The SOC HOP stories

My Contact Information

2008-02-12T09:38:00.000-08:00

I am still an Overland Park, KS. resident. You can mail me at P.O. Box 4202, O.P.,KS 66204.
You can email me at mjayweaver@hotmail.com or phone me at 913-205-1825.

What A Year !

2007-09-28T13:04:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been quite a year. This has been just so much fun. Starting with the Soc Hop Reinvented at Knuckleheads on August 31st, 2006 right on through Jam Night with The Silver Tones at Marty's Blues Cafe on September 12, 2007, it has been a time I would have never dreamed possible, though over the last 40 years I have often dreamt of it. Well, it has indeed been a dream come true for me and I have greatly enjoyed my reconnection with all of those who have been involved. I have seen more old friends and made more posts to this blog than I would have imagined likely, and it has indeed been fun, and I hope to continue doing both, though I may not be able to keep up the constant pace of it all. I have recently joined the Kansas City Blues Society and hope to become an active member of this great organization which is nationally recognized for 'keeping the blues alive in KC'. Future posts here, as well as the newsletter that I email out, may include recomendations and reviews of local events other than just The Silver Tones, who will always remain dear to my heart. For a schedule of The Silver Tones play dates you can always check in at http://www.frankplas.com/ . Also, as the last few posts indicate, I have become somewhat of a regular at Marty's Blues Cafe. Marty is a great guy trying to do a great thing, and if you haven't been yet, you ought to go. The food is good and the music is always great. It's a cozy atmosphere and for me, it's close to home, which makes it really convenient. Maybe I'll see you there. The next few posts are going to be a recap of pictures of both the old and the new SOC HOP, and will include some newly found pictures of both places that I came across while sorting through my Dad's stuff. Till then....MW

Silver Toned History

2007-09-10T14:07:00.000-07:00

"The Fabulous Silver Tones made history Friday night when they made their first Johnson County club performance in over 44 years.," advised Tom Jambrosic. It was, indeed, a party at Marty’s when Lil’ Joe Sherrick, Leo Castanza, and Frank Plas took the stage at Marty’s Blues Café in Merriam. After a few brief comments by Mr. Marty Cohen, the microphone was turned over to the wonderful Connie Crash, blues DJ at KKFI FM Radio and part-time bar host at Marty’s, who introduced The Silver Tones. She made note of the fact that she had just read the KC Star article about The Soc Hop and The Silver Tones, and ask Frank about the KUDL Radio hits, Midnight Thunder and Dimples, both of which we got to hear before the evening was over. I thought the guys sounded great and enjoyed hearing many of my old favorites as well as some new material they just recently worked up. Everyone seemed to be having a great time, and there were few empty seats in the house, though most of those there were the regular Silver Tones fans who usually show up at their events. I am sad to say there are a lot of people who respond to my emails saying they’ll be there, but then fail to show up (you know who you are). I guess that’s just the way it is and maybe someday the wall flowers will run out of excuses and get out of the house and have a little fun. Anyway, I think it is fun. Actually, for me, it has been a very fun year of remembering all the fun people and times that were, as Rod Clarke called it, ‘a special window of time’ in our lives. And now we are getting to experience it again - in many ways it is different now - but in many ways - it’s still the same. When out on the dance floor, the experience is the same (oh, but for some younger knees and healthier lungs). When watching Joe, or Frank, or the sticks of the drummer, the experience is the same, excepting that now their music brings back memories of the past, when before, those very memories were in the process of being made. To all of those Silver Tones fans who helped to celebrate the first year of The Silver Tones rebirth, thank you so much for joining in the fun. And for those of you who aren’t showing up, You Don’t Know What You’ve Been Missing. I hope you will all join in for a fun time on Wednesday evening for Jam Night At Marty’s Blues Café hosted by The Fabulous Silver Tones. Music starts at 7:00PM and Marty’s Menu starts whenever you get there. Come have dinner and enjoy some tunes. If you sing or play, please join the jam. And remember, the best color in music is the blues.

JUST FOR THE RECORD

2007-08-26T11:39:00.000-07:00

I had asked Lil Joe Sherrick and others to comment on their experience attending last Friday evenings event: Kansas City’s Greatest Reunion Jam, which was held at the H&R Block World Headquarters building in downtown Kansas City. The event, from 6:00 - 10:00 was billed as ‘The Classmen and Friends”. The promo flier read: “Great Kansas City rock bands from the 60's and 70's will reunite and perform at the H&R Block World Headquarters. The evening will feature our own Drew Dimmel and The Classmen who recorded hit records with Julie and Graduation Goodbye, The Chesmann, the Fabulous Four, and Garry Mac and the Mac Truque. Enjoy great food, drinks, dancing and an evening of great entertainment in this spectacular new downtown venue. Parking is included in your ticket price. $75.00 per person. Proceeds benefit the Parkinson Foundation of the Heartland and the University of Kansas Medical Center's Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorder Center.” At the time the Promo was put together The Silver Tones were not listed as attending, but they were there and had a great time. Unfortunately the $75.00 per ticket was a little to steep for me, so I did not attend, however it was a Sold Out affair with a limited audience of between 500 and 700, so I was told. Lil Joe Sherrick emailed me saying, “Last evening was very memorable for all of us {who performed at the KC Reunion Jam}. To start with, we did a sound check in the afternoon, then they had a stretch limo pick up all the musicians and our spouses in groups, and took us over to Park Place Towers where they served us hors d'oeuvres, champagne, wine, or whatever we wanted, then took us back to the pavilion, to our dressing room where we rehearsed and got dressed for the evening. Frank, Steve & I dressed in black pinned-striped suits with black shirts and silver ties (thus The Silver Tones) and went on stage first. I can't remember all the songs, but we did open with John Lee Hooker's sexy Baby Lee, we also did Dimples, (Silver Tones style), then had Ron West & Alan Blascoe join us, performing Fannie Mae and then closed with Stevie Ray Vaughns’ Pride & Joy. Next to perform was Ron West's The Chessmen, followed by Mike Myers and The Fab Four, and then Danny Gregory & The Mac Truque. Danny was in top form doing some of his James Brown renditions, then closing the show was Dru & Doug Dimmel with The Classmen. We had a jam at the end doing Sly Stone's Higher. Danny's old bass player, Buddy Haney came in from Oklahoma (he can play 15 different instruments and none of us have seen him in 30 years), along with Bill Organ. Most of the original members from each group were there, and we all had a wonderful time visiting with each other before the show and between sets. Doug & Dru put all this together, and made sure we were all given VIP treatment. They did have a professional camera crew there to video tape the whole event.Wished everyone could have been there. This was a performance I will never forget.”
Ron West’s take read,
“THE SILVER TONES- THE CHESMANN- MAC TRUQUE- THE CLASSMEN- THE FAB FOUR
THE BANDS ALL SOUNDED GREAT, All in all the whole thing was pretty good.
Not Perfect but what the Hell is perfect. FUN is the # 1 priority . WE HAD FUN-
I think all the bands sounded damned good, so I don’t see any losers here. Old farts can still KICK butt.”

And finally Bill Lee, president of the Kansas Music Hall Of Fame, wrote, “ At last night's Reunion Jam in Kansas City, I had a chance to talk with several of the members of the Mac Truque including Garry Mac. He says they've been playing a lot of private parties and business meetings, but do get a public gig from time to time (usually at Jardine's).
Dani Gregory was in good voice and in a good mood. He seemed to be happy with the crowd. Billy Organ played drums. He was one of the two drummers from the old days, plus he played with Garry and Dani in the Roulettes before the Mac Truque. He was in the Bygones with Garry and Buddy Ross before that. The Bygones is another band that should be in the Hall of Fame.
Pat Pearce is playing keyboards with the Mac Truque these days. He also played with the Classmen last night. I kidded him about having another gig later, and he said he probably would drop by one of the clubs and sit in with another band. Three bands in one night's pretty good for anyone. Pat was a HoF inductee in January with the Blue Riddim Band. He is one busy musician”.
Sure Is A Lot Of Musical Talent Right Here In Kansas City.... So Get Out And ENJOY..

Great Kansas City Star article from Aug. 10th, 2007

2007-08-17T12:19:00.000-07:00

KC Star

2007-08-17T12:15:00.000-07:00

A Tribute To My Dad - Mike Weaver

2007-03-28T14:18:00.000-07:00

A tribute to my Dad ! I write this on Tuesday, March 27th, 2007 at 9:00 PM. My Dad died today. Just about four hours ago. He had just turned 84 three weeks ago. He fell down on St. Pats Day, 10 days ago and broke his neck. He also had bleeding in the brain. He was in Neuro ICU at KU Med Center. Surgery repaired the broken neck but the bleeding in the brain caused enough damage that he could not live without life support, which was removed yesterday. The immediate family had just completed a meeting with the representative from the Hospice center where Dad was to be moved within the next few hours, and we were actually leaving the hospital when the Hospice Rep caught up with us and told us that Dad had just stopped breathing. She asked if we wanted to come back up to his room to be with him. We immediately did a U-turn and were back in Dad’s room in just a minute. He was not breathing and his skin looked pale. I pulled the sheet down a little so I could see his chest and I grabbed hold of his lifeless hand, and remembered his firm handshake. He was not breathing. I saw his chest move and heard a small sigh - and then - nothing..... My brother and his wife stepped up beside me and we just stood there looking - looking for any sign - but ....nothing. Dad was dead. I held his hand. Tears came to my eyes. I felt my face smile and that didn’t seem right. But then I realized that I was happy for Dad....he was at peace now....the last ten days had been hell for him. And for the last nine years, since he had his stroke, he had fought the good fight, put on a good front, and always, no matter how gloomy things seemed, he whistled a happy tune and said, "Hey, It’s A Beautiful Day - we’re all just lucky to still be here." And that is who my father was - always the optimist - never a complainer - and eternally thankful. Dad was one who, no matter how gloomy things appeared on the surface, always saw the beauty of the day and was thankful for it...He took me many places and taught me many things. I shall truly miss him...He was more than my dad - he was my friend....

MIDNIGHT THUNDER By Frank Plas

2007-03-12T14:16:00.000-07:00

Click on the picture to enlarge....This should bring back a memory or two.

Frank Plas and The Silver Tones first record, written by Frank and originally called 'Westcoast Walk' first placed on KUDL's chart in position #40 on May 31st, 1960. By July 15th, in just six short weeks, Midnight Thunder moved into position #4. Amazing for four local teenagers - look at the listings and who they were competing against. The Silver Tones beat out 'BeBopALula' by The Everly Brothers, and songs by Duane Eddy, Hank Ballard, Paul Anka, Chubby Checker, The Ventures, and a whole list of other professionals. Quite an accomplisment, I would say.......

PS. You can hear a clip of Midnight Thunder on the Music Page at frankplas.com or you can listen to the whole song by scrolling 3/4 the way thru Dan Martin's website where he has a link to it http://www.martin.mesanetworks.net/banddays.htm This is a great site with lots of info about the old days and it is actually where I first got reconnected to the SOC HOP days after Googling 'The Silver Tones'. The World Wide Web is amazing indeed......

Grand Opening - The New SOC HOP Country Club

2007-03-03T12:14:00.000-08:00

SOC HOPpers Jensen and Landis made this poster with caricatures of The Fabulous Silver Tones announcing the Grand Opening on April 19th, 1962.

Note Roger Calkins' 'long' hair and Rich Stoy's sun glasses - both of which were 'copied' by future artists. Also, of course, is Frank Plas in the center of things and Mike Weakley on the drums. These guys were great.

The New SOC HOP Country Club

2007-03-03T10:43:00.000-08:00

The SOC HOP Country Club - 1962 - located at 8940 Quivira Road, Lenexa, Kansas.
Of course, both of the SOC HOPs are all gone now - and have been for years - where the original barn on 95th street was there are now apartments and on this site on what is now called Marshall Drive, there is a lumber yard on part of the property, and the Quivira Road overpass goes over part of it - but when I drive by that area, I always look, and, strange as it seems, my mind still sees the place, just like it was. In this picture, I can see my car where I parked on off hours, on the walk by the front door. It was my first car actually - a brown '39 Pontiac sedan, with suicide doors and running boards. I loved that car - and I loved The SOC HOP.
Both of them...As I equally love both of my sons, both old and new SOC HOPs meant the very same thing to me - they were both very special places - Oh what fun was had there - by many. But then, nothing lasts forever - and while we can't go back, we can remember.. Do you remember dancing on this beautiful dance floor?

I SURE DO ...

The SOC HOP Country Club

2007-03-03T09:48:00.000-08:00

The year was 1962. The newspaper article was about the new General Motors parts building being built on the west frontage road south of 87th street on New 50 Highway (I-35) in Lenexa. Quivira Road can be seen in the upper right corner. After the curve, as the road heads west towards old downtown Lenexa, the road name changed to Santa Fe. Train tracks parallel the road. Within the drawn in triangle, is the property that had formerly been The Silver Spur Country Club, now the home of The new SOC HOP Country Club. It took several months to clean up and refurbish all the facilities there, which included adding on to the existing dining room a large dance hall. Visible in the close up picture is the parking lot (lower right), party barn to it's left, amphitheater behind the barn, dance hall just above the parking lot, and swimming pools just behind the dance hall. It not only provided me with many hours of entertainment, but many, many hours of labor in helping to keep it all up. Working at The SOC HOP was my first full time job. I remember climbing up on the roof of the dance hall one night, watching the cars go up and down the highway and listening to Roger & The Silver Tones play 'Up On The Roof'. Whenever I hear that song now, it brings that memory alive just like it was yesterday. My how time flies when we are having fun....

The Party Barn

2007-03-03T09:30:00.000-08:00

It may have been only about a fourth as big, yet still, it was a reminder of our origins. The Party Barn at The Soc Hop Country Club was a remanent of the farm that had been located there. It was small, but just the right size for private parties and midweek dances. Like the orginal barn the SOC HOP occupied, this barn was decorated in a western motif, with wagon wheels, lantern lighting and several old cow skulls.

Partying In The Party Barn

2007-03-03T09:04:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, like in the middle of a week when the crowds would be smaller, the band would set up and play in the Party Barn, located on the west end of the parking lot. Dancing was downstairs and the hayloft had picnic tables and a large opening where you could stand and look down upon the patrons. One picture shows Roger Calkins playing his guitar. Standing directly in front of Roger is Gary Heflin, long time SOC HOPper. Gary is dancing with Joni (Calkins) in the pick sweater. Also in this picture are Bob Hampton (behind Joni), Rod Clarke to Roger's left, Mike Hiatt is the SMWest letter jacket, Sharon Young in the dark coat behind Mike, and Fred (Alley Cat) Allison's future wife Terry Leach. In the other picture Fred and Terry move to the beat of Roger and The Holidays.

The outdoor amphitheater

2007-03-03T08:57:00.000-08:00

Upon the occasion of a hot summer's night, it was not unusual for the band to set up and play on the large outdoor stage located to the west of the dance hall. There was a large concrete dancing area as well as a large area covered with picnic tables and benches. Unfortunately, this is the only picture I have of this western themed amphitheater. But we did have some fun times here under the stars...

THE SWIM

2007-03-03T08:30:00.000-08:00

Do you remember doing The Swim at The SOC HOP? There were actually two versions. One was done inside on the dance floor and required the participants to move their arms and pretend they were swimming. The other version was done outside in one of The SOC HOP’s two large swimming pools and required the participants to move their arms and actually swim. While many people remember The SOC HOP as a place to go at night to listen to music and dance, as you can tell by the picture below, there are a lot of people who remember it as the place where they went on a hot summer’s day to cool off in one of the two pools. The pool complex had a rectangular pool with a diving board and a 8-shaped pool which was shallow on both ends and deep in the middle. There was also a children’s play pool, lots of concrete decking, a four room cabana, a locker room with showers, and a basket room to store your street clothes. Both individual and family memberships were available and you got both an ID membership card and a patch to sew onto you swim suit. Ralph Pusey was the head lifeguard. When this photo was taken, it was to get a picture of my cousin Penny, (Ed Bowers daughter) and lifeguard Scott. They are in the right foreground and Penny has on a plaid swimsuit. Penny spent a lot of time working at the pools, but unfortunately for her, she had to stay home in the evenings to babysit her younger siblings, while everyone else was doing the swim on the dance floor. I always felt bad for her for that - she missed a lot of fun. I have recently reconnected with Penny - she is still a nurse and lives in Colorado

The Story of The SOC HOP Reunions

2007-02-22T17:15:00.000-08:00

This is the story of The SOC HOP Reunions and the new Silver Tones. People mistakenly keep giving me credit for putting the reunions together. This is to set the record straight. I have played only a very small role in the whole affair. Both the reunions and the re-invention of The Silver Tones are the product of fate, which is to say, they were meant to be. The reunions have been a combined effort of many people, and I wasn’t even at the very first one.
In the early 1960's there were a number of good dance halls around Kansas City, but only two great ones, both the SOC HOP, old and new. It has elsewhere been written that, in truth, The SOC HOP made The Fabulous Silver Tones and The Fabulous Silver Tones made The SOC HOP. The same could possibly be said of The SOC HOP Reunions and the new Silver Tones. I was recently informed that, in part, it was the old pictures from my SOC HOP scrapbook that I had shared with others a number of years ago, that helped inspire that very first reunion which was actually more like a get together jam session. It took place in the spring of 2006 and was held in the home studio of one of Kansas City’s longtime professional Rock and Rollers, Ron Hodgden, aka Ron West, (of the bands ‘The Chesmann ’ and later ‘Missouri’). Ron volunteered his studio as a place for everyone to get together. It was one of those mostly unplanned, spur of the moment events. Many had dreamed of getting everyone together again, it just hadn’t happened yet. But the time had finally come. Many thanks to Ron and his wife Dayna for their help in making our dreams come true.
Another of those most instrumental in that very first reunion was Paul Schlapper, old friend and classmate of members of The Silver Tones. In the1960's, Paul’s band was known as The Night Riders. When I asked Paul for his recollection of the May 2006 event and what kicked it all off, he wrote me back saying, "After discovering Google a few years ago, I occasionally spent Saturday mornings typing in the names of old buddies, memories, (The Silver Tones; Frank Plas; Roger Calkins: etc). Usually nothing happened. Eventually, however, I found Dan Martin’s Blue Velvets website recalling memories of Frank Plas’ guitar playing. Dan had hooked up a link to Midnight Thunder, I clicked it and heard that song for the first time in nearly forty years.Dan and I had both played High School dances at many of the same schools with our respective bands. Through Dan I was able to join the newly formed Kansas Music Hall of Fame. Dan led me to Ron West. Ron and I became e-mail buddies, exchanged war stories, found we knew many of the same people and both agreed the Silver Tones were one of the two top bands we'd ever heard! I wanted to revisit Kansas City and we thought it would be a kick to somehow get together with whoever was left of the band. My friend Candy and I planned to meet Ron and Dayna at their home on my trip back and Ron mentioned maybe we could invite a 'few people' over and visit. If things went REALLY well, maybe the guys could go down to his studio and fool around with some of his instruments. How do we get these people together? He gave me Rich's e-mail; Rich and I wrote. Rich wanted to come over and visit –. I told Ron and Rich when Candy and I would be there and we started out with a three person get-together plan. In the meantime Ron got in touch with Mike Myers (the Fab Four) and Mike said he'd join us. While I had known Frank Plas quite well years ago, I hadn't seen him in nearly 38 years and had no idea how to get in touch with him. But Mike did and he talked to Frank who said he'd join us too".
Then Little Joe Sherrick called Ron. Little Joe was still playing bass with his Get-A-Room band and was also one of the all time most frequent of SOC HOP attendees. Little Joe had long dreamed of having a SOC HOP reunion, which he had discussed numerous times with his friend, Frank Hicks, owner of Knuckleheads Saloon in east Kansas City. Joe told Ron he'd heard about the get together and said he’d like to come. He was in touch with Danny Gregory of The Roulettes and Mac Truque and would bring him too.
"All I can say," continued Paul, "is the Kansas City Soc Hop gang's roots must run deep because by the time the evening of May 24th came we had Danny Gregory; Little Joe Sherrick; Jackie Foster and several members of Shelter; myself, Ron West (first time Kansas Music Hall of Fame Inductee); Mike Myers and most of the Fabulous Four; Scott Nelson of Ann Brewer & the Flames; and Frank Plas, Rich Stoy and Joni Calkins representing the Silver Tones. I'm sure I must have missed someone. I think that night kicked off a lot of things - the day after the jam, Scott Nelson posted a synopsis of it on the HOF website; Ron and I had managed to get the Silver Tones name on the roster as nominees for the previous Hall Of Fame induction, but not enough board members had heard them (only heard OF them); then Bill Lee, HOF president, started talking about the Silver Tones and the Fabulous Four; Frank and Joe decided to form the new Silver Tones, a Soc Hop Reunion was born, you and I connected and got the Silver Tones music to those-who-were-inspired-by-them but never heard them.
So which part do you pick as the kicker that kicked it off? That would be impossible. Sometimes I think had I not made the trip back, it wouldn't have happened. And for SURE had Ron & Dayna West not opened up their home and offered to host the 'unknown' it never would have happened. And what if Frank and Rich hadn't started playing again (unbeknownst to each other)? Or was it the fact that Mike Meyers was still in touch with them. We could go on and on forever but all I can say is, It’s great being back in touch with everyone and I’m having fun being a part of it. The answer probably lies in that old Bob Seger song; Rock n Roll never forgets." What an elite group of local celebrity this was.
To again use Pauls words, "I hate to sould like a campaign manager but - Danny and Gary of The Roulettes and The Mac Truque; The Fabulous Silver Tones and The Fab Four all provided thousands of hours of incredible entertainment, inspiration and music on the Kansas City area rock scene - it wouldn't be close to the same without them.
All three groups need to be inducted into the Kansas Music Hall Of Fame. Try to imagine Danny Gregory singing Stormy Monday Blues with Frank Plas playing guitar and Mike Myers on keyboards - that's what we had (at the jam). To be in the studio mingling and chatting and listening as spontaneous jams broke out was an unbelievable experience."
So this is how it all ‘re’-started. A spontaneous get together that was so much good and so much fun that everyone agreed it had to be done again - and this time, with an invite to all of the old Rock & Roll SOC HOP era friends who wanted to come. Well, one thing led to another and Little Joe’s friend, Frank Hicks, volunteered Knuckleheads as a place for a public reunion. Knuckleheads is, after all, one of the city’s best blues bars, a place where all of the city’s best play, which makes it a natural descendent of the area’s greatest dance hall of the sixties, The SOC HOP. Back in the day, The SOC HOP was ‘the place’ where the best of the best played. It was where everyone who played dreamed of playing. It is where most who were gathered together on this day had played at one time or another.
And so it began. A little planning, a little practicing, a couple of KKFI radio shows, a bunch of emails, and a hundred days later, the night so many of us had dreamed of finally came to pass. The Knuckleheads calendar read, " Thursday 8/31/06 - The SOC HOP REVISITED, step back to the 60's when being cool was cool, featuring Lil Joe Sherrick (of Get A Room Band), Jackie Foster (of Shelter), Danny Gregory (of The Mac Truque), and Frank Plas ( of the Silver Tones) and other guests with guest of honor Michael Weaver of the Weaver family, founders of the original Soc Hop. You won’t want to miss this one! The fun starts at 8:30PM and lasts to !!:30PM. $5.00 cover" It was, in fact, a dream come true - for me, at least. Forty six years earlier, when my dad and my uncle, Ed Bowers, opened The SOC HOP, I was just fourteen. It lasted just a little over four years. The fifty month life of The SOC HOP would live on, however, in my memory - with the dream of a chance, just one chance, for a Redo. OH, to be able to be there again, if only for a little while. . What wonderful times those were. We were all so young and carefree and having such a fun time. So for years, I have had this dream. Then I came to realize that my dream was really ‘our’ dream. The dream of many old SOC HOPpers who would like a chance to relive that special time of our lives. The SOC HOP was something special - and not just to me - but to many. Especially, in 1960, in the beginning at The Barn on 95th Street in Overland Park. The Barn had it’s own special mystique, part of which was in the uniqueness of the physical structure itself, part was in the western decor in which my family had decorated it, and a large part, was in the sounds of early Rhythm & Blues, Rock & Roll, that emanated from the magnamosity of the upper floor. I have previously given detail as to many of my SOC HOP experiences, but I don’t think that I have mentioned that a friend of my dad’s and uncle’s was the photographer for the county. Fortunately, he took numerous photo’s of our times in the old barn, many of which I have kept and are displayed on this blog along with others that I took and have saved and shared. It would have been wonderful if The SOC HOP could have stayed in that barn - but that was not to be - we had to move - in the two years we were there, the City of Overland Park had incorporated and made lots of rules - they would not issue a new business license as the residential area was now so close, so we had to move - the city said so - it had been a two year great time, but it was over - time to move on. So to Lenexa The SOC HOP moved, in early 1962. It was a different kind of place - special in it’s own way - it lasted a short two years there as well. It closed very early in 1964. There were many reasons for it’s demise, which is another story altogether. What is important for this story is the fact that, at sometime in those early days I had acquired a big, portable, reel to reel tape recorder. I had tried taping Roger Calkins and The Fabulous Silver Tones once when we were still at the barn, but I didn’t like the way the tape came out and did not keep it, though I don’t recall what I did do with it. Then Roger left The Silver Tones and formed The Holidays. One night in July of 1963, I sat my recorder on the stage, laid a microphone down beside it, and recorded Roger and The Holidays. I didn’t do it for posterity, or to distribute or anything - I just wanted to have it to listen too. And listen to it I did. For years - over and over and over again....Somewhere along in the 70's, as the reels began to warp and I began to worry about the tape breaking or going bad, I sat my portable cassette recorder down next to the reel to reel, with the cassette’s built in microphone next to the reel to reel’s built in speaker and recorded it onto cassette. The quality, as you can imagine, only got worse. But it was what I had, and it was good enough for me. But now, in the twenty-first century, it needed to be transferred onto a CD.
So, fast-forward to the spring of 2006. (The timing is ironic here). On or about May 6th, 2006 , while randomly searching the internet for anything about Roger Calkins or The Silver Tones, I had visited The Kansas Music Hall Of Fame website. Just taking a shot, I sent it’s president, Bill Lee, an email asking if he knew anything about Roger or The Silver Tones. He sent me this response "Mike, You need to join the Yahoo group I moderate and share stories with the rest of us about those days gone by. I love the years and musicians you mentioned.
To sign up, click on this link...Yahoo! Groups : KS_and_KC_GenOne_Rockers. Bill"
I followed up on Bill’s suggestion and joined the group and began getting their emails. I posted an email to the group asking if anyone knew how I might get my cassette of Roger and The Holidays converted to digital and onto a CD. Several people responded saying they could help. One was Paul Schlapper, who, much to my surprise, was also posting emails to the group describing the get-together they had all just had at Ron’s house. I began emailing Paul. I discovered he had been a classmate of Roger’s, Frank’s, Rich’s and Mike’s at Indian Hills Junior High and at SM East, and was a SOC HOP fan who now lives in southern California, just a few miles from my oldest son, who I was preparing to visit within days. Paul told me that if I brought my cassette with me, he would get it onto CD for me. I took the cassette with me and met Paul for lunch. When he returned the cassette and CD to me, he also gave me a CD of The Fabulous Silver Tones, recorded by someone in 1961 or so. I think this may be the tape I made and did not keep but don’t know for sure, it may have been made by someone else. Paul also gave me a CD that is a compilation of actual records of some of the bands from that time period - The Silver Tones and The Holidays, Larry Emmett & The Sliders, The Bygones, Danny Gregory and Garry MacComas and The MacTruque, Paul’s band The Night Riders, Little Jimmy Griffin, etc. Also he gave me a DVD of the May jam session at Ron’s house. They had had an excellent time. (Unfortunately, I missed it...).
In early July, after I returned home, Paul forwarded me an email from Little Joe Sherrick, who I contacted and vaguely remembered as one of those ‘cool dancers’ at The SOC HOP. Little Joe told me that a real reunion had been planned for Knuckleheads and he invited me to participate. I was ecstatic. I could hardly believe it - after all these years - it was really going to happen. I began making CD labels and Jewel case covers and began burning off the CD’s I had gotten from Paul, making copies to distribute at the reunion, The Rockin 60's compilation, Roger Calkins & The Silver Tones, Roger & The Holidays and a compilation CD I called Roger Calkins - KC Star. Joe invited me to come to see his Get-A-Room band play, which I did. They were pretty good, I thought. Then Joe invited me to join him for lunch at Knuckleheads and to meet Frank Hicks. After that, it became just a matter of planning for that special night which I, and so many others, had waited so long for - a SOC HOP Redo. I took several of my old SOC HOP pictures and had large posters made to display and Little Joe had a bunch of Tee shirts made with the old SOC HOP logo on them. I got a Guest Book for people to sign so we could start a mailing list for any possible future events.
Then on a Thursday night, opposite a Chief's football game, a couple hundred folks showed up at Knuckleheads for the first SOC HOP Reunion. Jackie Foster and Shelter started the night off, with Danny Gregory singing. Garry Mac joined in and they put on one heck of a show. Following a short break, Little Joe Sherrick ‘s band took the stage, joined by Frank Plas. This was the beginning of The new Silver Tones, who were joined on stage by several local legends, including Bud Ross and Jim Wilson, both original members of the 1959 Sliders. What a night it was. Just way to good not to repeat.
So here's where we’re at now. Rich Stoy, who didn’t make it that night, but has made it to several of the subsequent events, is the VP of a manufacturing company and travels in business to actively to commit to a band now, though he does show up and sit in occasionally. Mike Weakley, changed his name to Michael Fortune years ago when he moved to southern California and became the drummer for The Electric Prunes. I have talked to him several times and he says he is just to busy to come back this way at this time. Roger Calkins has retired from his music store business. He had several stores in the SF Bay area and sold electronic equipment (like Bud Ross Kustom amps) to everyone, from Janis Joplin to The Grateful Dead. Roger still lives in San Francisco, and though blind, still gets around a little. I talk to him frequently and he still has a great sense of humor, an amazing memory, and can recite the words to most any of the old songs I name.
As of this date there have been four more reunions with music provided by the new Silver Tones. Little Joe plays the bass and sings a few tunes, Frank plays lead, of course, and does most of the vocals, and Beachey Biondo keeps a good beat for them on the drums. Also, Mike Meyers, who played keyboard with Roger and the guys in school, but then formed his own band, The Fab Four, sits in with them occasionally. Ron West sings a few, and Jack Nead (The Jumpin Jacks ) came out to blow his sax. There is still a lot of great old talent around. One never knows who is going to show up. As for me, I don't play anything. I just show up, dance a little, and enjoy being there, in the midst of it all. It is wonderful - just like old times. I am also keeping an email list and sending out announcements of upcoming Silver Tone Boogies which I hope will continue on a routine basis. I still have copies of the CD's I made which I am passing out to anyone who wants one. I am delighted to have been even a very small part of the SOC HOP Reunions and the re-invention of The Silver Tones. It has indeed been a dream come true. Thank You, Paul & Joe & Frank & Ron & all who have attended these wonderful events.
I will end with a note of praise and congratulations. Frank Plas is dynamite, especially for someone who hasn't played for years. He gets better with every performance. Keep your eyes on this fantastic talent. I joined the Kansas Music Hall Of Fame last year and did a little cheerleading in the Yahoo chat group promoting The Fabulous Silver Tones as worthy of induction into the HOF and with the considerable help of others - like Paul Schlapper - IT Did Happened. The Fabulous Silver Tones were inducted at a ceremony in Lawrence on January13th 2007. Frank and Rich played and got the only standing ovation. Frank now has his own business cards and website (frankplas.com) and The new Silver Tones are just getting started. ‘Have Guitar, Will Travel’, Frank’s card and website says. It is hard to say where they might go from here. But no doubt the Silver Tone Boogies will continue.
Don’t be surprised if The Silver Tones become famous - AGAIN. Stay Tuned ...

The Story Of The Fabulous Silver Tones

2007-02-22T17:11:00.000-08:00

THE STORY OF THE FABULOUS SILVER TONES
Everybody has a story. Some stories are fiction. Some stories are actual fact. This is the story of The Fabulous Silver Tones. It is a story of fact as recalled by several of those who knew them, living there in the suburbs of Kansas, just across the state line from Kansas City, Missouri. The story begins in the late 1950's with two teenage boys, who lived in the same Johnson County, Kansas neighborhood. These boys were friends and they both liked music. One of them sort of played the trombone, the other one liked to sing. They both had good musical ears, extra good, in fact. Now as fate would have it, on Friday nights these two boys would go to the local movie house, The Fairway Theater, in Fairway, Kansas. Many of their peers went there too, as Friday night was ‘teen night.’ One night in particular the movie was "Rock Pretty Baby" a California beach ‘Rock & Roll’ movie. It starred John Saxon, who was a minor heart throb in those days, and a young newcomer, crooner Sal Mineo. The movie was full of lively music and song. Everybody in the audience got real excited and moved to the beat of the music. All the girls swooned. After the movie, the two boys followed their friends down the street to Allen’s Drive Inn to get something to eat, and it was there, watching the curbhops, that they decided to start a Rock & Roll Rhythm & Blues band. This was an interesting decision as neither of these boys really knew how to play anything or even had useable instruments. One of the boy’s father, who thought it was just a passing fancy, volunteered to rent guitars for three months so the boys could take lessons. They went to the Toon Shop in Prairie Village, Kansas, rented two guitars, signed up for classes and took lessons. They both learned quickly, practicing and practicing, filling all of their spare time with learning as many different songs as they could. Another of their friends played piano and practiced with them. Soon they had become quite good and had developed a pretty good repertoire. It wasn’t long before the boys were at the Sears and Roebucks store on The Country Club Plaza over in Kansas City looking at all the guitars. The Sears brand of guitar was made by Nathan Daniel’s company, Danelectro, and was called the ‘Silvertone’. After discussing it with their parents, the boys each bought one. They began taking their instruments to school with them and practicing on the stage of the multi-purpose room after class. Other students would come in and listen to them practice. One day a fellow classmate came in carrying a gold colored Kay guitar. He got up on the stage with them and started playing. He played a bunch of chords and most of one whole song. The other two boys were impressed with his skill and asked him if he wanted to be the lead guitar player in their band. He said, "OK". Now they were three. They still needed a drummer, and also name. So what could they call themselves? The HonkyTonks they thought. No, that was to country. They needed a name with some flash, like the shinny chrome name on the guitars they had bought . Wow, now that sounded just to fabulous to pass up. So now they had a name. They would call themselves The Silver Tones, though they accidently called it two words instead of one. The word Fabulous got added to their name after they began performing, and someone called them that. As best as anyone can remember their very first actual performance was in the spring of 1959 at the ninth grade talent show at their school, Indian Hills Junior High School in Prairie Village, Kansas. Original band members included Frank Plas, who played lead guitar, Rich Stoy, playing back up guitar, and Roger Calkins, playing rhythm guitar and singing. Mike Meyers played the piano and a drummer named Dale Price sat in with them.

They were all in the ninth grade and headed for high school the next year. Mike’s parents disapproved of the other boys hairstyles and their long duck tails and made him drop out of the group. ( Mike later was in another popular local group known as The Fab Four.) Dale was a good drummer, but the fit wasn’t just right. An eighth grade classmate, Paul Schlapper, rode to school on the bus with Roger and admired his playing. Paul decided to put together another group for this same talent show. One of Paul’s classmates, Mike Weakley, was the drummer for this group. Mike was a fabulous drummer, one who made you want to move to the beat of the music. Rich, Roger and Frank began going by the school auditorium in the mornings to watch Mike play when this group practiced. They were also in the Talent Show audience when this group performed. After the performance, Mike went to the restroom and Rich and Roger followed him. Mike thought they were going to beat him up. They approached him from behind, each tapping one of his shoulders at the same time. Instead of trouble, they told him they were starting a Rock and Roll band and would like him to audition to be their drummer. Mike was thrilled that the older boys liked him and he nailed the job as their permanent drummer. Now they were complete: Roger, Frank, Rich, and Mike. The four of them began to practice and then practice some more. This was the beginning ‘The Fabulous Silver Tones’. When school let out that summer they all discovered a place for teenagers called Barry's Barn. This run down old dairy barn was located on a farm just north of Olathe, Kansas at about 119th street on what was then New 50 Highway, (now I-35). It was out in the country, about fifteen miles from their homes. On weekends Mr. Barry would sit on the steps to the hayloft in the barn and collect fifty cents from all those who entered. The crowd seemed to grow every week. Mr. Barry had an agreement with a young man named Larry Emmitt, who had a band called The Sliders. The Slider’s played in the hayloft of Mr. Barry’s barn every weekend and the boys from Indian Hills Junior High School spent a lot of time there listening to, and learning from this great group. When Rich saw The Slider’s bass player Buddy Ross play, he was intrigued by the sound and traded his guitar for a bass. (Bud Ross went on to play in several other bands before founding Kustom Electronics, makers of amplifiers and other electronic equipment.) On at least one occasion, The Sliders let the boys take the stage, use their instruments, and play a song or two. It wasn’t long before The Fabulous Silver Tones were good competition for Larry Emmitt and The Sliders. (The Sliders, it should be noted, are remembered to this day as the very first of the original popular Rock & Roll bands of the Kansas City area, with The Fabulous Silver Tones right behind them). Barry’s Barn began attracting lots of kids. Enough, in fact, that Mr. Barry hired off-duty sheriffs deputies as chaperones. One of these deputies was Ed Bowers. Mr. Bowers thought the teen town in a barn was a great idea. In fact it was such a good idea, that in May of 1960, he and his brother-in-law, Mike Weaver, leased another old barn to open their own place. It was just west of 95th & Metcalf in Overland Park, Kansas. It was huge - much larger than any other teen place around. They completely renovated this old barn and made it a very clean, very nice place especially for teenagers. The upstairs dance floor measured 45' X 100' and the downstairs had dining, billiards and pin ball machines. They called their place The Soc Hop. As Mr. Bowers had worked at Mr. Barrys barn, he had gotten to know many of the patrons there, including the boys in the band from Indian Hills Junior High, who, coincidently, he had met previously when he had worked off duty as a chaperone at the Fairway Theater.
When Mr. Bowers announced that he was going open his own place, he invited Roger to stop by to see the place. Roger and friends showed up three weeks before The Soc Hop opened, brought their guitars and gear with them and played for Mr. Bowers. That was the beginning of a wonderful business relationship. The Fabulous Silver Tones became The Soc Hop’s regular Saturday night band, playing there sometimes two or three nights a week. The band developed very quickly, playing around town at other places as well, like at some of the local high school proms, or the Indian Hills Country Club. They also played at other Kansas City locales like The Promenade Ball Room, The Prom Coke Bar, The Chicken Coop, The Combo Club, The Flamingo Lounge and occasionally, even at Barry’s Barn. There were numerous other popular places in those days, whose names are too numerous to mention. But if it was a popular place, The Fabulous Silver Tones probably played there. There was, however, no place else that came even remotely close to the mystique of The Soc Hop. It was truly a one of a kind place. It was the home of The Silver Tones. It has been said that The Soc Hop made The Silver Tones and The Silver Tones made The Soc Hop. That is a fact, if there ever was one. Someone always has to be the leader, make the decisions, be in charge. Roger was The Silver Tones leader. He was glue who held it all together. He was the business manager and the one who set up most of their jobs, scheduled their rehearsals, figured out the music. He had a huge record collection, which he added to daily. He would listen to a record several times, then write down the lyrics, the melody and the chord progressions, and arrange the music to fit for Frank and Rich. He also wrote some of the music the band played. Frank Plas also wrote a number of pieces, including one titled 'West Coast Walk'. When The Silver Tones recorded it on acetate at Damon Studios in Kansas City, they renamed it ‘ Midnight Thunder ’ with the sound of thunder added at the beginning. ‘ Louise, Louise’ was also recorded at Damon Studios in 1960 barely a year after the band formed. It was pressed on the same 45 as ‘Midnight Thunder’. On July 8, 1960 ‘Midnight Thunder’ B/W ‘Louise, Louise’ hit #7 on Kansas City’s KUDL Radio Top 38 Chart. The next week it was listed as ‘Midnight Thunder ‘ only and hit #4. Midnight Thunder BW/ Louise, Louise received a 4 bullet rating from Billboard magazine – unheard of in that era by a bunch of mostly 16 yr old, non-union kids from Johnson County, Kansas. Their music was so good that old man Vic Damon recorded their first cut in the middle of the night to give them a chance. Remember, those were strong union days and the Silver Tones were not union! Vic took a BIG chance. One that paid off with two singles in KUDL’s Top Ten.That very first recording session also produced at least two other tracks. There was another instrumental called 'Pay Toilet ' and then a vocal of Slim Harpo's 'King Bee' which was great. Roger wrote’ Louise, Louise ‘ in about 10 minutes the day before the recording session and it just sounded good so it was used vs ‘King Bee’. The Fabulous Silver Tones next record was ‘Dimples’, a take-off of a John Lee Hooker tune, with ‘Wee Wee Hours’ on the flip side. It was recorded at Midwest Studios in 1961 and released the same year. The KUDL chart shows’ Dimples’ going to #8. Then in either early in1962 ‘Hey Sally Mae’ was recorded in Lawrence, Kansas with a remote system out doors. It was backed with ‘Stranger in Paradise’. Obviously Mr. Damon was 'the man' as far as quality recording is concerned because his recording of ‘Louise, Louise ‘ handled Roger’s voice the best by far. Roger had the spirit but he needed some reverb to fill out his voice when recorded. All of the Silver Tones records were on the ‘West Coast’ label. Four teenagers became local celebrities, at least in the minds of the areas other teens. Mike Weakley was considered the very best of band drummers in the Midwest. Actually he is the drummer who started the flat ride cymbal side hit that just roared and filled in all the holes. It made the Silver Tones sound so big. And when it came to playing the bass, nobody around could play like Rich Stoy. He had a keen ear, and never missed a lick. Frank Plas could play the guitar like no one else except maybe the big time pros. And Roger Calkins was, without a doubt, the areas most charismatic young entertainer. He had a knack for taking many of the old classics and putting them to the wonderful Silver Tones back beat. He not only had an incredible memory but he really knew how to work a room. He would mingle with the crowd during the breaks and get to know the fans by name and what their favorite songs were. Then during the next set he would play their requests and dedicate the song to them. It was not uncommon to hear him call out people’s name when they entered the room or change the words of a song to use a fan’s name. He truly made people feel a part of the whole experience. Not only that, he was a showman extraordinaire. Only someone with Roger’s extraordinary enthusiasm would think of going to the local premium threads store, Matlaw’s Clothiers, purchasing a custom made suit, and then having silver sequins sown onto it. During a performance he would step back into the dressing room while the rest of the band played, put on this suit, then return to the stage with a flash, right on cue from the band, at just the right moment in whatever song they were playing. He would jump up and down and spin all around under the colored lights. He was, indeed, a real sparkler. Only the likes of Liberace had so much flash appeal. Years later, someone said they thought Roger was the inspiration for those revolving disco balls that hung from the ceiling in so many dance halls. During those years in the early 1960's The Fabulous Silver Tones were the biggest draw around. Wherever they played, that is where everybody went. It was not uncommon, on a good Saturday night at The Soc Hop, for The Fabulous Silver Tones to draw between twelve to fifteen hundred teenagers. There were many wannabe bands, but nobody even came close to being as loved as they were. The Fabulous Silver Tones played together for over three and a half years. But like they say, nothing lasts forever. And sometimes, that’s to bad. Roger Calkins left the Silver Tones in early 1963 to go on a very successful national tour, which he did for a number of months. After Roger left the Silver Tones, Frank managed them and they continued with the same great sound and featured vocalists like Little Jimmy Griffin and Priscilla Bowman until their demise a few years later. When Roger returned to Kansas City, he collaborated with brothers Bill and Danny Organ and formed his second band, The Holidays. For the next few years they played at many of the same venues as The Silver Tones. Both bands dissolved during the mid 1960's. . Few people would have guessed, way back then, that a little over forty years later, The Fabulous Silver Tones would be inducted into The Kansas Music Hall Of Fame, but that is just what happened on January 13th, 2007.

So where are they now?

Roger made another road trip to San Francisco in 1966. He took some of Bud Ross’ Kustom amplifiers with him. When he got to there, he asked the cabby where the kids went to listen to music? The cabby told him "The Fillmore." So, he went there and took his equipment with him. That night two of the bands performing were The Jefferson Airplane and The Grateful Dead. Both Jerry Garcia and the lead guitar player with Jefferson Airplane liked one of Roger’s amps which they called a ‘freak box’, but Roger only had one of these with him.. So they flipped a coin on stage and Jefferson Airplane won. Jerry Garcia asked Roger if he would send him one when he got back to Kansas City. Roger said he would and did so shortly thereafter when he returned to K.C. He then did a stint at Fort Polk, Louisiana for basic training in the Army National Guard. One day when his unit was on an exercise out in the boondocks, he was called to the field training office for a long distance phone call.. It was Jerry Garcia. Jerry said, "Private Calkins, this is Jerry Garcia in San Francisco...we want another’ freak box’." Roger replied, "I am getting out of basic training soon and I am coming to San Francisco so I can open my first music store." Jerry said, "We are going to L.A. to record our first album." Roger said he would take the southern route and take a ‘box’ with him. When he pulled into the motel in L.A., here came The Grateful Dead. Their road manager gave Roger $195, who then went on to San Francisco where he opened Roger Calkins Music Company.Roger became the first west coast distributor of Kustom Amps. He engineered the agreement that allowed Creedence Clearwater Revival to use Kustom equipment on their tours. Everybody bought their equipment from Roger. The Grateful Dead, The Jefferson Airplane, The Hoo Doo Rhythm Devils, Janis Joplin’s Full Tilt Boogie Band, etc, etc, etc, it doesn't end. At his pinnacle Roger operated a half a dozen stores in northern California. He is now retired and still living in the Bay area. Frank Plas, was and still is, simply one of the best in the business. He can still share the stage with the best of the best. If you type his name into Google along with keywords like `guitar player' or Fabulous Silver Tones you'll find testimonials from major players as to Frank being an inspiration in their career. For example Dave Pettison of Gamma and many other groups mention learning guitar and spending endless hours of pleasure watching Frank Plas just lay back and play. The man is a real treat. He is currently in the process of reinventing The Fabulous New Silvertones and will be playing at local clubs in the Kansas City area. Both he and Rich Stoy still live in Johnson County, Kansas. Rich Stoy was probably the most solid and unheralded bass player ever. He became involved in the industrial equipment industry many years ago, but he still loves music. Recently, he joined with Frank for a jam session, and without question, the man still has it.Michael Weakley, changed his surname to Fortune and abbreviated his middle name Quenten to Quint, becoming Quint Fortune. In the mid 1960s he moved to California and was an original member of The Electric Prunes. He recorded with them as recently as 2000. He currently lives in southern California and is heavily involved in the entertainment industry.The Fabulous Silver Tones still have recordings featured on compilation CDs sold ALL OVER THE WORLD, from the Netherlands to Los Angeles! Ron Hodgen/West leader of The Chesmannn and founder of ‘Missouri" once commented that the two best live concerts he ever saw were `The Who' and `The Fabulous Silver Tones'. Now what could be better said than that?

TWO OLD FRIENDS .

2007-02-22T17:06:00.000-08:00

Roger Calkins and Paul Schlapper in 2006 - Long time since junior high...

The Fabulous Silver Tones Induction Into The Kansas Music Hall Of Fame

2007-01-19T11:58:00.000-08:00

Time flies - and when one gets older and gets sick - it takes longer to recover. I got sick after the December gig at RC's and was still down with a bad ear infection on Jan.13th when the induction ceremony was held in Lawrence, so, bad as I wanted to go - I MISSED IT. DAMN...

However, Paul Schlapper attended and he forwarded some pics and the song list to me which I will post here. Tonight is the BackDoor #4 with The New Silvertones and I will make a new post tomorrow on that event. Here's the bit on The Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony.

They began with Midnight Thunder; then did Dimples and also did Stevie Ray Vaughn's 'Pride & Joy' and did 'Good Night my Love' - a great version. I forget what they closed with but they were the only group to get an encore. Most of the groups had 10 or 15 members. They had 3. Franks guitar playing blew them away! Hell, it blew me away, too. I think they realized that the copy is never as good as the original...It was great to see our homeboys get their dues......

True SOC HOPpers

2006-12-26T11:59:00.000-08:00

Brenda Clarke was coming to The SOC HOP with my cousin, Linda Bowers, when they were both in the eighth grade. Linda's dad, Ed, was my father's partner in the dance hall. Brenda said it had been a long time since she had done the West Coast with her brother, Rod, who was one of my classmates. He an Brenda were two of the first SOC HOP patrons and also among the most faithful, who attended almost weekly for the duration of the SOC HOPs life. It was good to see them on the dance floor again at the Surprise Reprise on Dec. 8th, 2006.

The New Silvertones Play at RC's

2006-12-21T14:23:00.000-08:00

Here's Frank & Little Joe accompanied by Ron Hodgden and Jack Nead.

On Dec.8th, '06. The Surprise Reprise was a fun night indeed. Can't wait to hear them again.

Text Of KC Star Article 12/09/06

2006-12-10T08:16:00.000-08:00

ROCK ‘N’ ROLL Band to be inducted into Kansas Music Hall of Fame
Silver Tones give tunes new shine
Shawnee Mission East students formed the group popular at ’60s sock hops.
By SARA STITES
The Kansas City Star
The Silver Tones began when a movie inspired two of its members to take on guitar lessons and start their own band. They named it after their new Silvertone guitars, splitting the word in two to be safe.
Or was it at the Indian Hills Junior High School talent show, when a couple of kids just learning to play figured they’d just enter the talent show together?
Rich Stoy of Overland Park, who recalled the first account, and Frank Plas of Lenexa, who gave the second, take it in stride that their memories are fuzzy.
After all, that was almost 50 years ago.
• • •
Around 1960, the Silver Tones donned white dinner jackets and took the area teen scene by storm.
The four musicians, Indian Hills then Shawnee Mission East High School students, started performing at small private parties before taking their show to area dance halls.
Plas played lead guitar, Stoy was on bass. The other two members, both now living in California, were Roger Calkins on vocals and Mike Weakley on drums.
They played rock ‘n’ roll — originals and cover songs — and rhythm and blues at now-bygone places like the Chicken Coop in Raytown and the Coke Bar in Grandview.
Their best gig was as the house band at the Soc Hop in Overland Park, located first in a barn and later in the old Silver Spur Country Club at 8940 Quivira Road.
"We would have between 1,000 and 1,500 teenagers at the Soc Hop on a Saturday night," Plas said. "The joint was really jumpin’."
The band recorded several albums, and some of its original songs — including "Midnight Thunder" and "Dimples" — neared the apex of the Top 40 list on local radio stations, hovering around crooners like Elvis and Brenda Lee, Plas said.
At some point their name was upgraded to the Fabulous Silver Tones.
• • •
The Silver Tones’ splash has now landed them a spot in the Kansas Music Hall of Fame.
A few other early bands were playing around the Kansas City area, but the Silver Tones were the first to really make an impact on later groups, hall of fame President Bill Lee said.
"They just captured the imagination of the kids in Kansas City at a time when rock ‘n’ roll was exploding nationally," Lee said. "There were other bands that later became successful who copied everything about the Silver Tones."
The group will be inducted into the 2007 class at a concert next month in Lawrence.
The two remaining local members started shaking off the rust just in time.
• • •
The Silver Tones broke up in the mid-1960s, a few years after its members graduated from high school.
After moving away, Calkins owned music stores and Weakley was a musician, including with a band called the Electric Prunes. Plas and Stoy, both busy with family and business careers, didn’t touch a guitar for decades, they said.
But Stoy dragged his out a couple of years ago, when co-workers talked him into playing at his company’s annual sales meeting.
Plas revived his guitar playing earlier this year, he said, and then revived the Silver Tones.
Stoy, busy as vice president of a large corporation, said he can only commit to moonlighting, so, other than Plas, all of the other New Silver Tones are in fact new.
One of the bands most popular gigs was billed as a Soc Hop reunion and drew a full house at RC’s Back Door Bar and Grill in Kansas City for several shows this fall.
Plas said he "worked up" 52 of the Silver Tones old songs to get ready for the first show. Things are different now, but the tunes still had the right effect.
"Everybody wasn’t as young, but the crowd was really receptive," Plas said. "They were dancing."

A SOC HOP Surprise Reprise indeed

2006-12-09T18:08:00.000-08:00

What a pleasant surprise it was to have Jack Nead join us in our Surprise Reprise. So great to see so many familiar faces again.

IT'S BEEN A LONG, LONG TIME !

2006-12-06T14:36:00.000-08:00

Here's Joni Calkins Simms giving Gary Heflin a forty year hello at the SOC HOP Redo #2 on Nov. 17th at RC's Lounge. It is really fun when old aquaintances see each other again. For me that has been the thrill of the SOC HOP Reunions - seeing so many familiar faces - especially when we are bumping elbows out on the dancefloor. It may be true that we can't go back, but we can sure as hell remember. I'm lovin' it. Hope to see all Friday 12/8 for the Surprise Reprise at RC's for a PreHoliday Boogie featuring Frank Plas - Little Joe Sherrick and The Sensational Silver Tones....Please come and join us...

Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony and Friday Jam

2006-12-04T16:56:00.000-08:00

Here are some excerpts from the Hall Of Fame Newsletter that I wanted to pass on to any who might be interested.............

Kansas Music Hall of Fame
Weekly Online Newsletter
November 17, 2006
*************************************************************************

2007 HALL OF FAME SHOW SHAPING UP
So far The Silver Tones and the Topeka version of The Rising Suns have confirmed that they will be playing at the January 13, 2007 Induction Ceremony at Lawrence's Liberty Hall. Jim Stringer has indicated that he needs to get out of a recording session that weekend for Tide to make it. We're still talking with Marilyn Maye and Martina McBride about possible appearances. So far we haven't heard from Dawayne Bailey, The Blue Riddim Band, The Common Few or the Coffeyville version of The Rising Suns, but we're hoping they can all make it. Many musicians are planning to participate in the Friday night jam at the Holiday Inn/Holidome. If you can pick, sing or play, we hope you'll join in, too.
Speaking of the Holiday Inn/Holidome, a special room rate of $55 plus tax per night has been set up for those attending the ceremony. Reservations can be made by calling 785-841-7077.

Kansas Music Hall of Fame
Weekly Online Newsletter
November 25, 2006
**************************************************************************************************
Induction Ceremony January 13, 2007
Here's the lineup so far: Dawayne Bailey, The Common Few, both versions of The Rising Suns, The Silver Tones and Tide. The Blue Riddim Band and Marilyn Maye are still possibilities, and Martina McBride may still make it, but not perform. Ticket information will be finalized Monday or Tuesday, and they will go on sale in a week. There will be no reserved seating this year except for 2007 inductees and their guests. All other seats will be general admission.

Friday evening, January 12, there will be a free acoustic jam at Paddy O'Quigley's in the Lawrence Holiday Inn/Holidome, 200 McDonald Drive. Dennis Fox Higgins will be in charge, and will have details for us as we get closer to the event. If you're planning to attend, don't forget your instrument.

A special rate of $55 at the Holiday Inn/Holidome has been arranged for the nights of January 12-13. Reservations can be made by calling 785-841-7077 and asking for the Hall of Fame rate.

Merchandise available at the show Saturday night will include 2005, 2006 & 2007 Hall of Fame t-shirts, 2005 & 2006 Hall of Fame DVDs, and other items from past and present inductees. Any past inductees who can't attend, but want to sell items, please email kansmusic@aol.com to make arrangements. We are not set up to take credit cards at the show, so bring lots of cash. There is an ATM nearby.
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Tickets Go On Sale!
Tickets for the 2007 Induction Ceremony for the Kansas Music Hall of Fame go on sale Saturday, December 2. They are all general admission, and the cost is $35 each. Tickets may be purchased from Liberty Hall in Lawrence or Ticketmaster. The Liberty Hall box office is unable to accept credit cards, so all credit card purchases must be made through Ticketmaster. Here are links you can use for more information.

Official Ticketmaster site. Liberty Hall Lawrence, KS tickets . Directions, seating chart, events.

Liberty Hall does not currently have the show listed on its site, but I'm assured tickets will be available tomorrow. http://www.libertyhall.net/

Little Joe

2006-11-30T10:23:00.000-08:00

I had intended to include this picture of Little Joe (then) in my last post but it didn't upload. He was as cool then as he is now. And quite the dancer. Remember?

Little Joe Sherrick - A True SOC HOPper

2006-11-29T13:09:00.000-08:00

One of the first and most loyal of all SOC HOP attendees, Little Joe Sherrick was one of the very best dancers at The SOC HOP, both at the old barn and at the new club. He was one of The Silver Tones biggest fans. It only seems fitting that all of these years later, he would be the instigator, as well as the bass player, for the reinvented New Silver Tones. Joe and I shared a dream of the SOC HOP Redo - and it has finally come to pass. THANK YOU JOE.

Frank Plas - Now & Then

2006-11-29T12:03:00.000-08:00

The years have been good to Frank. He still plays a mean guitar. The Silver Tones Rock.

SOC HOP TEE SHIRTS & CD'S

2006-11-24T18:06:00.000-08:00

CALLING ALL SOC HOPpers

2006-11-24T09:02:00.000-08:00

CALLING
ALL
SOC HOPpers
GUESS WHAT ?

SURPRISE, SURPRISE,
It's A SOC HOP Reprise !
Mark your calendar on Friday, December 8th, 2006
For a SOC HOP PreHoliday Boogie
at The Back Door Bar & Grill
Upstairs in RC's Lounge on 135th St.
in South Kansas City

The SOC HOP Redo 2 was so much fun -
WE'RE DOING IT AGAIN...
We'll be rockin' to the super sounds of
The Sensational 'Silver Tones'
Featuring Frank Plas and Little Joe Sherrick,
with special guest musicians

The band will be jammin' there is no doubt,
so bring all your friends and come on out.

Put on your best socks and your dancin' shoes,
Get ready to rock & roll to some rhythm & blues.

Don't be late - music starts at 8:00 - -
so come out early to grab a good seat,
mingle with old friends and have something great to eat.

The Silver Tones will be playing some of your favorite tunes,
There will be lots of good oldies and a few old goodies....

You Won't Want To Miss This One ! ! !

Call All Your Friends and Let Them Know,

And Please Come Out and Enjoy The Show.

Hope To See You All There ........

Frank & Rich - The Silver Tones

2006-11-23T12:31:00.000-08:00

What a GREAT sound these two guys still make. Can't wait til the Kansas Music Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony Jan. 13th to hear them again.

REDO REVIEW

2006-11-19T12:55:00.000-08:00

No pictures yet, but plenty of good words about the SOC HOP Redo #2 at RC's on Friday nite.
Bill Lee, president of The Kansas Music Hall Of Fame was in attendance and had these kind words, " I had a great time at RC's in Martin City last night. Frank Plas and his new version of the Silver Tones were playing well. They were joined onstage by a friend of Frank's - whose name I missed [Norman Taylor], original Silver Tones bassist Rich Stoy, Jim Wilson of Larry Emmett & the Sliders, and the Fabulous Four's Mike Myers. Also in attendance were Mike "Soc-Hop" Weaver, the Chesmann's Steve Hodgden and Mike Willman of Eric & the Norsemen.
Frank says he and the original band are excited about the upcoming Hall of Fame inductions. It looks like he and Rich are coming for sure. Drummer Mike Weakley is going to try to make it, but Roger Calkins says his health just won't allow him to make the trip from San Francisco. - The place was packed with family, friends, and fans, so it may become a regular gig for the band. Bill "
Those kind words coming from such a knowlegeable source, speak for themselves. If you weren't there, all I can say is "Ya missed it, baby." The Silver Tones are indeed Sensational. They played about thirty-five pieces, which included 'Daddy's Home', Kansas City, Stormy Monday Blues, Fanny May, Linda Lou, Jailhouse Rock, Got My MoJo Working, Sleepwalk, Mustang Sally, and of course, their standbys Dimples, Louise, Louise and Midnight Thunder along with many other great oldies. I am still waiting on pictures to post, and will do so as soon as possible. My knees still ache, but I am already looking forward to the next session with The Sensational Silver Tones. More to come......

SOC HOP Redo #2

2006-11-18T08:02:00.000-08:00

No doubt about it - the house was rockin' The SOC HOP Redo #2 at RC's Lounge Back Door Bar was a real rockin' success. It was a full house to say the least. The management had to bring in more chairs. It was a standing room only house. And so many familiar faces. I had been saying 'old, familiar faces' but decided to drop the 'old' part cause so many of the ladies didn't look old at all. And I only wear glasses to read, but oh how my knees ache this morning. The Sensational Silver Tones put on quite a show. Frank, Rich, and Dennis were joined by several talented musicians. I hope to have pictures soon and will make another post of names and pictures in a few days. Thanks to all who came for this one, and to those who didn't, expect another one soon. May The Silver Tones and The SOC HOP will live forever. It was wonderful to see you all. Hope you can all come to the next one. Stay tuned.........

Kansas Music Hall Of Fame

2006-11-08T18:40:00.000-08:00

The Fabulous Silver Tones have been elected to be inducted to the Kansas Music Hall Of Fame on January 13th, 2007. We will be cheering for them at Liberty Hall in Lawrence come the second week of January. They Certainly Deserve It....They Are Fabulous..... It is my understanding at this time that Frank Plas, (who has, along with Little Joe Sherrick, formed The New Silver Tones and is currently playing around KC), will be perfoming at the induction ceremony along with Rich Stoy (bass). Mike Weakley (drums) has said he will come back from San Diego to participate and we are all hoping he can make it. Roger Calkins, who has lost his sight now, lives in San Fransisco, and is somewhat incapacitated and it is doubtful that he will travel back for the ceremony, though I know he will be there both in heart and in spirit. What a wonderful group of musicians these four are - - they have inspired many - and entertained even more. This is indeed a fabulous tribute to them. Nothing more to say, but "OH, HAPPY DAY ! !"

The SOC HOP Originators

2006-11-01T14:16:00.000-08:00

Doris and Ed Bowers
Alice and Mike Weaver
Opened The SOC HOP in April, 1960
Many people remember them.
What fun times we all had.

The Fabulous New Silvertones

2006-10-23T10:55:00.000-07:00

CALLING ALL SOC HOPpers....
Don't miss The Fabulous New Silvertones Kansas City debut...
Join the fun at Knuckleheads Saloon for their Halloween gig on the 28th.
If the house is rockin, don't bother knockin, just come on in....
It's the Kansas City Blues Society band Challange Finals.
Don't miss this 2pm till 6pm blast. $5 cover to the Blues Society
followed by a Halloween Party with The New Silvertones/no cover
For more info go to http://www.knuckleheadskc.com/
The New Silvertones featuring Frank Plas and Little Joe Sherrick will be playing
all of your old favorites from The SOC HOP. With special guest musicians.
Hope to see you there.

PS. Mark you calendars
Friday, November 17th
It's SOC HOP Redo #2
at RC's Lounge in Martin City
Just east of Holmes Road on 135th Street
Get Out Your Good Socks and Get Ready To Rock
To the awesome sound of The Legendary Frank Plas
and Little Joe Sherrick and their new band
The Fabulous New Silvertones.
Call All Your Friends and Let Them Know !
Details Coming Soon ! ! !

Inside The New SOC HOP

2006-10-23T10:01:00.000-07:00

The New Soc Hop didn't have the same charm as the old barn did, but it did have it's own charismatic style, with wagon wheel chandeliers that were reminders of the original dance hall. The dance floor was wider, but not as long. The ceiling was lower, which made the sound project into the crowd without as much loss as was experienced in the old barn. The stage had custom electronics and modern lighting which added ambiance to the nighttime atmosphere. It wasn't the old barn, but those who went there loved it just the same. This picture was taken from about thirty feet into the dancefloor. I took it with my Kodak Brownie early one Sunday morning after I had cleaned up after a Saturday night. I was getting ready to move the church pews out away from the walls to get ready for the church that held Sunday services there. I have many fond memories of dancing on this wonderful dancefloor. It is funny how some things just stay in your mind and never go away. If you ever danced here, or played in a band here, please make a comment below and share your memories.

Grand Opening - April 19, 1962

2006-10-19T13:17:00.000-07:00

There are many SOC HOP nights that remain etched into my brain. This was one of them. Good Bye to the old SOC HOP, good bye to the old barn that had been our first home.
Hello to the New SOC HOP, to swimming and dancing, and still, The Fabulous Silver Tones.
The SOC HOP and The Silver Tones, Kansas City's best ever combination of place and music..
Does history really repeat itself ????

April 1962 - The New SOC HOP

2006-10-18T13:07:00.000-07:00

In April of 1962 the SOC HOP moved. We hated to leave the old barn, but progress wouldn't let us stay, so to Lenexa we went. The old Silver Spur Country Club had sat empty for years and was just ready to be the new home of Johnson County's greatest Rock & Roll dance hall. It definately didn't have the mystique of the old barn, but it worked good while it lasted. There were three distinct groups of SOC HOPpers; those who went to the barn only and then moved away, those who were to young to go to the barn, but got old enough and went to new place, and those who were die hard rockers and went to both places, (like Joe & Judy Sherrick). At the old barn, you paid and got your hand stamped when you went through the front door. At the New SOC HOP, you paid when you came through the front gate, and then could go in and out of the dance hall freely. We rotated the gateshack duties between family members, usually an hour on, then an hour off. I sat at that gateshack many nights. I remember one night in particular that we had over twenty three hundred, yes, 2300, attendees over the course of the night. Of course, they were not all there at the same time, but what a night it was. KUDL Radio was simulcasting the music of Roger Calkins and The Fabulous Silver Tones who were playing there that night. I remember sitting in the gate shack listening to both the radio and the sound eminating from inside the building and thinking, "Wow, I've got live stereo here!" You know what they say about hindsight....Man, if I had only known then what I know now, I would have done a much better job at recording the Fabulous sounds of one of the great bands of those wonderful, wonderful times.
If you have a favorite SOC HOP memory (that you can share) please post a comment in the area below. And keep on rockin'

2006-09-21T07:03:00.000-07:00

FREE CD'S JUST FOR ASKING ! ! !

Just send me a self addressed postal envelope big enough to hold a couple of CD's and I will send you one or all four of these CD's of some of the best music of the 1960's for Free ! ! !
Send me an email with your contact info and I will get back to you with mailing instuctions.....

Knucklehead's SOC HOP pics

2006-09-12T10:20:00.000-07:00

Knucklehead's is definately a great place for music...
You can do the boogie woogie or even the hand jive....
or just visit, like Garry Mac and Danny Gregory are doing....
or clap to the beat of the sound.......
or just sit and watch and listen

2006-09-05T06:42:00.000-07:00

Little Joe Sherrick and Frank Plas made some great sounds at the Knuckleheads SOC HOP reuinion. Joe always sounds good and Frank is as good as ever. Could this possibly be the look of The New Silvertones??? Guess we will have to wait and see....and hope....!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Give Me Shelter

2006-09-04T14:15:00.000-07:00

Danny Gregory, Jackie Foster and the rest of the Shelter band put on a Great show at the SOC HOP Revisited at Knuckleheads on 8/31/06. What a super group of musicians. And Garry Mac of Mac Truque fame jammed with them for a while and it was just like the old days......
Absolutely fantastic........More pictures to come.......

One Picture - A Thousand Words

2006-09-03T12:29:00.000-07:00

What else do I need to say ? ? ?

The SOC HOP Revisited

2006-09-01T08:32:00.000-07:00

Hey, What can I say. It was, as they say, Priceless.
For the couple hundred folks that made it, everyone had a great time. For those who did't make it, 'You missed it, baby!!' I do believe a good time is what it will be remembered as. Anyway, it certainly was for me. There were a lot of old familiar faces, some of which I could recall a name to put with, others I had to be reintroduced to. Some of the folks I hadn't seen for many, many years. And there were people who came from miles away to be there. My old SOC HOP and school friend Susan Pelton came all the way from Arkansas. I couldn't believe it. ( And she is still as beautiful as ever - it was Great dancing with her again.) As it was with my old, (I guess I should be using the term 'long time' here instead of 'old' as none of us were very 'old' last night) anyway, Sharon Gravino Bowman and Shirley Weir Quastler were wonderful dancing partners way back then and still to this day give me a thrill. And dancing with Joni (Calkins) Simms brought back many memories of the wonderful times dancing with her while Roger and the guys played. I thought the music was awesome. Danny Gregory and the Shelter band started things off with some great licks and Garry Mac played with them. They are all still great musicians that are still bringing joy to those that hear them. They were followed by Little Joe Sherrick on bass with Frank Plas on lead guitar. Frank has just recently started playing again, but you would never know he had ever stopped. His rendition of 'Midnight Thunder' sounded as good to me as it did forty-five years ago. I certainly hope to see more of him in the future. The original sax player with Larry Emmett and The Sliders ( and I am embarrassed to say, his name slips my mind at the moment, so somebody please remind me in the comments section below) - this guy put on a heck of a perfomance and blew us all away - he was a great addition to the stage. Listen, it was just one of those great nights - way to many names for me to remember this early in the morning, - it was great seeing Buddy Ross again. My ole pal Fred the alley cat Allison showed up and still had his original SOC HOP membership card in his pocket - funny the things we save. Louie Milberger was there, long time no see. Sorry, just way to many names to recall at this moment - maybe some will come to me as I recoup. If you were there, please add comments to this post and name some names of others who were there - that would help alot. Special thanks to Frank Hicks, owner of Knuckleheads, for allowing us the pleasure of using his place to bring back so many memories - and thanks to all of you for your kind words regarding my parents who just thought they were opening a place for their kids and their friends - it turned out to be a heck of a lot more than they ever thought it would - I will give them your best when I take them out to lunch today.....................Thanks for the memories........................................

Hello from the west and 'Oh Yeah' back at ya ! !

2006-08-31T14:00:00.000-07:00

Heres The Fabulous Silver Tones in the best picture I have of them, though Mike Weakley is sort of hidden, so I am posting the one I took of him all by his lonesome. I talked to Michael today. He said for me to give his love all around to everybody and he wishes he could be here for the reunion at Knuckleheads tonight. He also said he would love to hear from anyone who wanted to correspond. His email and phone # is available from me upon an email request. When I wasn't on the dancefloor, you could probably find me standing right about here watching the drummer, whoever it happened to be. I spent hours watching Mike after helping him carry his stuff up to the stage and get it all set up. There was a drummers hump on the stage so that he sat up off the floor. And that was good, especially when the likes of little Danny Gregory came to play. And talk about play, Danny was the best soloist I ever saw. And now he is a heck of a singer, rockin out with Shelter and doing a very good JamesBrown. I expect to enjoy him this evening at the Reunion. I also spoke with Mr Roger Calkins today. He is living out in the city by the bay and said for me to give all his best to all those who helped make him successful and to get everyone to face west and give him a great big "Oh Yeah". We will see about that in a few hours. The picture is one of Roger's promo's. Anyway, here's to the Silver Tones and the great music they made. And I STILL enjoy them.......You never know what might happen - ProtoKaw ????

The Silver Tones Rock

2006-08-30T17:01:00.000-07:00

This picture was taken standing on the railing just behind the stairway. The Fabulous Silver Tones are on stage. Rich Stoy playing bass on the right, Roger Calkins playing and singing, Frank Plas lead guitar, and again, I don't know who this drummer is, but it is not the regular drummer, Mike Weakley, who must have been off this night. The stage was the re-constucted grain bin that was present when we leased the barn. If you look at the wood on the wall below the window you can see the lines where the wall studs were. We just tore it all apart and rebuilt it to look like a house front. There were actually two dressing rooms inside the door where the fellows went to - relax - during break. The sound equipment and amplifiers were pretty primitive in those early days, but with the ingenuity of guys like Buddy Ross, who evolved from a band member to the founder of Kustom Electronics, that quickly changed. Kudos to Mr Ross for all he has done in the music industry. It's hard to recognize the backs of any of these heads, but look at the cool hair styles. We were a cool bunch, we really were....Please feel free to download any of these pictures and use in anyway you see fit. And add comments anytime please. More great pictures to come......

Most Favorite Picture Ever

2006-08-30T16:13:00.000-07:00

This is, without a doubt, my all time favorite picture of the SOC HOP. It was taken fairly early in the life of the barns days for us. The Fabulous Silver Tones are on the stage, however, the drummer is not Mike Weakley, the regular drummer. Must have been a night Mike was sick or had some other required activity. (Mike, by the way, lives in San Diego, changed his name years ago to Michael Fortune, and has been the drummer for The Electric Prunes and is currently deeply involved in the entertainment industry.) If you click on the picture it will enlarge. Anyone who knows who the drummer here is, or for that matter, any of the other people in this picture, (like Steve Woodrow smack dab in the center of the picture facing the camera and dancing, or Dennis Hedrick over on the right in the white shirt behind the girl in the horizontal striped sweater) or the the nameless girl with the scarf in the foreground, please post a comment and let us know a name. And for sure, if you would happen to spot yourself in this picture, please let us all know. It would be cool to be able to put a name on every face, but I suppose that is out of the question. If you were a regular SOC HOPper you had your favorite place to be. I was usually up around the stage watching the band, unless I was dancing, which I liked best at the near end of the picture as there was usually more room here. It was easier to cut loose where it wasn't so crowded and I remember lots of nights of between one thousand to fifteen hundred of us. I am hoping this picture draws lots of comments. Come on folks...hit the comment button and tell us your memory of dancing at the SOC HOP. Another great picture taken from the stage looking south coming soon. Yes, the SOC HOP will live forever.......

A hundred thousand cups of ice

2006-08-27T11:35:00.000-07:00

Oh yes, the Snack Bar. That is my Mom with her head turned, she never liked her picture taken, and my Aunt Angie, Lon's wife, helping her. One of the unfortunate things about being the son of the owner was that I had to work. Always, about ten minutes before the band took a break, I HAD to leave the upstairs, where the music was and the girls were, and go down to the Snack Bar and start filling cups with ice. I didn't keep track, but you can only guess how many cups I filled with ice. (We had a deep freeze at home where we stored the ice we made during the week in empty milk cartons and then broke up with a hammer on the Snack Bar floor before dumping the carton out in a big ice storage bin). Then I started filling cups with pop. We served Pepsi, Lemon/Lime, Root Beer, Orange Crush, & Lemonaide along with Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, and Tenderloins, as well as fries and rings. I spent many an hour working the grill. I guarantee you it wasn't all fun, being the owners son, but I wouldn't trade my memories for anything. Anyone recognize the backs of those heads? Oh yes, and trench coats?

The Cake Walk

2006-08-27T11:20:00.000-07:00

The Cake Walk - this is the better one of the only two pictures I have of the downstairs of the barn. It was taken on a Saturday afternoon when the local grade school had a 'cake walk' there. It was taken from the front door looking north thru the barn. The front counter is in the foreground. I post it here in hopes of jogging a few memories. Like sitting at one of the picnic tables in one of the stalls sipping on a soft drink and trying to cool off before going back upstairs to get all hot again, or playing a game of pool with your best buddy while waiting for the girls to get there. The pool tables and pin ball machines were in the first stalls on each side, rest rooms and Snack Bar at the far end and stairway upstairs on the right far end just before the Snack bar. Wish I had a better picture, but this is it. Tell what you remember about the downstairs in the comments section below.

Stamp Me, PLEASE !

2006-08-21T13:16:00.000-07:00

How many times did you go through these doors?? Many walked in, but danced out. That is my Aunt Doris, (Ed's wife & Mom's sister) and their brother, Lon, at the front counter. Doris would take your three quarters, hang up your coat in the coat room behind her, stamp your hand with that invisible ink stuff, and tell you to have a good time. Lon, who was in his 30's then was just there to present an 'adult supervison' appearance.
My younger brother Mark, who was about 9 then, is the short one leaning on the counter blocking the view of the black light lamp you had to put your hand under to get back in if you went out side to cool off (or whatever......). The office (where the police took you if you got into trouble) is just across the isle. You can barely see the door frame. I know a number of fellows that spent a considerable amount of time in there.

If you were one of the SOC HOPpers that went to 'the barn' you will remember this sight. Literally thousands passed through these doors. Once you got in this far, the rest of it was a cakewalk.

Leftover Lunch

2006-08-20T13:13:00.000-07:00

I hadn’t even finished lunch yet, but there was Dad, holding my coat and saying, "Come on, Let’s go. I don’t want to be late for our meeting." Dad had promised to take me with him when he went to tour the old barn where he and my uncle, Ed Bowers, hoped to create a place for us kids to dance and have fun. I was thankful for a good reason to leave that Spam and cheese sandwich half eaten on my plate. It was still cold outside, which was appropriate for a winter day in Kansas City. So on that Saturday in January of 1960, Dad and I left our house there on eighty-sixth street just off of Metcalf in Overland Park and headed south. Metcalf, as a named road, ended at eighty-seventh street, as did most of the residential developments and from there south the road was known as 69 Highway. Of course, in those days it was all two lane, the old highway dissecting the farmland that is now south Overland Park as it passed the few cross streets there were back then; 87th, 95th, and 103rd then nothing until the old Martin City/Olathe Road, later to be numbered 135th Street, where Mr. Reno had a lake on the southeast corner. There was another lake I remember well. We passed it as Dad turned west on the gravel road where someone had posted a wooden sign that said 95th Street. The small lake was part of the Dickenson farm, known as The Glenwood. It covered about 480 acres mostly north of 95th and west of 69 highway and had been where the Dickenson family raised and showed their premium Angus cattle. Part of the pastureland between Lowell and Antioch north of 95th Street had been sold off and there was a new subdivision getting ever closer to the large white house where the Dickenson’s had lived. Behind the house to the north was a utility building used for storing the farms various equipment, and behind it stood the huge old barn.
I had seen the barn many times before as we passed by it on one of our Sunday drives, but had never really given it any special attention. This time was different though. As Dad turned the car up the driveway and we passed by the old house, my attention was focused completely on the barn. Dad had always told me that is important to see things as they are, but also to imagine how they could be. And my imagination was running wild.
Just a few weeks before my Uncle Ed had taken me to another barn. It was out off the east side of New 50 Highway, (now I-35), back behind the Standard Oil gas station at about 119th Street. He had taken me there to get my opinion as a teenager. Now this barn was owned by a man named Berry, or maybe it was Barry, I am not sure now. I just remember that everybody there called it Berry’s Barn. When we arrived there must have been fifty cars parked all around and Mr Berry was sitting on the stairway to the hayloft with a cigar box collecting fifty cents from all that entered. There was a live band playing that night, and as I recall it was a group called Larry Emmett and The Sliders. The music seemed to bellow out of the open hayloft doors. My uncle said hello to Mr Berry, who let us pass without payment and we went on in. My uncle had worked there regularly as a uniformed chaperone, so to speak. He was an officer with the county Sheriff’s Department and took the job as an off duty security guard. We did not stay long that night, but I will never forget the excitement I felt, recalling the months of conversations between my Dad and Ed about the possibilities of opening their own place for kids to go.
The old Dickinson barn was not the first place we had looked at, nor the second or third but another one of many, most of which were more modern buildings that would have been nearly ready to go but were just way more expensive than what Dad and Ed thought was affordable
As we approached the barn on the rutted old drive, I could see Ed and another gentleman standing out front and talking. The gentleman turned out to be Glen Dickenson, the property owner and also the head of the Dickenson Theater chain. (A few years later he would build and manage the Glenwood Motor Lodge and Glenwood Theater at 91st and Metcalf.) Mr Dickenson greeted my father and acknowledged me, then continued talking. He had been telling Ed about the history of the barn. It had been built in the early 1920's to house and show the champion Angus cattle his family raised.
This was a barn of barns. The side walls were constructed from heavy duty concrete blocks. It had a concrete floor, both downstairs and in the hayloft. I don’t remember the dimensions now but Dad says he remembers the barn to be about 120' X 50'. The upstairs floor was supported by concrete I-beams with steel support beams downstairs. These support beams became the corner posts for the twelve stalls down each side inside the barn, leaving a center isle open from one end to the other. There was a hay rail down the center of the open ceiling in the hayloft that was used to move hay bales about. A huge grain bin was located at the north end of the loft. It was connected to the twin silos outside, and there were holes in the floor where chutes from the grain bin were that allowed for obtaining feed downstairs. The upstairs had two windows high on the wall of the south end with a loft door centered below them and there were three loft doors on the east side that were used for loading the hay in. The north end of the downstairs was one open room that had been used for equipment storage and there was a stairway that started just inside a door on the side and led to the upstairs just in front of the grain bin. There was very primitive electricity and no running water, except what could be pumped up from an old cistern and, of course, no restroom facilities. When the barn was cleaned last, and who knows when that was, all the cow manure was piled into one of the stalls downstairs. It was about four feet deep. Early on in the barns history, Mr. Dickenson said they had problems with the cattle slipping on the concrete floor and falling down and getting hurt, so they had spread rock dust on the floor. As it got wet, then hardened, it provided a rough texture which gave the cattle better footing. I originally thought the floor was dirt, but soon learned otherwise.
The Dickensons had quit the cattle business as their theater business demanded more and more of their time and the old barn had sat empty for nearly ten years. During our 30 minute tour, I remember seeing a couple of big black snakes in the years old hay upstairs and several scurring rats and at least one coon. I went to sit in the car. I thought, "You’ve got to be kidding." If it had been brand new, that might have been something - but who would want to go here. When Dad got back to the car, he asked me what I thought. I just shook my head, and said, "Not sure what to think." Dad said, "Have a little vision - use your imagination - I think we can make a pretty nice place there."
When we got home, Mom got a plate out of the refrigerator and said, "Finish you sandwich. Did you like the barn?" Dad and Ed signed a two year lease the next week and began talking to the local officials about permits. And so the plans began. Dad told me to talk to my friends and see if I could come up with a good name. I don’t remember now for sure who decided on the term sock hop, but it was me who said, "Let’s leave the ‘k’ off sock and just make it the SOC HOP"
The SOC HOP officially opened in April of that year and as you might well imagine, the Bowers (Ed, Doris, Penny and Linda) and the Weavers (Mike, Alice, John, Mark, and me) spent the rest of January, February, March and most of April getting the place ready. We spent hours scrapping the old rock dust off the downstairs floor, cleaning out the stall of old manure, which to my chagrin was still damp in the middle. We spent every spare minute painting the walls and stall rails, doing the plumbing and electrical work necessary. Some professionals were hired, of course, but most of the hard work was done by our two families. Dad bought some old wagon wheels and he and I made the chandeliers that hung upstairs and we used some old double trees from horse drawn wagons to make hanging lamps downstairs. The restroom mirrors were horse collars with mirrors in the center.
Picnic tables were put together and placed in some of the stalls downstairs, the feed bins along the walls were filled with gravel and dirt and small evergreen trees planted in them, a snack bar was built and equipped, a front counter and coat room were built inside the front door. We tore down the grain bin upstairs and rebuilt it to be a stage that looked like the front porch of a small cabin with two dressing rooms on the inside.
A flexible dance floor was installed and Mr. Dickenson provided us with old theatre chairs to line the walls with. A big water tank with a pump was placed outside the Snack Bar and the water was pumped in. Dad bought an old hearse, put a big water tank in the back of it, parked it at home in the driveway and ran the garden hose into it. When the tank got full, he would carefully drive it down to the barn and re-pump it into the big tank there. Later we got a big tank on a wheeled trailer that I would take over on Lowell and hook a fire hose up to a hydrant and the water company let us get water that way for a while. Hal Reno brought in truck loads of gravel and the old corn field became a parking lot, though when it rained, everyone still had to take turns pushing each other either in or out of the place. As both Dad and Ed had their own full time careers, I became the one who got to go open the place up, sometimes just to let the Pepsi man in, or to let the band in, or whatever needed to be done. I was the cleanup guy. Everyone new me, I was the kid in the SOC HOP shirt. All of a sudden I had a thousand friends. I was usually the first person to get there and the last one to leave, though often my buddies stayed to help me with the chores. (Thanks go to Bob Rigdon, Ernie Ashlock, Fred Allison, and my old friend Bill Cresto.) We all put in a hell of a lot of hard work. But looking back at it now, I know for sure I WISH I COULD DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN.

Three Quarters

2006-08-19T14:04:00.000-07:00

Just three quarters - that's all it took for a fantastic
evening in the old barn. This was the pre-opening
flier that I took around to all the schools and stores
trying to promote what we hoped would be a good
thing. We had no idea ! It was way better than
good. It was great. It was Really Great.
Stay tuned for more memories... Michael Weaver

The Dusty Road

2006-08-18T19:14:00.000-07:00

The plumes of dust from the gravel road boiled across the cow pasture like puffs of thick smoke as the cars turned west off old 69 highway, past the farm pond on the corner and then headed down the rutted road toward the aging white barn. A wooden sign on a post proclaimed the dusty road to be 95th street.
The Dickinson farm sat there west of the two lane road now known as Metcalf Avenue. As suburban sprawl began, the farmland was being sold off. The old Angus cattle show barn had long ago been abandoned, empty for nearly ten years. It took our families much hard work, but in early 1960 my uncle, Ed Bowers and my dad, Mike Weaver opened the areas greatest ever dance hall, bringing live music to the old barn they called The Soc Hop. The stalls on the lower floor were converted to dining stalls with picnic tables, though some contained pinball machines or pool tables. The grain bin upstairs was dismantled and rebuilt as a stage. A flexible oak dance floor about 100' X 40' was installed and theater seats lined the walls. Constant cleaning and lots of dance wax kept the floor slick like ice.
My Aunt Doris manned the front door, collecting your dollar and stamping your hand with invisible ink that you had to show under a black light to get back in if you went outside to cool off or to neck with your date in the back seat of the car. ( I often went outside to cool off, though my mom or my aunt were always watching to see that I went out by myself.)
My mom handled the snack bar, providing burgers, hot dogs, french fries and ten cent cokes to the throngs of sweaty teens who danced the nights away. When I wasn't upstairs dancing, I helped in the Snack Bar, filling cups with ice or manning the grill. I was usually the one who unlocked the door to let the band in to warm up and was usually also the one who locked the door after everyone else had already gone home and after doing some basic clean up. I usually waited until the next day to do the major cleaning, as it took several hours to get it ready after a really good night, which was usually a thousand to fifteen hundred of us really kool kids dancing to some really great music.
We were dancing to the sounds of Roger Calkins and The Fabulous Silvertones featuring Frank Plas on lead guitar, Rich Stoy on bass, Mike Weakley on drums or one of the other popular bands of those wonderful days of early Rock. Other great names that come to mind are Larry Emmettt and The Sliders, The Bygones, Gary Mac and The Mac Truque, The Holidays, Danny Gregory and The Roulettes, Jack Nead and The Jumpin’ Jacks and Paul Schlapper and The Night Riders, just to name a few. These were the pioneers of Rock & Roll in Kansas City and many of them live on today, if but only in the memories of those of us who were there.
The Soc Hop’s presence in the old barn lasted only a few years, as the encroaching housing developments required quieter Saturday nights than was allowed by the usual thousand or so teens
. So the Soc Hop moved to a new home in Lenexa, on the west frontage road south of 87th &
I-35, and continued for several years serving the dancing needs of hundreds of teens. When someone says, "Those were the days" it’s the Soc Hop nights that I remember.
The first ever Soc Hop reunion is being held on Thurs. August 31 at Knuckleheads Saloon in Kansas City and will feature old timers Frank Plas, Danni Gregory, Gary Mac and others. Hope to see you there.
You know, we were kool, when it was really kool to be kool. There are literally thousands of SOC HOP stories out there. If your memory is still good enough to remember yours, please post it here and share it with all so the "The SOC HOP will live forever". Michael Weaver may be sixty years old, but the memory of those times helps keep me young at heart. Special thanks to Joe Sherrick for helping make a very old dream come true. See you at the SOC HOP reunion