Tuesday, June 27, 2006
In a brick building on the southeast corner of Ninth and New Hampshire Streets where the white paint is peeling off the walls and the wooden floorboards are covered in a gray layer of dust, old friends and their families gathered on Saturday evening to see the band “Lonnie Fame and the Belltones” perform for the first time in 30 years.
“The Belltones” are all about one thing — having fun, just like they were when they got together at KU in the early ‘70s. Made up of John Bagby, Rick Caplan, Rick Sherman, Alec Pollard, Mark Bovos, Pete Martin, Bill Sniffen and Mike Herzmark, the cover band rocked the dust right off the dance floor to the rhythm of dozens of famous hits from the ‘50s and ‘60s, such as “Johnny Be Good,” “Rockin’ Robin” and “Great Balls of Fire.”
The band joked throughout the entire performance, and at one point, four members crudely dressed up as women when they played “My Boyfriend’s Back” and “If I was Bobby’s Girl.” They even held a bubble gum blowing contest after throwing dozens of pieces into the crowd.
Members of the band "Lonnie Fame and the Belltones" pose for a picture after their show at a house on Ninth and New Hampshire Streets. The band, which played during the early 70s in Lawrence, played together last Saturday for the first time in 30 years.
“A lot of real bands would get pissed off because these guys would play so many gigs,” Phil Menkin, Lawrence resident and a long-time friend of the band, said.
Barb Sniffen from Grants Pass, Ore., who is married to the drummer’s brother, remembered when “The Belltones” played at the Ballroom in the Kansas Union in 1972 and rode motorcycles onto the stage after sneaking them in through the back door.
“This is great,” she said. “It brings back all the memories, all the same old gags. They move a little slower, but I’m impressed.”
The ballroom concert was a breakthrough for the band, which had been playing at college parties and small downtown venues. It was also the first concert performed at the Union when beer was allowed.
“The Belltones” eventually ended up touring the Midwest, and after a short-lived small amount of success and fame, everyone went their separate ways. Some now live as close as Prairie Village while others live as far as Pennsylvania and California, with careers ranging from journalism to psychiatry.
Sherman, the keyboard player, was the only member who went on to become a professional musician.
“We want everyone on the dance floor, men, women, children and grandparents,” Sherman told the audience, who clapped and stomped “The Belltones” back onto the stage for an encore. After two more songs the band was finished.
“That really is all the songs we know,” Pollard said. “We’ll see you all in another 30 years.”
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