The first time a band gets together it is like going on a date with four people at the same time. You don’t know what to expect. Can they play? What about personality? You know you are going to spend a lot of time together rehearsing and playing jobs. Can the other guy take criticism? Fortunately, we clicked. The result was a very tight, strong band. It was like a family, and it showed onstage and off. We would eat together, go to movies together, go on dates together, stay at each other’s homes, and most important; after finishing up a 6-hour gig at 2 AM we would find a 24-hour bowling alley and bowl until 5 or 6 AM. It was a party and we were loving it. Thank God none of us got involved in drugs! We would never have been able to keep it up. We never looked at it as work. We learned hundreds of songs. I had to listen to songs many times before I would remember the lyrics. The other guys could listen a couple of times and play their parts. I really felt inferior because all I did was sing and fill in on sax or flute. They carried the load of making the music. But it sounded good and that is all that mattered.

Now that we had a band that could go somewhere we needed a theme. As founder of the band, Jim took on the task of writing it. It became the first song we played every time we performed; The City Squire Theme Song. (Amateurish, yes, but we were brand new, 15-16 years old, and our first time in a recording studio together.)

We kept very busy at local venues, but especially one; The Playboy Lounge. The Beatles had the Cavern and we had the Playboy Lounge. It was a small lounge with a little stage, small dance floor, and it sat about a hundred people. We packed it every night we played. Many nights there wasn’t even standing room available. As small as it was, it’s where we learned to work a crowd. This is what you would have heard if you popped in to see us. Please keep in mind that this was recorded live on a reel-to-reel machine with two open mikes near the stage. No mixing, no effects, just music.