Other Five Although part of the vibrant Kansas music scene of the 1960's, The Other Five based their look and sound more on Paul Revere & The Raiders than on the popular show bands that the state is fondly remembered for.  Plying their trade at teen dances, sock hops and bars, the group became very popular in a short period of time.  Like most of the groups of the era, college, military and girlfriends caused the band to break up in 1967.  Bill Bailey and Duke Gaiser share their recollections and, in so doing, explain why The Other Five, and garage bands in general, are cool... An Interview With Bill Bailey and Duke Gaiser 60sgaragebands.com (60s): How did you first get interested in music? Bill Bailiey (BB): I was a very young guy and my mother was having me take piano lessons from a very mean old gal that would smack my hands with her baton for making any errors, including hand posture. I got totally scared of her and was not having any fun at all. I did learn to read music though. Immediately following the escape from the piano came the violin and I did fairly well with it. Being able to read music and having a natural ear came in handy. The problem was all of the music was classical. While I enjoy the classics I was losing focus due to Chuck Berry tunes I listened to on AM stations that skipped into our radio space late at night from powerful AM stations like WLS in Chicago. I was probably 14 and began whining about wanting a guitar. So, on my 14th birthday, Mom presented me with a Fiesta brand electric guitar and lessons. Due to the previous musical training, I went trough the first three books in a week. A couple of months later I was teaching. I only took music seriously with the guitar.   While we had a local radio station, it tended to play Perry Como-type of music and actually shut down about 8:00 PM. A friend and I continued to sit in the car late at night and listen to all kinds of current music we otherwise would not have been exposed to. The year was about 1962 or so. Even then I noticed I had a tendency to like the blues when and if I heard a recording. The Top 40 stuff was great and ever changing but in many cases I felt like it was just 12 bar blues tunes with a different beat and lyrics to fit. The good part were the times my uncle and I would sit in the parking lot of bars and listen to early local bands doing their thing. I knew then I had to form a band. Duke Gaiser (DG): I don't remember. I started playing the trumpet and piano at a very early age. 60s: Was The Other Five your first band? BB: No.  My good friend, Terry Blackburn, and I began to play along with records in my basement. Terry wanted to be a drummer but had no drums. My sister had a snare drum and stand; then we used a trash can lid for a cymbal, and he stomped on an old suit case for a bass drum. I didn’t have an amplifier so Terry, being an electronic guy, rigged up an old reel-to-reel tape recorder to be my amplifier. We met a neighbor named Phil Foreman who had an acoustic guitar and liked to sing and for the day he really got into it. We would play 'Rockin' Robin' hundreds of times. We then drifted into some Chuck Berry and Johnny Rivers music. Phil became the third guy and also joined our AM listening duty out in Dad’s car. With maybe five songs under our belts, we continued to play along with records and at our first public thing--a party at Phil’s house--where we sort of put on a performance. It was scary but fun for all. We then discovered we could actually be a band and figured we needed a name. We threw out a bunch of ideas and fought over them for a while. Meanwhile, my basset hound, was lying there so we called ourselves The Bassets.  It was then that I began to whine about (needing) a new guitar and amp, a PA system, and Terry (getting) some drums. Terry’s dad produced a drum kit and through my teaching job at the music store I secured a new guitar and amp. We were ready to go except for Phil, who never went electric and seemed to drift away at times from the group. Terry found an old Bogen Amplifier and we soon had a PA system mostly hand built. Time has robbed my memory of just how long The Bassets existed but it wasn’t long and we played only a few times where we got by without the record player. In high school band I met Duke Gaiser and he and I decided we’d form a band and make something of it. Boom--The Bassets were finished, friendships tested, and I was off to do something else. DG: My first band was Freddie and The Fenders. I played sax.  I played with a couple of other bands but I was too young (around 13 or 14) and couldn't play the late night gigs so they didn't amount to anything.  My brother Chris and I started playing together very young.  We used to practice in our home every day and all the neighbor kids would come over and dance.  We rigged up a PA system with our parents’ home stereo and the reel-to-reel tape microphone.  Chris and I started Duke and The Shrinks and we changed our name to The Untouchables or something.  Then Bill and I hooked up in junior high school and the three of us started practicing together.  In no time we mastered The Ventures’ instrumentals.  Having my brother on drums and me on bass couldn't have been a better natural match for keeping the beat and rhythm together.  It was so natural for us, that when one would take a breath the other would follow.  Then Bill entered our life with his magic fingers on his guitar.  I still remember Bill practicing to master the 12-string guitar until his fingers were bleeding.  We were the backbone to many years of music together in various bands, with The Other Five being the most successful. The Other Five at the American Legion in 1965. 60s: Where and when was The Other Five formed? BB: I think it was late 1964 in Parsons, Kansas. Duke, his brother Chris, and I got together and since we had previously had musical training we had no problem figuring out songs--and performing in public was no big deal. The problem was we couldn’t sing a lick. Duke introduced us to Alan Smith, who swaggered in as the lead singer and frontman. We learned a few more songs, changed some keys to others to fit Alan, and then became convinced we needed another guitar player. We met John Blair, who played well plus his family had a trailer business and we soon had a custom trailer made. After naming the band The Other Five, we had a custom paint job on the trailer. Duke’s dad made some great lighting equipment as well. We were a band. We practiced a lot and all took it very seriously. We actually had a chance to visit Kustom Electronics in Chanute, Kansas, where we outfitted the band with matching guitar amps and a PA system. We thought the rolled and pleated look was hot. The 15" horn in the top of my speaker enclosure ruined my left ear for life! DG: At first it was just the three of us, Bill, Chris and I, playing The Ventures’ instrumentals and getting all the neighbors dancing in the street.  I don't remember how or when we got around to forming The Other Five, but I do remember my mother naming the band.  She said there was the Dave Clark Five, We Five and several others so she said, “Why don't you guys call yourselves The Other Five?” The Other Five were Bill Bailey - lead guitar/keyboards; Duke Gaiser - bass/trumpet/sax/keyboards; Chris Gaiser – drums; John Blair - rhythm guitar/keyboards; and Allen Smith - lead vocals.  I played 13 instruments over the years but only a few in rock and roll; I couldn't find a way to fit in the oboe and bassoon.   60s: How would you describe the band's sound? What bands influenced you? BB: Well, the band's sound was your basic guitars and drums, typical for the day. Since we did cover songs we tried to sound like the recording but I think we differed enough to at least hold everyone’s interest. No one ever got a dirty look for adlibbing. But the Paul Revere and The Raiders look and sound won out and we became a tribute band to some extent given the fact that Paul Revere and The Raiders really didn’t have a lot recorded at the time. What they did have out was high on the charts. So, the costume thing and show was formed around Paul Revere and The Raiders  performances. It was pretty wild because you couldn’t do a full 45-minute set of their stuff.  I don’t think we concentrated on any particular sound as much as we did a show and prayed people would dance. DG: Our biggest influences were The Ventures, The Kingsmen, and Paul Revere and The Raiders, to mention a few.  In a normal three-hour set we would play the first hour of the songs that were our favorites, the second hour was the top ten on the Billboard charts and the third hour was our Paul Revere and The Raiders hour.  We were all dedicated musicians and took our work seriously.  We practiced day and night knowing we would get out what we put into our band.  To play the top songs of the day from the radio back then, there was no sheet music; it would usually come out a month or two after the songs hit Billboard.  There were no cassette tape machines, only reel-to-reel and 45 records, so when a hit would come out we would buy the record, sit down and learn each of our parts by ear.  Some were very difficult and took us days to accomplish.  I distinctly remember a particular song by The Rolling Stones we mastered using the 45 record and played it one night and someone came up to us and asked, “Are you singing the words ‘Hey, you, get off of my plow?”  We said yes and, of course, the words sung by those Brits were "Get Off Of My Cloud."  It was too funny, and could only happen to us Kansas farm boys. 60s: What was the local rock and roll scene like in the '60s? BB: For me it was all way too much to take in and absorb. I remember the rock and roll from 1960 and before as being a little more aggressive in getting people off their butts to dance. The mid-Sixties seemed both gimmicky and a lot of groups were trying to express themselves as artists. Things slowly evolved into the concert thing where influences outside of the music came into play. We generally were happy to keep people dancing. None of us were cut out for the drug scene. DG: It was very competitive with many garage bands competing against each other. We somehow always seemed to have survived.  I think the secret was we loved music and we loved what we did.  I think the original three of us, Bill, Chris and I, would have preferred spending our time with music like The Ventures and really getting serious about doing impossible songs together and even jazz, but rock had its own agenda and if we wanted to make money and possibly reach stardom we had to follow the popular side of the ‘60s and follow the charts. At the Go Go, 1965. At the Go Go, 1965. 60s: Where did the band typically play? BB: We actually played anywhere we could get in, and the phone calls never stopped. My preference was bars. DG: Our typical bookings were the local dance halls, go go clubs, high schools and college proms.  Of course our favorite places to play were the nightclubs that sold beer; we always received big tips and received free beer most of the time.     60s: Did you play any of the local teen clubs? BB: We definitely played rec center teen dances and a few sock hops, but we were in the bars early on where you could make some money. The teen clubs were heavily monitored by adults and this hampered kids having a good time. Personally, they bored me. DG: We played many nights at the go go clubs and in the small towns of Eastern Kansas.  Most of the time we played at VFW halls and American Legions on Friday and Saturday nights.  In those small towns we would rent out the halls and kids would come from miles around.  I still remember back in those days the cost was only $1 to get into the dance halls and we would get a cut of the gate making a good hundred dollars each.  It was a wad of $1 bills that would make you feel rich. 60s: Did The Other Five participate in any battle of the bands? BB: I remember one battle of the bands but no one came up and declared a winner. My best memory of the night was that the kids seemed confused and many left at the break between bands. It was kind of a “so what” night. DG: Back in our day the union didn't particularly like the battle of the bands idea.  We paved the way in our home town hosting one of the first.  We played against a band that was influenced by The Young Rascals, so our style and theirs style seemed to complement each other.  I don't remember a winner. 60s: How far was the band's "touring" territory? BB: We never set out on tour using a booking agency. We were in high school making more money than our parents so why worry? We had too much too soon to be honest. We’d travel wherever we needed to but the overnight gigs were few. DG: We toured all over Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri.  We were located in the lower right hand corner of Kansas so jumping over the border was pretty common for us.  Unfortunately we were all in high school so our touring was limited to where we could travel without staying all night somewhere.  I do remember getting home sometimes at 3:00 AM or 4:00 AM when my Dad was getting up to go to work, and we weren't out drinking—we working ourselves and just getting home.  He understood since we were all high school kids.  But we all kept our noses clean back in those days.  I don't know why; we were lucky I guess.  Don't get me wrong.  We always enjoyed a beer after the show but that was usually it.  One beer and we would be on our way back home.  I do remember we re-invested much of our money back into the band—always upgrading to newer equipment, costumes or something.  It was important back then if you wanted to stay on top. 60s: What other local groups of the era do you especially recall? BB: There was The XL’s, and The Sebrings, both exceptionally talented groups. The problem was we didn’t have time to check them out since we were working every weekend. DG: The Committee, The Flippers, Doug Clark and The Hot Nuts (a real name...too funny) are a few. 60s: Did The Other Five have a manager? BB: Duke’s dad took care of all the bookings and word of mouth did the rest. DG: Our Manager was my father, Fred Gaiser.  Of course being his son I have to say he did a wonderful job.  He did a great job for our band.  He sometimes worked tirelessly traveling all over the three states promoting our band with posters and meeting with local VFW and American Legion teams as well as visiting the local high schools and colleges. The Fantabulous Other Five! The Other Five and their custom trailer. 60s: How popular locally did The Other Five become? BB: I think the band was very popular, but I base most of that opinion on the fact that we were booked solid.  Since we were from a town of about 13,000 souls we had to expand our exposure and didn’t realize it at the time. When you don’t dedicate the time and travel to do so, your time as a band is doomed to fail. 60s: Why didn't The Other Five record? BB: We had some tape recording from gigs but I don’t know where they wound up. We never did a studio recording and I can’t recall the subject ever coming up.  I have a cassette duplicate somewhere. The last time I listened to it was probably in the '80s. It sounded like The Other Five! I picked my guitar work to pieces (while listening to it) since I’m naturally hard on myself. DG: Back in our time, there wasn't much of an opportunity to record for kids.  You had to be on the East or West Coast, in Motor City or in Nashville.  The only recording device back then was a reel-to-reel tape recorder.  I have a few reel-to-reel recordings, but I no longer have a machine to play them on. 60s: Did The Other Five write any original songs?  BB: I can recall some effort to write a tune but nothing came of it. DG: Bill and I wrote a couple of songs together but nothing ever came of them.  Of course, being instrumental at heart, Bill and I could play about anything and we loved to just sit down with my brother Chris and simply jam. The Other Five on the set of Chanel 12 A Go Go in July 1966. 60s: Did the band make any local TV appearances? BB: We did a couple of TV things. One in Wichita, Kansas and another during a Miss America thing in 1966.  DG: We did perform a few times on TV.  The most memorable was Channel 12 A Go Go in Wichita.  I do remember one of the Channel 12 A Go Go shows we played was on the air at 10:00 AM Saturday.  We had just finished a show in Missouri or Oklahoma somewhere and we had to drive all night to get to the show and set up our equipment on time.  So we weren't the sharpest looking dudes that one time…that’s for sure.     60s: What year and why did the band break up? DG: I don't remember what year, probably around 1967.  We broke up because of military, college, women; one thing or another seemed to hit us all about the same time. BB: The Other Five broke up in '67 or so.  The Other Five and, later, Act Five fell victim to things like graduations, girlfriends, college, military, and maybe an ego or two. Mostly a stupid argument would set off threats of quitting and eventually...who cares? Getting a real job was also a big factor when the band pay rates fell drastically from what they were originally. Regardless, I made a lot more money in the band than I did at my first $1.85/hour “real” factory job. Ad for an Act Five Appearance. 60s: Who were Act Five? BB: Duke and I did a couple short lived bands and one was Act Five. We had several members come and go in that band: David Hewitt on keyboards and Mike Farran on vocals; the best was with Terry Foster on keyboards and vocals. Terry was an old school rocker and really performed well. Classy guy, he was. Terry went into the Army in 1968. DG: We played some really good shows, and picked up an organ player that was out of this world, Terry Foster. I think we were the best musically in that group but we didn't keep up with the Top 40 songs of the day and stuck with many of the old standards. Terry was older than Bill, Chris and I and really didn’t want to practice that much if I remember.  But we were all getting sidetracked with college and women and real jobs so it was inevitable I think.  Like I said, I don't remember exactly (why we broke up). BB: I went ahead with some others but I was picky. I was with The Sensational Showmen out of Chanute for a year or so but I was getting married and bailed out early. It was a great band too! My future father-inlaw demanded I get a “real” job. I had rejoined my old friend Terry Blackburn for The Showmen stint.  Later Terry and I did a duo acoustic sort of thing that did well so that we added Doug Rike on Hammond organ and really did well as a trio. We added my brother, Jeff Bailey, on drums. We called this one Bailey, Blackburn, and Rike; we played locally and did well. Our three-part vocal harmony was top notch. I can’t remember how long we played but it was all over around 1978 for me. 60s: What keeps you busy today? BB: I keep the guitars out and handy to get at but don’t perform out. I lived in Houston from 1995 to 2001 and did some blues Clubs open mic nights, which I really enjoyed. I met a lot of older performers who were involved with big name recording and touring acts through the years. It's very sad to see top notch musicians out of work and I don’t know how they were surviving but the simple act of getting up on stage certainly cheered them up. Otherwise I got a day job at a manufacturing company in 1969 and eventually became a manufacturing engineer.  I’ve done pretty well with this and would be eyeballing retirement if it weren’t for the economy at the moment. DG: I don't play anymore. I left music in 1969 for personal reasons I'll explain someday if you are interested.  I still miss music and performing to this day.  I'm an old-timer with a small company called IBM for 37 years...so I still play the keyboard; I just make a different kind of music now. 60s: How do you best summarize your experiences with The Other Five? DG: Our band was the best thing that could have happened to me back in those days. I was never that beautiful as a young man so the popularity was a blessing for sure. We made a bunch of money, enjoyed success and had a great time for young men. The band helped me pay for college and kept me out of trouble in the ‘60s for sure.  It was a true family business back in those days with all of our mothers sewing our costumes and our parents being our biggest supporters and promoters.  I have a lifelong friendship with Bill.  I don't think any two guys could have been closer or learned more together.  His friendship alone over all these years is probably the best thing that came out of being in The Other Five.  There was some God-given magic between the "core" to The Other Five.  Three guys—Bill, Chris and Duke—could walk, talk and breathe in unison and, when we played, we could pause in the middle of a song and start it up again without thinking.  It was amazing.   BB: The level of intensity of our practice schedule never let me down as a performer. I never woke up the next day and felt as though we had a bad night. My compliments to all involved for that. Not many can say something like that. I don’t have many regrets other than knowing I didn’t seize a few opportunities that came along during those days. But I really think I was getting close to my limit with the music genre we elected to perform. What I learned about the thousands of people I observed having a great time is the best memory I could ask for. Any of us that do this for a length of time can read a venue, the crowd, and the clique faster than the speed of light. I thank all the folks I performed with, the venues, and the musical climate for getting me out, providing me with some choices and just plain having a great time.  Garage bands are cool. At band practice, 1966. At band practice, 1966. The Other Five. The Other Five in their "Tom Jones" shirts. The Act Five make the newspaper...