Deuces Wild St. Louis, Missouri 1967-1970       For a bunch of 15 and 16 year olds, the Deuces Wild gained a suprising level of popularity and notariety in St. Louis. They played a wide range of musical styles (soul, R&B, hard rock, psychadelic, British Invasion , 50's and even "Big Band" -- whatever it took to get a gig and please a crowd). They played "Teen Towns," country club pool parties, wedding receptions, smokey bars (could 15 year olds do that today?). They also made a couple of television apearances. Aside from the major artists listed in our Setlist Sample, Deuces Wild was greatly influenced by the "White Soul" band popular with suburban teens at the time in St. Louis County, "Bob Kuban and the Inmen" (Big Hit: "The Cheater" - 1966) and the Spirit of St. Louis. They were written up a few times in Kuban's corner in the St. Louis Post Dispatch, and had a loyal following. In hindsight, it can be said that this was certainly a great band, considering their age, breadth of musical styles and sheer determination.   Personnel: Tom Kastner - Lead Vocalist Ed Stelmacki - Bass Johnny Orlando - Drums Norm Nadorff - Keyboards Mark Zoellner - Guitar Sonny McGraw - Saxaphone John McBride - Trumpet John Haverport - Trumpet Influences: Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, The Doors, Cream, The Rascals, Blood Sweat and Tears, Temptations Setlist Sample: Harlem Shuffle, Light My Fire, Mustang Sally, Midnight Hour, Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay, Tighten Up, Spinning Wheel, House of the Rising Sun Equipment: We had a truly classy set up. Ed, Mark and I each had a Kustom 200 blue sparkle amplifier, we also had a Kustom blue sparkel P.A. system. Johnny's drums were also blue sparkle and had a unique egg shaped bass drum. Keyboard was a Vox Continental. Fender guitar and bass Rehearsal Space: Primarily Johnny's basement - it was the best because it had a sliding glass door which meant we could pull our cars right up and not have to use any stairs to lug our heavy equipment in and out. Band Vehicles: Large American station wagons with fake wood panels. Fashion Statement: For big gigs we would wear matching silver sparkle, double breasted sport coats and white turtlenecks. Lead singer would wear something contrasting. Best Gig: The night we won a battle of the bands that entitled us to play on the local popular "Roberta Peters" television show. The battle and the television appearance were real highlights. Gig from Hell!: The night (as a bunch of 15 year olds) that we played a wedding reception and were "busted" by the club owners for helping ourselves to a few beers during and after our performance, and were told we were not welcome to play there in the future. Last Gig: Memory fails me here... maybe my colleagues can help me out here. Comments: It would be remiss not to mention the band's manager, Joe Orlando (Johnny's older brother). Joe got us most of our gigs, kept us safe and focussed, made sure we got paid, counseled us on our girl friends, and molded our image and sound. Without his efforts and dedication we would not have achieved the level of success and recognition that we did. A photo of the band will follow soon (a picture from the cover a 1968 record store newsletter). Norm is hoping other members of the band will add their own memories and pictures. By the way, Norm's biggest regret was choosing varsity football over Deuces Wild when it was no longer possible to do both. The band held a lot more potential than the football team. Hindsight is 20/20.        Where are they now? Norm Nadorff is an international oil and gas attorney with BP (British Petroleum) who has worked all around the world, and who since law school graduation in 1980 has lived in Brazil, Indonesia (twice), Delaware, Houston (twice) Dallas (twice) and L.A. He plays in a Dallas band called "Source Rock" that has been together since 1989 (Next gig - Universtiy of Oklahoma). While living in Indonesia, he played in the local legendary band, "Time Warp" which is a story all its own. He has written a few songs, including the (minor) award winning, "She Stayed in Austin."    Information contributed by Norman Nadorff timewarp44@hotmail.com sourcerock44@aol.com

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