1960s Garage Bands

Louie Meunier (LM): My parents were both in the church choir and my mother played the piano. There was always music in the house--records/TV/radio/live. Some examples of parental influence were Knuckles O'Toole, Liberace, Nat King Cole, Lawrence Welk, religious hymns and Broadway musical soundtracks. I joined the St. Anthony Elementary School marching band in Burlington, Vermont in 1960. This was for students in grades seven and eight. I played the bugle both years. We practiced a lot, played a little, and had lots of fun. Considering our age, I believe we sounded pretty good. I wanted to play the drums but buglers were needed. I bought a pair of drum sticks around 1962 and started drumming on a practice pad placed on the seat of on old folding chair and used the top of the chair as a cymbal. I got my first drumset as a high school freshman in 1963. It was a red sparkle "Kent" set that a friend of my parents' picked out for me in Boston. I practiced at least once a day. I had made the change from bugle--not to trumpet, but to drums. I watched drummers on TV, played along to my favorite records, and always fell asleep to radio rock and roll music.

Mike Marsceill (MM): I started piano lessons at age seven. I played rock and roll piano to records until I was 10 years old. I always listened to AM Radio rock and roll stations.

Bill Yantz (BY): My inspiration for the love for music was my father. When I was very young, I remember him coming home from work, picking up his guitar and singing his favorite Hank Williams songs, ‘Your Cheatin’ Heart,’ On Top of Old Smoky’ and others. As I got older, my two oldest sisters, Jackie and Laura, had all the top hits from the ‘50s and they were played regularly at our home. They were exciting and I easily could see how much fun they had when they were playing; they were so full of joy and so it rubbed off on me too. I would rest my ear on the little speaker and try to emulate how each one was sung. My first inspiration was to sing and it wasn’t until after the Beatles first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show that I knew I wanted to do something like that too. I asked my dad to show me some chords and off I went to practice and dream. Later that year, I remember going to the Vergennes Town Hall where a few of my other buddies in town were dreaming of playing too. The first band I ever saw was The Vistas. I remember that night quite well as about five or six of us gathered in front of the stage to hear and see what looked like The Beatles to us. The Vistas were incredible. During the breaks we would go over to the old piano and a young man from New Haven would play the piano. He was simply the most talented person I had ever come in contact with. He could play anything and with such passion and feeling; he would make that piano rock and the dreams of those four or five boys would soar. He not only played piano but he was an accomplished drummer. His name is Mike Marsceill and shortly thereafter he became the organist for the popular Electras.

60s: Was The Electras your first band?
LM: The Starlites was my first band. We were all from Burlington, Vermont. I was the youngest. That band was formed in 1964. I played the drums. We had a girl lead singer; I think her name was Van Jean. She and the guitar players/vocalists were two to four years older than me. I think their names were Mike and Dave. We had a manager named Earl. He watched our every practice and we played out very little. Our biggest outing was a dance at the Burlington YMCA for Champlain College in 1965. When I left The Starlites, they made additional personnel changes and then changed the name of the band. The Electras was my second band. I joined The Electras in 1965. They were a well established band by comparison.

MM: The Electras was my first band. I joined in 1964. At that time we largely instrumental--Ventures, Dick Dale, Dave "Baby" Cortez, etc.

BY: My first band was The Galaxies from Vergennes, Vermont. We were a very good band that won the WDOT Battle of the Bands, May 29, 1965, held at The Memorial Auditorium in Burlington. But we loved The Electras. They got started earlier than The Galaxies and we used to go see them play all the time. They were really great with us and they used to let us play three or four songs during some of their breaks. It was those opportunities offered by The Electras that helped us in the early days to fine-tune our songs and gain valuable experience.

60s: Where and when was The Electras formed?
MM: The original Electras were Steve Boise, bass; Tom Rule, guitar; and a sax player and a drummer whose names I don't recall. I joined after the sax player left and Paul Tart replaced the drummer. We played as an instrumental band for several months and then added Mike Jackman on vocals. That really was the original Electras that played at school dances and college frat parties for over a year. High school graduation in 1965 meant that several members moved on. Louie Meunier replaced Paul on drums. Bill Yantz joined and took over both lead vocals and bass replacing Mike Jackman and Steve. That became the second iteration of The Electras. This group stayed together for another year until Bill left to join The Vistas. Ed Hoyt on vocals had joined at some point just prior to Bill's departure, but I really don't recall when. There were several more group configurations and names, but that really was the end of The Electras.

First Group: Tom Rule, guitar; Steve Boise, bass; Paul Tart, drums; Mike Jackman, lead vocal; and Mike Marseill, organ.

Second Group: Tom Rule, guitar; Bill Yantz, bass and lead vocal; Louie Meunier, drums; and Mike Marseill, organ.

Third Group: Added Ed Hoyt on lead vocals (Spring 1966).

Fourth Group: Lenny Larose replaced Bill Yantz (Summer 1966).

60s: How would you describe the band's sound? What bands influenced you?
MM: We were a pop covers band.

LM: Sandy Nelson, Ventures, Kingsmen, Beach Boys, Beatles, Dave Clark Five, Herman's Hermits, Yardbirds. Our sound was 'driving' - lots of energy, but not 'harsh.' The instrumental aspect of the band was very good. Mike and I did not sing so we had a lead vocal and either one or two background/harmony vocals, depending on the band configuration. This somewhat limited our variety of hit songs we could perform. Thankfully we had plenty of hits to cover by recording bands that had the same limitations. Whenever we played we received many song requests.

BY: During the lineup of Mike, Louie, Tom and Bill, I would describe our music as a definite “British Invasion” sound. We were excited to push the envelope and play obscure songs and expand our horizons around the progressive sound that was emerging from England, such as The Zombies. We could play almost anything and emulate the song very closely. We only had two-part harmony but that got us by in most cases. Generally, I sang lead and Tommy Rule sang harmony—and beautifully I might add. He was a natural. Tom and I singing together was automatic. Tom was incredible in that he would listen to a song once and had broken down and understood the parts very quickly. Guitar-wise, he was just as striking. The new sound we were working on was not easy as there were a lot of tempo changes and songs within songs, but we had the drummer who could execute. Louie was sharp, incredible timing and drummed like a young Keith Moon. He was awesome and loved the challenge of playing some of our new material. When Louie got done drumming there wasn’t a dry piece of clothing on him. But, the anchor of our sound without a doubt was Mike Marsceill and his incredible talent on the organ. Mike could play anything and he was so excited to be featured more and more in our music, he really excelled and for me as bass player it was exciting to play with him. When he would play organ solos, at times, I would just close my eyes and get lost in the music. I think we all appreciated his talent. When you put all the pieces together the sound coming from that little four-piece band was huge.

60s: What was the Vermont rock and roll scene like in the '60s?
LM: It was a great time to be a teenager/young adult. Not only did we have the regular teenage music to grow up with like the prior generation had, but we had the British Invasion, which really expanded the music portion of our lives. It was bigger than anything since Elvis and it became a significant part of not only our teenage lives but of society in general. There was a lot more rock and roll time on the radio and TV than the previous generation had. Record albums had more than one or two hit songs. News articles constantly covered the music stars. There were so many articles and publications relating to the music scene and the talented music stars. The business world was even catering to our new culture. More venues, dances, concerts, TV appearances, radio schedule time, rock radio stations, etc. FM Radio had really taken off with quality stereo broadcasts and limited quantity of commercials. Recording technology quickly advanced. There was a strong demand for live entertainment. The local and national music scene exploded with various talents experimenting with new musical styles. We were free to explore our musical interests. We enjoyed the demand for live bands. Each band had its own unique sound and style. Over all the quality and quantity of available rock and roll music grew greatly.

BY: Louie summed it up nice, especially about the “British Invasion.” Prior to The Beatles we had great talent but nothing like the four lads from Liverpool who wrote their own music, played their own instruments, dressed very cool and were incredibly talented. But it was more than that; it was how they interpreted the music and then presented it with feeling, precision and the most unique sound to ever emerge. They set the standard for all bands to reach. To have been there during the whole music explosion of the ‘60s was priceless and to have been a part of playing it was even more rewarding. We never recorded nor did we ever think we would but we could play music and we brought our own version of The British Invasion to our friends and local fans. It was exciting and unless you lived it, like we did, it is hard to fully appreciate. It’s still in us to this day.

60s: Where did the band typically play?
MM: We played at school dances and college fraternity parties.

LM: The third and fourth groups played bars as well.

60s: Did you play any of the local teen clubs?
MM: We did play at The Like Young Club in Burlington; it later became The Hullabaloo Club.

LM:We plated The Haunted Castle and The Take Over Club in Burlington.  Not many bands played at The Like Young Club because it was home base for the Vistas band. We had great outings when we played there because the appreciative crowds were always lively and ready to dance.

60s: How far was the band's "touring" territory?
MM: Middlebury, Vermont to Burlington, Vermont.

LM: The second and third groups also played in Crown Point, New York; Johnson, Vermont; and Barre, Vermont, The fourth group also played in Rouses Point, New York and Abercorn, Quebec.

60s: Did The Electras participate in any battle of the bands?
MM: The First iteration of The Electras placed second to the Thunderbolts in 1965. The next year the second iteration again placed second, this time to a touring band from out of state, in 1966.

LM: The name of the touring band that won the February 1966 battle was The Vibratos and I believe they were from New York, New York.  We participated less a bass player in 1967, but didn't place among the top three. I think The Chosen Few won that competition.  Note: These were the Burlington battle of the bands competitions at Memorial Auditorium (sponsored by radio station WDOT).

60s: What other local groups of the era do you especially recall?
LM: The Thunderbolts, Vistas, Galaxies, Chosen Few, Bassmen, Knoblemen, Vadels, and Martians...and Will McClure had a band but I just can't recall the name.

60s: Did The Electras have a manager?
LM: Yes. Rob Roy in 1966.

60s: How popular locally did The Electras become?
MM/LM: I order of popularity: 1) Thunderbolts; 2) Vistas; 3) Electras; 3) Chosen Few; 4) Galaxies; 4) Bassmen; 4) Will McClure's band; 5) Vadels; 5) Knoblemen; 5) Martians.

BY: The top two are easy: The Vistas and The Thunderbolts. I remember WDOT did a popularity contest on the radio where callers would call in and place their vote live; The Vistas won 51 to 50. There really wasn’t one better than the other. Their sound and presentation were totally different. The Thunderbolts were a three-piece band and The Vistas a four-piece band, with the addition of an organ. I loved them both. The other bands, I couldn’t begin to place them, they were all good. Other than the first two, it was hard to find a band better than The Electras (before me), in my opinion.

60s: Did The Electras write any original songs? Who was the band's primary songwriter?
LM: Tom Rule wrote two songs. One was slow and one was medium paced. Both had vocals. Neither one caught on. We only played them live for about two months before we dropped them.

60s: Why didn't The Electras record?
MM/LM: We didn't have any popular originals.

60s: Did the band make any local TV appearances?
MM: No.

60s: When and why did The Electras break up?
LM: Our fifth group iteration: Del Masse (formerly of The Invaders) replaced Tom Rule on vocals and lead guitar in Spring 1967, and the band name was changed to Nobodys Children. There were more personnel changes--a three piece brass section was added, and the band name eventually was changed to Doormouse.  Doormouse disbanded in the summer of 1972. At that time there were only two of us who were from The Electras: Ed Hoyt and me. I moved to South Carolina in September 1972.

60s: How do you best summarize your experiences with The Electras?
LM: I was in The Electras during the '60s and, pardon the term but, it was electrifying. I met so many talented musicians. We were young and we learned a lot about music, business, people and life. We worked hard and we had fun. We were fortunate in that our individual personalities blended. We were friends and a team. We had support from our families and friends. Their support helped us develop our talents which in turn helped us satisfy our audiences. Our feedback from our audiences was always positive and that is why we constantly strived to grow in our music. We were popular and had a good following in each of the geographic areas were we played. Tom lived in Middlebury, Mike in Bristol, Bill in Vergennes, while I lived in Burlington. We practiced in Bristol. We had to travel just to practice so we each had homework such that we were prepared for practice. When we played it was always an "away game" for most of the band. We thoroughly enjoyed seeing the familiar faces in the various venues. A great time was had by all and these fond memories will be forever.

BY: Memorable is the best way to explain the experience for me. It was exciting; we played with exceptional passion. Everyone “felt’ the experience. Every time we played, we gave our all. We left it all on the stage. Each of the guys in the band got along nicely and we would go to ends of the earth to play—in a sense. Really, Louie would hitch-hike down to Vergennes, meet me, and together, we would hitch-hike to Middlebury to practice and sometimes all the way down to Lake Dunmore in Vermont, where we used to play quite a bit during the summer of 1965. We would have walked anywhere, anytime. That’s one of things I remember so much; nothing could stand in our way and hold us back. And when we finally made it to the stage we created beautiful music and the memories of those special times will remain in hearts and minds forever.