bass guitar
Randy Steenbergen - drums
Laura Stout (now Harmon) - Lead guitar / backup vocals
Pat Kelley - sound tech, guitarist, tea and sympathy

Spread the news, and y'all have a ball.

***Just click on the band name to see the original posts of the ISSSB****

Noblemen - McCordsville - Prism 45

The Noblemen - direct from McCordsville, Indiana, left us one great 45.
She still thinks I love her B/W
Satisfied on Prism 1930.

The Noblemen played around Indianapolis quite often, but seem to have very little known about them. The 45 shows "Crouch & Wilhelm" and "Spencer" as songwriters. I know a James Spencer had a Prism records connection, but maybe that is a coincidence. Any info is appreciated!

Fire Combo - '68 Whiteland Barn

Good Day '60s Indiana Band team! We have a video of an unknown band. No audio (the overdubbed audio was the Seeds "Pushin' to hard") great tune, but not what we need here. At the very beginning we have a shot of the drumhead showing "Fire Combo". All I know is that it's 1968 at the Whiteland Barn.
Our mission....who are these guys!!!!! Any ideas (real or imagined) welcomed. I've seen it guessed as "Feebe n' the Ragweed Patche", but I have my doubts...............

I made it as small as I could for viewing, without resorting to postage stamp size. Who are you!

Jan. 2011 Update!

Two members, Danny Spencer and Rick Boger have checked in!
Rick writes:
"Fire members were:

Lead Singer - Danny Spencer

Lead Guitar - Don Grover

Guitar - Rex Thomas

Bass Guitar - Rick Boger

Keyboards - Dave Thomas

Drums - Paul Thomas

Drums - Kenny Dwiggins

This was a time when we experimented with two drummers. It actually worked out well. I recall we would start the show with a drum duet. Just the two drummers on stage and they would take turns for about five minutes and work the crowd up into a frenzy. Then the rest of us would come on stage and without missing a beat go into the first song. The crowd seemed to like it.

Most of us went to Howe High School. Don Grover and Kenny Dwiggins went to Tech High School. As you can see there were three Thomas' in the band. Dave and Paul were brothers, Rex was not related.

We finally broke up the band around 1970 after a couple of us got married and started families. Also, Danny Spencer went into the Air Force. "

Wow. Over two years have passed since I posted the video. Great info coming in all the time, I'm sure we'll hear more from the Fire Combo!

The Intakes - Combo Clash '66

The Intakes, another entry in the 1966 Indiana State Fair "Combo Clash".
Members included (left to right):
Ralph Wilson - lead guitar
Jack Moore - Lead singer & tambourine
Mike Rowls - Bass guitar
Ken Noble - rhythm guitar
Mike Graves - Drums

The Intakes acquired the name by leafing through a dictionary of course! The "band" vehicle was a '51 hearse and naturally it was black! Playing the grittier tunes of the Animals, Kinks, and Rolling Stones, the group knew that original material was what made it worthwhile.

Mike Rowls is quoted as:
"Many adults don't care for this type of music because there is so much protest in the lyrics. If you protest in a song, it is against your present life or government and in a sense that is protesting against adults of today."

Wonder if Mike still feels the same way............what a drag it is getting old! Let's find these guys and find out if they left some recorded legacy behind!

Iguanas - Maconaquah - Bunker Hill 1967

The Iguanas, unknown students from Maconaquah High School. All I'm sure of is that they attended 1966 - 1967. Look a little young to have graduated then, heck, I don't know!

Maconaquah H.S. is located in beautiful Bunker Hill, Indiana. Cool pic from the kids, hope I find out who they are. Looks to be a three piece combo, no organ or keyboards.

Bitter End - Indianapolis '66

Earlier I exposed the International Silver String Submarine Banned.

Laura wrote:
"I previously was in a band (and was next-door neighbor) to Jeanne Schuller. That band was called The Bitter End, with Pat and Mike Finnegan and the drummer was Jay (something?). When I went on to join the ISSSB as lead player, Jeanne went on to join The Shy Ones as their lead player. Jeanne! Where are you?"

Well, today I found a pic of the Bitter End playing at a new playground opening late Aug. 1966. Don't know if the playground is still there, but how many pics do you find of bands that featured two ladies playing guitar in the mid '60s?

If anyone knows where Jeanne is, contact me and and I'll make sure Laura knows!
And who is Jay?

The Hurd - '66 - '67 Indianapolis

The Hurd - circa 1967. The Hurd were known for the harder rock and psychedelic sounds. One of the few bands of the day to belt out "Psychotic Reaction", and one of even few still to do it well.
Pictured: (from bottom right to left)
Nick Rudman - kneeling - rhythm guitar - Speedway HS
Kevin Williams - seated - lead guitar - vocals - North Central
*** - organ - sax - Broad Ripple
Jimmy Thomson - drums - vocals - North Central
Bruce White - bass - North Central

No 45s left behind that we know of. Alas, maybe we'll find a rehearsal tape someday. Time to check in and let us know what else the Hurd was involved in!

Fab gear dear readers! Kevin Williams has found us and graciously sent this photo and info.

"Bruce White was tragically killed in the USAC airplane crash in 1978. He was finishing up his residency in Surgery, and was the USAC racing doctor. I have lost touch with Nick Rudman, and Jimmy Thompson. The picture you show was taken before we incorporated Steve Simpson on drums, who attended Ben Davis. At that time, Jimmy became our up front man, and singer. Also have lost touch with Steve. Matter of fact, I haven't seen Nick, Steve, or Jimmy since about 1969 or 1970.

This is the only pic I know of, of us rehearsing, sometime in 1967. From Left to right, Jimmy Thompson with mic, Steve Simpson on Drums, myself on the Fender Jaguar (damn I wish I still had that guitar, and the old blonde bandmaster Amp). Nick Rudman with his back to the camera, he is facing Bruce White, only his face is showing, and on the Farfisa organ in back, is **** .
There was some other memorabilia but it was unfortunately destroyed in a flooded basement many years ago. I don't believe there were any reel to reel tapes, or even cassette tapes of the band, as they were just coming into vogue. There was much discussion about doing something, but we all had other life priorities coming up. We all went our separate ways, due to College frankly. Bruce wasn't interested as he was traveling to europe, and then to Med school. I was going to Florida to school, Steve went into the Marines, and I heard he played in the White house Marine band. Note, I heard that second hand. He most certainly was good enough to pass just about any audition. Again, dunno bout Jimmy and Nick."

Wow, all I can say is thanks Kevin. Tons of good info and we tip our hats to you and the band for stickin' that toe in the water and diving in! I wish you still had that Jaguar too.

Idle Few - update

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).

Known as the Kingsmen until they recorded they were-
From the top, clockwise:

• Bill Compton - Bass
• John Chappelow - Lead & Rhythm
• Rick Webster - Lead & Rhythm
• Ron Bennett - Lead Singer & Sax
• Dan Mclean - Drums
• Ron Knoop - Organ

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.

From top to left:

• Ron Bennett
• Paul Romine
• Rick Webster
• Ron Knoop - nearly kneeling
• Dan McLean - sitting

Pretty cool eh? The Soma 45 came first and then picked up by Dunwich.

Special thanks to Ron for the great pics and info!

Unlimited Few - 1967 - '68

Playing in Rushville, Indiana 1968 (altho the ad says 1967, it's a typo), The Unlimited Few. I know of the Idle Few, The Chosen Few, The Fewdle Lords, but this is new to me.
Any info appreciated, as with all of these blind listings. Join in and keep these guys or gals dream alive!

Poverty Programme - '67 -'68 -

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!

Tallys - Tally's - Indianapolis - 1965 - '66

With the addition of bassist Mike Blines, the Cavemen evolved into the Tallys. Starting in Sept. '65, and playing at least thru 1966.
Pictured Left to right:
Jerry Prescott - lead Guitar
Dave Warsham - drums
Jeff Crawford - guitar

The Tallys played the normal college campuses, frat parties, and
as seen in the ad, the Purple Panther (which until today, I didn't know as a teen dance venue).

Now the really cool stuff...
The Tallys traveled to Dayton to make demo tapes at a sound studio there. The demo tapes were picked up by a recording company and told that they could record for that label two weeks later. That would most probably be Prism records. Another Indianapolis band told them that the label had "not good" distribution, and decided to wait awhile. and that while became forever.....

I know that the Noblemen (McCordsville) and the Tribu-Terrys (Rushville) both released 45s on Prism (and maybe the Buckinghams, but I need confirmation on that!), and I'd love to hear the tapes the boys had. Time to step up to the plate and be heard!

***Lord William and The Wisdoms**** anyone? Never even heard a whisper about this (sept.66 ad).

Velvet Infinity - 1968

The Velvet Infinity, another unknown band, with no leads. The pic is from a early 1968 dance at Northwest High School (34th street in Indianapolis). I'm told that the band was hired, and I assume that they most probably did not attend that school.
Check out the threads, fab gear man! I'm stunned that a band that wanted to be "psychedelic" would be using what looks like a gold top Les Paul and ES 335/345s, so I'll bet these guys had played for some years.

Any ideas, leads, real or imagined, e*mail me and let's get these guys some respect that's due!

UPDATE:

Left to right

Steve "Mac" McNally (later of Roadmaster - deceased)
Mike Shepard (drums)
Bob "Tito" Salinas
Mike Milligan
Rex Cruea (bass) deceased also I'm afraid

I'm pretty sure that Rex was from the Kokomo area, the others I don't know yet. Steve should be easy to find info on.

UPDATE the UPDATE!

From Mike Milligan - Lead guitar and trombone:

"My name is Mike Milligan. I am the one in the picture of the Velvet Infinity. The information that you have is correct for the most part. The members were Steve "Mac" McNally who later became lead singer for Roadmaster. Mike Shepard was the drummer. Bob"Tito" Salinas was the lead singer. I, Mike Milligan played lead guitar and occasional trombone for effect (notice the trombone case in the picture). That's an Epiphone Casino that I am playing in the picture. Rex Cruea played bass. Rex, Steve and Tito had some incredible vocal harmonies. There as another guy that was in and out of the band playing guitar then organ by the name of Bill Bird. We were from Kokomo and played about every high school in mid central Indiana. We won the Howard county Battle of the Bands in '67 or '68 and then went on to place 3rd or 4th in the state fair competition. We claimed to be the first Psychedelic band in Indiana playing Who, Cream, Hendrix etc. and had a great time and made a lot of memories. Rex and Steve moved to the Bloomington area in the early 70's and formed a band called Nebula Spoon with Ricky Bennick who played guitar for Roadmaster. Steve and Rex have both passed away. I continued playing through the years and did a short tour with the Drifters. My best musical days were in the 90's to 2000 playing with my sons, Michael and Shaun, and a drummer named Don Bunn in a band called Milligan Stew. Thanks for the recognition and God Bless.

Monte Carlos '65 Greensburg - Franklin - Columbus

The Monte Carlos, circa 1965. The band formed in late '64 or early '65. I have seen ads that show they played thru '66, don't believe much later though. Played a mix of top 40 and their own songs.

The lineup as the pic shows:

Mike McPherson - Jackson (???) High School - drums
Ron Freeman - Columbus High School - guitar
Arnold Brown - St. Paul High School (Greensburg) - guitar
Drew Wood - Franklin High School - Lead Singer - guitar
Don "Monty" Montgomery - piano - organ - Manager

Pretty darn sure no recording exist for the boys, but a big salute for just doing it!

Eliminators - Students - Greenwood - Franklin 1966-67

Cut back to early 1966, The Eliminators are born and ready to play. Surf and Hot rod were the sounds of the day, and these kids nailed it.
Founding members (from left)
Jim Moore
Joey Hutchinson
Larry Hobson
Mike Wiggin
Released one 45 on their own TE label:
Move Out Lotus
She's All right

The band was sponsored by 2 time Indy 500 winner "Rodger Ward". He won the '59 and '62 races (for the unaware). I have a newspaper article

that claims the 45 (recorded at Jan Eden Studios
in Indianapolis) was to have been released on the Hickory label (a subsidiary of Decca). But 1000 were released on the bands own label.

Mike Wiggin left the band and Dale Young joined the lads. The drum head of the second band shows "the Mystics", but the the band was renamed The Students.

The new line-up included:

Joey Hutchison - Drums
Jim Moore - Lead Guitar - group manager
Dale Young - Organ
Larry Hobson - Rhythm Guitar

The Eliminators released two more 45's that completely changed the sound of the group.

1966: Rodger Ward records

Indiana Calling
I Couldn't Help Falling (1:59 version)

1967: Gold Brik records

The Letter Home
I Couldn't Help Falling (2:56 version)

The Students formed in May 1966 and were very active in the Indianapolis area. They played often at Franklin Skate Club, and had appeared on The Billie Boucher Show on TV. Pretty heady stuff for teens in the mid '60s!
Somehow, like most, the Students faded from the radar and into
history. It's our job to applaud them for giving it a go!

Sorry for the lack of action!

Tons of great bands, music, and more is on the way! I'm on holiday in Germany, and will return soon. Thanks for the e*mails, and keep the info coming, I look forward to a great summer. And to "Dan"...no it doesn't have to be all rock and roll, I do have some country and pop, and I'll figure out some R&B (but I don't remember many...where are my notes?)

Prost!
Tim

Grub & the Gargoyles - Columbus - 1965

Direct from the Columbus High School " Kennel Club" spring '65, we present Grub & the Gargoyles. The Kennel Club was a pep rally before Columbus Bull Dog team sporting events in the early to mid '60s.
From left: ( I hope this is correct!)
Donald Malcolm
Micheal (Mike) Ferry
James Graninger
Mark Griffin
John Dunlap (behind Griffin)
Rodney Bowling - leaning over organ

I'm relatively certain no recordings exist of this combo. Mike Ferry still plays, I'm not sure about the others. I think 3 of them joined the '65 reunion "Viagraphonics" a few years back. The most local people and the most sketchy info...go figure. As always please feel free to get us up to date on our tribute!

J & the Raiders - Arlington High - 1966

From Arlington High School, J & the Raiders. Often called mistakenly called Jay & the Raiders, but for lack of a Jay, it was J. Lost yet? It was the '60s! I have another pic somewhere showing the drumhead beaming "J & the Raiders" if there is any doubt.

The band was well remembered for it's participation in the Pendleton Pike drive-in "Battle of the Bands" during the summers. Have no idea how they fared, but I'm sure we'll find out!

They were going to chicago to record a 45, I'm pretty sure in '66. If that ever happened, we need to know about it, .....anyone?

Members pictured (l to r):
Terry Harlan
Daryl Durham
Fred Nolan
Jim Vanover
Jim Fenley - Drums

I hope these guys find us soon, we'd love to share your story!

Me and the Other Guys - 1966 Indiana

Me and the Other Guys were one of 50-60 bands competing in the "Clash of the Combos" at the Indiana State fairgrounds, Nov. 1966. The winning band (I don't know what band yet) was to have a feature article in the Indianapolis Star Sunday Magazine (anyone?, any help here?). 2nd and 3rd place were given trophies. Not a Grammy for sure, but would be really cool to find one of these!

Carnegie Music Center, 2740 Madison Avenue, Indianapolis (hey, it's long gone), provided an amp used by the Beatles on their latest tour. The Vox was insured for $50,000 and even had it's own armed guard to protect it while it was being used. Still need a list of bands from the show....

Pictured are:
front row band:
Paul Adams
Dave Galloway
Jerry Steward
Back row band:
Bill Bird
John Neargardner

Also pictured are from Carnegie Music Center:
Paul Sedlak - Manager
Richard Mellor - Owner

I don't know of any 45's by the band, but there is a Me and the Other Guys on Boss, credited to Florida. Not the Boss label of Louisville, but who knows.....

Mercury Rocket 88

I get a nice quick e*mail today from the creator of the Mercury Rocket 88 site. It's a site developed for Mike Mercer (Mercury) and his gang of musicians and friends from the early to mid '60s Columbus & Edinburg area bands featuring:

Garry & The Twiliters
The XLs

Lots of great pics abound and although I didn't see a guest book, please leave a comment show your appreciation for the bands, and the time it took to do all the work!

I'll leave a link up to it on the right (the list over there that probably no one ever looks at!)

Royal Blue - Royal Blues ? Kokomo '67 Mystery Band

Another mystery band from 1967. All I know is the drum head says "Royal Blue", or "Royal Blues", I suspect Royal Blues by the spacing. Photo is from a Kokomo, Indiana area high school yearbook.
As always any help in sleuthing for this combo is welcome! We've had great success honoring these bands, don't let us down now! If you're googling your band name, please fill us in.



This just in:

"Among the members of the the Royal Blues, as I recall, were Paul Harvey (deceased) and Garnett Carter (Greentown). Garnett is associated with THE GOSPEL SINGING MESSENGERS EVANGELISTIC ASSOCIATION INC "

Thanks Mark!

International Silver String Submarine Banned - ISSSB

International Silver String Submarine Banned. The name was "borrowed" from the "Little Rascals / Our Gang" shows, but this band certainly was real. Not many bands had a girl in them, but fewer still had a lead guitarist that was a "miss"!

Pictured members:
Back row, left to right-
Dave Smith - rhythm guitar
Mike Kelley - lead singer / guitar
Randy Barnes - bass guitar
Front row-
Randy Steenbergen - drums
Laura Stout (now Harmon) - Lead guitar / backup vocals

Here's the skinny straight from Laura:

We are all from Howe High School, graduating classes of ’67, ’68, and ’69. We first formed in March of 1967 as the Ogres Bridge. Some of the band members were previously with the Other Side, disbanded a few months earlier. As the Ogres Bridge, we established what we wanted to do but had a change in personnel, so we renamed the band to the ISSSB, which was often used in acronym form for advertising purposes.
At that time, there were many Battle of the Bands contests and we entered a few of them, doing quite well. We took 3rd at the Marion County Fair in 1967, although audience reactions said we had the 1st place. Judges didn’t like the bit of acid rock we were doing. This was at a time when “Let’s Spend the Night Together” was banned from a lot of radio stations. Then we played at the Young America Fair (remember that?) at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. We took 1st place the night we played, and I think 3rd at the finals, I’m not really sure about that. The audience voted by using tokens and putting them in the band boxes. I still have a few tokens from then. We also played at Carnegie Music Store battle of the bands contest in 1968 and took 1st place. The store was on Madison Avenue in Indy. I had played there 2 contests before, not placing, so this was very exciting to me. What we won was a $500 recording time there in their studio. One of the things that helped us win was by writing our own song for this, called Paper Airplane. We never did use the recording because the store closed down. It was a good store while it lasted.
We all hung out at Le Scene, in Fountain Square. The Other Side had performed there many times and the lead player that had, Jack (Sean) Jones, joined/formed the Cardboard Bachs. They were so good, as were Sir Winston and the Commons, Bomarcs… all friends of ours. By the way, Jack Jones - Sean, as most people knew him, was, in my opinion, the best lead player out there. He had the magic! Probably still does.
Throughout the years after high school, we stayed together as a band, playing in and around Indianapolis. We landed a job at the Village Inn Pizza Parlor on Indy’s South side, being the house band for nearly 2 years, playing every Friday and Saturday night. We had a blast there! Eventually the place became The Midnight Sun and a few other club names, as ownership changed.
I previously was in a band (and was next-door neighbor) to Jeanne Schuller. That band was called The Bitter End, with Pat and Mike Finnegan and the drummer was Jay (something?). When I went on to join the ISSSB as lead player, Jeanne went on to join The Shy Ones as their lead player. Jeanne! Where are you?

Thanks Laura! And of course, Laura is now kickin' with a new band R & R Classics, doing 50’s and 60’s and some later tunes. I'm sure she'll have them doin' some early '70s psych soon! If you have a chance to see them, do it! You'll most likely meet the missus and me too!

Triad - Whatever happened to the Olivers? 1969

Earlier we experienced the Olivers blistering 2-sider on Phalanx, later on RCA. We know they had a few member changes (Vietnam was calling, and Jay was asked to join the party). But whatever happened to the (then) young men that soldiered on, Mike Mankey, Billy Franze, Carl Aldrich, and Chuck Hamrick?

Well, now we know the Triad rose from the ashes of the Olivers. Obviously Triad implies three. So, what happened? Chuck had some health issues, and drummer Kent Cretors was recruited. Then organist Carl didn't want the same musical direction as the rest of the team. So now there are three, and the Triad is born.

But this is not our typical Indiana band story. The Triad relocated to the happenin' Minneapolis szene in the late '60s. Then recorded on a Canadian label (Franklin) in '69.

Hear the tunes:
Border Line
Only way to fly

They broke up soon after, and the Serfmen, Olivers, Triad chain was broken.

Thanks for all the info so graciously donated by Mike Mankey. Especially cool is his "One man band gigs". I'm diggin' his "Just Like Me" video. Check it out, and call e*mail him to set up a great party!

Sceptors - Knycks - Jeffersonville, Indiana '66 - '67

If you look in the past notes, one of my first posts were the Sceptors of Jeffersonville, Indiana. It's short but you can look at it here.
A couple of band members have chimed in and we know who is whom:

Front row - L to R

Clyde Miller - Vocals
John Payne - Organ
Back row - L to R
Sonny Lemaire - Bass - vocals
Joe Brown - Drums - vocals
Garry Bowyer - Guitar - vocals
Warren Glotzbach - Lead Guitar - Vocals

We find they DID cut a 45, but it was credited to the Knycks, a transitional name for the band. It was an Ep really, 4 songs! I'll bet it was hard to buy the record when you didn't know the band name!
And for your listening pleasure, we have all the songs available for the first time anywhere (unless you have the 45, then for God's sake, e*mail me!!)


Do wah diddy diddy
If I Needed Someone
Moanin'
What's Your Name


Thanks to Garry and Warren for the info, and Sonny for providing the tunes! You guys are the best.

Blue Angels - Hammond, Indiana

The Blue Angels from Hammond, Indiana have reported in, and we have a great story to tell. The Blue Angels started as the Starlighters, but that name was cut short when they joined the musicians union. Seems there was some band known as Joey D & the Starlighters that had some hit record or something, and the Blue Angels was chosen as the new name.
Band members pictured: (B&W photo)
Mario Muniz - Singer
Kenny Simmons - Bass
John Puskas - Sax
Bob Zemburski - Drums
Rick Toth - Guitar

Also members included Paul Rivich (first guitar player) and singers H.A. Gentry and Micky Mack. The Blue Angels were on the cutting edge as style went, sporting blue silk suits, blue boots, and of course BLUE HAIR!!!

I'll step aside and let John tell his story!

John Puskas:

WE STARTED OUT AS A 3 PIECE POLKA BAND. KENNY ON ACCORDION -JOHN ON SAX AND BOB ON DRUMS. WHEN WE ADDED THE GUITAR AND SINGER KENNY STARTED PLAYING ORGAN AND BASS GUITAR. WE CHANGED OUR NAME TO THE BLUE ANGELS AND ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE. I'M NOT SURE WHO THOUGHT OF THE BLUE HAIR. WE SOMETIMES CHANGED OUTFITS EVERY SET. WE PLAYED EVERY VFW , AMERICAN LEGION , LIONS CLUB, AND EVERYHALL BIG ENOUGH TO HOLD A CROWD. WE PLAYED AT LEAST 5 NIGHTS A WEEK--NIGHT CLUBS--TEEN DANCES--CONCERTS- WEDDINGS. WE WERE THE HOUSE BAND AT MADURAS DANCE LAND IN WHITING INDIANA. IT WAS A HUGE PLACE WITH A STAGE ON BOTH ENDS. ALL OF THE TOP ACTS IN THE COUNTRY CAME THERE TO PLAY. WE MET A LOT OF FAMOUS GROUPS THIS WAY. THE KINGSMEN OF LOUIE LOUIE FAME WOULD EVEN COME TO VISIT US WHEN THEY CAME TO TOWN. THEY SHOWED UP ONE NIGHT AT MIDWAY BALLROOM IN CEDAR LAKE INDIANA WHILE WE WERE ON STAGE. WE TALKED THEM INTO PLAYING A SONG-- THE CROWD THOUGHT WE WERE KIDDING- BOY WERE THEY SURPRISED! ONENIGHT WE PLAYED A BIG CONCERT AT THE HAMMOND CIVIC CENTER-- 10,000 PEOPLE--CHUCK BERRY AND BOBBY FREEMAN WERE THE BIG DRAWS. THE RIVIERAS-- CALIFORNIA SUN FAME- WERE SUPPOSED TO BACK CHUCK UP-- WE CAME OUT FIRST AND BLEW THE CROWD AWAY. CHUCK WENT RIGHT TO THE PROMOTER AND SAID I WANT THOSE GUYS TO BACK ME UP- FORGET THE RIVIERAS! WE DID --CHUCK LOVED IT-- WE LOVED IT - AND HISTORY WAS MADE. THE RIVIERAS -- THEY WERE FROM GARY INDIANA-- WERE NOT HAPPY CAMPERS AND DID NOT TALK TO US MUCH THAT NIGHT. SPEAKING OF GARY-- ONE NIGHT WE WERE PLAYING A VFW IN HAMMOND WHEN THIS FAMILY OF 5 LITTLE BLACK BOYS AND THEIR FATHER SHOWED. THEY PLAYED DURING ONE OF OUR BREAKS. THEY WERE FANTASTIC. I PATTED LITTLE MICHAEL ON THE HEAD AND SAID, YOU KIDS ARE GOING TO BE FAMOUS SOME DAY. BOY --WHAT A MOUTH FULL-- THAT WAS THE LAST TIME I SAW THE JACKSON 5 LIVE! NOT VERY MANY BANDS WANTED TO PLAY ON THE SAME STAGE WITH US-- MORE THAN ONCE. WE PLAYED JAMES BROWN-- CHUCK BERRY- OTIS REDDING-- BO DIDDLEY-- RAY CHARLES- KINKS -- BEATLES- SAM AND DAVE- WELL YOU GET THE IDEA-- LOTS OF ROCK AND ROLL AND BLUES. ALL OF OUR RECORDS WERE ORIGINAL EXCEPT FOR SHAKE A TAIL FEATHER. WE DID TRY TO GET ON THE TED MACK AMATEUR HOUR ONCE-- WHILE WE WERE PLAYING FOR HIM--MOST OF THE GROUPS WAITING IN THE HALL FOR THEIR TURN-- PACKED UP AND LEFT. TED SAID WE WERE TO GOOD TO PLAY ON THE SHOW AND SENT US HOME.

Thanks John!

The Blue Angels put out three 45s on Cap records out of Chicago.

Cap 76 Fame & Fortune - Quicksand
Cap 77 Dance with me Lynda - Shake a Tail Feather
Cap 79 Please Don't Leave Me - Let's Shout and Shimmy

Hear a clip of Quicksand here!!

Is it just me, or does the CAP font and label info look related to the Cha Cha records stuff?

Thanks to John and the guys for letting me do this! I'm sure I'll get the tunes soon, and I'll post them for all the fans listening pleasure!!!

Idle Few - Indianapolis - Indiana - Kingsmen

The Idle Few were born of the Arlington Kings'Men from 1964. When they decided to cut a 45, the other Kingsmen (maybe you have heard of "Louie Louie"), kinda stood in the way of the Kingsmen name.
Members included:
Rick Webster - guitarist
Ronnie Bennett - Sax - Lead Vocals
Greg Taggart - Bass
Dan McLean - drums
Mark Grey - organ

Hear Farmer John and Another World here.

There is an ongoing debate as to whether the Idle Few also did a
45 on Blue Book with the titles "people that's why / land of dreams". I say not the same, but if I'm wrong, please let me know!!!

Update 1: Jason sent a scan showing the writer credits on the Blue Book 45. I'm sure now it's the same Idle Few. Now I have to get that 45.

Update 2: Did you notice the "Skeet Bushor" production tag? Skeet played in the "Boys Next Door" and had writer credits on the "Sounds Unlimited" 45. Great guy to keep your eye on!