So I left off with my time at Southern Illinois University in 1981 and joining a “Dead Head” band called Uncle Jon’s Band. For those of you who follow The Grateful Dead or “The Dead” you understand the name of the band. I was asked, Are you a Dead Head and can you do the dance of the dying Wildebeest. I was like….?? Those who aren’t avid followers, click on the link above and you’ll find all you EVER wanted to know (or not!) about The Grateful Dead, I tell you it’s almost cult like!
You’re a Dead what?
The diehard followers of ‘The Dead” are an interesting bunch. Our band had a fantastic group of fans who were a very laid back, easy going group of folks that love to dance, drink and relax by.. uh er um well, let’s just say it was a bit illegal back in the day and let our imagination run! Now, here I am, the “elder” of the group with NO IDEA what a dead head is, why they are called that and never followed “The Dead”. Well, I was about to get my education. I don’t recall how I got an audition with the band, but they hired me on as their lead/backup singer. Here it is, my FIRST TRUE band where I was singing lead/backup in front of people!
Awesome mix of music…
We did play alot of “Dead” but we had an eclectic mix of music from the Dead, The Allman Brothers and I sang tunes from the likes of Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Rait, and others. We even wrote a few of our own. Jon G and I penned a tune “Missing you Long Distance” WHICH I might add is listed in the Library of Congress. La De Da!!
We had 5 total in the band; Jonathan our Drummer and one of the founders, Jon who played Guitar and was the lead singer, Pete who played bass and Eugene who played guitar. Jon and I sang the majority of the songs, but the others also sang and we had a well rounded group. Oh, and let me say… I was an AWESOME tambourine, cowbell and other percussive instruments player! Ha, I used to hit the tambourine on my leg and end up with bruises….probably why my leg is purple in that spot all these years later. Amazing what we do in our youth that comes back to haunt us! Here are a few pictures of the band which I found undeveloped in my camera about 20 years later.
What a year…
I mentioned that I initially had to take a few remedial courses to get back into the swing of things and did I ever. My first semester got me mostly A’s! It was exciting to me, a new chapter! Studying music, enjoying college life AND singing in a band that actually performed out at clubs and in front of people! I didn’t live on campus in the dorms, but had rented a single family house to live in with my dog Reba.
At some point, my younger brother Mark lived with me, but it didn’t last too long. He ended up getting his own place since we kept butting heads. Funny… today we’re very close and I’m so thankful for that! Both my brothers were there and were EMT’s while going to school. Mark also did a little “bouncing” at the bars and Kurt was married, going to medical school and raising my first niece Lisa with his wife Barb.
One of my classes was a basic music class and the professor stated if we did a presentation of an instrument, we’d get extra credit. Well, I’m a vocalist, that’s an instrument, so yup, I planned my demonstration. I was able to recruit Eugene from the band to play guitar for me and I demonstrated alright. I sang Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide”. One of my all time fav’s that Stevie Nicks sang. I wasn’t too nervous since I had Eugene up there, plus I was getting the hang of playing out in front of a drunken crowd of college students. You could hear a pin drop though so it was a little nerve wracking, but it went GREAT..(at least that’s how I remember it…)
Traveling show…
So as the band kept playing out, I was getting stronger and more confident. We started growing into a top band in the tristate area. We traveled all around the area, in different clubs, different states and became very close. When we started “touring” (HA!) I bought a old blue van for us to travel in. You remember the type…no side windows, sliding door.
Nothing fancy by any means, but at least we could all travel together with our equipment. We had a sound man Joe C that would take the sound equipment for us. I remember one trip up to Pekin IL for a wedding for a couple of dead heads. THAT was a fun gig. I don’t recall what gig we were heading to or when it happened, but on one of our travels, the sliding door decided not to work/close. We actually had to rig it up by taping duct tape on the inside of the sliding door and wrapped the other end around the back of the drivers seat. What a riot THAT was. One of the many fond memories I have of that band.
One gig we played, I can’t recall where exactly, but a small little place with questionable electric. I may not have mentioned, but I do have a good set of pipes and can really belt it out. I recall singing one of my FAV’s to perform “White Rabbit” by Jefferson Airplane and on the last line “Feed Your Head”, while belting out the ending, I blew a fuse. Perfect ending to the song. Again, MY recollection…
Mom came for a visit…
We played many a gig and as a college rock band, you can imagine we were pretty loud. I had a gauzy white dress for this gig and needed a necklace, so my cousin helped me “make” one with feathers. You may not know it, but back in the 80’s, gauze, feathers were quite the thing. We got ribbon, feathers, glued them all together and I wore that for the gig. It turned out really cool! Feathers around my neck and also on my hair comb.
So Mom and my cousin are in the front row surrounded by students dancing and carrying on. The stage lights being pretty hot and it got pretty toasty up on stage. When the night ended, I went to find out how they liked the show, but they couldn’t hear me talking. Turned out they had stuffed their ears with Kleenex…maybe a BIT loud for Mom! After they cleared their ears out, they said they had enjoyed the show and particularly the students dancing around.
There is this “dance” they use to do, we (or me?) called it the Dying Wildebeest dance. They would put their fingers up like horns ,then dance around in a circle and then just drop like they died. It was hysterical to watch from stage. First time I saw that I’m like.. “What the Hell are they doing???”. Anyway, I’m hot, sweating and go to change my clothes back stage. As I go to remove the beautiful necklace we fashioned I found I couldn’t. Between the hot lights, sweating, the glue softened up and ended up stuck to my neck! Lesson learned!
College romance…
Going to school, doing gigs downtown Carbondale there were plenty of places to hang out when not learning or working. Pizza places, sandwich shops and one that had fantastic meatball sandwiches that I would visit. Well, it turned out a friend from high school was the owner! We reconnected and ended up dating. Next to my own homemade meatballs, Scott’s were the best. He ran a great little restaurant and we had fun together. We became an item and at some point Scott moved in with me. I remember Reba would growl at him when he got to close to me. It made me laugh how protective she was.
So Scott had an uncle out in Los Angeles who was a Private Investigator and after a year or so we talked about moving, Scott working for his uncle and me singing. As I mentioned, I was in the TOP BAND in the area. Remember, I’m “instant gratification” girl, doing well in the band, thinking I was the best singer in the land, so I agreed to move and we packed up for LA. Off to my next adventure! I’m gonna hit it big in LA and can hardly wait!
Now Scott could sell a pink flamingo to an Eskimo with the great gift of gab he has, so we’re talking about how he’ll represent me and I’m already picturing Stardom, Limos’ and making my mark in California. Well, I may have been a BIG FISH in the little pond called Carbondale but then I got to LA…
Next up.. My life and times in LA!