Well Tony, it turns out that there were about 3,000 bands called the KeyNotes and yes we used Combo Orks. That was the cusp of the end of the big band era and the beginning of Rock. Most of our repertoire were "standards" with a sprinkling of the new 3 chord tunes. Most requested tune was Stardust. None of us could afford an amp and we rented the amp (shown) for each gig from a local music store for $2.00 per gig. The tuxes were bought from a rental place - all with frayed cuffs and collars.
Fran, we didn't play many 'nice' places ... played many a night during all out brawls and we just played on. Our first gigs payed whatever was in the hat - 'pass the hat'. We were thrilled if we got $10 each. Soon after high school, the band broke up and I bought an amp (still have it, Esty/Panaramic tube amp), hooked up with a trio and played a joint where we played in the middle of the bar because it was too dangerous on the stage. Lots of memories.
Ciao,
Jerry
Jerry ... The first band I started at about 16 yrs old, was named "The Twilighters" and "Twilight Time" (Three Suns version - way before "The Platters"
) was our theme song ... I used a drummer who had the band "The Keynotes" ... when the Twilighters started getting HS dances and such, the sax player from The Keynotes wanted in so he suggested to the drummer that we 'merge' the bands ... One night they came to me and asked if I wanted to join the Keynotes and would I spend $5 to buy a 'band jacket' ... I said yes, and that was the start ... I later found out they had asked a piano player about buying the jacket and he said no ... his loss - my gain ... for 26 years !!!
We also went the 'pass the hat' route - didn't everybody?!? - and also the "play this gig for free and you can name your price on the next one" ... still waiting for "the next one" ...
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