Michael Hadder was drummer for both the Halfways and that band’s later incarnation as the Turning Image. Together the two bands history spans nearly ten years from 1967-1976 in Manassas, Virginia. Michael sent in this history of the bands and the photos. I’d love to hear what their music sounded like, but so far no tapes have turned up.

Our beginnings were pretty humble. First day of High School in 1967, I became reacquainted with Larry Hixson who I knew from the 5th grade. He had moved out of the Manassas area for a while and had asked me to bring my drums over to his house that Friday night to jam. It was there I met Gene Thompson who was from Leesburg, Va. The next thing I knew , Larry’s step Dad and some other older gentlemen joined us and we began playing a lot of old Hank Williams songs. I thought that night was just a one shot deal, but they kept inviting me back.

I was told that on Halloween night , we would play our first gig at a Virginia radio station and then later at a night club. As it turned out, we played in front of this little old AM station on the back of a flat bed truck. It was so cold it cracked the finish on Gene’s Gibson S-G guitar. When we got to the so-called night club, it turned out to be a beer joint which was probably against the law since the 3 of us were way under 18 years old. I think I took home around $8.00 that night but it was good experience and was technically our first paying gig.

That was pretty much the end of our “Country Music” phase, as the 3 of us broke away and just started playing rock on the weekends. For the next year and a half, we would pile up our then meager equipment into Gene’s 57’ Chevy and spend our weekends playing for friends & family and all the girls that Gene and Larry had stashed away all over Virginia and it was probably the most fun time of our young lives. We bought a small PA system and actually got pretty good for just the 3 of us.

It might have ended there but then by a twist of fate, Tommy Griffith who was a well known singer in the Northern Virginia area agreed to join forces with us, and we went on to get a manager and in the summer of 1969, placed second in a Battle of the Bands, played some dances and make a local TV appearance. By this time we had added Dennis Bailey on bass, (Larry’s cousin) and Linda Hixson (Larry’s sister) and Sharon Stacy as dancers and singers. In addition, Gene was quite the electronics whiz and hooked a switch to the bass drum pedal to make colored lights go on and off in time with the music and the whole experience became quite a show. At the end of that summer Tommy informed us he was leaving and by this time we had had a taste of success, so our manager (Mr. Kay) hooked us up with Allan Johnson as our new lead singer.

After Allan joined, we went thru some personnel changes as Clay Johnson became our keyboard player, and Dennis (who also played trombone) suggested we add other horn players as well and it became quite a large group. We worked a lot. You name it: dances, high schools, talent contests, military bases, beauty contests, teen clubs, weddings, car dealerships, private parties, homecomings, proms, Lions clubs, Rotary clubs, Knights of Columbus dances, county fairs, community centers, etc. all over Virginia, Maryland & DC.

Thru another twist of fate, Allan informed us he was getting married and moving to North Carolina and Tommy Griffith rejoined as lead singer & keyboard player. By this time we were making pretty good money and had a van with our name on it and 2 roadies and continued working almost every weekend. We continued to upgrade our equipment and band uniforms which by now were tuxedos.

By spring of 1976, we played our last gig at Fauquier High School. Circumstances were such that we pursued different interests in life, and thru the rest of the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, 2000 & beyond, we kept in touch in various ways.

One of our gigs at the Manassas National Guard Armory was hosted by local Washington D.C. DJ legend Jack Alix(known as J.A the D.J.) The same Jack Alix who emceed the first appearances of The Beatles in Washington at the old D.C. Coliseum & D.C. (now known as RFK) Stadium. (Click here to see article)

Personnel:

Gene Thompson : lead guitar, occasional drums & vocals
Larry Hixson : guitar & vocals
Michael Hadder : drums, occasional guitar & vocals
Tommy Griffith : lead vocals , keyboards & occasional bass
Allan Johnson : lead vocals & guitar, percussion
Linda Hixson : vocals, keyboards, percussion & dancer
Sharon Stacy : vocals, percussion & dancer
Mark Krebs : trumpet
Dennis Bailey : bass, trombone, occaisonal guitar & vocals
Clay Johnson : keyboards & vocals
Bob Newell : trumpet
Tom Tierney : sax, flute & clarinet , guitar, percussion & vocals
Billy Bowden : trumpet & percussion
Larry Goodman : roadie & drum tech
Tommy Dever : roadie & van driver

Gene resides in Maryland, Dennis, Tommy, & Larry and myself, still reside in Virginia (although Larry & wife Kay are teaching in Indonesia till mid-2009), Linda is in Kansas City, Sharon is in Florida, Allan & Bob in North Carolina, Clay is in New York and had lived in Japan. Various members still stay in contact over 40 years later. Dennis went on to tour the U.S. with various acts which included another T.V. appearance while doing a date in Nashville and is now a full-time music teacher. Tommy and Allan also continue to make music and I still play drums on occasion.

In November, 2008, Tommy, Gene, Dennis and myself reunited to jam for the first time in 32 years. We vowed to make this an annual event & bring back other members & people we were around at the time as well.

These were special years that produced golden moments. What began as a way to meet girls on the weekends turned into a second full-time job for all of us and became extremely lucrative. For someone like me who never had a music lesson in my life to have the experience of playing drums for so long a time with such a talented group of players & musicians was incredible. When the venues we played at were packed & we fed off of the energy of the crowd, it was absolute magic I will never forget. Normally bands & band members come & go & break up, but I have been so blessed & fortunate to still stay in contact with Gene, Dennis, Larry, Tommy, Allan, Linda, Sharon & Larry Goodman after all these many years.

More information was available from Michael Hadder’s interview on 60sgaragebands.com, but that is now gone from the web.