from chapter 9
The next guy to show up on my musical voyage was Duke from Pittsburgh or Philly. He was a monster organ player. He had a big smile, slightly gapped tooth and one front tooth was chipped. He wore sunglasses a lot, but didn’t really remind me of Stevie Wonder. This guy had his own musical personality, and he had class too. He was an accomplished organist, and he encouraged me to join in with him to play at the base gym for some kind of function. He spent some time practicing with me prior to the gig. We had put out the word for a drummer to play this gig with us.
Eventually we hooked up with a guy named Zeuch. He and Duke were new to he base, but we had a good time discovering each other with our varied levels of musical skills. Zeuch (sounds like Zuke) was a very good drummer indeed. After a couple practice sessions, we played the gig, which turn out to be successful and fun. This impromptu gathering of musicians of course led the base’s first band, composed of enlisted men. All of this took place some six months from the time I first picked up my bass. My pal Goss would have been proud of me, I’m sure.
Zeuch was a "God-Sent", on time, funky, and he had the right attitude for the circle of friends that I wanted to be with. He had a size thirteen-foot, and when he alternated it with the hand, there no question where beat of one was. We had a good incentive to stay together as a band, primarily because we were on the same wave length, with having at least a couple of years in front of us at this base. Once we realized that neither of us would probably be shipped out, we just buckled down and started regular practice sessions.
The word spread quickly that we had become an item, so we had to come up with a name. We called ourselves “The Impacts”, and we wasted no time getting out there. Soon we would add two more members to the group, “Nicky” , from Marion (a civilian), on guitar, John Bradshaw (sax player) from the base and last but not least, Brenda, a WAF, who was new to the base as well. She was absolutely the most unbelievable thing that could have happen to us in the process of forming this band. We started out playing a few gigs on base, and soon thereafter, we were out of there. I couldn’t believe, just a few months earlier that year I was virtual groupie, and now I've found myself playing on the same stages that I was dancing in front of just a short time ago.