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Local band from the
college town of Grinnell, Iowa. Throughout our high
school years the band evolved and was made up of
various members.
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Personnel:
Duane White - Vocals
Steve Gustafson - Drums
Tom Groth - Guitar
Larry May - Guitar
Later joined by Tom Mason - Vocals
Bill Wiley - Drums
Greg Anderson - Bass
Karen Todd - Vocals
Doug Kochneff - hand-controlled micro
switchs for our homemade lighting system
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Influences:
Everything
60s - the whole British invassion, Shadows
of Knight, Them, (the girls), a local band
The Mojos, Cryan' Shames,
(the
girls),
the stunning array of music that came
through Grinnell College (Muddy Waters,
Blues Project, Jefferson Airplane, Mike
Bloomfield, Pete Seeger, jazz, blues,
folk, psychodelic...what incredible
musical exposure in small town of
7,000)
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Setlist
Sample:
All the 3 chord standards (Louie, Sloopy,
Gloria), Walk Don't Run, Last Time,
Satisfaction, Heatwave, Like A Rolling
Stone.
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Equipment:
Fender Mustang, Gibson 330, SG, Gibson and
Radio Shack fuzz pedals, a pair of Sears
Silvertone piggyback 2x12s before
graduating up to Fender Bandmaster and
Showman, Gretsch drums, cheesey p.a.
components, homemade lighting contraptions
(no one was ever electrocuted).
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Rehearsal
Space:
Basement
and bedrooms. Blessed be the parents of
young rock n rollers who put up with
...with...our musical
craftsmanship.
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Band
Vehicles:
Duane's
old brown station wagon. Later an old
grocery delivery truck.
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Fashion
Statement:
Paisley,
turtlenecks and suade Beatle boots mail
ordered from the J.C. Pennys "mod" fashion
line. The times were too early for
tie-dye and a few years too late for the
matching sportcoat/turtle neck
look.
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Best
Gig:
The best
gig(s) were the small dance halls of
Gilman and Tama in rural central Iowa. The
kids appeared from neighboring towns and
the dance floors were full and frenzied
with easily excitable hormones.
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Gig
from
Hell!:
The
Chosen Few played at weekend dances in a
40 mile radius around Grinnell, Iowa. A
nearby town was home to a girls
reformatory school. Based on the rumor
that on weekends the girls were free to
attend dances, we rented the VFW hall next
to the laudramat and put up dance posters
with great expectations. Loud music and
bad girls seemed like a good match. The
band out numbered the crowd. The girls
must have been REALLY reformed. It was a
total bust.
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Last
Gig:
Toward
the end the rented our biggest hall yet -
the Ottumwa Colliseum which included our
first dressing room and a stagehand.
Neither of which we knew what to do with.
The band put out $100 to hire a Des Moines
radio personality, KIOA "Goodguy" Jim
Michaels. We got radio publicity and an
emcee with one of those killer deep radio
voices whom we'd never seen. He turned out
to be a fun skinny little guy with a big
Adams-apple; and the band, I'm sure,
didn't meet his expectations either. Our
gear was too whimpy for the big hall.
Motown dance music was on the way out and
Hendrix was on the way in. Jimi was a
mystery. The only feedback we could muster
up was usually a mistake.
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Comments:
Music was moving
in new directions and the dance halls that we
enjoyed weren't part of the picture or the sound.
However, everything comes around and 35 years later
and a few hours of practice The Chosen Few (Steve,
Tom, Larry and Ben) put together our old set list
and performed for our class of 1969 reunion.
It was a fabulous time to be involved with making
live music.
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