The original pop/rock musical group known as The Dimensions was formed in 1965 and for a brief time used the name The Four Dimensions. The original group members included Doug Engel (base guitar), John Irish (guitar), Greg Rades (guitar) and Pete Schroder (drums), all from Shawano, Wisconsin.
By John C. Irish (with input from other former band members) |
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| Dimensions/Midnight Sun (1968): Pat Kenney, John Irish, Linda Wiley, Greg Rades and Doug Engel |
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In the summer of 1966, Pete Schroder left the group and Pat Kenney (Shawano) became the group’s new drummer. Late that same summer, Jeff Pockat (Clintionville) joined as lead vocalist. By September, 1966, The Dimensions included Doug Engel (bass guitar and sax), John Irish (guitar), Greg Rades (guitar, keyboard and clarinet), Pat Kenney (drums) and Jeff Pockat (lead vocals and trombone). Many evenings the horns were added on a couple of dixieland or poka selections that proved to be quite popular with the Northeastern Wisconsin bar crowd.
Up until the spring of 1967, the group played mostly school dances, community events, wedding receptions and a few private parties. One of the more interesting jobs during this period was playing “car hops” in Shawano at Bob’s Drive In. There was a long, covered ramada at the back of the restaurant where cars would park and local teens would hang out. The group set up outside and kids would dance under the covered parking. Cars would fill the lot, teens would pack the dance floor, Bob’s would sell a week’s worth of burgers, malts, and fries, and the neighbors would call the police promptly at 10 p.m. to complain about the noise.
Beginning in the summer of 1967, most engagements were dance jobs at area bars or dance halls. The group played most frequently during this period at the ShaBon near Shawano, the Den in New London, the Tip Top Club at Anderson Lake, the Green Valley Pavilion north of Pulaski, and the Shawano County Park Pavilion located on the north shore of Shawano Lake. On several occasions in 1967, Rich Marcini (Marion), a trumpet player and personal friend of Jeff Pockat, joined The Dimensions for selected songs. There was no shortage of bookings for the group in the local area but by the end of 1967, it was time to add a little variety to the schedule. Jeff Pockat left the group and was replaced by Linda Wiley (Shawano) in May of 1968. At that time there were very few women in rock groups and Linda provided the opportunity to cover some of the female performers of the day. |
Beginning in the summer of 1968, most bookings for The Dimensions were handled through John W. Schmidt of the Central State Agency based in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. As a result, there were more clubs added to the schedule and more time was spent traveling. An effort was made to stay within driving distance of Shawano to minimize travel costs. It only took a few overnight trips for everyone to realize that there was more money to be made by staying closer to home. The group stayed busy in 1968 playing familiar clubs like the ShaBon, Tip Top Club, and the Shawano County Park, while adding new locations like the Port Light in Shioction, the Thousand Club near Pestigo, the Cove in Rhinelander, Club 66 in Palonia and the Flame in Stevens Point. There were also bookings in Little Chute, Wisconsin Rapids, Kohler, West Bend, Merrill, Tigerton Dells and Marshfield. Central State Agency at this time was also busy booking other groups such as The Senate, The Outcasts, The Sentrys, White Ginger, The Psycos, Blues Illusion, Phil Harris Group, Shag Inc. and Union Jack & The Avengers.
Ronnie Besaw from Gresham occasionally sat in with The Dimensions in the late summer and fall of 1968. Just prior to this time, Ronnie was with The New Raging Storm and had recorded 'Cry Girl' and 'Monkey Time' on the TeePee label. He later went on as Ronnie Fuller to work in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe before medical problems interrupted his promising career. |
In August of 1968, the group recorded 'I’ll Find a Way' and 'You Keep Me Hanging On' on the Sonic label. The recording was produced at the Audio Unlimited Studio in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, and the records were pressed by RCA in Chicago. When it was discovered that another group had previously registered the name Dimensions, an alternate name had to be created. The recordings were released under the name Midnight Sun. For the remainder of 1968, the group was booked using both names since some club owners still promoted the group as The Dimensions.
Locations where the group played varied in size from the Thousand Club that probably held less than 70 people at one time to the Shawano County Park with a capacity of approximately 700 people. The majority of clubs held between 125 and 250 people. Spades (Dick’s Bar) was notorious for having the roughest crown and had a practice of turning off the lights whenever a fight broke out. Visibility inside the Tip Top Club was often limited to around 20 feet due to the heavy cigarette smoke that hung in the air. Most contracts require the group to perform between three and fours hours a night with a short break every hour. After adding in time for travel, set-up, pack-up, and a late-night meal, the group easily spent eight hours a night together.
In the fall of 1968, Pat left to attend college and Paul Stoehr (Gresham) replaced him as the group’s drummer. In January of 1969, The Dimensions/Midnight Sun disbanded. Doug, Greg, John and Linda were all attending college in different cities and the logistics proved to be too difficult. |
| With a little prodding from Glenn Ashenbrenner, manager of the Shawano County Park Pavilion, Doug Engel and John Irish agreed to put together a group in the Spring of 1969 to open the dance season a the park. The group was a mixture of musicians that Doug and John knew and the event was promoted as a Jam session. The gig went well and several other engagements were booked that summer using the group name Jam. The group consisted of former Dimensions/Midnight Sun members Doug Engel (base guitar and vocals), John Irish (guitar) and Pat Kenney (drums). Pat was also a former member of The Beat Boys. Other members were Jeff Pockat (lead vocal and trombone), a former member of The Dimensions; Tom Ashenbrenner (keyboard and vocals) formerly with The Holy Experiment; Tom Eggert (guitar and trumpet) formerly with The Standbys; and Clayton Kellogg (tenor sax) formerly with The Chicago Citations. In the fall of 1969 everyone parted ways with many of the members returning to college. |
Over the years The Dimensions had been booked regularly at the ShaBon, a club located between Shawano and Bonduel. For many years the ShaBon was the area hot spot and Bill Lee the owner was growing tired of the business and he was interested in selling the club. Partially as a favor to Bill, and partially because John Irish was interested in the business, Doug Engel, John Irish, Greg Rades and Paul Stoehr agreed to play three nights on New Years weekend 1970. This was the last gig for Doug and John and the last time any of The Dimensions/Midnight Sun/Jam members played together. The Irish family purchased the club and it re-opened in February of 1970 as The Gallery.
The original group members consisting of Doug Engel, John Irish and Greg Rades played together for over three years and were known as The Dimensions except for a 2-3 month period in late summer and fall of 1968 when they also used the name Midnight Sun. Two members, Doug Engel and John Irish, played with each combination of musicians that comprised The Dimensions, Midnight Sun and Jam beginning in 1965 and ending in January of 1970. During that period, John only missed only two engagements and Doug played every date. |
| An Interview With John C. Irish |
60sgaragebands.com (60s): How did you first get interested in music?
John Irish (JI): Growing up in northern Wisconsin my first exposure to music was through my family. I used to enjoy listening to my uncle and father during summer back porch country jam sessions. My grandfather also played fiddle and guitar. While in college in the early ‘40s my dad played in a country/jug band to help make ends meet. I also remember listening to a variety of musicians from the old Chicago WLS Barn Dance program. Several of these early country radio stars often vacationed in northern Wisconsin and I remember occasional tunes being played in my grand parent’s living room. My mother had taken guitar lessons as a girl and her 1930’s Gibson Blues King was always in the closet ready to be explored.
Around 1963, I began to hang out with Greg Rades and we both were interested in the guitar. Greg’s dad also played guitar and had been in a little group during depression. Greg had two older sisters that liked to sing. For a year or two we spent a lot of time at Greg’s house with our informal Rades Family Band doing the country and folk songs of the day. In 1965 we connected with Doug Engel and shortly after we formed The Four Dimensions. |
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| The Four Dimensions (1965): John Irish, Greg Rades, Pete Schroder and Doug Engel |
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60s: How would you describe the band's sound? What bands influenced you?
JI: Given that we played dance halls and clubs where patrons came to dance, we played mostly pop/rock with some R&B mixed in. Music that I would call garage band style pop/rock was very popular with the club and dance crowd. ‘Time Won’t Let Me,’ ‘Hanky Panky,’ ‘Stepping Out,’ ‘Satisfaction,’ ‘Hey Little Miss Sad,’ ‘Gloria,’ ‘Double Shot,’ ‘Johnny B. Goode,’ ‘La Bamba,’ ‘In The Midnight Hour,’’Black Is Black,’ ‘Wooly Bully,’ ‘Knock On Wood,’ ‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash,’ ‘Live For Today,’ ‘Kind Of A Drag,’ ‘Glad All Over,’ and ‘Twist & Shout’ were a few of the standards that were always included in our play list.
60s: What was the Shawano rock and roll scene like in the '60's?
JI: It was a great place for rock and pop music. Within a 35-mile radius there were easily 10-15 venues that offered live music not to mention the high schools and community events. In Shawano, there were dances for teens at the Community Hall and occasionally at the high school.
The Shawano County Park Pavilion was set-up in a way where the dance hall and the bar (beer only) were separate rooms so teens as well as adults could attend. For most teens and young adults, the Park was the place to be. The Park offered local, regional and national rock groups on Wednesday and Saturday nights throughout the summer season.
In the 1960’s, Wisconsin had two categories of drinking establishments: There were bars that sold beer, wine and alcohol, commonly referred to as taverns, where you needed to be 21 or older to enter; the second type establishment was only allowed to sell beer, and they were commonly referred to as beer bars. You only needed to be 18 to enter a beer bar. There were several beer bars in Shawano and the surrounding area and many had occasional live music. Spades Bar and the Sha-Bon were two area beer bars that had live music 2-3 times a week booking local and regional groups.
There were a couple of Shawano based groups in the mid-‘60s with The Ravens being the most poplar. Their recording of ‘Moon Over My Window’ was a local favorite for many years. In the period of 1966-1969 there were several Shawano area groups that included The Stand-Bys, Beat Boys, Saints, Distortions, Indian Echoes, Holy Experiment, Council and The Dimensions. |
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| Dimensions (1966): Greg Rades, John Irish, Pete Schroder and Doug Engel |
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60s: How far was The Dimensions’ "touring" territory?
JI: The group stayed mainly in northeastern Wisconsin, usually within 100 miles of home. Within that radius there were probably over a 100 teen bars and clubs that offered live music not to mention the potential for school dances and community events. Some of the members had other part-time jobs and considering that we weren’t interested in making it big, it was more cost effective to avoid the associated travel costs.
60s: Did The Dimensions participate in any battle of the bands?
JI: As I recall we participated in only one battle of the bands contest in 1968. I believe we took second place, taking home a $ 35 prize for our efforts.
60s: Did The Dimensions have a manager?
JI: From 1965 through early 1968 we did our own bookings with Doug or myself handling the group’s business affairs. From the spring of 1968, until The Dimensions disbanded that winter, we did our bookings through John Schmidt at the Central State Agency in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. We had other opportunities but liked Central State because the agency wasn’t so big that we would be lost in the crowd. Also, his club contacts were mostly in northeast Wisconsin, which is where we wanted to work.
As I recall, John from the Central State Agency contacted us at during one of our gigs, which led to our booking with his agency. He had a small agency but I feel he worked very hard to promote us within his territory. Above all, he was dependable and could be trusted not to take advantage of the group. This was in contrast to another agent we had worked with on a limited basis where it took the union, a lawyer, and several months to get paid for a club we worked at.
60s: How popular locally did The Dimensions become?
JI: I feel that we were quite popular in northeastern Wisconsin and I base that partly on crowd reaction, but mostly on the fact that we had a lot of multiple bookings. If the patrons did not turn out for your group, club owners wouldn’t have you back. We played because we enjoyed each other’s company, seeing a crowd enjoy themselves, and for a few extra bucks. We played dances, bars and clubs where people went to dance and have a good time so we choose to play what the crowds wanted and avoided music that was more suited for a concert type setting. The more you kept the crowd dancing, the more fun they had. They would stay longer and the club owner would make more profit, which resulted in additional bookings. |
60s: What were the circumstances leading to the Sonic 45?
JI: We played several time at a club in Rhinelander called the Cove and Mike Kuehl approached us about recording at his studio. None of us, except Ronnie, had any plan to make music a career so it took some discussion. After a couple of phone calls with Mike we decided to give it a try.
We recorded ‘I’ll Find A Way’ (A-Side) and ‘You Keep Me Hanging On’ (B-Side), both recorded in 1968. Once we decided as a group that we wanted to record it was off to the studio. We recorded at the Audio Unlimited Studio in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. It was about 80 miles from Shawano to Rhinelander so we left home one morning, spent a couple of hours at the studio, and drove home that afternoon. We had reserved the studio for the minimum amount of time, which was about two hours. We spent most of that time setting-up, doing sound checks and recording ‘I’ll Find A Way’ when it dawned on us that we would need a song for the B-Side of the record. After a little discussion we decided to do ‘You Keep Me Hanging,’ which we had not prepared for, and as I recall it was done in one take. The studio time and the first 100 records cost us about $130. Audio Unlimited was a small studio located in Mike Kuehl’s home and I think we were one of about ten pop/rock groups that recorded with Mike under the Audio Unlimited, Hodag, Wildwood or Sonic labels. In retrospect, I wish we taken the whole situation a little more seriously and spent twice the time in the studio. |
60s: Why was the 45 released as by The Midnight Sun?
JI: Another group had used the name Dimensions and we needed to record under a different name.
60s: Was the Midnight Sun the exact same personnel as The Dimensions?
JI: The Midnight Sun consisted of the 1968 Dimensions: Doug Engel, John Irish, Greg Rades, Pat Kenney and Linda Wiley along with Ronnie Besaw, who had played with The Dimensions occasionally in late summer and the fall of 1968. Paul Stoehr replaced Pat as the group’s drummer shortly after we recorded ‘I’ll Find A Way’ in August of 1968.
60s: Did The Dimensions ever perform as "The Midnight Sun", or was the name used for the single only?
JI: Yes, we were booked as both The Dimensions and Midnight Sun for a 2-3 month period in late 1968 prior to the group disbanding. Many of the places where we had performed still advertised us as The Dimensions.
60s: Did The Dimensions write many original songs?
JI: The song ‘I’ll Find A Way’ was Ronnie Besaw’s creation with some input from the rest of the group. There were no other original songs from the group.
60s: Do any (other) '60's Dimensions/Midnight Sun recordings exist? Are there any vintage live recordings, or unreleased tracks?
JI: There were a couple of reel-to-reel tapes made of early performances and some practice sessions. At this point I am not sure where they are or if they still exist.
60s: Did the band make any local TV appearances?
JI: No.
60s: How do you best summarize your experiences with The Dimensions?
JI: When I was 16 through 21 years of age, I saw being in a rock group as nothing more than a having fun with my buddies and making a little spending money. The many hours of practice, travel, setting-up and packing-up equipment seemed to be worth it when you were having a good time and people enjoyed your music. The key to it all was the compatibility of the group members and I believe we genuinely liked one another. I am still in contact with several former Dimensions, Midnight Sun, and Jam group members.
Now that I am almost 60 years of age, I view the experience in a different light. I think of what a positive and creative outlet music was for me given the social and political unrest of the 1960s. I think of how there must have been hundreds, maybe thousands, of groups just like ours across the country. I think of how garage bands took the music of the national recording groups into the high schools, teen clubs, bars and dance halls across America. But most of all, I think about what a good time I had making music with my friends. |
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| Dimensions (1967): Doug Engel, Jeff Pockat, Greg Rades, John Irish and Pat Kenney |
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| Dimensions (1968): Pat Kenney, Linda Wiley, John Irish, Greg Rades and Doug Engel |
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| Jam (1970): John Irish, Greg Rades, Paul Stoehr and Doug Engel |
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| Spades Ad |
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| Sha-Bon Ad |
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| Sha-Bon Ad |
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| Dimensions Article |
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| Shawano County Park Ad |
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| Midnight Sun Letter |
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| Four Dimensions Newspaper Article |
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| Four Dimensions Business Card |
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| Dimensions Business Card |
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| Union Card |
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| Shawano County Park Ad |
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| Tip Top Club Ad |
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