Les:  Who were some of the other bands that you played with?

Rick: Oh we played with The Byrds, The Buffalo Springfield, The Beau Brummels, the Jefferson Airplane, the Everly Brothers--that was a really neat concert in Colorado Springs at a rodeo arena.  We drove our hearse in and it was in one of the rodeo shoots and all the lights went out.  Then they turned the spotlight on and they opened up the rodeo shoot, and we drove our hearse out and jumped out of the hearse and jumped up onstage and started playing.  That was before Peter joined.  I think he was in the audience.

Les:  Yes, he said he was.  So when did Peter join?  Wasn’t it near the end of 1966?

Rick:  Yeah, late 66.  That was really a horrible year for us.  We had just really started getting going and all of a sudden they initiated the draft, the lottery, and two of our members Robb Casseday and Don Hirshfield our piano player, got drafted.  Boom, they were gone so we had to replace them.  After Kevin's accident, we went about trying to find drummers and there were a lot that applied.  We chose Tom Behm and he got us in touch with Peter and he came out and he fit right in with the group.  He's a phenomenal piano player.

Robb played his last gig with The Monocles on October 31, 1966.  Above are two rare photos from a performance after Robb, but with Don still in the group before he left for the service.  These would have to be from November or early December 1966.  Click here for more photos from this performance.

Rick:  We were working, trying to go to college, and playing probably 4 nights a week.  Everybody was going to school and we just didn’t have time to go set up and do sound checks, so we thought, well what we need is a roadie.  A new phenomenon to us.  So I just pinned a note up on one of the dormitory bulletin boards and that afternoon this kid calls, his name was Kent Heftley, and says, "Boy, I’d really be interested."

I said, "Well there’s a lot of heavy equipment," but anyway I said, "Well come on over.  We’ll do an interview."  And here comes this husky kid, and I’m going no problem carrying the equipment.  He was very likeable and had good knowledge of electronics and could fix microphone cords--that was the biggest problem in those days.  Man, to be able to fix microphone cords and guitar cords and be able to get everything plugged in right.  And he knew all that and I’m liking him pretty well, and I said, "Well I tell you what, I’ll see.  Give me a couple of days and I’ll think about it, and we’ll see who else responds."

And he says, "Well OK, but I’d really like the job.  Maybe I ought to add something.  My stepdad owns KIMN radio."

I said, "You’re hired.  You got the job buddy." (laughs)  So gosh he was with us for quite awhile and finally, you know we didn’t really want to take advantage of the situation, he says, "Well you gotta meet my dad." 

So he brought Ken Palmer to one of our gigs and Ken really liked us so he says, "Well I tell you what, I got a friend in Hollywood that I’d like you to meet."  So we ‘yea-yea, sure,’ you know we kind of hear that a lot so about 2 weeks later he says, "I want you guys to give me a good gig that you got in Denver or close by because this friend is coming."

So, I can’t remember where we played in Denver, it was the Posh or something.  Here comes Ken Palmer who introduces us to Frank Slay.  He heard three songs and says, "OK guys, I want to sign you."  I believe that was around the first of the year in 1967. 

Les:  By any chance do you remember what the three songs were? 

Rick:  Gosh, I don’t know.  Just out of our repertoire.  We didn’t really do anything special.  He just really liked our music and the way we presented it .

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.  

After Don left, The Monocles remained a four piece for awhile.  Above from left to right is Rick Hull, Jon Floth, Tom Behm, and Peter Johnson (front).   

Peter:  I just loved wearing those Monocle outfits.  Big sleeved shirts; made me feel like I was one of the Three Musketeers.   Jon Floth's mother made the outfits for us and washed and cleaned them and she did all of the sewing.

Below is the proof sheet for the photo shoot.  The second, third, fourth, fifth, eighth, and tenth were never made into photos.  More photos from this shoot can be seen on Peter Johnson's pages.

Peter told me that Tom left the band shortly after this photo shoot.

Rick:  I believe Tom left to get married so after we hired Peter he said, "Well there’s another group that just broke up and I’ve played with this guy before and he’s phenomenal.  His name is Bobby Saunar."  So he came up and auditioned and it was instant love.  And the magic between Peter and Bobby came into the group, plus what we already had with Jon and I, so man everything melded and it wasn’t a week and we were playing like we had been playing together for years.  That was just like magic.

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