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Formed in the
fall of 1966, "The Walking Stycks"
consisted of Phil Yoder, lead vocalist,
drums and percussion; Kim Bowman, lead
vocalist, drums and percussion; Terry
Rassi, lead guitar; and Joe Bouterse,
rhythm guitar.
The boys hail from Middlebury, a little
town in Northern Indiana, and as "The
Walking Stycks" they enjoyed notoriety in
other surrounding small towns. They played
many gigs from class parties to class
dances to outdoor parties and dances.
The Walking Stycks were the first 60's
garage band in town. As the young lads
were only 14 and 15 when the band was
formed, they were transported by their
parents from gig to gig and eventually
acquired a manager, Kevin Segner, who was
a few years older and transported the boys
around as well.
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Personnel:
Phil Yoder - Lead Vocals, Drums and
Percussion
Kim Bowman - Lead Vocals, Drums and
Percussion; Terry Rassi - Lead Guitar
Joe Bouterse - Rhythm Guitar.
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Influences:
The usual
60's pop bands.
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Setlist
Sample:
"Louie, Louie" - The Kingsmen, "Hang on
Sloopy" - The McCoys, "Gloria" - The
Shadows of Knight "Come on Down to My
Boat" - Every Mothers' Son, plus
originals.
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Equipment:
Drums: silver embossed "Speedfire" set
manufactured by Trixon. Made in Germany,
Phil's father purchased them in
neighboring Goshen at George's House of
Music. The Trixon drum set was an eight
piece drum set with a teardrop shaped bass
drum and two foot pedals, with Zildjian
cymbals (the ride cymbal had the top
attached sizzler arms that could be
dropped on it).
Guitars: Terry played lead and rhythm
guitar on a Teisco Model "E-220" 6-string
guitar plugged though a Gibson "SuperHawk
Reverb" amplifier, with a 10" and 8"
speaker, including reverb and tremlo.
Screaming leads, crisp and true! Garage
rough and gnarly. For solos he had a
Mosrite "Fuzzrite" distortion pedal.
Joe played rhythm guitar on a Decca Model
"DMI 202" through a Fender Princeton
amplifier. His first amp was some kind of
tweed with a 6" or 8" speaker. Raw garage
at its best!
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Rehearsal
Space:
Parent's
houses.
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Band
Vehicles:
Transported
by our parents.
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Fashion
Statement:
Black
shirts with zebra striped
vests.
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Best
Gig:
Several
gigs were exceptional, especially the one
time at the Middlebury High School half
time of the "Faculty vs. The Fat Fathers
of the PTC" basketball game. The Walking
Stycks were accompanied by four go-go
girls, Mari Frederick, Judy Hershberger,
Denise Mockler, and Cathy Hawkins. The
girls all wore go-go boots and danced
along side of the band. They were
classmates. When the curtains were opened
for the half-time show, all of the high
school girls in the audience screamed and
the band opened up with "Gloria." The
gymnasium was filled with angst-soaked
guitars and real garage grunge. The vocals
were barely audible above the audience's
screams and claps. It was 10 minutes of
fame that the boys will never forget.
Another great gig was the one at
Maplecrest Country Club in Goshen,
Indiana, where we played out on a screened
in porch to some of the golf members
there, while they were eating lunch. "Come
On Down to my Boat" was played the first
time by the boys at the golf club.
Still another notable gig was on the River
Queen paddleboat on the St. Joe river in
Elkhart, Indiana. It was for a wedding
reception. The boys were playing outdoors,
on the deck of the boat with their
amplifiers being powered by a generator.
It seems all you could hear was the
engines of the boat and the sound of the
generator. Rassi was shocked several
times. Literally! Even though there was no
P.A. system to speak of, only an old
amplifier and a $10 microphone, the boys
rocked! The crowd was very receptive and
the boys just kept cranking out their
garage-soaked, raw, and rough tunes.
Everyone was pleased.
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Gig
from
Hell!:
None
listed
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Last
Gig:
Don't
remember
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