Planned Obsolescense comes from a scene I haven’t written about on this site before, the area around Santa Barbara, CA. The band had this one 45: “Exit Sticky Icky” starts out something like Creedence, then shifts to a quicker pace. The flip is a cover of the Beau Brummels’ “Still in Love With You Baby”.
Note the band’s name is Planned Obsolescense, not Planned Obsolescence – whether intentional or not I don’t know. There are no credits on the labels, but the California Gold Coast Dreamin’ site writes:
Members:
Bill Lipscombe – guitar, vocals Joe Rodriguez – bass Doug McGuinn – drums Harold Irving – keyboards Tom McGuire – vocals
This band met while attending high school in Santa Barbara and played local battle of the bands shows, dances, and club dates, eventually attracting the attention of The Sufaris’ management team.
The b-side of their sole 45, “Exit Sticky Icky”, was originally written as an advertisement for a soft rubber toy (the toy manufacturing company eventually backed out of the idea). To promote the 45 the band spent a couple of months touring Southern California. Their gimmick was playing with bags over their heads, and black capes.
Jet Set announced in Billboard, Sept. 16, 1967
At a concert at UCSB they played the world’s longest song, literally hour after hour of Exit Sticky Icky, with members of Giant Crab and other friends helping out.
A notice announcing the formation of Jet Set Records and Publishing (ASCAP) in Billboard dates to September 16, 1967, and lists Doug McGuire as president.
The Jet Set label would have two more releases that I’m aware of, one of my favorite ’60s singles, “I’ll Take It Back” / “Ryan 5” by the Calliope on Jet Set JSR-45-3 from February of 1968 and the Blue Wood doing “Turn Around” / “Happy Jack Mine”. Calliope recorded their single at Whitney Studios in Glendale with Tom Lubin as producer and Frank Kejmar as engineer. Frank engineered many of the hundreds of Christian records recorded at Whitney and released on the Angelus label.
Calliope’s release on Jet Set would be picked up for national release by Epic in July of ’68, listing Doug McGuire as Executive Producer. The Calliope would have two more releases on Shamley in 1969. Flower Bomb Songs has an excellent interview with Calliope songwriter Jim Andron.
The Jet Set release of the Calliope’s “I’ll Take It Back” runs a full 2:42, as noted on the label, while the Epic release cuts about 10 seconds of the ending, despite listing 2:43! A great song with a beautiful, mystical ending, I savor the extra 10 seconds on the Jet Set release.
No connection to the Jet Set label from Washington, DC that released soul records.
If anyone has a photo of the group or more info on them or the Jet Set label, please write to me.
The Coachmen at Grannys Teen Club, Opp, Alabama, 1965. L-R: Steve Folmar, Paul Williams, Gordon Dodson & Ron SimsThe Coachmen at Grannys Teen Club, Opp, Alabama 1965, L-R: Ron Sims, Gordon Dodson, Bill Saunders & Steve Folmar
Rodney Dodson – lead vocals / rhythm guitar Gordon Dodson – lead guitar / vocals Bill Saunders – bass guitar / vocals Coley Sullivan – drums John Runkle – organ Billy Scott – lead vocals
The Barons, formerly The Coachmen, from Ozark, Alabama, were formed in 1964 by guitarist Gordon Dodson and bassist Bill Saunders. The Coachmen soon added school friends guitarist Ron Sims, vocalist Paul Williams, and drummer, Steve Folmar.
Gordon Dodson & Billy Scott of The Coachmen, Fort Rucker, Alabama, 1965
By early 1965, The Coachmen were playing the popular Opp, Alabama Teen Club known as Granny’s and the Ft. Rucker, Alabama Teen Club. 1965 also saw the first change of band members. James Childers replaced Steve Folmar on drums and Billy Scott replaced Paul Williams on vocals.
1966 saw additional member changes as Coley Sullivan replaced drummer James Childers. Rodney Dodson, Gordon’s brother, replaced guitarist Ron Sims. John Runkle was added as the organist.
The Coachmen were renamed The Barons. The Barons played local teen clubs and recreation centers, as well as the Officers and Enlisted Clubs at Fort Rucker, Alabama and several fraternity parties at Troy State University.
The Barons L-R: John Runkle, Gordon Dodson, Rodney Dodson & Bill Saunders. Coley Sullivan and Billy Scott are not shown.
During the summer of 1966, The Barons recorded their only single 45rpm record at WOOF Radio Station in Dothan, Alabama. “I’m The One Who Cares” and “I Needed You”, were written and sung by The Barons’ lead singer, Rodney Dodson with his brother Gordon singing harmony. Bassist Bill Saunders, composed the keyboard introduction and lead break on “I’m The One Who Cares”.
The recording was done with one microphone hanging in the center of a sound proof room using a two track reel to reel recorder; no overdubs. The recording “engineer” unfortunately kept the recording level in the red, distorting the overall sound quality. The high volume playbacks sounded good in the studio, so the master tape was sent to the pressing company. Because of limited funds, only 250 records were pressed. The label name, Red Wave, was taken from the local Troy State University Trojans football team, which was known at that time as, The Red Wave. The record sleeve was a stock light brown paper.
John RunkleJohn Belcher and Jerry Williams of Ozark distributed the record through John’s dad’s appliance and record store. The record was also placed on a few local jukeboxes. Although the record received a fair amount of play from the jukebox distribution, it was seldom heard on radio due to the poor sound quality. The Barons disband near the end of 1967 due to the Vietnam war. All Baron members served in the military with three serving in Vietnam. The remaining boxes of records, were unfortunately, used as clay pigeon substitutes during an afternoon of target practice by the two Dodson brothers and their older brother, Claude.
The Barons of Ozark, Alabama. Standing L-R: Rodney Dodson, Bill Saunders, Coley Sullivan. Seated L-R: Gordon Dodson, Billy Scott, John Runkle
Baron members known to have stayed musically active are:
Rodney Dodson was the founding member of the popular 1980’s southeast Alabama band, The Fairlanes. A school teacher by trade, Rodney once invited his friend and fellow musician, Sara Evans, to perform at his school. Rodney put together a small group of musicians, including himself, brother Gordon, and sister Celia to accompany Sara. Sara went on to become the 2005 Academy of Country Music’s Female Vocalist of the Year.
Gordon Dodson played guitar with the late 1970’s southeast Alabama band, Kingfish, which included notable saxophonist, Jay Scott. (Jay played the saxophone on Lynard Skynard’s recording of “What’s Your Name”, as well as Alicia Bridges, “I Like The Night Life”.) Gordon is listed in the Alabama Steel Guitar Hall of Fame as the 2010 recipient of the Bill Simmons Horizon Award. Gordon taught guitar in the southeast Alabama Junior College system for many years.
Coley Sullivan played drums with the early 1960’s instrumental combo, The Ecstatics, one of Ozark, Alabama’s first rock and roll bands. The Ecstatics, also included lead guitar player, Ron Hilburn, who eventually became the lead guitarist for the 1960’s band, The Chains, referred to as, The Beatles of El Paso. The Chains are known for their version of “I Ain’t Gonna Eat My Heart Out Any More”. Coley also played briefly in the 1960’s popular southeast Alabama bands, The Webs, The Puppets, The K- Otics and The Disciples of Blue from Panama City, Florida.
The Ecstatics, Ozark, Alabama, L-R: Pete Bonnasso (rhythm guitar), Ron Hilburn (lead guitar), Coley Sullivan (drums) and Frank Kingsley (bass)
Johnny Christian, friend and fellow musician, though not a member of the Barons, played the woodblocks on “I’m The One Who Cares”. Johnny retired as Band Director from Dothan, Alabama’s, Northview High School. His son, Wynn Christian, guitarist and vocalist of the popular blues band, Spoonful James, composed “Seven Mile Breakdown”, recorded by the 2006 American Idol Winner, Taylor Hicks.
Gordon Dodson 2014
The Barons, Doug Tew Recreation Center, Dothan, AL. From left: Rodney Dodson, Billy Scott, Gordon Dodson, Coley Sullivan, Bill Saunders & John RunkleJames Childers, drummer for the Coachmen of Ozark, ALThe Coachmen, Fort Rucker, Alabama, 1965, L-R: Ron Sims, Billy Scott, Gordon Dodson & Bill Saunders
Jeff Curtis & the Flames, the Undertakers, at Marcam Hall, Fenland, from the Cambridgeshire Times, July 17, 1964
Marcam Hall in March, Cambridgeshire was an important music venue in the early-mid 1960s and hosted many of the top bands of the day.
I have started to compile gigs that I have found in the Cambridgeshire Times and would welcome any additions plus any memories of this venue below.
30 March 1963 – Emile Ford and Bobby Patrick & The Big Six 6 July 1963 – Dave Anthony & The Druids 17 August 1963 – James King & The Farinas (later morphed into Family)
18 January 1964 – Mike Dee & The Moquettes 25 January 1964 – The Zephyrs and Billy Storm & The Falcons 18 April 1964 – James King & The Farinas 2 May 1964 – Mike Dee & The Moquettes 4 July 1964 – Johnny Mike & The Shades and Guitars Incorporated 18 July 1964 – Jeff Curtis & The Flames 15 August 1964 – Cyrano & The Bergeracs 29 August 1964 – The Pretty Things and The Blobs 19 December 1964 – The Hollies
22 January 1965 – Fourmost and Jeff Curtis & The Flames 5 February 1965 – Simon Scott & Five Dimensions 19 March 1965 – Mike Sheridan & The Nightriders 9 April 1965 – The Escorts and Cyrano & The Bergeracs 8 May 1965 – The Honeycombs 22 May 1965 – The Birds 19 June 1965 – Carl Wayne & The Vikings 2 October 1965 – The Walker Brothers with Quotations and James King & The Farinas 16 October 1965 – The Checkpoints and The Penny Blacks 6 November 1965 – The Yardbirds and The Walker Brothers (needs confirmation) 27 November 1965 – The Spencer Davis Group and Gary Freeman & The Contours 11 December 1965 – The Clayton Squares and The Kobalts
15 January 1966 – Gerry & The Pacemakers (needs confirmation) 19 February 1966 – Peter B’s Looners and Chris Farlowe & The Thunderbirds 26 February 1966 – The Fenmen and The Tribe 5 March 1966 – The Who 21 May 1966 – Jimmy Cliff & The New Generations (straight from the Flamingo, London) with B&3 15 October 1966 – The Alan Price Set (replaced Moody Blues who had just disbanded)
The Fourmost with Jeff Curtis & the Flames at Marcam Hall, Fenland, from the Cambridgeshire Times, January 2, 1965
The IV Pak, from left: Frank Carter, Brandon Cardwell, Anthony Hodges & Mike Carter
Jack Garrett unveils the story behind the mystery group from North Carolina:
Have you ever been to Ruffin, N.C.? Probably not, but if you traveled there around 1967, you just might have heard the sounds of a psychedelic/soul band that managed to play together with the same personnel for 6 years.
Challengers business card
The band is remembered today as the IV Pak and the mystery surrounding the elusive group begins with their name. The group, whose psychedelic rave-up “Whatzit?” appears on numerous garage comps (Signed DC, Teenage Shutdown #8, Aliens, Psychos & Wild Things #3), has gone under the radar screen for decades because they never performed under that name. A label misprint on their lone 45 mistakenly lists the artists as the IV Pak, instead of the VI Pak. Bassist Anthony Hodges explains that the four-piece group had recently expanded to include trumpet and sax players and the members decided they would “just be the VI Pack, like a six pack of beer.”
The Recks Combo business card
The group started in 1965 as the Challengers and included Mike Carter on guitar, first-cousin Frank Carter on keyboards, bassist Anthony Hodges and drummer, Brandon Cardwell. The quartet performed for two years as the Challengers, then briefly as the Recks before adding sax man Lonnie Bowes and trumpet player Sidney Vernon and christening themselves as the VI Pak. They were based on the borders of Caswell and Rockingham Counties in North Carolina, with half the members at Bartlett-Yancey High School in Yanceyville and the others attending Ruffin High School.
Brandon lived nearby but was much younger than the others. He joined the Challengers at age 10, but was already an accomplished drummer.
Lonnie Bowes
Sax man Lonnie Bowes recalls that the school band had just started a year or so prior to the group’s formation and the members all knew each other through school. He explains that “Mike had a good ear for music and Frank could read music real well (so) we just all fell together pretty good.”
Mike and Frank were the unofficial leaders. The cousins both started on guitar and a shared Silvertone amp purchased at Haynes Pawn Shop in Danville for $70. Frank quickly gravitated to keyboards and his dad bought him an inexpensive Italian organ. Anthony and Brandon were recruited and the line-up was set. The four shared a love for the Animals, Stones and the Beatles, although Brandon admits vocals were a chore, since “we didn’t have anybody (who) could sing like John or Paul.”
After learning “Wooly Bully” and “House of the Rising Sun”, the Challengers performed live for the first time in Oct. of ’65 for a dance at the Casville Volunteer Fire Department in Caswell County, N.C. More gigs followed at parties, pizza parlors, church socials, VFW posts and the local Moose and Elk’s lodges. Within months, the band competed in a battle of the bands at Williamsburg Elementary School in Reidsville, losing out to the better-equipped Checkmates.
The bass player’s father ran the local music store and provided their Fender Showman amps. Another early performance was in the tiny town of Quick, where the Challengers played for Pam Hodges’ 15th birthday party. Hodges would go on to marry legendary bluegrass guitarist Tony Rice.
VI Pak – Robbins Recording Acetate, Love My Babe
The group played once in Danville as the Recks before adding horns and becoming the VI Pak. The addition allowed the band to play a mixture of rock and soul, opening doors on the North Carolina beach circuit.
It was 1966 and the members of the VI Pak were anxious to get into the studio and record. Anthony had written a mid-tempo rocker, “Love My Babe,” and a crude recording was made at Danville’s House of Sound Studios after the bassist and guitarist approached producer Frank Koger at the local K-Mart, where he worked his day job running the electronics department. A half-dozen copies of an acetate were pressed featuring the original song and the band’s theme, an instrumental which borrowed heavily from “Wipe Out” and “Batman.” It was their first time in the studio and Brandon was nervous, kicking the song off at breakneck speed. The band kept pace, with Mike serving up a blistering guitar solo and Brandon bashing away on the drums.
The demo was played a couple of times on the local Top 40 station, but it would be the following year before the VI Pak would get the break they needed to actually press a record.
That break came in the summer of ’67 during a two-day battle of the bands at Ballou Park Shopping Center in Danville. Hosted by popular deejay Glenn Scott, some of the best bands in the region competed on three flatbed trucks in the shopping center’s parking lot. At the end of the first day’s competition, the VI Pak had won the preliminary round and a free recording session at Koger’s Raven Records. The grand prize went to the Fabulous Generals of Martinsville, Va., who wore matching suits and were fronted by a pretty (and talented) female vocalist, Debra Carol Crowder.
Mike Carter
At 17, Frank Carter was the oldest member of the band and remembers selecting a Booker T. and the MG’s song, “Boot-Leg,” to record because it featured the brass and “had a neat little organ part in the center of it, that Booker T. did.” It also helped that the band knew the soul song and performed it regularly. Frank recalls that the band had originally planned to record at Robin’s Records in Greensboro, “but they wanted more money over there.”
The House of Sound studio was located on Piney Forest Road in Danville, in the same building that Mike’s uncle — E.C. Gerringer — owned and used for a piano and furniture company.
The guys crammed all of their instruments and amps into the trunk of Frank’s ’63 Chevy and headed for the studio. Frank remembers it as a “pretty neat little studio (with) multi-tracking and cubicles so “that each one of us had our own little box to play in. It wasn’t like playing in one big room, everything was sort of sectioned off for the drummer and for the guitarist and the horns and myself.”
Brandon Cardwell
“Boot-Leg” was knocked out in short order, but the band wasn’t prepared when Koger said:
“Well, what are you gonna put on the other side of this?”
The band decided to record another cover as the flip and had attempted several takes before Koger threw up his hands in frustration and called for a different number. Brandon explains that the band “did ‘Boot-Leg’ and we knew that was gonna be the A-side and that turned out really decent and we had planned on putting ‘Ferry Across the Mersey’ by Gerry and the Pacemakers on the B-side.” Brandon says the band “did it as good as we’d ever done it and I don’t know what happened but right near the end of the song our trumpet player — who was playing the lead in it — hit a sour note. And we were doing it instrumental… and he hit a sour note, so we were just blown away. Not that we didn’t have any more studio time, but we just messed around with ‘Whatzit?,’ which was a takeoff on ‘Psychotic Reaction,’ of course, and we just wound up putting that on the record instead.”
Frank recalls that the band hadn’t played “Psychotic Reaction” more than a couple of times, but Koger suggested that they rework it for the session.
Anthony, who sings the lead vocal, sat down and penned a couple of quick verses before the tape started rolling.
She had a cute mini-skirt with a little bit o’ tease, you can see six inches above her knees. I’m just like a man, can’t stand the attraction. She leaves me with a psychotic reaction. Looks so good I’d like to eat her, psychotic reaction every time I meet her. Five-foot-two and built for action, 98 pounds of psychotic reaction.
Frank explains that, like Psychotic Reaction, “we had to do something in middle of this thing. So, that’s when we just put this organ sound in the center of it and I was using an old Sears Silvertone amplifier with a Doric organ. And the (effect) on it was just sort of cheap reverb I guess you’d say. Anyway, it sounded very sort of outer space. So we put that in it.”
IV Pak – Nashville Record Productions Acetate for Hippie 2019, crediting Anthony and Mike as composers instead of Frank Koger. Flip side contains the Individuals songs for their Raven 45.
Brandon dropped a beat as he was coming back from the break but recovered, although Frank says he “had to do a little bit of catching up.” He believes Koger “had to edit out maybe a drum beat or so in the process, but anyway that turned out to the song that people played.”
The drummer’s recollection is a little different. He wanted to re-record “Whatzit?” because “there was a major mess up on my part about middle ways into the song… it was just a real bad off time thing I did and luckily I stumbled right back into beat. I really didn’t like that cut because of that.” In retrospect, he doesn’t know why the band didn’t just stop and take it from the top. And when they listened to the playback, Brandon says he couldn’t understand “why we even kept it on the tape, because Frank Koger would back it up and record over the same tape usually… didn’t do it that time.” He says the consensus was that the song was only a B-side and no one would ever hear it.
With the song in the can, a title was needed. The band had just composed it and had no idea what to call the tune. After a short discussion between the band and Koger in the control room and after listening to the tape together, Koger said: “I don’t know what it is, so why don’t we just call it ‘Whatzit!'”
Anthony believes his vocal part was double-tracked by Koger, although Mike insists he sang in unison with the bass player. Either way, the snarling vocal makes the record. Both sides were recorded in about two hours.
Now that the sessions were complete, Koger approached the band about a label. Frank remembers the producer wanted an extra $20 to release it on Raven Records, explaining that the Soulmasters were riding high on the success of their first single, “I’ll Be Waiting Here.” The members were listening to the playback in the control room and “between us we might’ve had 10 bucks that night, because we really hadn’t planned on doing anything extra and we were scared to death we might not come out with anything” after paying Koger their $50 in prize money. The band balked and insisted on their own label, choosing Hippie Records because, as Anthony explains, “We all wanted to be hippies back then (and) grow our hair long.”
The master tapes were sent off for pressing and the band was in for another surprise when their records arrived. Somewhere along the way, the Roman numerals had been inverted and the VI Pak had become the IV Pak. With 500 mislabeled copies, the band began distributing the 45. Mike went by the studios to retrieve the records and recalls that “each box had 20 or 25 records and I believe each one of us received about four boxes. We would just take those and try and sell them individually. And if we knew of anybody at a radio station we could take them to, we’d do that, but I don’t remember anywhere I distributed them to except at school and relatives.”
The band’s name wasn’t the only bone of contention. Rather than credit Anthony Hodges as lyricist, Koger listed himself as songwriter, although he spelled his name backwards. Anthony remains unhappy about the slight to this day, but rationalizes that “it didn’t go anywhere, so he didn’t get much money from it.”
Frank recalls hearing the song played in Reidsville and on WYPR and WBTM in Danville and believes there may have been a second pressing.
The record’s release led to more bookings but also confusion about how the band should bill itself. Most promoters knew the band as the VI Pak, but the attention generated by the record resulted in more requests for the IV Pak to play parties, The Black Horse Cellar and Torch clubs, and even the coveted Coke plant dance in Danville, which attracted hundreds of teens every weekend.
The group soldiered on as the VI Pak another three years, performing throughout their home state and Southside Virginia and expanding their repertoire to include numbers by Eric Clapton, Vanilla Fudge and the Rolling Stones. Performances were more sporadic after 1968, with Frank, Sidney, Anthony and Lonnie away at college. The group parted ways in ’71 when Anthony joined the Air Force and several of the members married.
The only group photo of the IV Pak, from 1973, left to right: Mike Carter, Brandon Cardwell, Frank Carter & Anthony Hodges
A brief reunion followed in 1989, when the band came together for a one-off performance at Ruffin’s Whistlestop Jubilee in late November. As fate would have it, it snowed that morning and the concert was cancelled.
Trumpeter Sidney Vernon died in 2008 at the age of 59. After graduating from high school, he attended Western Carolina University and discovered pottery. Sid and his wife later moved to Virginia Beach, where he taught ceramics and started Vernon Pottery, making 1/12th scale reproductions of 19th century salt-glazed stoneware. He was acknowledged by the International Guild of Miniature Artisans for his skill as a potter and awarded “Fellow” status. His work has been featured in numerous magazines and found its way to collectors around the world.
Frank Carter and Anthony Hodges, 1973
While in the Air Force, Mike Carter played in the Hands of Time, then joined the Ed Irvin Band and Patchwork. He spent eight years as guitarist for the Atlantis Band, where he wrote the song “Shagging By The Seaside,” which the group recorded for Pyramid Records in Charlotte in 1986. He took an 18-year hiatus before returning to music in 2006 with the Not Dead Yet Blues Band. He currently performs with bassist “Wild” Bill Moore in A Cup of Blues.
Lonnie Bowes played in several bands after the VI Pak but is semi-retired and hasn’t touched his horn in years. He now runs a small DMV office in Yanceyville, N.C.
After the VI Pak, Anthony Hodges did a tour of duty in Vietnam. On his return stateside, he went to work for the N.C. Department of Corrections. He has since retired from prison work and music, although he sings in his church choir and still lives in Ruffin.
Lonnie Bowes
Brandon Cardwell is still active in music and plays classic rock and country every weekend in the house band at the Barn Dance in Julian, N.C. His drumming is also featured on 80’s albums by The Paul Roberts Band and Lady and the Gamblers. He then played with Kerry Michaels and the Mitch Snow bands through the mid-90s, followed by a stint with Bob Collins and the Fabulous Five. His day job was at Burlington Industries.
Frank Carter traded his Doric organ for a Vox, which he still has today. He likes to record on his Korg M3 and is currently working on a musical on Judas Iscariot and the plot to kill Jesus. He worked for a number of years in television and as a public school teacher before earning his Master’s and teaching photography and communications at Alamance and Cape Fear Community Colleges. Frank retired as chairman of the Humanities and Fine Arts Department at the Wilmington college in May of 2012. His wife is a doctor and a drummer.
The surviving members all live in North Carolina and still keep in touch. They reunited in Spring, 2013 and Mike hopes to record the band in his home studio.
IV Pak reunion, 2013, from left: Anthony Hodges, Brandon Cardwell, Frank Carter, Lonnie Bowes & Mike Carter
Jim Wilson sent in this flyer for the Rivingtons, the Starfires, the Royal Knights and the Jan-Sirs at the Retail Clerks Auditorium in Buena Park on Friday, October 22, 1965. Jim’s father was in the Royal Knights, whose members also included Steve Werner.
The Rivingtons are famous for “Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow” and the Starfires are probably the group from Downey that had five singles, including “I Never Loved Her” and “No More” on the GI label, and “There’s Still Time” on the Yardbird label.
It’s interesting to see this flyer from Retail-a-Go-Go comes just three weeks after one I have posted for the Mojo Men. These must have been great, fun shows in such a large venue.
If anyone has photos or info about the Royal Knights or the Jan-Sirs please contact me or comment below.
The Feltham R&B Club was a notable venue for up and coming West London bands. From a historical perspective, perhaps the most noted outfit to play there was 1984, which featured future Queen guitarist Brian May.
I would welcome any history on this venue and also any additional information on bands that played there.
10 September 1966 – The Trendbender Band with Barney J Barnes
15 October 1966 – The Trendbender Band with Barney J Barnes
15 July 1967 – The Sugar Band
22 July 1967 – 1984
Gigs from Hounslow, Brentford and Chiswick Post and the Middlesex Chronicle
Besides the town’s Cellar Club, another a noted live venue that put on gigs into the late 1960s was Coronation Hall in Denmark Road. Quite a few notable acts played there and I’ve started a list. I would be grateful for any additions:
12 January 1963 – The Nashville Teens and The Corvettes (Surrey Comet)
19 January 1963 – The Nashville Teens and Gerry Brown’s Jazzmen (Surrey Comet)
23 February 1963 – The Avengers and The Corvettes (Surrey Comet)
2 March 1963 – The Nashville Teens and The Avengers (Surrey Comet)
9 March 1963 – Bobby Angelo & The Tuxedos and The Corvettes (Surrey Comet)
23 March 1963 – Bobby Angelo & The Tuxedos and The Avengers (Surrey Comet)
13 April 1963 – Mike Berry with group and The Avengers and The Corvettes (Surrey Comet)
11 January 1964 – The Fleerekkers and The Puppets (Melody Maker)
18 January 1964 – Gene Vincent (Kingston & Malden Borough News) Melody Maker lists The Strollers
25 January 1964 – The Blue-Tones (Melody Maker)
3 February 1964 – The Yardbirds (Kingston & Malden Borough News)
8 February 1964 – Jimmy Powell & The Five Dimensions (Melody Maker)
11 February 1964 – The Yardbirds (Kingston & Malden Borough News)
15 February 1964 – The Tornados (Melody Maker)
22 February 1964 – The Cervezeas and The Niteshades (Melody Maker)
29 February 1964 – The Zombies and The Cheynes (Melody Maker)
3 March 1964 – The Yardbirds (Kingston & Malden Borough News)
31 October 1964 – The Cosmic Sounds (featuring Linda Crane) and Tempests (Kingston & Malden Borough News)
12 December 1964 – Lulu and Cosmic Sounds (Kingston & Malden Borough News)
24 December 1964 – Jimmy Powell & The Dimensions and The MI4 (Kingston & Malden Borough News)
16 January 1965 – The Downliners Sect and The MI4 (Kingston & Malden Borough News)
27 February 1965 – The Trojans and Group 5 (Kingston & Malden Borough News)
23 October 1965 – The Downliners Sect with The Hi-Jackers (Surrey Comet)
30 October 1965 – Cosmic Sounds featuring Lynda Crane and The Pastel Shades (Surrey Comet)
6 November 1965 – The Tuxedos and The Images (Surrey Comet)
11 December 1965 – The Board Walkers and Lawlors Legs (Surrey Comet)
18 December 1965 – Cosmic Sounds and The Impalas (Surrey Comet)
1 December 1967 – P P Arnold and The Kool (may be a different date in December 1967/January 1968) (Kingston & Malden Borough News)
Walton Playhouse, 19 January 2022. Photo: Nick Warburton
The Walton Hop at the Playhouse in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey was a teen disco started by Deniz Corday in 1958.
Photo: Nick Warburton, 19 January 2022
The music venue is reputed to have been the first disco in the UK. During 1964-1965, it was billed as the Hi-Fi Hop. The venue was billed as the Walton Hop in 1967. This is an incomplete list and I would welcome any additions
1 August 1961 – Mike Dee & The Jaywalkers
24 October 1961 – Mike Dee & The Jaywalkers
7 November 1961 – Mike Dee & The Jaywalkers
19 January 1962 – The Nibs Band
Gigs were on Saturdays and Wednesday but not every week
20 January 1962 – The Sunsets with Linda Shane, Grant Tracy and Ron Diamond
24 January 1962 – Denny & The Crescendos
10 February 1962 – Vern Rogers & The Hi-Fi’s
14 February 1962 – The Impalas
17 February 1962 – Eddy & The Chequers
24 February 1962 – Mike Cordell & The Mysteries
3 March 1962 – Steve Frances & The Counterbeats
10 March 1962 – Johnny Carr & The Bristol Cadillacs
14 March 1962 – The Guildford Rythmics
17 March 1962 – Tony West, Terry Preston & The Nite Hawks
21 March 1962 – Kris Kelly & The Cadillacs
24 March 1962 – Steve Laine & The Cannons
28 March 1962 – The Hamilton Teens
31 March 1962 – Anna Janet Carol and Tony Claidon & The Impalas
4 April 1962 – The Black Arrows
Gap until the next entry
18 April 1962 – Denny & The Crescendos
21 April 1962 – Grant Tracy & The Sunsets
23 April 1962 – Steve Laine and Terry & The Cannons
26 April 1962 – The Hamilton Teens
28 April 1962 – Duffy Power & The Syndicates
2 May 1962 – Steve Frances & The Counterbeats
5 May 1962 – Neil Christian & The Crusaders (he was ill so postponed and was replaced by Gary Brooker & The Paramounts)
Gap in gigs until next entry
19 May 1962 – Baby Bubbly & His Bubbles
23 May 1962 – Neil Christian & The Crusaders
26 May 1962 – Gary Brooker & The Paramounts
2 June 1962 – Ray Davis & The RDQ Quartette (held at Weybridge Hall as Walton Playhouse not available)
6 June 1962 – Jackie Lynton with Bob Zavier & The Jury
9 June 1962 – Bod Fields, Beverley Swain & The Diablos
11 June 1962 – Jed Stone & The Raiders
14 June 1962 – The Black Arrows
16 June 1962 – Neil Christian & The Crusaders (held at Weybridge Hall as Walton Playhouse not available)
23 June 1962 – Steve Laine and Teddy & The Cannons (held at Weybridge Hall as Walton Playhouse not available)
27 June 1962 – Pat McQueen & His Rock Combo
30 June 1962 – The Checkpoints with Colin Lloyd
3 July 1962 – Ricky Temple & The Lonely Ones (Tuesday)
7 July 1962 – Tony Claidon, Ann Wright and The Impalas (held at Weybridge Hall as Walton Playhouse not available)
11 July 1962 – Grant Tracy & The Sunsets
14 July 1962 – Brian Howard & The Silhouettes
18 July 1962 – Pete West & The East Combo
21 July 1962 – Karl Anthony & The Nomads
25 July 1962 – The Black Arrows
28 July 1962 – Steve Laine and Terry & The Cannons
1 August 1962 – Pat McQueen & His Rock Combo
4 August 1962 – Grant Tracy & The Sunsets (cancelled, not clear who replaced them)
6 August 1962 – Tony Claidon & The Impalas
11 August 1962 – Neil Christian & The Crusaders (held at Weybridge Hall as Walton Playhouse not available)
18 August 1962 – Colin Lyodd & The Checkpoints (held at Weybridge Hall as Walton Playhouse not available)
No gigs for a while
1 September 1962 – The Fleereckers
4 September 1962 – Norman Jago & The Jaguars
8 September 1962 – Brian Howard & The Silhouettes
12 September 1962 – Jackie Lynton & The Jury
15 September 1962 – The Statesmen of Sin
19 September 1962 – Vern Rogers & The Hi-Fi’s
22 September 1962 – Terry Franks & The Avalons
26 September 1962 – John Mazzi & The Clearways
29 September 1962 – Bobby Angelo & The Tuxedos with Susan Terry
3 October 1962 – Jackie Lynton with Bob Zavier & The Jury
6 October 1962 – Bobby Brown & The Barons
10 October 1962 – Grant Tracy & The Sunsets
13 October 1962 – Brian Howard & The Silhouettes
Gap until next entry
20 October 1962 – Bobby Angelo & The Tuxedos (held at Weybridge Hall as Walton Playhouse not available)
24 October 1962 – Jackie Lynton and Bobby Zavier & The Jury
27 October 1962 – Rod Price & The College Boys
31 October 1962 – Terry Franks & The Avalons
3 November 1962 – Vern Rogers & The Hi-Fi’s
9 November 1962 – Grant Tracy & The Sunsets (held at Weybridge Hall as Walton Playhouse not available)
16 November 1962 – Bobby Angelo, Susan Terry & The Tuxedos (held at Weybridge Hall as Walton Playhouse not available)
24 November 1962 – Coral Lee and Ray Fields & The Syndicates (held at Weybridge Hall as Walton Playhouse not available)
27 November 1962 – Brian Howard & The Silhouettes
1 December 1962 – John Mazzi & The Clearways
Gap until next entry
12 December 1962 – Jackie Lynton & The New Teenbeats
15 December 1962 – Vern Rogers & The Hi-Fi’s (held at Weybridge Hall as Walton Playhouse not available)
19 December 1962 – Rod Price & His College Men
22 December 1962 – Brian Howard & The Silhouettes
24 December 1962 – Bobby Angelo & The Tuxedos with Susan Terry
26 December 1962 – Jackie Lynton & The New Teenbeats
29 December 1962 – John Mazzi & The Clearways (held at Weybridge Hall as Walton Playhouse not available)
31 December 1962 – Terry Franks & The Avalons
Gigs were on Saturdays and Wednesday but not every week. There is gap until next entry
9 January 1963 – Vern Rogers & The Hi-Fi’s
12 January 1963 – John Mazzi & The Clearways
16 January 1963 – Tony Rivers & The Castaways
19 January 1963 – Vern Rogers & The Hi-Fi’s
23 January 1963 – Grant Tracy & The Sunsets
26 January 1963 – Tony Rivers & The Castaways
30 January 1963 – The Nashville Teens
2 February 1963 – Rod Price & His College Men (held at Weybridge Hall as Walton Playhouse not available)
6 February 1963 – Shane Fenton & The Fentons and Tony Rivers & The Castaways
9 February 1963 – Grant Tracy & The Sunsets
14 February 1963 – Vern Rogers & The Hi-Fi’s (Thursday)
16 February 1963 – Terry Franks & The Avalons
23 February 1963 – John Mazzi & The Clearways
There is a gap until the next entry
2 March 1963 – Rod Price & His College Men
6 March 1963 – Gene Vincent & The British Blue Caps and The Hi-Fi Nits and Jackie & Fiona
9 March 1963 – Pauline Martin and Paul Dean & The Searchers
16 March 1963 – Tony Rivers & The Castaways
20 March 1963 – Frank Kelly & The Hunters
23 March 1963 – Pete West and Susan Wayne & The Embers
30 March 1963 – Coral Lee and Ray Fields & The Syndicates (held at Weybridge Hall as Walton Playhouse not available)
6 April 1963 – Tony & The Packabeats
11 April 1963 – Pat McQueen & His Rock Combo (Thursday)
13 April 1963 – John Mazzi & The Clearways and The Hi-Fi Nits
15 April 1963 – Grant Tracy & The Sunsets (Monday)
20 April 1963 – Pauline Martin and Pete Dean & The Searchers
27 April 1963 – Lee Faber & The RTJ Combo (held at Weybridge Hall as Walton Playhouse not available)
4 May 1963 – The Strollers Plus Two and The Hi-Fi Nits
10 May 1963 – Rod Price & His College Men (Friday) (held at Weybridge Hall as Walton Playhouse not available) Replaced by Jeff Curtis & The Flames
18 May 1963 – Vern Rogers & The Hi-Fi’s and Fiona and Jackie
25 May 1963 – Terry Franks & The Avalons (held at Weybridge Hall as Walton Playhouse not available)
1 June 1963 – Tony Holland & The Packabeats
3 June 1963 – Vern Rogers & Hi-Fi’s (Monday)
8 June 1963 – Johnny Dee & The Limelighters
15 June 1963 – John Mazzi & The Clearways
22 June 1963 – Vern Rogers & The Hi-Fi’s
29 June 1963 – John Mazzi & Clearways
6 July 1963 – Tony Rivers & The Castaways
13 July 1963 – Rod Price & His College Men
20 July 1963 – Jeff Curtis & The Flames
27 July 1963 – Dave Anthony & The Druids
3 August 1963 – The Strollers
5 August 1963 – The Limelights
10 August 1963 – Coral Lee and Ray Fields & The Syndicates
17 August 1963 – Terry Franks & The Avalons (replaced by Eddy & The Chequers)
24 August 1963 – Lee Allan & The Scepters
31 August 1963 – Dave Anthony & The Druids
6 September 1963 – Tony Rivers & The Castaways (Friday) (replaced by Tony Holland & The Packabeats)
14 September 1963 – The Hi-Fi’s
21 September 1963 – John Mazzi & The Clearways
25 September 1963 – Shane Fenton & The Fentons (Wednesday)
28 September 1963 – Dave Dee & The Moquettes
5 October 1963 – Grant Tracy & The Sunsets
12 October 1963 – Lee Allan & The Scepters
19 October 1963 – Tony Holland & The Packabeats
26 October 1963 – The Wanderers
2 November 1963 – The Druids
9 November 1963 – Jackie Lynton & The Teenbeats
16 November 1963 – The Mustangs (held at Weybridge Hall as Walton Playhouse not available)
23 November 1963 – Tony Rivers & The Castaways (held at Weybridge Hall as Walton Playhouse not available)
30 November 1963 – Jeff Curtis & The Flames
Got gaps until next gig
21 December 1963 – Neil Christian & The Crusaders
24 December 1963 – John Mazzi & The Clearways
26 December 1963 – Tony Holland & The Packabeats
27 December 1963 – Vern Rogers & The Hi-Fi’s
28 December 1963 – Brian Diamond & The Cutters
31 December 1963 – The Druids
Just appears to be gigs on Saturdays in 1964
3 January 1964 – Lee Allan & The Scepters
11 January 1964 – The Moquettes (held at Weybridge Hall as Walton Playhouse not available)
18 January 1964 – The Flintstones
25 January 1964 – The Roof Raisers
1 February 1964 – Pete Nelson & The Travellers
8 February 1964 – The Hi-Fi’s
No gig on 15 February 1964
22 February 1964 – Tony Rivers & The Castaways and The Hop Mimers
29 February 1964 – Guitars Incorporated
7 March 1964 – The Roof Raisers
14 March 1964 – The Druids
21 March 1964 – Lee Allan & The Scepters
26 March 1964 – The Moquettes
28 March 1964 – The Outlaws and The Hop Mimers
30 March 1964 – Wainwright’s Gentlemen
4 April 1964 – The Druids
11 April 1964 – Tony Holland & The Packabeats (held at Weybridge Hall as Walton Playhouse not available)
18 April 1964 – The Limelights
No gig on 25 April
28 April 1964 – Tony Rivers & The Castaways (held at Weybridge Hall as Walton Playhouse not available)
2 May 1964 – Peter’s Faces
9 May 1964 – The Hi-Fi’s (held at Weybridge Hall as Walton Playhouse not available)
16 May 1964 – The Trends
18 May 1964 – The Moquettes (Monday)
23 May 1964 – Wainwright’s Gentlemen
30 May 1964 – Dana Laine and Lee Tracy & The Tributes (held at Weybridge Hall as Walton Playhouse not available)
2 June 1964 – Peter’s Faces (Tuesday)
6 June 1964 – The Druids
9 June 1964 – Wainwright’s Gentlemen (Tuesday)
13 June 1964 – The Prestons (held at Weybridge Hall as Walton Playhouse not available)
16 June 1964 – The Soul Representatives (Tuesday)
20 June 1964 – Mike Shannons & The Strangers
27 June 1964 – Wainwright’s Gentlemen
4 July 1964 – The Chances (held at Weybridge Hall as Walton Playhouse not available)
11 July 1964 – The Nashville Teens
18 July 1964 – Peter’s Faces
25 July 1964 – The Southern Sounds
1 August 1964 – The Birds (Ron Wood on guitar)
3 August 1964 – Peter’s Faces
8 August 1964 – The Grebbles
15 August 1964 – The T-Bones
22 August 1964 – The Southern Sounds
29 August 1964 – Peter’s Faces and Jackie Lynton
5 September 1964 – The Birds
12 September 1964 – The Druids
19 September 1964 – The Tridents (Jeff Beck’s band)
26 September 1964 – The T-Bones
3 October 1964 – The Druids
10 October 1964 – The Herd (replaced by The Paramounts)
17 October 1964 – The Rebounds
24 October 1964 – Tony Rivers & The Castaways
31 October 1964 – Peter’s Faces
7 November 1964 – The Tridents
14 November 1964 – The Druids
17 November 1964 – Rhubarb Freshers (Tuesday)
21 November 1964 – Tony Rivers & The Castaways
24 November 1964 – The Aztecs (Tuesday)
28 November 1964 – The Bootleggers
1 December 1964 – The Hustlers (Tuesday) (held at Weybridge Hall as Walton Playhouse not available)
4 December 1964 – The Herd (held at Weybridge Hall as Walton Playhouse not available)
8 December 1964 – The Empty Vessels (Tuesday) (held at Weybridge Hall as Walton Playhouse not available)
12 December 1964 – Peter’s Faces (held at Weybridge Hall as Walton Playhouse not available)
15 December 1964 – Devil’s Disciples (Tuesday)
19 December 1964 – The Pagans
24 December 1964 – Grant Tracy & The Sunsets
26 December 1964 – The Tridents
31 December 1964 – The Druids
There were gaps during 1965 due to the venue not being used for music
2 January 1965 – The Birds
12 January 1965 – The Moonrakers
16 January 1965 – Peter’s Faces
23 January 1965 – The Herd
26 January 1965 – The Legends
30 January 1965 – Wainwright’s Gentlemen (Ian Gillan was lead singer by now)
2 February 1965 – The Strays
6 February 1965 – The Tridents
9 February 1965 – The Cosmic Sounds
13 February 1965 – Grant Tracy & The Sunsets
23 February 1965 – The Missing Links
27 February 1965 – Dave & The Strollers
2 March 1965 – The Ones
6 March 1965 – The Tridents (this was the band’s first gig after Jeff Beck left to join The Yardbirds and was performed as a trio)
9 March 1965 – The Road Agents
13 March 1965 – The Birds
16 March 1965 – Finders Keepers
20 March 1965 – The Five Dimensions
23 March 1965 – Them
27 March 1965 – The Herd
30 March 1965 – The Bad Boys
3 April 1965 – The Cosmic Sounds
15 April 1965 – The Hero (This could be a missprint and might be The Herd)
Walton Playhouse closed at some point in late April/early May 1965 due to a fire that caused extensive damage. Walton Playhouse re-opened for music on 29 October 1966
29 October 1966 – Flatop and The Soul System
1 November 1966 – The Impalas
5 November 1966 – The Courtelles
8 November 1966 – The Iveys (evolved into Badfinger)
12 November 1966 – Tuesday’s Children
15 November 1966 – The Loving Kind
19 November 1966 –The Dominos
No gigs on 22 and 26 November
29 November 1966 – The Coloured Raisins
3 December 1966 – The Iveys
No gigs on 6 and 10 December
13 December 1966 – The New Downliners Sect
17 December 1966 – The Embers
20 December 1966 – Syd’s Crowd
24 December 1966 – Rob Chance & The Chances R
26 December 1966 – The Coloured Raisins
27 December 1966 – The Summer Set
31 December 1966 – Niti Rossi and Mike Stuart Span
10 January 1967 – The New Mojo Band (The New Mojos)
13 January 1967 – Winston’s Fumbs
17 January 1967 – Norman & The Tek-Neeks (ex-Tornados)
24 January 1967 – Derek Savage Foundation
28 January 1967 – The Nashville Teens
31 January 1967 – The Embers
4 February 1967 – The Condors
7 February 1967 – Winston’s Thumbs
11 February 1967 – Jackie Lynton, Norman Hale & The Package
14 February 1967 – The Iveys
18 February 1967 – Derek Savage Foundation
21 February 1967 – The Mojos
25 February 1967 – Denise Scott & The Soundsmen
28 February 1967 – Mike Raynor & The Condors
4 March 1967 – The Coloured Raisins
7 March 1967 – The Embers
14 March 1967 – The Embers
18 March 1967 – The Bunch
21 March 1967 – Derek Savage Foundation
23 March 1967 – The Coloured Raisins
25 March 1967 – The Medievals
27 March 1967 – Mike Stuart Span
1 April 1967 – The Army (Steve Priest, pre-Sweet on bass)
11 April 1967 – The Iveys
15 April 1967 – The Mojos
18 April 1967 – Sean Buckely Big Set
21 April 1967 – The Seychells (held at Hersham)
No gigs at the Walton Hop on 22, 25 and 29 April. The hall is not available
29 April 1967 – The Flies (held at Hersham)
2 May 1967 – The Farm
6 May 1967 – The Jaybirds
13 May 1967 – The Ministry of Sound
16 May 1967 – The Drag Set
20 May 1967 – The Bunch
23 May 1967 – The Flies
27 May 1967 – The Shinn
29 May 1967 – Mike Stuart Span (Bank holiday Monday)
3 June 1967 – The Courtells
6 June 1967 – The Jaybirds
10 June 1967 – The Happy Story
13 June 1967 – The Shell Shock Show
17 June 1967 – The Iveys
20 June 1967 – The Klooks
There is a gap after this
8 July 1967 – Soul Tonas
14 July 1967 – The Shell Shock Show
22 July 1967 – The Gods
29 July 1967 – The Human Instinct
5 August 1967 – Mike Stuart Span
12 August 1967 – The Tiles Big Band
19 August 1967 – The Flies
26 August 1967 – The Drag Set
28 August 1967 – The Flies (Bank holiday Monday)
2 September 1967 – Mike Raynor & The Condors
9 September 1967 – Modes Mode
16 September 1967 – Mike Stuart Span
23 September 1967 – The Embers
26 September 1967 – The Drifters, The Flies and The Mover
7 October 1967 – The All Nite Workers
14 October 1967 – No band this week
21 October 1967 – Gentle Madness
28 October 1967 – Dr Marigold’s Prescription
4 November 1967 – Coletrain Union
11 November 1967 – The Inspiration
14 November 1967 – The Human Instinct
18 November 1967 – Floribunda Rose (John Kongos’s band)
25 November 1967 – No band this week
28 November 1967 – Force Four
2 December 1967 – Lemon Line
9 December 1967 – No band this week
12 December 1967 – The All Nite Workers
16 December 1967 – Jo Jo Gunne
19 December 1967 – The Doves
26 December 1967 – The Flies (and possibly The Doves but needs confirmation)
30 December 1967 – Mike Stuart Span
9 January 1968 – Jo Jo Gunne
13 January 1968 – The Army
16 January 1968 – Force Four
20 January 1968 – The Human Instinct
24 January 1968 – Missing entry
27 January 1968 – The All Nite Workers
30 January 1968 – Dr Marigold’s Prescription
3 February 1968 – Alexander Bell & The Flies (Just back from Denmarkand replaced Cymbaline)
6 February 1968 – The Doves
10 February 1968 – The Human Instinct and The Mover
13 February 1968 – Jo Jo Gunne
17 February 1968 – Jon
20 February 1968 – The All Nite Workers
24 February 1968 – Kristen Young & The Reflections
27 February 1968 – Cymbaline
2 March 1968 – Dr Marigold’s Prescription
No gigs on 5 and 9 March
12 March 1968 – Mike Raynor & The Condors
No Saturday gigs until 30 March so no gig on 16 March
19 March 1968 – The All Nite Workers
No gig on 23 March
26 March 1968 – Cymbaline
30 March 1968 – Jo Jo Gunne
6 April 1968 – Extreme Sound
11 April 1968 – Jo Jo Gunne
13 April 1968 – Cymbaline
15 April 1968 – The All Night Workers
20 April 1968 – The Doves
Looks like gigs on 23, 27 and 30 April
4 May 1968 – The Embers
Looks like no gigs on 7, 11 and 14 May
18 May 1968 – The Penny Peeps (Martin Barre, pre-Jethro Tull on guitar)
Looks like no gigs on 21, 25 and 28 May
1 June 1968 – Jo Jo Gunne
4 June 1968 – The Embers
8 June 1968 – The Onyx
No gig on 11 June
15 June 1968 – Extreme Sound
No gig on 18 June
22 June 1968 – Mike Stuart Span
No gigs on 25 and 29 June
No gig on 2 July
6 July 1968 – The Greatest Show on Earth
13 July 1968 – Mike Raynor & The Condors
No gig on 16 July
20 July 1968 – Cymbaline
No gig on 23 July
27 July 1968 – The Groop (from Australia) and Honey
No gig on 30 July
3 August 1968 – Clive Barrow Group (future All Night Workers lead singer)
No gig on 6 August
10 August 1968 – Mike Raynor & The Condors
No gig on 13 August
17 August 1968 – The Embers and Honey
No gig on 20 August
24 August 1968 – Alexander Bell & The Flies
No gig on 27 August
31 August 1968 – Jo Jo Gunne
2 September 1968 – The All Nite Workers
7 September 1968 – Jo Jo Gunne
No gigs on 10, 14 and 17 September
21 September 1968 – The Late
No gig on 24 September
28 September 1968 – Combustion
No gig on 1 October
5 October 1968 – The Nerve
No gig on 8 October
12 October 1968 – Bobby Johnson & The Atoms
Looks like no gigs on 15, 19 and 22 October
26 October 1968 – The All Nite Workers
No gig on 29 October
2 November 1968 – Bobby Johnson & The Atoms
No gig on 5 November
9 November 1968 – Combustion
No gig on 12 November
16 November 1968 – Nerve
No gig on 19, 23 and 26 November
30 November 1968 – The Coloured Raisins
No gigs on 3, 7 and 10 December
14 December 1968 – Jo Jo Gunne
No gig on 17 December
21 December 1968 – The Explosion with Winston T (most likely Watson T Brown & The Explosive)
24 December 1968 – Jo Jo Gunne
26 December 1968 – Rick ‘N’ Beckers
28 December 1968 – The Sky (formerly Mike Raynor & The Condors)
31 December 1968 – The Cat Road Show starring US Flatop
No gig on Saturday, 4 January 1969. Also Tuesday shows given up for DJ
11 January 1969 – The Youngblood
18 January 1969 – The Explosive
25 January 1969 – Canterbury Tales
1 February 1969 – Kingsize Keen Show
8 February 1969 – The Flares
No gig on Saturday, 15 February
23 February 1969 – The Nite People
1 March 1969 – The Youngblood
8 March 1969 – Demon Fuzz
No gig on Saturday, 15 March
22 March 1969 – Watson T Brown & The Explosive
29 March 1969 – Spectrum
3 April 1969 – Canterbury’s Tales
5 April 1969 – Simon K & The Meantimers
7 April 1969 – The All Nite Workers (Clyde Barrow now on lead vocals)
No gigs now until the next date
3 May 1969 – The Youngblood
No gigs now until the next date
31 May 1969 – The Red Squares
7 June 1969 – The Pavement
14 June 1969 – The Onyx
21 June 1969 – The Sky
28 June 1969 – Spectrum
5 July 1969 – The Sweet
12 July 1969 – The Swamp
19 July 1969 – The Embers
26 July 1969 – Simon K & The Meantimers
2 August 1969 – The She Trinity
9 August 1969 – The Sugar
16 August 1969 – The Chimera
23 August 1969 – Pinkerton’s Assorted Colours
30 August 1969 – Canterbury Tales
6 September 1969 – Simon K & The Meantimers
13 September 1969 – Cool Combination
20 September 1969 – Sonority
27 September 1969 – The Cats
4 October 1969 – The Pylots
11 October 1969 – Archimedes Principle
18 October 1969 – Timebox
No gig on Saturday, 25 October
1 November 1969 – Black Velvet
No gig on Saturday, 8 November
15 November 1969 – Orange Rainbow
No gig on Saturday, 22 November
29 November 1969 – Simon K & The Meantimers
No gigs until the next one
13 December 1969 – Information
20 December 1969 – Lucas (from Mike Cotton Sound) and The Soul Sisters
24 December 1969 – Mike Raynor & The Sky
26 December 1969 – John James & The Swamp
27 December 1969 – Chimera
31 December 1969 – Simon K & The Meantimers
There don’t appear to be any gigs for the first half of 1970
All gigs were sourced from the Woking Herald except Mike Dee & The Jaywalkers (Brian Mansell) and Floribunda Rose (Jack Russell)
Here is the finest collection of ’60s photos I’ve seen in ages, taken mainly at the Mouse Trap Club in the Vernon Hills suburb of Chicago. The Riddles are featured in four of them, the PK-5 in one, and there is an unknown group to be identified. If anyone has information or news clips on the club, please write to me or comment below.
These photos are the property of Philip Metzler, former host of The Mouse Trap, sent to me by his daughter.
The Mouse Trap ClubAudience at the Mouse Trap ClubPhilip Metzler: “A Better Mouse Trap Club”A Better Mouse Trap Club – Where the Elite MeetThe Riddles at the Mouse TrapThe Riddles at the Mouse Trap ClubThe Riddles at the Mouse TrapThe Riddles at the Mouse Trap ClubThe PK-Five with Dex Card at the Mouse Trap Club
Info on the PK-5 came from James Terry Smith’s comment below, which I’ll quote here:
The amazing PK5 … all cousins from Deerfield, Illinois. Drums John Hackmiester, lead guitar Bill Pekara, vocalist and saxophone Ron Pekara, bass Rich DuLoft, lead and rhythm Dan Gora. They played all over Chicago and won many battle of the band contest … I saw them at Mccormick Place twice and they were hard working … R&B mostly.
Bill Pekara’s son posted this video of the group doing a great version of “I Ain’t Got You” to Youtube with a few additional photos of the group:
Unknown BandUnknown group & dancer at the Mouse Trap ClubThe Tydes at the Mouse Trap Club, January 1966The Tydes at the Mouse Trap Club, January 1966
The Virgil Caine album was ignored outside Southern Virginia on its initial release in 1971. But the low-tech masterpiece has finally gained an audience through the internet and the LP has become one of the most sought-after artifacts by collectors of private pressings.
Roger Mannon, 1968
I first heard the songs around the summer of 1971 at the Euphoria Music Emporium, a record/head shop in my hometown of Danville, Va. My best friend and I were regulars and owner Steve Wilson motioned for us to step to the turntable one afternoon, saying he wanted us to listen to the strangest album he had ever heard. He played us “Swamp Witch,” and the chorus stuck in my head for days.
The stark photo on the cover was black and white and none of these guys looked like any rock band I’d ever seen. The short man in the middle could pass for a banker or a college professor and was wearing Buddy Holly glasses. He was flanked by a scruffy looking dude dressed like a house painter and a tall teenager in an ill-fitting hat who looked strangely out of place.
Copies of the album sat in the store on consignment for several months, but there were few takers.
Paul Talley Senior Portrait, 1970
I had all but forgotten about it until I chanced upon a water-damaged copy at a yard sale 20 years later. But the jacket yielded few clues and my search for the band’s origins continued for another 20 years, when a blog posting led me to the group’s surviving songwriter and the man who recorded the album, both linked by a tiny town in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
While Floyd, Va. has become a regional destination for bluegrass music and a large counter-culture movement, the town of today bears little resemblance to the Floyd where the members of Virgil Caine — Roger Mannon, Larry Janney, Eddie Eanes and Paul Talley — grew up in the sixties. Jim Scott moved to Southwest Virginia from Connecticut in 1966. All attended Floyd County High — the only high school in the County, which today has a population of just 15,000 — in a community where Talley says “everybody knows everybody.” Mannon, Eanes and Scott graduated in 1968, Janney and Talley two years later.
Paul Talley (right) with the Electric Theater
Paul knew Larry casually in elementary school, but the two became fast friends in 8th grade when Larry ended up with two tickets to a Beach Boys concert and asked Paul to tag along. At the time, Paul was learning the guitar and Larry was already playing. When Jim moved to Floyd, he joined the Crypt Kickers with Larry, who also played the drums. As Scott recalls, his involvement started when “one of the guys in the band brought his guitar on the bus one day and we started playing songs and he said: ‘Hey, you can play. Could you join us?’ And so we kind of played around and just a little garage band and did some local rock and roll at the time, the Beatles and that sort of thing that was popular for dances. And seems like we played a couple of sock hops up at the high school and we may have played either a senior dance or a prom up there as well. This would’ve been around 1966-’67.” Scott was in school with the other three and would later play bass on the album, but says he “barely knew them” then.
Talley, who engineered the album, played rhythm guitar in another Floyd band, “The Electric Theater,” a seven-piece group with horns.
Mannon played on the basketball team but is best remembered for the poetry he wrote for the school magazine.
Eddie Eanes, who died in 1995, co-wrote almost all of the songs on the album and is listed as the sole writer of one of the LP’s most memorable tracks, “Swamp Witch,” although Mannon says the group added the refrain without his knowledge. Roger says the two were best friends in high school and Eddie took up guitar when the Beatles hit. The pair collaborated on songs but Roger says that “about the time we were ready to do something, he finished school and moved away.”
Eddie Eanes, 1968
After graduation, Eddie moved for a job to Maryland and later to New Orleans. Roger recalls that one of those early jobs was the inspiration for “Swamp Witch,” which was about voodoo and his time “on an oil rig (where) he got in a lot of that Southern Louisiana kind of backdrop with the Bayous and the country down there and that was primarily inspired by his time being down there, right after he left Floyd.”
Paul remembers Eddie as a “real wild child.” Jim calls that a fair assessment, describing Eddie as “a child of the sixties before the rest of Floyd caught on to it. Floyd, when I moved there in the mid-60s seemed to be about ten years behind the New England towns that I grew up in. You know, mini skirts weren’t popular yet. Nobody was smoking dope yet; they were just back ten, fifteen years earlier. And Eddie seemed to be more on tune with the rest of civilization at that time.”
Eddie lived down the street from Larry, but Janney had no idea Eanes had co-written the songs on the album until he saw the finished product.
By 1970, Roger was a student at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, where he met Mike Campbell, an English professor at Tech who played lead guitar on the album. Roger remembers that Mike “was an avid musician and anytime you went to class and you asked something about a Beatles album or a Bob Dylan album, he’d spend the whole class time talking about music rather than English Literature. So, it was a fun class in that it essentially turned into a music appreciation rather than an English class.” When Roger started talking about recording an album, Mike mentioned that he played guitar and “would like to sit in.”
Larry Janney Senior Portrait
Larry and Paul graduated from high school in June 1970 and both enrolled at Danville Community College in the fall, Larry as a Computer Science major and Paul in Business.
It was during this period that sessions for the album began in Christiansburg (twenty miles north of Floyd) where Janney’s family had moved following his father’s death. Larry says all of the recordings were made in “a glassed-in back porch” that was big enough to accommodate all of the equipment. Jim Scott became involved and remembers “Larry’s brother, Teddy, had a bass guitar and we used to jam at that house almost every weekend. We’d bring in guest musicians and the back porch turned into a stage, actually drew quite a neighborhood crowd through a couple of summers.”
But Janney insists he had no idea that the music they were recording would ever see the light of day. He says “the idea was for us to do kind of a sound tape to send to recording studios, hoping that they would sponsor this and provide studio musicians and studio time and all the rest it takes to make a record. So, we were just using what we had, using the microphones and equipment and amplifiers that we had. The reel-to-reel player was a really poor quality. But at any rate, we did all the takes and ended up with a finished product.”
Paul was recruited to record the band because he “just happened to be the guy with the better of two tape recorders,” a then new Webcor Model 5100dr, which he still owns today.
Paul says the songs were written by the time he was brought on board and some had been taped on an older Sears and Roebuck recorder. At the time, Paul and Larry were roommates at DCC and Larry “asked me to help them out and do some recording. I think they were trying to get some studio time and couldn’t. I don’t know exactly what was going on there but I started going over to Larry’s house in Christiansburg and they played a little bit and I’d record it. Larry and I would spend the week sometimes messing around with the tapes.” He says much of his work involved transferring the tapes, then overdubbing and mixing the music. While some of the recording was done live to tape, Paul says “we recorded on two channels and you know did a little bit of playing around with the channels and sometimes something wouldn’t be exactly right and I would take those two channels and record ’em into one channel and then have somebody record on the other channel… kind of a sound-on-sound type of thing.”
Effects were “by accident” and Paul says the older machine is “probably the reason some of the songs sound the way they do.” He notes that “going from one recorder to another (and) the heads not exactly aligned tended to do some strange things to the music.” The band “wasn’t heavy on equipment,” working with two microphones, “always patching a wire with some tape or something, trying to get the thing to quit humming.”
Paul believes the sessions started in the fall or winter of 1970 and were conducted mostly on weekends when the band members would travel home from school. He recalls one night in particular when they had finished recording and he had to crawl under his car on “a sheet of ice” to repair a starter before he could make the return trip home.
Roger says the whole process took about three months and believes everything was recorded live, adding: “If we got an acceptable take we’d go with it and if not we’d just record it again.” He says the band got together a couple of times to practice original songs “until we got them the way that we wanted them and then recorded ’em.”
Recollections differ as to wo played what on the album. It’s agreed that Larry played drums and some rhythm guitar, Mike lead guitar and that Roger handled all of the lead vocals. But Larry says he may have added a bass line or two and possibly some background vocals. He says there are definitely songs where “Roger harmonized with himself,” adding that he (Larry) did sing at the time and that “there might be places where I may have done some back-up harmony.”
Jim Scott
But he has no recollection of Jim Scott participating in any of the album sessions and says he was surprised to see him credited as a “guest artist, courtesy Bogus Records” on the album jacket. Jim concurs, noting that his contribution to “Swamp Witch” was “an afterthought,” if it occurred at all. He says his “40-something-year-old-memory” is “too foggy” to remember much but recalls visiting with Larry as the recordings were being made and “he was showing me how they were dubbing the tapes.” Jim points out that he “had a little bit of knowledge of dubbing because my dad had taught Gene Pitney how to play guitar and we had gone to some of his recording sessions.” Jim says the two “played around with it and I may have laid down the bass track for them that day, or they may have given me credit simply because I was the only one that was gonna go out and sell the album for them.”
Roger remembers that Jim happened to stop by the day the band recorded “Swamp Witch” and played the bass line.
Jim, who would soon leave for Vietnam, was then selling insurance and traveling through Southwest and Southside Virginia. As he traveled, he would carry boxes of the Virgil Caine album on his route, stopping at mom-and-pop music stores where they were sold on consignment. He even placed the LP in stores in the Richmond area and got a radio station in Rocky Mount to play some of the songs, but admits sales were flat and “we didn’t much more than break even on the cost of producing the album.”
While the sessions were progressing, Jim and Larry were also performing the college circuit as a duo, singing Simon and Garfunkel and the Everly Brothers, with Jim sharing an apartment with Larry and Paul when his insurance calls brought him through Danville. The two were offered regular work and could have quit their day jobs, but Jim says they decided against it because he was already traveling and had met too many musicians with “just as much or more talent” who “were lucky to make $10,000 a year.”
Roger says Virgil Caine never performed live and the members never aspired to be a touring band. With conflicting schedules and their scattered lifestyles “our idea was to kind of be like the Band… we just go to a farm house and make a record every once in a while, kinda be above the fray I guess, and we never did get into the playing in small clubs and trying to work at it that way. So, basically we were just a studio band for one recording.”
Larry says he has few memories of the sessions and never met Mike Campbell until he showed up at his house on Roger’s invitation. He describes Mike as “a very talented musician, much more so than comes out on the album.” Mike’s ad-libbed fretwork is featured prominently on “Biscuit High,” which Roger describes as “the instrumental highlight of the album.” He now wishes they had featured Mike’s guitar work on more of the songs.
Once the sessions were completed, Roger sent the master tapes to Capitol Records and agreed to pay $2,000 to have 1,000 copies of the album pressed. But Capitol engineers were unimpressed with the finished product and contacted Mannon, saying “the quality of the music needed to be bumped up” and offering to do “some studio work” on the tapes. When he enquired as to the total cost of the makeover, Roger was told there would be “a straight fee of $25 an hour,” with no guarantee of how long the sweetening might take. He declined and — in retrospect — believes he made the right decision, adding: “I’m not sure they could’ve done a whole lot to improve it.” Larry agrees, saying it would have “never come (out) quite right if it was just a little bit better quality.”
Roger cites “The Great Lunar Oil Strike, 1976” as his favorite recording, pointing out that it remains topical given the subsequent Valdez and Deepwater incidents. Jim likes “Swamp Witch” because it strikes him as being “almost mystical,” with references to cypress roots, armadillo meat and “where only dead men walk the swamps at night.” Larry prefers “Blackfoot Boojy,” a song about a barnyard cat, because of its shuffle rhythm and Mannon’s vaudevillian vocal.
With the recording finished, Roger began searching for a location for the album photos. He was looking for “an antiquarian setting” in keeping with the music. He found it on his grandfather’s farm off of Route 8, in Floyd. The three stood in front of an old clapboard building for the group shot. Larry remembers it was muddy that day and he wanted to look different, so he borrowed Paul’s hat. The back cover photo is a chicken house patched up with some windows from an old country store. The photographer was Bill Sumner, who was then editor of the Floyd Press.
Virgil Caine was selected as the name of the group and album. Virgil Caine was the fictional character of Robbie Robertson’s “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” from the Band’s second LP from 1969. The song describes the defeat of the South at the end of the Civil War. In the song, Caine rides “on the Danville train.” The Richmond and Danville Railroad was the main supply route into Petersburg where Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia held their defensive line to protect Richmond. The Danville supply train ran until General Stoneman’s Union cavalry troops tore up the tracks, as immortalized in the song.
The liner notes were sparse and listed only the members first initials and last names. Mannon says this was by intention and was designed to add to the “mystique” of the LP.
Euphoria Music Emporium August, 1971
When the albums finally arrived, the group began distributing boxes to stores and selling copies to “aunts, uncles and in-laws.” Paul and Larry were in Danville at the community college and left a box at Euphoria Music. Months later, they retrieved the albums and were told that “none had been sold.”
Both made flyers promoting the album, which they posted around campus. Paul says they took typing paper and smeared one side with cooking oil, turned it over and used a hot iron to scorch it, which made the paper look like parchment. Then they added a picture of the album and a brief ad before burning the edges. This gave the effect of an Old West wanted poster.
Roger says the group considered recording a second album, but those plans were shelved because it took so long to break even on the first. He had written a “couple of songs” for the follow-up but they were never recorded by the band. He says when Virgil Caine “didn’t become rich and famous, we were just kind of satisfied with what we’d accomplished and moved on from there.”
While none of the members became professional musicians, all still play and four still live in Virginia.
Larry Janney still works with computers and is now the senior systems manager with a medical insurance company. He is bemused by the album’s sudden recognition and finds it hard to fathom. In fact, he deleted my initial telephone message, thinking it was a practical joke. He admits “the songs were a little weird but everything was weird about the seventies, so the fact that it sounded a little funny — well — that was okay, I guess. And the songs were a little mysterious, that was okay, too. Like I say, it was the 70s.” In retrospect, he wishes they had spent more time on the album and is unimpressed with the quality of the recordings, adding, “I think the songs were worth a lot more attention than we gave it, frankly.” He doesn’t own a copy of the album, having tossed his box when they warped in his truck on a hot summer’s day.
After 28 moves in 40 years, Jim Scott has come full circle, returning to Southwest Virginia as a circuit-riding preacher. Ironically, the four Methodist churches he pastors are based in Cripple Creek. Jim and Larry are step-brothers and still get together for family jam sessions on holidays. He remains proud of the album, saying “what little small part I played was wonderful.”
Paul Talley managed a True Value Hardware store for much of the past decade and hasn’t seen any of the members in more than twenty years. While the recordings are primitive and he never made a dime for his efforts, Paul says “it was all done for fun and we enjoyed it.”
Mike Campbell moved from Blacksburg to Salem, Va., where he continued teaching at Roanoke College. All of the other band members have lost touch with him, although Larry says years ago he ran into Mike “somewhere,” although he doesn’t recall the time or place.
Roger Mannon still lives in Floyd and works for the Floyd Press, a weekly newspaper owned by the Media General conglomerate. He points out that “you’re quick to see the genius in your own work,” but believes the album has finally found its rightful place. Roger was responsible for a limited reissue of the LP in 2011 and sees the recent acclaim as a “kind of a vindication of some of the songs, to learn that maybe it had reached the audience it was intended for, but I guess due to distribution and other issues it never really accomplished that at the outset. And you know, even if it’s decades later, I’m pleased that some people have heard it and appreciate it.”
This site is a work in progress on 1960s garage rock bands. All entries can be updated, corrected and expanded. If you have information on a band featured here, please let me know and I will update the site and credit you accordingly.
I am dedicated to making this site a center for research about '60s music scenes. Please consider donating archival materials such as photos, records, news clippings, scrapbooks or other material from the '60s. Please contact me at rchrisbishop@gmail.com if you can loan or donate original materials
Planned Obsolescense comes from a scene I haven’t written about on this site before, the area around Santa Barbara, CA. The band had this one 45: “Exit Sticky Icky” starts out something like Creedence, then shifts to a quicker pace. The flip is a cover of the Beau Brummels’ “Still in Love With You Baby”.
