middle: Larry Thiel, Tom Martin, Jim King,
Bruce Mewhorter; rear: Dan Vaughn
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| Zeke in 1972: front: Mark Strasser; middle: Larry Thiel, Tom Martin, Jim King, Bruce Mewhorter; rear: Dan Vaughn |
The year I graduated from USHS, 1972, was the year of Zeke. Just a quick overview from the Festival press release: in that year Zeke won the Ohio Battle of the Bands, placed second in the national Battle of the Bands in South Carolina, and were named Ohio's best rock band. They also performed for a week at Cedar Point that summer. That's also the summer of their Harrison Smith Park concert that I captured on cassette tape and have posted elsewhere on this website. In September I moved to Bowling Green for college, so lost touch and do not know what followed. Since 1972 was 36 years ago, I assume they broke up soon after.
The four surviving members of Zeke were on hand to perform: singer Daniel "Danny" Vaughn (USHS 1970), drummer Bruce Mewhorter (USHS 1970), keyboardist Larry Thiel (USHS 1971), and lead guitarist Mark Strasser (USHS 1972) who came into town for the first time in over 25 years from his home in Lakeland Florida. Eric King played bass in place of his father, the late bassist Jim King (USHS 1970), and Tom "Fritz" Martin Jr played rhythm guitar in place of his father, the late rhythm guitarist Tom Martin (USHS 1967). Eric's brother Justin King joined in on percussion. Miranda King Inglis sang in place of early Zeke vocalist, the late Pam Johnson (USHS 1970). Lead guitarist Isaac "Dr. Ike" Orians, who subbed for Strasser in rehearsals, rounded out the lineup. Ken Savidge (USHS 1972) traveled from his home near Myrtle Beach, SC, to help with the sound and lighting systems.
If you attended the USHS class of 1972's 35th Reunion in 2007, you will remember Isaac Orians and Eric King as "Dr. Ike and the Funk King", who entertained us very well for the evening (I didn't think it was too loud!). Eric told me that night about the hopes for a Zeke reunion, and I had been looking forward to it for the 11+ months since!
Mr. Vaughn organized not only the Zeke reunion but the entire two-day Wyandot Music Festival that included seven bands on Saturday. Admission was free and all proceeds benefitted the Angeline School and Industries, which celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2008. Money was raised from the sales of refreshments, posters, T-shirts, DVDs and raffles. Mark Strasser donated the guitar he was playing that night to be raffled. He'd played it since 1997 and figured it was worth $3000. Wayne Clark won it in the drawing and by the looks of the strings of tickets hanging from his arm the odds were in his favor! I signed up to get a DVD which should arrive by the end of the summer.
I drove up from Columbus Saturday afternoon, arriving at the fairgrounds at 6 pm. I caught some of the Top Cats' set, featuring Roger Lehman (USHS 1970) on keyboards. They were followed by the first reunion of the night, the first performance in 14 years by Marble. I was living in Missouri 14 years ago so have relied on the Bio essay from the Dr. Ike and the Funk King website for more information: Marble was a USHS band from the early 90s whose members are Tom McNamee on vocals, Matt Marshall on lead guitar, Matt Gamber on rhythm guitar, Eric King on bass, Isaac Orians on drums, and Justin King on percussion (Eric, Isaac and Justin later performed with Zeke). Oh did these guys rock! Matt Gamber, the son of Vicky (Gottfried) Utley (USHS 1971), flew in from Boston to perform. I spoke with his grandparents Richard "Dick" and Mary Ellen Gottfried before the Marble set. From the age of 4 until I left for BGSU, I lived less than a mile from Dick, Mary Ellen, Rick, Vicky and Babs in Salem Township.
Those of you who live out of town may appreciate hearing a little more about who I saw and talked to that evening. You may also appreciate that many of them recognized me and called me out, as I was hard-pressed to recognize them after so many years! It's been just less than a year since our class reunion, so of course I recognized those classmates even with their sunglasses. In no particular order, I talked to Dave Courtad, Jan Case, Steve Reinschell, Mike Morehart (who traveled from Fremont), Jeannie (Van Scoit) Garrison (who traveled from Pittsburgh PA), Becky (Reber) Romich, Ken Savidge (who traveled from Murrell's Inlet, SC), Mark Strasser (who traveled from Lakeland, FL), Ed Stephan, Deb (Boes) Griswold, Dellane (Johnson) Dillon, Terry Koehler, Cindy Wieging, Kate (Margraf) Emerine, Joe Orians, John Brodman, Steve Donaugh (briefly), Marc Hart, Chris (Turney) Rall, her husband Joe Rall and two of his brothers, and last but certainly not least, Marty McCord, who traveled all the way from Nashville TN and stayed with me and Nancy Friday night.
Zeke took the stage a bit after 8:30 pm, played a full set, paused briefly for the raffle drawings,then played a short acoustic set. This was followed by 10 pm fireworks across the road at the high school. After the fireworks, they played another set and wrapped up with a cast bow just after 11:30. In short, this was an incredible performance! In the immortal words of Pete Townshend, "the kids are alright"; the younger generation really shone and catapulted the concert beyond simple nostalgia into a musically satisfying experience. They pushed the oldsters and Bruce Mewhorter especially rose to the occasion. Mark Strasser was clearly moved by the experience and expressed his love for bandmates and hometown. The "redneck teleprompter" was an innovative and touching addition: a vertical plywood frame containing a scroll and hand cranks to scroll through the set list and lyrics. It was a performance for the community, and the audience indeed were a cross-section of the Upper Sandusky community. Kids in strollers, tattooed young men (and women), families, boomers, older folks with canes.
The setlist follows. I may have missed a song or two, and a couple may be out of order but this is pretty close:
The songs they selected represent their musical heritage along with other hits from the era and more recent songs that showcase the band's and individual members' strengths. By my count, they played at least seven songs that they also played at their 1972 Harrison Smith park concert. The Detroit influence is obvious (Seger, Grand Funk, Alice) and their tight vocal harmonies on old CSN&Y favorites were also showcased on the newer Seven Bridges Road. A number of songs, most notably Locomotive Breath, benefitted greatly from the expanded line-up. Sorry, I don't know who played the flute on that one. With the newer selections, they gave a glimpse of what a contemporary Zeke band would play and sound like. This was a history lesson, a primer on rock music performance, and a reminder to those of us who followed them of just how special they were.
There you have it! There may be a couple mistakes in this account, but it is personal and heartfelt. This was an electrifying evening; I never did settle into a deep sleep that night. Contact me at psanderson@ameritech.net if you want any full-resolution (2-3 MB each) photos for printing. Click on any image to see related photos -- enjoy!
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| Zeke Lives! | A few of my friends | A few photos of Marble |
* Side note to Mike Tesmer: You might recall Uriah Heep's Stealin' playing on the jukebox at The Gaslight one night: you and I were leaning against it and when the quiet intro kicked into the loud section, we jumped and caused the record to skip -- Popeye shot us a mean look and I thought we'd be tossed out for sure!