This southern
Wisconsin band originated in 1965 when Joe Accardi,
his cousin Mike Mealey and a couple of high school
buddies got together to play at parties. The
original band (line-up A) was short-lived.
Chekouras, a very talented but somewhat eccentric
musician, had a little stage fright. Not long after
the first No Left Turns gig, a less-than-stellar
YMCA teen dance, he opted out of the group.
Chekouras was replaced by another very talented
musician, Tony Mauhar, who was playing bass for a
band with a dubious name, The Klansmen. With Mauhar now on lead
guitar, the band (line-up B) clicked and was soon
playing a steady stream of gigs in the Stateline
area. They played covers of Top 40 numbers by the
Monkees, Rolling Stones, Beatles, and a handful of
soul tunes. The No Left Turns were heard regularly
at high school and teen dances, particularly those
held at the American Legion Hall in South Beloit,
Illinois under the watchful eye of promoter Fran
DeSarbo. A turning point occured during the winter
of 1966, when The No Left Turns won first place in
a Battle of the Bands contest sponsored by the
Beloit Jaycees and WGEZ, a local radio
station. Bookings for the No Left
Turns began to increase and Accardi started to look
for someone who could play organ to join with them
and add to their growing repertoire of songs. At
the same time, the band was approached by a booking
agent who worked for Ken Adamany Productions out of
Madison, Wisconsin. Adamany, and a competing
agency, Sperry Ram Productions, had two of the
largest stables of local bands in the region. The
boys began booking under Adamany [Contract]
who distributed a promotional poster for the band
created with the help of a professional
photographer. (It should be mentioned that among
the many bands Ken Adamany represented, one in
particular was especially noteworthy. Adamany
represented a band from Rockford, Illinois called
Grim Reaper. They later recorded under the name,
Fuse and then changed their name to Cheap
Trick.) In the spring of 1967, Jim
Forrestal joined the band (line-up C). An
accomplished pianist and master of the Farfisa
organ, Jim added another dimension to the No Left
Turns who began playing more album and psychedelic
covers. One of the first new songs added to their
repertoire was an extended version of the Doors'
hit, Light My Fire. Confined to school and
teen dances because of their ages -- they were all
still in high school -- Adamany booked the band in
small-town halls around the Wisconsin-Illinois
stateline area. The No Left Turns flourished in
this milieu until the "winter of discontent" when
adolescent disagreements over money, girlfriends
and equipment ownership split them apart. The last
gig for the No Left Turns was after a basketball
game in the St. Jude school gym in Beloit,
Wisconsin. By that time their repertoire included
songs by Hendrix, the Doors, and the two last songs
the band ever rehearsed: Eric Burdon and the
Animals' When I Was Young and Sky Pilot. The No Left Turns made a
few rehearsal recordings toward the end of their
run on an old AIWA open reel tape recorder that
belonged to Accardi. Unfortunately, they broke up
just at the point where they began talking about
ideas for original songs. None of the tapes were
preserved. Accardi and Mauhar
eventually joined up with members of another
splintered group, the Jaywalkers, to form a very
talented but short-lived band. Calling themselves
Volume One, Accardi gave up the bass to share
frontman duties with a second vocalist. Volume One
played Beloit's popular teen night club at that
time, "The Pophouse," and placed third in a
regional Battle of the Bands sponsored by a number
of area music stores. The competition was held at
The Meadow, Janesville's mini-version of the
Filmore. Their repertoire included some
show-stopping extended numbers: Sunshine of Your
Love (Cream), I Love You (The People) and You Keep
Me Hangin' On (Vanilla Fudge). Volume One played a gig at
the E.J. Dalton Youth Center in Rockton as a
supporting act, alternating sets with a band called
One-Eyed Jacks. Before the gig, the two bands
compared set lists and were asked by the Jacks
specifically not to play You keep Me Hangin' On and
Jumpin' Jack Flash so as not to conflict with those
numbers from their set. The Jacks were good (they
did a dynamite version of the Beach Boys' Good
Vibrations), but Volume One thought their own
versions of the two songs in question were better.
So for their last set, with nothing to lose, Volume
One included those two songs followed by an
electrifying version of Purple Haze, bringing down
the house. The One-Eyed Jacks were mad but there
was nothing they could do. People were seen leaving
during the Jacks' final set. Volume One recorded one of
their rehearsals for demo purposes, but it never
saw the light of day and has since disappeared.
College, military service and other pursuits dashed
any chance of full-time musical careers for most of
these guys. They split up at summer's end,
1968. Personnel: Influences: Setlist
Sample: Equipment:
Rehearsal
Space: Band
Vehicles: Fashion
Statement: Best
Gig: Gig
from
Hell!: Last
Gig:
Information contributed by Joe Accardi joe.accardi@excite.com
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