The
Cherry
Slush
Saginaw,
Michigan
1965-1970
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Art Hauffe, bass player for
Saginaw, Michigan's The Cherry Slush, switched from
drums to guitar at the suggestion of friend and
Captives' drummer, Dick Coughlin. The duo, along
with Mark Burdick, Gene Bruce and, later, Dan
Parsons, changed band's name to The Bells Of Rhymny
and recorded the first version of the garage pop
classic "I Cannot Stop You". Eventually, the band's
name was changed to The Cherry Slush.
It wasn't until Hauffe sought the talents of
wunderkind Dick Wagner (Bossmen and The Frost, as
well as producer/songwriter for Count & The
Colony, Tonto & The Renegades and other
Michigan bands) to assist them with their
recordings, however, that they really began making
strides. Though the band narrowly missed "the big
time" on more than one occasion, they did create
some very memorable music. In June 2002, they
reunited for a concert appearance, and recently
compiled a CD retrospective of their '60's singles.
Nearly thirty-five years after their heyday, The
Cherry Slush cannot be stopped!
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Personnel:
Dan Parsons - Singer
Gene Bruce - Lead Guitar
Art Hauffe - Bass
Dick Coughlin - Drums
Brian Bennett - Keyboard
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Influences:
Dick
Wagner (Frost/Alice Cooper/Lou Reed) ,
Beatles, Buckinghams...mostly Wagner.
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Setlist
Sample:
Journey To The Center Of Your Mind, You
Keep Me Hanging On, Born To Be Wild,
Sookie Sookie, Tons of Beatles & Beach
Boys.
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Equipment:
Early days...Fenders, Bassman & Super
Reverb. Towards the end I (Hauffe) used a
Sunn for bass (Still Do). Everyone else
still uses Fender.
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Rehearsal
Space:
Gene's
basement.
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Band
Vehicles:
U-haul
(we were going to rename our band "The
U-Hauls") Dad's Stationwagon.
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Fashion
Statement:
We did a
lot of gigs in Chicago (We were on USA
Records, Chicago) so we use to buy a lot
of Bell Bottoms in Old Towne.
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Best
Gig:
I got
Two...Upbeat Show in Cleveland and a TV
Show in Chicago with Smoky Robinson, The
Hollies, and the Association.
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Gig
from
Hell!:
The Blue
Light in Midland Mich. I was in the
bathroom when we went on stage. When they
called me I ran out of the bathroom and
stepped on some guys toe. He ended up
chasing me with a knife...what a
night.
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Last
Gig:
We played
a reunion last June with Dick Wanger
(Frost). We played for 2200 people
outside. The Cherry Slush hadn't played
together for 33 years. It was cool seeing
Wagner again.
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The Cover for their
CD retrospective
"Looking Back"
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Where
are they now?
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Dan Parsons is a
Lawyer, Gene Bruce is Retired, Dick Coughlin works
at a Hospital,
Brian Bennett is a Sales Manager for a car
dealership (Brian also plays in Dick Wagners
Band),
Art Hauffe is a Broker in Tampa, Florida, and is
playing in the southern/classic rock band "High
Tides".
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The Cherry Slush -
June 2002
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Dick Wagner
(Frost/Alice Cooper), Donny Hartman (Frost), Art
Hauffe (The Cherry Slush) June 2002
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Information contributed by
Art Hauffe southernproducts@ij.net
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