Rick:  So we got Kent Heftley as our roadie and he’d go set up our equipment for us and all we had to do was show up.  Man, that really streamlined our business and then being able to sit down and learn all these new songs, because the turnover of these songs was horrendous.  You know the Top 50 was changing daily so we found a man whose name was Mac McCormick; he played piano, saxophone and all kinds of hits at one of the big hotels in Denver.  I can’t remember which one, the Brown Palace?  I think so.  I can’t remember exactly.  Anyway we went down to hear him at a piano bar, and all these old duffers are sitting around drinking their Manhattans and you know, he knew every song there ever was.  Sittin’ there playing, and he loved saxophone and singing, and he was kind of a Santa Claus looking guy.  So during one of his breaks we sat down and talked to him and said, "Hey look, I got this idea Mac."  

We had talked to his son and met him at one of the teen clubs we had played at and we were kind of talking about this problem we had learning songs fast enough.  He says, "You gotta meet my dad.  The guy’s got perfect pitch.  You can learn a song in five minutes."  And I’m going, I don’t think so--and let’s go talk to him! 

I told Mac, "Look we got this idea, what would you charge us?"  I said, "Do you think if we gave you a record you could learn the song and teach it to us?"

He said, "Well the only problem I have is the lyrics.  I don’t want to sit down and listen to the lyrics.  I’ll teach you the music."

"Well, you got it!"  Cause we had all kinds of girls who could sit down and listen to the records and write down the words to the songs, no problem!  But we still had our doubts. 

Then he says, "Well why don’t I come down.  If you don’t like me you don’t have to pay me.  I travel from Denver up to Greeley and I want $20 an hour and if you’re not satisfied, you don’t have to pay me.  As simple as that."

So we were at this teen club, we were all set up and he says I have 5 records there.  He had the words written down.  It’s gonna take us about an hour.  We go, "Whoa."  So he comes in and brings the record player, puts the record on, he listens to it. 

"OK, who is the bass player, who is the electric guitar…OK, now here’s your part play E, G…"  And he’s telling us what to play after listening to the record once.  In five minutes, we just learned a song. 

"OK, what’s next?"

And we’re going, "Oh my god!"  He puts on another record and listens to it once and starts telling us what to play.  And if somebody had a problem and couldn’t get the part, he’d work with him and in five minutes you got it.  So we would pay Mac McCormick to come and teach us songs.  We’d learn 5 new songs every time he came up, once a week, so we stayed right on top.  Nobody could keep up with us, and that’s mostly why we won this Battle of the Bands.  We knew the whole Top 50.

What else Mac would do besides teaching the songs was we got to where we would learn 5 songs, then we would play 5 songs for him.  We added another hour.  Now we had a two-hour session.  The second hour we would play him songs and he would arrange them and polish them up, so musically speaking we just had laser guns, man.  And this guy who had been in music, I imagine he was in his late sixties, could play twenty some instruments proficiently.  I mean this man knew music so well, and show business, and he had stage presence.  We had the most perfect coach in the world.  Then you add Tinkerbell as the manager.  She went in and opened doors and did things you just wouldn’t even believe. 

The newsclip above is from a full page article on the event that appeared in Billboard Magazine dated 12/25/65.  This was a KIMN sponsored event with several record company executives in attendance.

Click here to see some color photos of The Monocles at the Baja Club in late 1965.

The dance marathon at the T.A.C. took place on January 21-22, 1966.  Click here to see photos from the event.  

At least one of the hearses still exists.  Click here to see it as it looks in 2006.  You will also be able to read some of the history behind it. 

Les:  How long has it been since you’ve heard the Monocles and Higher Elevation songs? 

Rick:  Oh, years and years and years.  Well, this is just bringin' back those memories.  It wasn't just good music because, gosh, Kevin was such a phenomenal drummer.  We would start one of our sets with a drum solo and we shut all of the lights off.  We painted Kevin's drumsticks fluorescent orange and we had these tuxedo shirts with all the ruffles, and black on the end of the ruffles.  We had a black light we'd hang up.  So we'd turn all the lights out and he would go up and start a drum solo with these fluorescent drumsticks and this shirt, so all you saw was this shirt with these drumsticks.  Kevin was such a showman I mean he'd end a song and jump up on his throne.

On February 27, 1966, The Monocles played Tulagis.  It was Kevin's last performance with the band.

Peter Johnson adds:  Kevin and I went to Aurora Central High School and we always had lunch together.  He would drive up to Greeley on weekends and play with the band.  That's how he ended up getting killed in a car accident. 

Photos exist from a show at Tulagi's.  You can view them by clicking here.

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