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I was enjoying my recent graduation from high school on that hot day
in June of 1960 when my sister came
into the house with the guitar case. In the past 2 months she had rented a
xylophone, a banjo, a ukulele, and now a hollow-bodied, acoustic guitar. She
loved to try different instruments, as she was a very talented musician and
singer. The neat part about it was that I got to try all the instruments
too. I don't know why, but the guitar came very easily to me, and soon I
was pickin' out such modern songs as "Peg-o-My-Heart" and
"In the Mood". After 2 weeks, the rental expired and my sister
took the guitar back to the store. I never gave it another thought until
the girl I was dating at the time, for no particular reason, decided to surprise
me by giving me a guitar. It was old
and green and had those "f"-shaped holes in the body. I was
thrilled and began teaching myself how to play chords from a "Learn
to Play the Guitar in 5 Minutes" book.
About 2 months later, when I was with the "guys", my very
close friend, Bob, told me that he also had a guitar. We decided to get
together and see what would happen. We strummed several tunes together and
both of us thought it was the neatest thing. Then, at another of our
"guy-type" get-togethers, Bob and I started talking about playing
our guitars, and another very good friend, Mike, mentioned that he played
the drums. The next day the three of us got together in the living room of
my parents house; Bob on the rhythm guitar, me on lead, and Mike pounding
on an upside-down waste basket with a pair of pencils. So "THE
RENEGADES" came into existence.
The name came from a car club that we all belonged to when we
were 16 years old, the "Rebel Rousers".
We thought that "Renegade" was similar to the
car club name. We spent many a day and night practicing in my
basement or at Mike's house, and eventually Mike set us up for
our first job - no money, but recognition! We played at a private
party for a girl we all knew. After that, we played for C.Y.O.
dances and slowly built a name for ourselves in the CYO circuit.
In March of 1962 we officially became professional
musicians by joining the Musicians Association in Milwaukee. After our first engagement at Muskego
Beach Ballroom, with The Legends, we became an overnight
success. We played all the top rated band jobs for almost another
3 years, like; Muskego
Beach Ballroom, Weiler's, State Fair Park Youth Building,
Gallagher's, Monreal's Club, Lakeview
School
in Wind Lake,
etc. We played at Muskego Beach Ballroom a total of 96 times,
and we were 'House Band' 48 times after The Legends moved to Florida.
In early August of 1963, the band moved to Tucson
Arizona, where we played at
the Ramada Inn for about 4 months.
We did several shows there with some notable stars, like
Brian Hyland, Bobby Bare, etc.
We moved back to Milwaukee
towards the end of the year, and picked up where we left off.
"The Renegades" started out as a couple of guys
who were in it for fun, and it led to us becoming one of the top three
groups in the State of Wisconsin. I never dreamed it would turn out as it
did. Yet now that I have time to look back and reflect on the past, I know
that it was one of the most rewarding, thrilling times of my life.
Recording sessions, records, personal appearances, interviews, TV and radio
programs, autographs, recognition, and money are but a few of the things
that changed my life back then. All I can say now is that for the short
time it lasted, it was a very wild ride.
From the very start of the band, I religiously kept a scrapbook of
information that I filled out after every job or event. That scrapbook was
almost destroyed in June of 1997 by a flood that left 3 1/2 feet of water
in my basement. I spent many hours in 1998 with a magnifying glass and
microscope in an effort to determine what was on those severely damaged
pages. After 2 months of work, I finally reconstructed the 83 page
scrapbook. Sadly, almost all the other mementoes and awards were destroyed.
“The Renegades” played from August 1960 to
their last engagement in December of 1965. Many other bands became
off-shoots both before and after the band dissolved. "The Walking
Sticks", "Chains" and "Lyft", to name just a few.
There were many different members during the 5-year span that "The
Renegades" were together. The ones I remember the most are the
initial guys who started it with me - Bob and Mike, and the guys who were a
part of the 'GLORY YEARS' - Dick, Little Denny, Big Denny, Paul and my very
best friend since early childhood, Louie (Big Lou). It is to them that I
dedicate this website.
As the years fly by for all of us who played in "The
Renegades", one thing still remains; we are all still good
friends. Almost every year, Dick, Denny, Louie and I get together to
reminisce about 'the good old days', and get out our guitars and try to
bring back a piece of the magic that once existed so long ago.
Mickey S.
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