It was 40 years ago today

Anniversary of the Beatles' classic album "Sgt. Pepper" sparks warm memories of the Cheyenne rock 'n' roll scene in the 1960s. Many well-known bands played at Storey Gym and at the Pavilion.

By Rodger McDaniel
“It was 20 years ago today, Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play.”

The anniversary of this Beatles classic resurrected some great memories.

It was 1965, the summer before my senior year in high school. Tom Jones’ “What’s New Pussycat” was on the Top 40 charts. Cheyenne’s rock station, KCHY, had a

Paul Revere and the Raiders performed in Cheyenne in the '60s.

contest. I don’t remember the prize, but the winner was whoever could teach their parakeet to say, “What’s New Pussycat.”

Like, who could do that? Right? So, I took an old set of z-patterned seat covers off my 1949 Ford, crafted a parakeet suit, added cardboard wings and headed for KCHY. The station was across the street from the old 18th Street Post Office. A large window allowed pedestrians to watch DJs work. I stood in front of the window, flapping my wings and chirping, “What’ new pussycat.”

I didn’t win the contest, but the station owner asked me if I’d like to do some deejaying for him. Just like that, I was part of Cheyenne’s 1960s rock ’n’ roll scene.

When I started, the Beatles’ “Help” was new, the McCoys were singing “Hang on Sloopy,” and the Stones were about to release “Get Off My Cloud.”

The years 1965 through ’68 were the best of times. The British Invasion

brought the Dave Clark Five, Peter and Gordon, Chad and Jeremy, the Kinks, the Yardbirds and Dusty Springfield, among others. They challenged U.S. rockers like the Supremes, the Righteous Brothers, Elvis and The Beach Boys. There were protest singers like Dylan, Barry McGuire, and Peter, Paul and Mary, animated by the Vietnam War, the civil rights movement and heightened interest in environmental matters.

Between ’65 and ’69, I worked back and forth between KCHY and KRAE; and moved to New Mexico, spinning records at a country-western station, K-Happy Radio. But my heart was in rock. For a summer, I did a stint at KDZA, a classic rock station in Pueblo, Colorado, before heading back to Cheyenne.

Back at KCHY briefly, I was hired again at KRAE, working with people who had a big impact on my life. Tom Bauman, KRAE’s longtime owner, was someone who taught me a lot about not just radio, but the import of good public service.

Cheyenne, small as it was, proved a surprisingly profitable venue for nationally known rock acts. Many put on wonderful shows at Storey Gym and the Pavilion, now the Old West Museum in Lions Park. We booked acts like Paul Revere and the Raiders, Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs, the Strawberry Alarm Clock and others, including Ian Whitcomb, a high-pitched Englishman who had one hit that made it to the top, “You Turn Me On.”

Especially popular were the Moonrakers, a Denver group that made a name for itself first in the Rocky Mountain region and then around the country.

There were a number of terrific local bands performing often at places like the Surrey Shack in Holliday Park, the Community House at Lions Park, and for homecoming, turnabout and proms.

I fear I’ll leave some good ones out. But I recall high-schoolers Bruce Crow, Rodney Zwonitzer, Marc Anderson and Charlie Furman formed a group they called The Avantis. Boyd Moon, Dick Hill, Jimmy French and Roger Bonnette were The Spirits. Each was popular among Cheyenne’s young people and played often throughout the community.

One of my favorites was Jimmy Valdez and the Blues Evolution. Yep, the one-time Cheyenne city councilman, Jimmy Valdez, was the leader of the band in those days before his public service. It’s where I first met Jimmy. His band was practicing in a garage just off a 12th Street alley in Cheyenne. As a DJ, I booked the band into venues throughout southeast Wyoming, northern Colorado and southwest Nebraska. They made a record of an oldie, “Daddy’s Home.”

Hopefully readers will add the names of their favorites to these lists. Wonderful music makes great memories. There’s a reason that even today radio stations can make money playing nothing but the music of the ’60s.

Rodger McDaniel is the pastor at Highlands Presbyterian Church in Cheyenne. He lives in Laramie.