Our band started one Friday night in late 1964 literally in a garage in Vestavia, Alabama when I (Froggy) was singing while two friends were playing the drums and the guitar. The three of us attended Berry High School. The drummer’s cousin, Craig Gardner stopped by to show off his new Oldsmobile 442 and he listened to us perform a tune or two. The next day Craig called me and said that he and a few guys from Shades Valley High School were starting a band and asked if I was interested in being the lead singer. Of course, I said yes.

My neighbor was Ray Edwards, the lead singer with The Knights and the first time I saw them perform I resolved to one day do the same. This was my chance! So, the following weekend, Froggy and the Gremlins band was born in Mike Shields living room and the first song we learned was a cover of the Beatles’ “I Saw Her Standing There”.

Members in the photo at top:

Mike Shields – electric organ
John McClusky – drums
Bill Thomason – lead singer
Pat ? – lead guitar
Craig Gardner – bass

Before long, Pat dropped out and was replaced by lead guitarist Jerry Meadows.

After learning a set list of about 25 songs we hit the road and were very popular locally in Birmingham and North Alabama. Venues consisted of many fraternity parties at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa and in Birmingham, and teenage dances and sock-hops at local National Guard Armories around northern Alabama. We were invited to a Battle of the Bands at the Huntsville coliseum and placed third. WBRC-TV in Birmingham televised a weekly Battle of the Bands and we were matched against the late, great Rooster Gallagher and the Townsmen who I believe eventually won the entire competition later that year.

Pizitz Department Store in downtown Birmingham would hold regular dances and Go-Go demonstrations in the teen clothing section which was a brilliant marketing idea since it drew hundreds of teens (and their mothers) to the store. We played these events several times and once opened for The Swingin’ Medallions there.

Over time as all the other bands were adding horns and reeds, we added:

Bill Roberts – alto sax
Mark Stevens – trumpet

I was also a trumpet player so we had a full, solid sound and were consistent with what was popular at the time. Also, we dropped the “Froggy” and were just “The Gremlins” to project a more contemporary and professional image.

Jerry Meadows was a song writer so like practically every other band on this site, the time came for our rite of passage in Ed Boutwell’s studio at an old church on 2nd Avenue North in Avondale. We created an eight-song demo tape of six cover songs and two songs that Jerry had composed. One was titled “Summer Girl” and the other one I do not remember. We had no money to afford a record press so we hawked the reel-to-reel demo tape around to several radio stations with favorable results but of course there was no air time since there was no vinyl to play.

Finally, in the fall of 1966 most everyone was leaving for various colleges around the state. I, on the other hand having primarily been interested in dedicating most of my time to The Gremlins rather than to high school academics, was shipped off to military school at Lyman Ward Military Academy in south Alabama. Thus, The Gremlins band officially came to an end.

Over the years, I saw Mike Shields occasionally at church and later heard he moved to Carmel, California and became an artist. I also occasionally saw Bill Roberts at the University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa when we were both students there. Ironically, John McClusky was the drummer for String and the Beans when they played at my High School senior military ball. He eventually became a lawyer in the Birmingham area. I lost touch with Jerry Meadows, Craig Gardner and Mark Stevens after our last gig in the late summer of 1966.

Regrettably, as the years passed and my focus turned to college, kids and careers, my copy of the demo tape disappeared. Several years ago, I reached out to Mark Harrelson at Boutwell Studios right after they moved to their beautiful new facility on Central Avenue in Homewood. He told me that had I been a year earlier they probably would have had the master tape but that after all those years they had finally purged the old archives in the latest move.

What an exciting time it was to be a teenager and part of the incredible ‘60’s music scene. Music has remained a big part of my family and these days even one of my college-aged grandsons is carrying on the tradition with a country music solo act.

Bill Thomason, September 2025