Cars, engines inspire recordings

The Beach Boys recorded more than
a dozen songs about cars, including "Fun,
Fun, Fun," "409" and "Shut Down."

By STEVE SEYMOUR

Pop music and fast cars have been linked for more than half a century.

That combination of speed and rock 'n' roll appealed to me when I bought car magazines off the neighborhood news stand and listened to car songs on the radio as a youngster.

I wasn't alone. Millions of kids and young men were fascinated with dragsters, super stocks, hot rods and motorcycles.

Our imaginations were fired up by such Top Ten hits as "Hey, Little Cobra," by the Rip Chords, "GTO" by Ronny and the Daytonas and "Little Honda" by the Hondells, actually a group of studio musicians which included Glen Campbell and Gary Usher.

The crowded field of car tunes even included an Upper Peninsula-related record. "Drag Strip U. S. A.," recorded by The Flagmen, is a catchy tune, which starts with the sound of racing engines.

The song's lyrics get right to the point: "We're at the strip and we're doin' fine; my Ford's really comin' off the line." The song makes reference to Jan & Dean, the Beach Boys and Dick Dale, known as the king of surf guitar. Of course, Jan & Dean are responsible for two of the genre's greatest songs, "Drag City" and "Dead Man's Curve," while the Beach Boys hit with "409" and "Little Deuce Coupe," among others.

"Drag Strip U. S. A." was released in 1964 at the peak of the car song craze. The tune was written by John Robert Mihelich, Lloyd Hugo and J. Mitchell. The Flagmen were actually a variation of the Vigilantes, an early rock band hailing from the U. P.'s Copper Country.

Published by Westbound Music, the song appeared as 45 rpm single 3014 on Limelight Records, a division of Mercury Record Productions. The song was arranged by Eddie Mascari, a record executive at Mercury, who would work with the Houghton-based Kinetic Energy when they recorded a single four years later.

The singer in "Drag Strip U. S. A." won his race, but the track did not become a hit. Still, it's fondly remembered by many folks who appreciate such songs.

While some car tunes turned to musical gold, record companies also sought to satisfy market demand with long-playing records containing just engine sounds. I found four of these in my LP collection. Two of the discs appear on the well-known Capitol Records label, while the other pair were issued by Riverside Records, founded by Bill Grauer and Orrin Keepnews.

Started in 1953, Riverside was a premier jazz label, issuing recordings by Thelonious Monk, Bill Evans, Cannonball Adderley and Wes Montgomery. Surprisingly, the New York City label also released an extensive catalog of drag strip sound recordings. As an added attraction, the albums were manufactured in stereo at a time when most recordings were still monophonic.

The Riverside title "Hot Rods and Dragsters in Hi-Fi" was recorded at the 5th Annual National Hot Rod Championship Drag Races in Detroit over the Labor Day weekend in 1959. Riverside's "Hot Rods, Dragsters and Super Stocks," meanwhile, was recorded at Atco Raceway in New Jersey. The quarter mile track was opened in 1960 and is the state's oldest drag strip.

Listening to these albums, you can imagine what it's like to move along at almost 180 miles an hour. Riverside achieved the effect "by placing two microphones on either side of the starting line and two more two-thirds of the way down the strip," the liner notes revealed. With such advanced and conceivably expensive recording techniques, Riverside LPs sold for a pricey $5.98.


Public interest in drag racing in the
early 1960s was so great that record companies
satisfied the demand by issuing LPs devoted to
the roar of engines, such as the Big Sounds
series released by Capitol.

On the other hand, the Capitol albums may have been mono, but they had better covers. Both of my records feature a design which includes three photographs and the word "BIG" in large letters. I own "The Big Sounds of the Drags, Vol. 2" and "The Big Sounds of the Sports Cars!" The Capitol titles were produced by Jim Economides.

Capitol sold their sound effects albums along side titles by the Beach Boys, who recorded at least a dozen songs about cars, including "This Car of Mine," "Fun, Fun, Fun," and "Ballad of Ole Betsey."

Recording car sounds even extended to an LP called "The Fastest 500," a complete report of the 1961 Indianapolis race.


Johnny Seymour

The Indianapolis 500 held special meaning for me because my great- Uncle Johnny Seymour drove in the annual event six times, 1928 through 1930 and 1934 through 1936.

He never completed a race due to various mechanical problems and a crash in 1930, but qualified at 114.307 miles an hour in 1929.

Uncle Johnny started as a motorcycle racer and often thrilled crowds in the Escanaba area on his Indian brand machine in the 1910s and 1920s. Born in Escanaba, Uncle Johnny died on Feb. 27, 1958 in South Bend, Ind., at 61 years of age. A racing pioneer who competed around the world, he was inducted into the Upper Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame in 1982.

Outside of family, I never met anyone who saw Uncle Johnny race. Then, in the spring of 2006 I talked to veteran local musician Bill Charlebois. Although he learned guitar as a 10-year-old, Bill was 94 in 2005 when he recorded for the first time. He sang and played 33 songs, enough to fill two compact discs and performed on a regular basis at the 8th Street Coffee House.

Bill had an excellent memory and told me that he saw an exciting motorcycle race in Flat Rock which included Uncle Johnny and George Pepin. I was quite intrigued to hear that story from Bill, who died on May 8, 2008, aged 97.

So, there's a little racing in the family history. Maybe that's why I've always liked vintage automobiles. I've owned a 1962 Ford Thunderbird, 1980 Corvette and even a 1940 Plymouth coupe, called "Black Betty." A street rod, "Black Betty" was named after the 1977 hit by rock group Ram Jam, which reworked the tune attributed to the legendary blues singer Leadbelly.

For me, nothing beats the roar and rumble of an engine, except perhaps hearing a great car tune. Whether you favor automobile songs or engine sounds, it makes no difference to me.

Both are music to my ears.

Band names reveal telling legacy

Marquette native Rick Leppanen was 17
when he played in the uniquely named rock band
Self Winding Grapefruit.

By STEVE SEYMOUR

What's in a name? When it comes to band names, quite a lot, it seems.

I was reminded of that fact when my friend Ken Raisanen sent me a few emails last year. Raisanen and I have much in common. He's a music fanatic, writer, and appreciates the rich heritage of the Upper Peninsula.

A busy man, he's a school teacher, heads community radio station WOAS-FM and pens a column called "From the Vaults" for the weekly Ontonagon Herald.

Last spring Raisanen wrote about Marquette native Rick Leppanen who has worked in the Seattle area as a free-lance musician for decades and plays double bass in an acoustic jazz ensemble called Pearl Django.

In fact, Leppanen gave Raisanen (then an 8th grader) his first chance to drum in a professional setting when he was recruited to play a date with the wondrously named Self Winding Grapefruit, a group of 17 and 18-year-olds. Actually, Self Winding Grapefruit played an impromptu gig in Raisanen's basement for a Christmas party put on by his sister in the late 1960s. Raisanen found himself attending practice sessions for Self Winding Grapefruit until the band's errant drummer returned to the fold. Thereafter, the budding drummer attended every dance Self Winding Grapefruit played.

"I smiled all day the day I remembered that name," Raisanen told me.

While Marquette had its share of bands with memorable names, so did Escanaba. Two monikers which still stand out for me are Chocolit Ashcan and Insanity's Horse.

Escanaba resident Greg Tolman was a founding member of Chocolit Ashcan. The second portion of the name may have used the more exotic spelling of Ashkan, Tolman recalled. Other band members were Mike Buckley, Jim Schomin, Duane Slagstadt and Dan McDonald.

"I have no recollection of how the name came to be," Tolman said. After a short stint in Chocolit Ashcan, Tolman joined the horn section of the expanded Riot Squad.

Former Gladstone resident Doug Sjoquist played drums in Insanity's Horse. The other band members were Matt Gadnis, keyboards and guitar; Mitch Jensen, bass; Brendan Williams, lead guitar; and Phyllis Sexton, vocals.

Insanity's Horse took their name from "I Can't See Your Face In My Mind," a song appearing on the Doors' "Strange Days" album, released in Oct. 1967. The lyrics, sung by rock shaman Jim Morrison, were: "Insanity's horse adorns the sky; Can't seem to find the right lie."

While you might think the name Insanity's Horse to be unique, another band with that same name played gigs in the Detroit area for several years beginning in 1970. Lower Michigan's Insanity's Horse played at the grand opening of the Cinderella Ballroom at 13311 East Jefferson in Detroit on Oct. 1, 1971. They also performed with Brownsville Station and SRC at a concert at Bowen Fieldhouse on the campus of Eastern Michigan University in Ann Arbor on Oct. 31, 1970. The band took the stage again at the Cinderella Ballroom with the Siegel-Schwall band and Jackie Lomax on March 10-11, 1972.

The local Insanity's Horse never traveled outside the Upper Peninsula, Sjoquist, a professor of humanities and performing arts at Lansing Community College, recalled.

Not all band names were necessarily well chosen. During the early 1970s, Lansing was home to a rock outfit calling itself Bad Breath. They booked gigs in northern Michigan through Escanaba promoter Gene Smiltneck.

My wife Sue worked for Smiltneck's Bands Unlimited, located at 2214 26th Ave. S., during this period. She remembers working in the basement office preparing mailings with co-worker Jenny Lehmann. Using a rubber stamp, they printed the words "Do you have 'Bad Breath?' on each envelope. Whether halitosis was a good marketing ploy, however, remains debatable.

Many rock bands opted for simpler names, especially in the 1950s and early 1960s era.

The Copper Country's Rhythm Rockers recorded some catchy tunes on their own Copper Records label. The band was comprised of Dick Pantana, on sax and guitar; brother John on bass, keyboard and accordion; Mike Kadletz on guitar; and Larry Sabourin, drums. Meanwhile, in lower Michigan another band with the same name issued 45 rpm singles on Grand Rapids' fabled Fenton Records.

In fact, the Rhythm Rockers name was so common that in addition to the two Michigan groups, nine other bands with that name also released records, according to music researcher Gary E.Myers

A group of rockabilly-influenced musicians from the Ironwood area dubbed themselves the Galaxies, before cutting a pair of nifty 45s in 1960 and 1961. The popular Ford Galaxie had debuted in 1959 and consequently there were dozens of groups around the country with the same name and at least nine which issued 45 rpm singles.

The U. P. group included Greg Wynn, lead guitar; Danny Sullivan, rhythm guitar; Andy Abraham, bass; and Bernie Michelli, drums. They were referred to as Danny and the Galaxies on one of their records although that was never their official name.

Houghton-based rock band The Kinetic Energy chose its name in the fall of 1963, years before most groups started giving themselves such descriptive handles. Immensely popular in the Copper Country, fans quickly shortened the combo's name to the Kinetics, lead singer and founding member Frank Gallis remembered. Although their first 45 utilized the shorter name, the group also issued an LP called "Snow Children" which was credited to the Five Kinetics. The Kinetic Energy name was finally used on a revved-up version of "Susie Q," which appeared on Amy Records shortly before the group broke up in early 1969.

Now, back to my pal Ken Raisanen. After his drumming debut with Self Winding Grapefruit, he went on to bands called The Twig, Cloudy and Cool, Sledgehammer and Easy Money. The Twig was comprised of Gene Betts on guitar, Mike Kesti on bass and Raisanen on drums. All three shared vocal duties. The Twig lasted from 1969 to 1971, with practice sessions being held in Raisanen's basement, where he had his drumming debut with Self Winding Grapefruit years before.

"What a legacy we have in band names," Raisanen reflected last spring.

Not only that, Self Winding Grapefruit has to be the greatest group name ever.

Orbison's fair stop came at apex

Escanaba resident Jim Bruce, left, had his
picture taken with Roy Orbison when the legendary
rock star performed at the Upper Peninsula State
fair in 1964.

By STEVE SEYMOUR

When Roy Orbison stepped on stage at the Upper Peninsula State Fair in Escanaba on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 1964 he was one of the greatest rock stars in the world.

Since he began a string of hits with "Ooby Dooby" in 1956, Orbison had built an immense audience in the United States. By 1963, his success had grown worldwide.

The No. 1 American artist in England, his popularity demanded Orbison make multiple tours of England, Scotland, Ireland, Switzerland, Germany, France, Australia and New Zealand. He toured Britain with the Beatles as his opening act, although they switched places at some shows.

In fact, during a 16-month period beginning in the summer of 1963, Orbison was the only American to have a chart-topping single in Britain, and he did it with both "It's Over" and "Oh, Pretty Woman."

The 28-year-old Orbison grew up in Wink, Texas where his father taught him to play guitar at age six. He performed as leader of The Wink Westerners and had his own radio program. He was enrolled as a geology student at North Texas State College when he met fellow student Pat Boone who was enjoying his first hit record with "Two Hearts." Orbison soon had his dreams set on a career in music.

Orbison signed to Sun Records in Memphis for "Ooby Dooby," but enjoyed a No. 2 hit in 1960 with "Only the Lonely" on the Monument Records label. More hits followed.

By the time Orbison's tour bus arrived in the U. P., the singer/guitarist had registered 15 more Top 40 smashes, including "Running Scared," "Crying" and "Dream Baby."

The hit-making Orbison was signed to appear in Escanaba by Ray LaPorte, secretary-manager of the Fair, through the Val Campbell Agency.

LaPorte and the Fair Board used Orbison's photo in advertising to promote the exposition, held each August. "Roy Orbison invites you to the gala opening of the Upper Peninsula State Fair in Escanaba on Tuesday, Aug. 18," read a half-page ad in Gladstone's Delta Reporter newspaper on Aug. 12, 1964.

"Roy will give away to six lucky persons, one of his latest personally autographed hit record albums. Be sure to come and see and hear one of today's most popular songwriters and recording stars," the ad promised potential fair-goers.

In addition, more than 3,000 school safety patrol boys and girls from northern Michigan were expected to see Orbison perform as a reward for their service.

Orbison was scheduled to play performances at 2 p. m. and 8:15 p. m. on the stage in front of the original wooden grandstand which also housed a concession stand, Michigan State Police office, first aid station, and a hospitality area referred to as the Pine Room.

Jim Bruce of Escanaba was a fair employee when Orbison appeared in the city. Then 19-years-old, Bruce was contract manager, but had duties as a bartender in the Pine Room for Orbison and other entertainers appearing at the fair. It was the custom of celebrities to sign the wall before leaving the Pine Room, Bruce recalled.

"I don't remember what Orbison drank, but I thoroughly enjoyed his show," Bruce said.

Bruce also had his picture taken with Orbison, who was wearing his trademark dark glasses. The photo was snapped by the late Robert E. "Bo" Olsen, and also shows various autographs in the background, including that of country singer Ray Price.

Bruce's girlfriend, Sally Hansen, got her own souvenir when Orbison signed her program in black ink: "To Sally, Love, Roy Orbison." Sally later became Mrs. Bruce. The 16-page publication includes a biography, discography, career statistics and lots of pictures.

John LaPorte of Escanaba also saw Orbison perform and had his picture taken with the singing sensation. Son of the fair's secretary-manager, LaPorte also got to see many other performers, including Brenda Lee, best known for her recording of "I'm Sorry."

"I loved Roy. He was absolutely the best," LaPorte, owner of LaPorte Studio, said.


In 1964, Roy Orbison, center, and his road
band traveled to gigs on this tour bus. The group
played two shows in Escanaba just as "Oh, Pretty Woman"
was about to chart.

Orbison and his road band, which consisted of Paul Garrison, Billy Sanford, John Rainey Adkins and Billy Gilmore, played many of the Texas balladeer's greatest hits during their two shows in Escanaba, but more than 44 years later, an exact setlist is impossible to determine. Certainly, fans expected to hear "Blue Angel," "In Dreams" and "Mean Woman Blues," among other hits.

Bruce is certain, however, that the band did not perform "Oh, Pretty Woman," the biggest hit in Orbison's career. Written by Orbison and Bill Dees, "Oh, Pretty Woman," first charted in the Billboard Magazine dated Aug. 29, 1964. That's 11 days after the Escanaba shows.

In an editorial headlined "See You At The Fair," in the Aug. 17, 1964 edition of the Escanaba Daily Press, editor Jean Worth wrote: "Roy Orbison is the Tuesday night song star and U. P. radio stations are spinning his 'Pretty Woman' now trying to boost it up the hit chart where his "It's Over" roosted for quite a while."

So it seems clear that promo copies of "Oh, Pretty Woman" were distributed to radio stations, but perhaps Orbison thought the audience wasn't ready to hear a new song, especially since he had so many hits to deliver.

"Oh, Pretty Woman," credited to Roy Orbison and The Candy Men, reached the pinnacle on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on Sept. 26, 1964 and stayed there for three weeks.

With nine Top Ten singles to his credit, "Oh, Pretty Woman" became Orbison's last big hit.

The "Big O," as he was called, left Monument Records in 1965 and signed to MGM. Tragically, he saw his wife Claudette killed in a motorcycle accident on June 7, 1966 and two of his sons died when a fire destroyed their home in 1968.

After a difficult period, Orbison enjoyed a resurgence. In 1980, Orbison recorded a duet with Emmylou Harris, "That Lovin' You Feelin' Again," which won him his first Grammy. The song returned Orbison to the chart for the first time in 13 years.

During the '80s, Escanaba's John LaPorte saw Orbison perform again, this time at Summerfest in Milwaukee.

Orbison continued on an upswing and was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. The following year, he joined George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne in the supergroup Traveling Wilburys.

But just weeks after the "Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 1" album was released, Orbison suffered a heart attack and died on Dec. 6, 1988. He was 52 years old. A posthumous solo album on Virgin Records, yielded the hit "You Got It" in 1989.

Orbison was blessed with an unparalleled vocal range, guitar style and songwriting ability which he used to bring joy to fans around the world, including thousands in the Upper Peninsula. It's a legacy we can all appreciate whether you were lucky enough to attend an Orbison concert or have merely witnessed his magnificent recordings.

AM radio aired addicting content

Before moving to downtown Escanaba,
radio station WDBC was broadcast from this
building on Sand Point which now houses the
Delta County Historical Museum.

By STEVE SEYMOUR

It seems like radio has always been part of my life. I got hooked as a young person when AM signals dominated the airwaves in the Upper Peninsula and local FM stations were years away.

The table top radio at our house in the 1960s was located on the counter next to the refrigerator. It was tuned to WDBC, 680 on the dial, and was the first thing we'd hear when we came downstairs in the morning.

My brothers and sisters and I would eat breakfast while listening to local news and pop music as broadcast from the studio located at 604 Ludington St. We'd listen intently after a snowstorm, hoping to hear an announcement that school was cancelled. We also looked forward to the "bus riders special" when a tune requested by a student would be played.

WDBC attracted many households in the region because it was authorized to broadcast with a signal measuring 10,000 watts during the day and 1,000 at night. As the most powerful station in the U. P., WDBC's signal could be heard from Iron River to St. Ignace and as far away as Green Bay, Wis. Many communities in lower Michigan were also able to tune in.

Chief engineer Dean W. Manley often sent postcards with a map of the U. P. on the front to faraway listeners confirming their reception reports.

Actually, WDBC began broadcasting in 1941 from the building on Sand Point which now houses the Delta County Historical Museum and moved to a downtown location after World War II.

By 1958, a competing station was formed when WLST began operating from the second story of the Escanaba Daily Press building. The call letters were an abbreviation for Ludington St., while the frequency was the same 600 number in the station's address.

Programming for WLST proved challenging for studio manager Don Lang. "We try to please everyone, and of course that isn't possible" Lang said in 1965.

"We get more requests for music preferences than we used to and in our programming we try for middle of the road in public taste, we try for variety and we try for an accent on easy listening.

"We try to avoid hard rock and roll except on Saturday afternoons when we surrender to the kids because we're not on at night, but there are a lot of adults who like rock and roll too. It comes out of our country western music. The great volume of radio music though, is not rock and roll."

Although WLST was a local alternative, the station pushed out a comparatively weak 1,000 watts and signed off the air at dusk.

And, dusk was when many radio stations became the dominion of teenagers. WDBC hired announced William J. Schinzel, better known as Billy John, to cater to this burgeoning age group. He took requests by phone and played Top Forty material for teenagers at home and those driving around listening in their cars.

Schinzel even had his own fan club, B. J.'s Army, headed for a brief time by Ronese Nantelle, a student from Wells.

On many nights my friend Bob Nygaard and I would "bomb the drag," blasting the radio as we cruised Ludington St. from the A&W Root Beer stand at 22nd St.on the west end to WDBC at 6th St. on the east end and back again.

With so much time listening to the radio, Bob and I became experts in identifying songs and played our own version of "Name That Tune." The first to name the songs we heard got a point until a winner was declared when five or ten points were gained.

We would keep rockin' when WDBC signed off by switching to Chicago station WLS at 890 or WCFL at 1000, both staffed by popular deejays fueled by 50,000 watts of clear channel power. In fact, Ishpeming native Kris Erik Stevens managed to spin records for both stations in late 60s and early 70s.

When the FM format began to proliferate, providing listeners with more choices, both AM radio broadcasting and rock 'n' roll changed.

Since FM delivered better sound quality, music programming migrated to a new home, while many AM stations switched to a talk radio.

Like me, Dyrk Trout of Escanaba spent time listening to WDBC. While tuned to the station during one evening in 1966, he heard an announcement mentioning Ronese Nantelle, who headed the fan club of DJ Billy John. Decades passed.

Then, when Trout was at the 8th Street Coffee House in 1998, he met a customer called Ronnie who was visiting Escanaba from her home in Denver. Trout asked her what "Ronnie" was short for. "Ronese," she replied. "Ronese Nantelle?" Trout asked. "Yes," she said.

Trout finally met Ronese Nantelle in person after hearing her name on the radio 32 years before, remembering her name all along.

Turning from a listener to an employee, Trout also worked for WDBC in 1979-80. DJ Billy John Schinzel still worked for the station at that time and was assigned to do a remote broadcast. Schinzel, who suffered from anxiety attacks, said he was not willing to do the job. Station management let Schinzel go over the disagreement, Trout recalled.

For a time, I had an aspiration for a career in radio. In 1973, with a fresh degree in journalism, I approached WBDN (the successor to WLST) for a job. DJ and radio personality Bruce Nelson was very kind in regards to my application.

During a visit to the station, he ripped some copy from the newswire and asked me to read it on tape. The microphone wasn't my friend. After listening to my enunciation, Nelson told me I had a "lazy tongue," and I gave up on any radio career.

I specifically remember listening to the radio once in 1963 when the deejay spun a record from 1959. As a 12-year-old, I wondered why the station would bother to play a song that was four years old when there were so many great contemporary hits.

Today, "oldies" comprise a popular radio format and I'm still listening.