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I'm Ronnie Brown, native
Louisvillian, St. Xavier class of '60. This is a photo of my band from the WAKY
days, The Uniques. This photo was shot at the old Putt Putt Golf on
Bardstown Road circa 62-63. L to R: Jerry Barr, WAKY DJ, Kenny
Sanders, vocals, Skip Watkins and yours truly, guitars, Don
Churchman, Bass, Benny Devine, Drums, Jimmy Eversole and
Danny Brewer, Saxes. Here's the story of The Uniques and our association
with WAKY:
During the early '60s and era of the Louisville bands, The Sultans,
The Epics, The Monarchs, Cosmo and the Counts, The
Carnations and The Tren-Dells all controlled the East End of the
town. The Uniques were a bunch of blue collar kids from Preston Street, Fern
Creek, Valley Station and Shivley. We did blues and R&B, James Brown, Bobby
Blues Bland, and we cooked!
Jack Sanders ("It's time
for the tail light trimmin', radiator rammin', goin' home edition of the
Jumpin' Jack Sanders show on WAKY") was looking around for a talented
relatively unknown Louisville band to record a song called "Face Of A Fool"
he'd written and a band he could get behind to promote both them and his song.
He heard about us. We auditioned for him in '62 and the next thing we knew we
were at Sure Fire Records in Mussel Shoals, Alabama recording Jumpin' Jack's
song. It came out great. Jack had us record under the name Kenny and the
Classmates with the Classics. Kenny is Kenny Sanders, The Uniques are the
Classics, and the four girl background singers Jack added are the Classmates.
Heck, we didn't care what Ed Sullivan called us when he introduced us on his
show.
We did a version of Little Richard's "Slippin' and
Slidin'" for the B-side with four background girls singing. From that point on The
Uniques became WAKY's in-house band of choice and the station got behind Jumpin' Jack and started running our record a bunch. Thus the Putt Putt promo
in the photo.
Download It!
2:02 - 961 KB - MP3 Format
As The Uniques, we did a record
before this one of two instrumentals we wrote called "Cortez" and "Dog Tracks"
made during the great surfing guitar instrumental craze of the early '60s.
Jim Brand really liked "Cortez" and played it a lot.
When Jumpin' Jack started
pushing "Face of A Fool" in the Fall of '63, he got The Uniques [aka
"Kenny
and the Classmates with the Classics"] the opening spot at the annual Marine Corps
Toys for Tots show at Freedom Hall, our big public concert debut of the
record. The sound was run by Allen and Martin, the two leaders of the
Carnations and the Tren-Dells. The competition to control the music in
Louisville and keep those bands West of Preston Street out of the East End,
which was controlled by the Joni agency (owned by DJ Gene Snyder and
named after his daughter) was so serious, that they ruined our sound and we
couldn't be heard and/or was garbled so they torpedoed our performance while
we were on stage. The audience either couldn't hear us or understand us. Jack
was hot and got in Snyder's face pretty well I understand.
We played later at the Friday
night FOP hop out in Okolona, but, were never successful cracking the East End
market where the teen money was. We worked up and down Dixie Highway and
finally landed a regular weekend gig at VFW Post 50 in Radcliff where we did 4
hours on Friday and Saturday nights. We did one set as The Bottles in
wigs and did the Beatles' entire first album "Meet the Beatles" -- what a hit!
The place was packed every weekend mostly due to the draft and Fort Knox
filling up with draftees during the war build up.
My favorite WAKY story involved
DJ Jim Brand who had independently contracted with a group out of
California called Randy and the Rainbows to come to Elizabethtown for a
fall high school dance. Randy had top 40 song then called "Denise." ("Oh,
Denise, scooby doo, I'm in love with you Denise, scooby doo..."). Just before
the weekend they called Brand and canceled out of the contract because school
was starting in California and they had to go back. Brand, in a panic, called
on The Uniques. We showed up at E'town high school that weekend as Randy and
The Rainbows, sang "Denise" one time, then rocked on with our stuff.
Shortly thereafter, Jumpin' Jack
got into some heavy trouble over some hanky panky with younger women and was
[A] fired from WAKY and [B] immediately left town. WAKY destroyed, erased,
evaporated and otherwise totally obliterated anything remotely connected with
Jumpin' Jack and the scandal. This included The Uniques record and anything
having to do with us, even though we were just a bunch of kids with a lot of
talent and never saw Jack except strictly on business. Our record went in the
trash along with any hopes of stardom.
Several pretty well-known
performers sat in with us while they were stationed at Knox including
Frankie "Sea Cruise" Ford and two twin fellows who sang folk type songs
and were later regulars on Hee Haw. We did this up to May of '64 when a
little thing called "Nam" heated up and Uncle Sammy decided he couldn't get
along without most of The Uniques. The last time we played together as a group
was May '64...until July 2004, 40 years later, when I found the guys were
still in town, still alive (mostly) and got us back together. We just played PRP's 40th reunion dance at Executive Inn and are playing in June in Valley
Station with The Epics in an outdoor free charity concert at the Valley
Dairy Freeze to benefit Officer Peter Grignon's family.
One evening around '65 or '66, I
was watching a variety TV show from California with that new group The Mamas
and The Papas doing their hit "Monday, Monday." The camera panned around the
audience and there in the front row was Jumpin' Jack Sanders. Just another
fan. That's the last time I ever saw him. (Anyone remember Jumpin' Jack
locking himself in his booth at WAKY and playing "The Mummy" continuously
until he got a pay raise?)
They were great times. I guess
all times are great when you're young and your whole life is still ahead of
you. The Uniques are a very lucky bunch of guys. We're still all above ground
and can still make the music, baby! The second we rip into "Rockin' Pneumonia"
or "Sea Cruise," the years melt away and we become those youngsters again.
There's a P.S. to this tale: our
sax player, Danny Brewer, would up marrying Paul Cowley's (of WKLO
fame) ex-wife, Jeanette. Remember "Ice down the Coke, Jeanette, I'm
comin' home?"
Thanks for the great website and
thanks WAKY and WKLO (and WLOU) for the great times.
-- Ronnie Brown
The Uniques at the Galt House on November 12,
2005
The Uniques at the Galt House on November 12,
2005
The Uniques at the Galt House on November 12,
2005
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