CDs carry vintage U. P. tunes

The Green Beans, who recorded in California in 1966,
included two members from the Upper Peninsula.

By STEVE SEYMOUR

A number of vintage rock songs recorded by Upper Peninsula bands have appeared on compact disc, although you might never know it.

While interest in the garage band sound of the 1960s has meant these tunes have received digital treatment, most such re-issues don't recognize the U. P.'s contribution to those recordings.

Take the Rhythm Rockers, for instance. Their 1962 recording, "Bad News," was included on a compilation titled "Rockin' In Wisconsin" on Britian's Ace Records in 2006. It's a catchy little number, lasting all of two minutes and 17 seconds.

Although the accompanying booklet contains some informative liner notes about most of the artists, it includes just a single paragraph about the Rhythm Rockers. Mostly, those two sentences confess that the label didn't know the names of the band members or anything at all about the record, which was taped at Cuca Studios in Sauk City, Wis. Just so you know, the Rhythm Rockers, based in the Copper Country community of Alston, included brothers Dick and John Patana, Mike Kadletz and Larry Sabourne. They're not to be confused with another group with the same name which recorded for Fenton Records of Grand Rapids.

The Excels, based in Marquette, didn't fare much better when their song, "It Isn't So," came out on CD in 2004. The group of Northern Michigan University students banded together in 1964 and cut a series of five 45 rpm records for the Carla label. They toured extensively, appeared on stage with many "name" groups and performed on several high-profile rock 'n' roll television programs of the era.

The Arf! Arf! label, headquartered in Middleborough, Mass., included the Excels' track on a various artists disc titled "Sigh Cry Die." Unfortunately, the liner notes only reproduce the single's record label and offer no other information about the group. But, to let you know, the song was cut during the band's first recording session in lower Michigan, along with "Run Girl Run." The songs, written by band members Terry Quirk and Clark Sullivan, were witheld by the label, finally being released as the band's last single.

"Michigan Mayhem, Vol. 2," contains two tracks by Upper Peninsula groups and a slight improvement in the liners. Amongst the 29 songs on this compact disc are "Girl Talk" by Rob Kirk and the Word and "Is Love Real?" by the Henchmen VI. The notes correctly state that Kirk's hometown is Sault Ste. Marie and claim that some copies of his 45 were issued with the song credited to "Bob" Kirk. In actuality, not much is known about Kirk, who was murdered in 1983. Music researchers today are still trying to locate any member of his band.

This CD's liner notes state that original copies of the 45 rpm single by the Henchmen VI are difficult to find because many of the discs were damaged in shipment. The band was based in Ontonagon, but the liner notes completely butcher the spelling of that tiny Upper Peninsula community.

The Henchmen's track, and the flipside, "All of the Day," appear on a CD called "Garagemental: The Cuca Records Story, Vol. 2." Both songs were composed by lead vocalist Scott Heinski.

With 26 tracks, the collection also includes four songs recorded by Joey Gee and the Come-Ons, led by Iron Mountain native Joe Giannunzio. This CD, released on the Ace label in 2006, contains rather thorough information on both U. P. groups. The disc contains "She's Mean" and "Till The End of Time," both written by singer Giannunzio. Two cover songs, "Jenny, Jenny" and "Little Latin Lupe Lu," are also included in the package. Neither of those energy-filled work-outs had been previously released.

Several CDs are available with songs featuring the guitar playing of Menominee's Gerry Cain. "Back From the Grave, Vol. 8" includes the 1960s punk classic "Can't Tame Me" by Cain's group, the Benders. This CD's liner notes are praiseworthy and even contain a photo of the Benders on stage.

Cain followed up that immortal two minutes of noise with another hard-hitting 45 by his group, Why Four. A set titled "Essential Pebbles Collection, Vol. 2," contains his original tune, "Hard Life" and a cover of the Buddy Holly classic "Not Fade Away," also waxed by the Rolling Stones. The liner notes apologize for the lack of information.

CD's containing vintage tracks recorded by U. P. rock bands are certainly worth owning, but not necessarily easy come by. "In Wyrd," the legendary song recorded by Sault Ste. Marie's Renaissance Fair, has been re-issued on a CD called "Psychedelic Experience, Vol. 3," by a record company in Sweden. Reportedly, only 1,000 copies of the compilation were pressed, making it extremely hard to find today.

"Rosanna" by the Capreez, included the saxophone work
of Greg Kobe from the Upper Peninsula community of L'Anse.

Collectors may be interested in several other CDs which include 1960s tracks by groups which featured members from the U. P. "Michigan Memories, Vol. 1," contains "Rosanna," by the Capreez, a Detroit outfit which included L'Anse's Greg Kobe on saxophone. The track was a hit in southeastern Michigan in the summer of 1966, getting airplay on WKNR and WXYZ. The song also made some commotion in the U. P. because Kobe had been a member of the Vigilantes, based in the Copper Country.

About the same time, a couple of musicians with U. P. ties were making their presence felt in southern California. Drummer John Truckey of Sault Ste. Marie and lead guitarist Dick Allen of L'Anse were members of a quartet based in Green Bay which decided to try their luck in Los Angeles. They dubbed themselves the Green Beans and dyed their hair an eye-catching emerald color to drive the point home.

The gimmick worked. They soon signed a recording contract with Mike Curb. With Curb producing, the band recorded two singles which appeared in 1966. "Friction"/"Superstition" was issued on the Mercury label, while "Who Needs You"/"Knock on My Door" came out on Tower. The "A" sides of the two singles are included on the compact disc "Pebbles: Southern California 1," which was released by Archive International Productions.

About this time, Curb also produced and co-wrote "Blues Theme," a hit for Davie Allan and the Arrows from the film "The Wild Angels," starring Peter Fonda.

Curb became president of MGM Records in 1969 and was elected lieutenant governor of California in 1978. The Green Beans, meanwhile, faded into rock 'n' roll history, although their songs remain available on compact disc for everyone to enjoy.

U.P. acts recorded in Wisconsin

U. P. band Lexington Project included, from left,
Bill Morrison, Jim Heric, John Heric and Jim Lewis.
They recorded a single at a Rhinelander, Wis. studio
in the 1960s.

By STEVE SEYMOUR

As they attempted to establish recording careers in the 1960s, many Upper Peninsula rock bands shunned lower Michigan and instead patronized Wisconsin studios.

The most popular destination was Sauk City, near Madison, where the Cuca label was based, although other Wisconsin venues drew the Lexington Project and Kinetic Energy.

Founded by Jim Kirchstein in 1959, Cuca (pronounced COO-cah) enjoyed early success with the original recording of "Muleskinner Blues" by the Fendermen.

Just two years later, the studio attracted its first U. P. client, the Vigilantes. The group made the trip to southern Wisconsin from their Copper Country base to record their first 45 rpm single.

Inside the modest facility, the Vigilantes utilized Cuca's second-hand equipment, including an old Ampex tape recorder and an antique RCA microphone. But, the band also made use of Kirchstein's experience as a trained engineer to record "Ramblin' On" and "Someday (Someone Will Come to Me)." The tracks were issued as Cuca 1042 in August, 1961.

Next, Cuca was discovered by another popular northern Michigan combo, perennial favorites the Rhythm Rockers, who called Alston home. In December, 1962, they waxed a track titled "Bad News" and the instrumental "Twilight," both written by guitarist and saxophone player Dick Patana. To customize the project, the Rhythm Rockers arranged with Kirchstein to have the record pressed on their own "Copper" label.

Kirchstein's operation was building a growing reputation, both in the Badger State and neighboring U. P.

When Iron Mountain resident Joe Giannunzio was ready to cut several original songs with his group, Joey Gee and the Blue Tones, he too chose Cuca. Giannunzio told me the Wisconsin facility was suggested to him by John Christanovich, also known as Johnny Paladin, drummer for the Muleskinners, another Cuca act.

With Christanovich's recommendation, Giannunzio and his band headed south in May, 1964, to record "Don't You Just Know It" and "Little Searcher" for Cuca's Sara subsidiary.

Three months later, Jim Brogan, lead singer for the Vigilantes, returned to Sauk City to record another single as Jimmy B and the Rockatones. His original compositions, "Dream Girl" and "Everything I Do" were paired on Cuca 6481.

Four different northern Michigan bands made the trip to Cuca to record during 1967. The Henchmen VI, hailing from Ontonagon, taped two originals by vocalist Scott Heinski. "All of the Day" and "Is Love Real?" appeared in March as Cuca 6731.

Ishpeming musician Lane Dawson made good use of his Wisconsin stay in April by cutting four country-flavored tracks, which appeared on a pair of consecutively- issued 45s: "Black Mountain Rag"/Welcome to My World" and "I Stopped and Listened"/"Truckin'." His band, the Dawson Boys, included drummer Jim DeCaire, founder of Da Yoopers.

Meanwhile, Gary Alan Kerkes traveled 345 miles from the eastern U. P. community of Sault Ste. Marie to Sauk City in June to lay down "Girl Talk" and "Summer Winds." The 7-inch disc, Cuca 6761, was credited to Rob Kirk and the Word.

Negaunee's Fastells waited until August to make their Wisconsin excursion which resulted in the 45 rpm single, "So Much"/"Take You Away," issued on Cuca's Night Owl imprint. The songs were written by guitarist Mark Pyykkonen and keyboardist Robert Barabe, respectively.

Just why did these U. P. acts decide to cast their fate with a tiny independent studio hundreds of miles from home? "I think Cuca might have been the nearest studio that had much of a reputation," explained musicologist Gary E. Myers, who has written extensively on the Wisconsin music scene of the 1950s and 1960s.

Still, other Wisconsin recording facilities also worked with U. P. bands. Kingsford-based Lexington Project, which included Escanaba native Jim "Smiley" Lewis on drums, recorded their sole single at a recording studio in Rhinelander, owned by Mike Kuehl.

Kuehl told me he recorded Lexington Project in 1967 or 1968 and called the session "quite ground-breaking at the time for my studio."

The band brought along two original tunes. Lewis and bassist John Heric Jr. had written "It Looks a Lot Like Rain," while Heric and guitarist Bill Morrison penned "She Looks Much Older."

"I had only a two-track studio at the time I recorded Lexington Project, but I modified the recorder so we could record a 'left track,' sync and record the 'right track,' so I could divide the band. Then I mixed them down," Kuehl said.

Just 500 copies of the disc, Sonic 4626, were pressed through RCA, Kuehl said. Recalling the Lexington Project's label which featured black printing on a yellow background, Kuehl said Sonic was for his "psychedelic releases."

While recording took place all around Wisconsin in the 1960s, much of it was done in the metropolitan Milwaukee area, where rock band The Robbs ruled the scene for most of the decade. When Kinetic Energy, also known as the Kinetics, made their run at national fame in 1968, the Robbs took the popular U. P. group under their collective wing, recalled Frank Gallis, lead singer for the Houghton-based band.

Vocalist and songwriter Dee Robb suggested Kinetic Energy record a shorter "hard rock" version of the classic "Susie Q" at a Brew City studio, convinced the recording would beat CCR's version to the top of the charts. While Robb reached legendary status as a music producer and engineer, his forecast for a hit wasn't realized.

It appeared to end an era when many U. P. bands looked to Wisconsin to launch their recording careers.

Night Beats rocked U. P. fans

The Night Beats rocked the Upper Peninsula in the early 1960s. Members included, from left, J. D. Renny, Dave Barton, Gary Myers and Joe Arkansas.


By STEVE SEYMOUR

What was it like touring with a rock 'n' roll band in the early 1960s?

Gary E. Myers can tell you. He performed in the Upper Peninsula in those days with two musical acts, and kept track of the dates.

A drummer, Myers was a member of the Night Beats, and later played with the Darnells, a Milwaukee-based group which recorded a version of Gene Vincent's "She, She Little Sheila."

The bands played venues in Sault Ste. Marie, Marquette and Ishpeming in the era when John F. Kennedy was president of the United States and pop music was dominated by Elvis, Dion, Brenda Lee, the Four Seasons and the Beach Boys.

The Night Beats actually originated far from the remote locales of northern Michigan. Although he was born in Milwaukee in 1942, Myers moved to Bradenton, Fla., when his father retired. At age 17, he began to find drumming gigs, first with a band called the Swinging Saints, which included Dickey Betts, who later found fame in the Allman Brothers Band.

In St. Petersburg, Myers took a six-nights a week club gig with the Night Beats. When the group signed with Milwaukee booking agent ACA (Artists Corporation of America), Myers found himself on the road in the midwest, beginning in early 1962.

The Night Beats were led by Joe Hudspeth, a colorful rhythm guitarist nicknamed "Joe Arkansas" in reference to the state where he was born. In addition to Myers, the other band members included J. D. Renney on lead guitar and Dave Barton on bass.

"All of us sang, but none of us knew anything back then," Myers recalled.

After playing a few weeks at the tour's first stop in Madison, the Night Beats drove to Sault Ste. Marie where they performed at the Delmar Hotel, 227 Ashmun St., from Feb. 25 to Mar. 11, according to Myers. A return engagement to the eastern U. P. followed during the summer, after which the Night Beats appeared at the Hollywood Supper Club in Spread Eagle, Wis., just across the border from Iron Mountain.

On July 29, 1962, the day after the Wisconsin gig ended, the Night Beats entertained at the Venice Nite Club & Pizzeria, 113 N. 2nd St. in Ishpeming, during a week-long job.

In the months after the Venice gig, the Night Beats picked-up Milwaukee guitar player Denny King when his group, the Darnells, broke-up. The Night Beats then returned to Ishpeming for another stay, this time from Nov. 12 to Dec. 9, 1962.

Less than two months later, the Night Beats were performing shows at Marquette's Clifton Hotel, during a three week engagement beginning on Feb. 4, 1963.

King's tenure with the Night Beats was brief, however. In the period after the Marquette show, King and Myers left the group to re-form the Darnells.

With Joe Arkansas remaining at the helm, the Night Beats hired drummer Roger Dault, who had worked with the band in Bradenton, and continued on as a trio.

The new version of the Darnells found employment quickly, appearing at the Clifton Hotel from Mar. 18, 1963 to the end of the month.

During the summer of 1963, the Darnells left for Los Angeles where they recorded two instrumentals, "Spooner" and "Sleepy," which were released as a single on the Tide label in September.

The Darnells returned to northern Michigan in the fall when they performed at Gigs Gagliardi's Roosevelt Bar in Ishpeming from Oct. 1 - 28, 1963.

Released on the Tide label, the Darnells' 45 rpm record received some Upper Peninsula notoriety. "I was in Ishpeming the only time I've heard one of my records on the air. The Darnells had just returned to the midwest from southern California and an Ishpeming disc jockey liked our record, 'Spooner,' and used it to open his show for a while," Myers remembered.

By the early 1960s, the Roosevelt Bar, 206 W. Division St., had became infamous as the hangout for folks who were involved in the filming of the 1959 drama "Anatomy of a Murder." Producer/ director Otto Preminger hosted a birthday party for Duke Ellington there when the jazz great was on location composing the movie soundtrack.

Musicians playing at the Roosevelt were offered sleeping rooms upstairs. Myers remembers writing his name on the ceiling with the soot from a lighted candle, along with a couple of other band members and imagining future performers looking up to realize who had preceded them.

While Myers was playing at the Roosevelt, rival band Dave Kennedy and the Ambassadors, a combo from LaCrosse, Wis., were performing at the Venice. Myers and Kennedy were also competitors offstage as each dated the same Green Bay girl for a few months. Myers related to me that Kennedy failed show up on stage for one Ishpeming gig because his fellow band members locked him in a closet when he became too drunk to play. The Ambassadors did that show without their leader.

Ishpeming resident Jim DeCaire, founder of the musical comedy group Da Yoopers, has fond memories of Joe Arkansas and the Night Beats appearing at the Roosevelt. DeCaire recalled the band playing material by Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent, two influential American singers and guitarists. "Dirty rock 'n' roll," was how DeCaire described the songs, as opposed to the white bread, Pat Boone-type material which other groups might perform.

DeCaire and his buddies were too young to get into the Roosevelt, so they had to listen to the music through the building's open windows from their car parked in the alley. Those underage rock 'n' roll fans likely heard the band perform "Say Mama," which Vincent and his Bluecaps popularized during concerts in the upper midwest with Cochran. Bands covering Cochran, who died in a 1960 car accident in England which also injured Vincent, would almost certainly perform "Summertime Blues."

Arkansas also dressed for his frontman role and was often clad entirely in white, DeCaire remembered.

In the mid 1980s, when DeCaire formed a band, he decided to pay tribute to Arkansas by naming the new group after him. DeCaire called Arkansas, who owned a bar in Des Moines, and got permission to use the name. The Joe Arkansas Band then released "Yoopanese" on cassette in 1985. Shortly after, a cousin of DeCaire's persuaded him to change the name to more accurately reflect the regional nature of the music. DeCaire came up with "Da Yoopers," a moniker now widely recognized.

Myers, meanwhile, continued in music, releasing a solo 45, "Poor Little Baby" backed with "If (You'd Only Be Mine)," in November, 1963. He was also a member of Milwaukee's Mojo Men. Myers played in numerous Wisconsin and California bands, as well as gigging in Las Vegas, Reno and Lake Tahoe, until he left full-time performing in 1982. In a lengthy music career, Myers played pop, rock, jazz and country utilizing a variety of instruments, including guitar, bass, vibes, keyboards and drums. Over the years, he backed many name artists including Chuck Berry, Del Shannon, Gene Pitney, Johnny Tillotson, Mary Wells, Tommy Roe and others.

In recent years, he's written "Do You Hear That Beat?" and "On That Wisconsin Beat." The exhaustively researched books contain everything you'd want to know about Wisconsin music in the 1950s and 1960s, including band biographies, discographies, photographs and trivia enough to satisfy any music fan. Numerous Upper Peninsula groups which recorded for Badger State labels are also included.

Today, Myers lives in Downey, Cal., and continues to play music on a part-time basis.

Spoke label hailed from U. P.

One of the records released on Manistique's Spoke label, "Nicotine Fit," was by a Chicago group called The Society.

By STEVE SEYMOUR

During the 1960s, hundreds of independent record labels popped up to accommodate the explosion of musical activity brought on by the arrival of Beatlemania in America.

Even remote areas like the Upper Peninsula joined the fray. Marquette served as headquarters for the Princeton label, the Peninsula imprint was based in Escanaba, and the small community of Manistique boasted little-known Spoke Records.

Although none of the labels survived for long, Spoke issued at least three 45 rpm records.

Owned by the late Irene L. Davis, a local businesswoman who also wrote songs to fulfill her musical aspirations, Spoke Records received mail at P. O. Box 186.

The label adopted the motto, "Spoke speaks for itself," according to L David Vaughan, a member of the 1960s group Vandells and now morning personality on Manistique's WTIQ radio.

Despite the name, however, the label did not issue spoken word records.

Spoke's debut single, number 1000, paired "Suddenly Just Like That" with "Walk the Waves." Performed by a enigmatic group called The Innocence, both songs were written by Davis, who was born in 1919.

While it's convenient to assume The Innocence also came from Manistique, folks involved in the town's music scene four decades ago, including Vaughan and Tom Mercier, have no memory of the group. Since a local band issuing a record would be big news in a town of less than 5,000 people, it's likely The Innocence did not come from the immediate area.

Both men, however, remember Spoke's second release, by a band from Chicago called The Society. The seven-inch vinyl record, number 1001, matched the A side's "Just as Much" with "Nicotine Fit," clocking in at a meager one minute and 46 seconds.

BMI, an American organization representing songwriters, composers and music publishers, credits Davis with composing "Just as Much," although the record label attributes the song to Bunker Hill. "Nicotine Fit," meanwhile, is listed on the label as being written by Davis, Margaret L. Shampine and the Renegades.

Mercier, then lead singer of the Renegades rock group, told me Davis wrote the lyrics to "Nicotine Fit" and asked him to add the music. The Renegades then made a demo tape of the song, Mercier said. Today, BMI lists members of the Renegades among the song's composers: David A. Brooks, Davis, Monte Owen LaMartz, Robert Joseph Mercier, Thomas D. Mercier and Shampine.

A third 45 appeared on Spoke, performed by Frank Perry with the Swinging Strings, but listed a catalog number of 3099, which doesn't fit into the numbering sequence of the first two singles. The record's A side,"You Can't Hardly Tell," with a confusing double negative, was composed by Davis and Ronnie Layne, while the opposite side, "So Little Time," was written by Davis alone.

When I asked a few Manistique residents if they knew of Perry, none had. But I discovered Perry had recorded for Film City Records of Hollywood, Cal., owned by Sandy Stanton.

Stanton was a pioneer in the song-poem business and operated under the slogan, "Take your ditty to Film City." For a fee, Stanton would have a client's song-poem recorded and also manufacture a number of 45 records for distribution to the public and selected radio stations.

With such an arrangement, customers would be able to leave the difficulties of the recording studio and pressing plant to Stanton's company.

According to the American Song-Poem Music Archives, "Stanton would occasionally press up customer's records under their own imprint, with a label name and address selected by the customer. Song-poets could thus operate on the cheap."

Stanton issued records on dozens of labels, but used just a single lengthy numbering sequence. This may explain why the Frank Perry 45 was numbered 3099, compared to 1000 and 1001 for Spoke's first two 7-inch releases, by The Innocence and The Society.

While Vaughan remembers The Society playing a dance in Manistique, none of the acts appearing on the Spoke label came from the U. P.

Bands which did call the Schoolcraft County area home, like the Vandells and Renegades, did not record any 45s for the label. "I don't know of any Manistique bands which had a 45," Tom Mercier told me.

Davis apparently distributed some of her records in the area. I obtained two of them from Manistique resident Tony Martin who answered a classified ad I had placed looking for Spoke Records titles. Martin reported he had lived near the Davis residence when he was growing up.

Owner of local radio station WTIQ 1490 AM and choir director at her church, Davis wrote at least three songs in addition to the six which were recorded for her label.

She composed "Go Go Girl" with Ronnie Layne, the same writer she partnered with on "You Can't Hardly Tell." Then, together with Charles Wright, she wrote "Just Strangers Not Even Friend" and "Not Even Friends," which, judging from the titles, might even be the same song. It's not clear if these songs were ever committed to wax, but more information may yet surface.

When she died in 1995, Spoke Records and the songs Irene Davis wrote had slipped into obscurity, although a publishing company, Chris Music, and a cache of mystery, remain.

Prophets of Doom aced debut

The Prophets of Doom posed for this photograph at Ford River Cemetery. From left, Dave Watchorn, Jim Nelson, Jim Smith, Larry Olivares and Mike Steede

By STEVE SEYMOUR

Musician Dave Watchorn will never forget the last weekend of January, 1967.

That's because he got married on Saturday, Jan. 28, and played the first gig with his band, The Prophets of Doom (PoD), the next day.

The group's memorable debut performance came during a March of Dimes Telethon, then a popular talent showcase, broadcast from the studios of WLUC-TV6 in Negaunee, Watchorn recalled.

Making the trip to Marquette County were drummer Jim Nelson, guitarist Mike Steede, bassist/ singer Calvin Rose, lead guitarist/ singer Dave Watchorn (Steede's cousin); and keyboardist Jim Smith.

The PoD, one of six acts from Delta County to appear on Sunday, Jan. 29, started their segment at 8:20 a. m., according to a newspaper advertisement promoting the event.

After one of the guys in the band mentioned Watchorn was recently married, an announcer picked up on the fact and told the audience, "If this person is willing to play for us during his honeymoon, the least you can do is call in a pledge."

PoD then played two songs, Watchorn noting that the phone operators were busy and that everyone else was dancing. "Wow, that woke up everybody here and by the phone calls, we woke up the whole U. P.," a host announced as the band was unplugging their guitars. They were quickly asked to continue playing and ran through the eight songs they had practiced with Smith, who had recently joined the group.

With their appearance going so well, the band even took a request when a caller pledged $50 to hear a certain song, even though Smith didn't know the tune. "He looked at me with this horrified look on his face. I told him to turn the organ off and play. The camera was now on and we started wailing away on this song. Jim started bouncing around. The cameraman noticed all this action, focused on Jim and sent him out over the airwaves. Jim was oblivious to all this and didn't notice until the camera rolled within two feet of him. To make matters worse, the cameraman then focused on Jim's hands and the organ keys. That seemed to make him play even harder. All this and not one note coming out of the organ. We laughed about it for a long time," Watchorn said.

The upshot of the telethon show was the band quickly had several bookings.

With band members living all around Delta County, they carried business cards which declared: "From out of nowhere... The Prophets of Doom."

Early on, PoD emulated the Buckinghams and Cryan' Shames, two Chicago quintets who had hits with "Kind of a Drag" and "Sugar and Spice," respectively. "We dressed in black because of our name and also because the Buckinghams are all in white," Rose said in a 1967 article in the Escanaban, the local high school newspaper.

They played in Powers, Munising, Noway, Trenary, Manistique and at popular teen dances (known as "KC") hosted by booking agent Gene Smiltneck at Escanaba's Teamsters Hall. "Playing our first KC dance was very special. For a local band, it was like making the big time," Rose recalled recently.

"My favorite song to sing was '96 Tears' because it was always well received by the audience," said Rose. "One of the strengths of our group was that we all could sing and our voices complemented each other. I enjoyed the songs we sang as a group as much or more than the ones I was out front singing," he added.

By the fall of 1967, Rose enlisted in the Air Force, leaving the bass player position vacant. The search for a replacement turned up lead guitarist Larry Olivares, who had recently moved to the Upper Peninsula from California. "After we heard him play, we knew we wanted him in the band," Watchorn said. So, to accommodate Olivares, Watchorn switched to bass.

While PoD was growing in popularity as a live act, the band also followed local rockers the Riot Squad in making a 45 rpm single for the Peninsula Records label, owned by Smiltneck's brother, Leon.
While the Riot Squad had recorded cover songs, PoD's record contained two original tunes.

Watchorn was inspired as a songwriter by Dave Brooks of Manistique. Before Watchorn joined PoD, the two had played together in the group 4 Degrees North. Brooks contributed his song "Baba Do Wah" to the project, while "I Told You" was Watchorn's composition. "I had worked on the melody for a while. I did the lyrics in a bit of a hurry. They don't make a lot of sense but a lot of songs made no sense back then."

The songs were recorded in Smiltneck's basement studio. "He had a couple of two-track recorders, a couple of little Radio Shack microphone mixers and cords everywhere. It was a trial and error thing to get the sound right. Nothing could move an inch once we had it right. I can't remember how many times we did those songs. Glitches would happen now and then ruining a perfect take. We finished one of these perfect takes and the song was fading out when a teaspoon that was used to stir some coffee fell off a speaker, glanced off a guitar case and right into the microphone stand. It was barely audible to us but it sure was loud on the tape. It sounded like someone hit a gong with a sledge hammer," Watchorn remembers.

"Gene put a lot of time and effort into the making of our record. It was an amazing experience and a dream come true to be part of the whole endeavor. I only found out recently that Gene's brother had the Peninsula Records label in his name. I would like to thank Gene and Leon for the opportunity to make that record," Watchorn added.

As part of the effort to promote the 45, the band posed for what Watchorn called "the famous graveyard picture" at Ford River Cemetery. Used on posters, the black and white image was taken by studio photographer Gordon Nelson of Gladstone. "He thought we were nuts," Watchorn remembers. The band then brought a copy of the photograph to Photo Offset Printing in Escanaba where Gene Hebert suggested a logo of the band's name with the letters dripping blood.

In the late summer of 1968, several personnel changes came to the band as Smith moved away from the area with his family and Nelson went on to a four-year college. New drummer was Jay Olivares, Larry's brother. Smith was replaced on organ by Hank Mroczkowski, who had been in several early Escanaba rock bands, including the Nomads, Beat Incorporated and Johnny Evil and the Spirits.

On Wednesday, Aug. 14, 1968, PoD took part in a wildly competitive Battle of the Bands contest at the Upper Peninsula State Fair, won by the Ravelles, a popular show band from Iron Mountain.

"When the final list of bands to play included the Ravelles, everyone, including me, felt they would win. I remember us getting together and talking about it. Our plan was fairly simple. We planned to win or be a close second. We would do that with the right song choices and playing those songs the very best we could. When we finished our part of the show, we were pleased with what we had done. The Ravelles started their portion of the show and within 30 seconds I knew they had won the first place spot. I remember telling the guys: 'We just lost first place.'

"From the Ravelles we learned what 'showmanship' and 'audience participation' was all about. The Ravelles left the stage with doubts as to who won. They came directly over to us and congratulated us, saying they thought we had won. Well, we straightened them out on that.

"The Ravelles remain in my mind the nicest batch of musicians in one band that I ever met. In the following years we met again quite a few times on the road," Watchorn said.

Not long after, PoD played another Battle of the Bands in Kingsford. The Ravelles weren't contestants, but some of them were judges. "We won first place in that one. First prize was cash and more important several bookings deep in Wisconsin. I can remember a couple of those club owners asking if there were other good bands from the U. P. Our answer was always, 'Hey, there are lots of them.' We played all over Wisconsin after that."

The PoD always learned what they could from other acts, including the Unbelievable Uglies, a group from Detroit Lakes, Minn., known for adding comedy to their stage antics. Members of PoD watched closely when the Uglies played a teen dance in Escanaba. "In any case, we learned about entertainment. We changed our posters to say 'dance and stage show,'" Watchorn said.

"We had jokes along with some comedy skits. We had a rubber chicken called Clyde. We had a dozen or so things we did with that chicken. Mike would light his pants on fire. Mike and Jay would go in the crowd and dance the funky chicken. Mike would dress up as 'Sweet Sue' for the 'Along Came Jones' song.

"Over the years, we have met many people who still remember some of the crazy stunts we did on stage," Watchorn said.

The PoD performed extensively. "In the summer of 1970, we had a stretch of 90 days when we played 81 nights. It was a long summer. We played a lot of teen bars in Wisconsin. I look back now and all the summers meld into one," Watchorn said.

Besides the countless dances, PoD also played a few concerts. They opened for the Archies, famous for "Sugar Sugar," when the bubblegum group played at Holy Name High School and warmed up the crowd when the Animals played an engagement in Green Bay.

The band was also featured at a concert held at the Escanaba Junior High School on Dec. 16, 1970, which also included the Riot Squad and Jim "Smiley" Lewis. "We were excited about playing but we were a little disappointed that it was far from a sell-out," Watchorn said. Larry Brown had joined PoD at this time on lead guitar, while former member Mike Steede emceed the show for promoter Gene Smiltneck.

"There were some pretty wild sounds at times," with two lead guitarists, Watchorn said. "Larry Brown put up with us for about a year and he left when Mike Steede returned."

PoD was also working toward the release of a another single. "We recorded what was to be a second 45 at Target Recording Studio in Appleton. The two songs were originals. One song was named 'Things I See,' written by Larry Olivares and myself. The other was called '9th Street Earthquake,' written by Larry Brown.

"We never released the songs on 45. Our intention was to try to market the recordings to some larger labels with the funds to press the number of records needed for nation-wide release and to market them. We got really good reviews of the recordings from most of the labels. However, none of them were ready to take on new projects having already more bands signed than they could do justice to," Watchorn stated.

By the summer of 1971, Watchorn's priorities began to shift away from the band to his family. "I had given up all the things normal people do on weekends for too many years. Simply put, it became more important to take my son fishing or on a picnic than it was to play music for a crowd somewhere in the Fox River Valley," Watchorn said.

"I gave notice that as of a certain date, I was done with all the travelling," Watchorn said. "The band could have carried on with a replacement, but I think they admitted to themselves that they were tired of it all, too."

According to Larry Olivares, one of PoD's last jobs was at the Frank Karas memorial band shell in Escanaba's Ludington Park. "We generally wanted to quit at the top and be remembered for our best years, not just burn out," Olivares added.

Founding member Jim Nelson is pleased with PoD's legacy. "I'm happily amazed that there is still interest in a band I started with Mike Steede in my small bedroom in Pine Ridge so many years ago. I have played with many bands since but I have never run across such a wonderful group of true friends as the guys in the PoD.

"For the last two years, the PoD have had a reunion of sorts. Mike Steede, Dave Watchorn, Calvin Rose and myself have met at Mike's house and swapped stories and jammed for several magical hours. That first reunion was completely indescribable. To be playing drums with most of the original Prophets of Doom after so many years was like a dream come true... and the emotion in the room was like we had never left. Maybe someday we will be fortunate enough to have Larry Olivares and Jim Smith join the fun," Nelson said.

"As you can imagine the stories were flying. One of my favorites was about the very snowy and slippery day we were driving to a Catholic school youth club dance in Marquette. As we entered the city, we slid right through a snowy intersection cutting off a car coming from the other side. The car followed us all the way to the Catholic church complex. We were sure the driver was ready to read us the riot act and probably beat us up. As we pulled up to the church complex he drove up next to us and rolled down his window, ready to read us off. He glanced into the car and saw five young men all dressed in black. He blinked a few times, said 'I'm sorry, fathers' and sped away. We said a little prayer of thanks, had a good laugh, set up our equipment and played our hearts out for the next three hours."

Prophets of Doom Picture Gallery


The Prophets of Doom debut public performance, at the WLUC-TV Telethon, was heralded in this newspaper advertisement. The band was said to be from Ensign because that was the mailing address of member Dave Watchorn, who took care of the details of booking the group on the program.











Mark Olivares took these three color photos of the Prophets of Doom at their final sound check at the Karas Memorial Band Shell in Escanaba's Ludington Park. On stage, from left, is Larry Olivares, Dave Watchorn, Jay Olivares and Mike Steede.