Since their "farewell" performances in the 60s, Karl Sjodahl, Tom Bruckmann, Jeff Willis and Mark Winkle (along with Don Schenk and Roger Trauth) have remained close friends and create opportunities to play together whenever possible. Karl and Jeff tend to see each other most often, and their collaboration has led to several interesting projects.
1971
Saturday,
December 11th
Hampton,
Virginia
Your Friendly,
Neighborhood, All-American, Seventeen Piece, Co-Ed,
One Night
Band
| The One Night Band was formed by a group of guys in the Army and Air Force who missed performing. Karl played guitar... Jeff played drums... Tom flew in to help with lights and sound. What started as a live show was recorded and pressed as a limited edition LP. |
SOUND SAMPLES: Evil Ways - Mercy Mercy/My Girl - Dock Of The Bay - I Shall Be Released
1973 -
1987
Jewel
Recording - Cincinnati, Ohio
Jeff (percussion), Roger (most instruments), Nelson (engineer),
and Karl (producer & stuff)
The P.O.S. Symphony at the "Spooky"
session at Jewel Recording - Feb. 21, 1977
| The P.O.S. Symphony was born one Friday night in 1973 at Jewel Recording in Cincinnati. Karl was finishing up a session with Lonnie Mack. Jeff was visiting from Charlotte, and Roger dropped by. They loaded a 24 track tape on the machine and proceeded to fill up all the tracks with Roger playing guitars, bass and keyboard. Jeff played drums and anything else he could find. Karl produced, engineered and occasionally added a part or two. By 8:00 the next morning, "The Friday Night Thing, Part I" was recorded and mixed, and a tradition had started. P.O.S. got together to create one-night-wonders six more times from 1972 to 1987. The core group of Roger, Jeff and Karl remained intact throughout the series. Nelson Weber assisted with engineering on several sessions. Mark joined in occasionally on piano and other friends added hand claps and animal noises. P.O.S. is planning another reunion, as soon as they can get everyone together into a studio for a night. |
SONG SAMPLES: Friday Night Thing, Part I - Spooky - Roger's Song - Karl's Song - Sunday Sunrise
1984
Thursday,
February 16th
Cincinnati,
Ohio
Mark, Karl, Tom and Jeff at Tom's wedding - Feb. 16, 1984
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The guys were in town for Tom's wedding, and managed to get together at Jewel Recording for the first time in fifteen years. They spent several hours the night before the rehearsal dinner recording a few of their favorite songs, including "Double Shot (Of My Baby's Love)," "Thank The Lord For The Night Time," "Midnight Hour," and "Love Is A Beautiful Thing." The guys were disappointed to find that the studio had sold their Hammond B3 (the foundation of the group's sound). They got by with a borrowed Hammond, but the results were less than satisfying. They decided to try the next reunion at Mark's house, where there would be no trouble finding a working B3 (Mark owned three of them at the time).
Mark, Tom, Karl and Jeff in 1986
at Great Smoky Mountains National Park
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Kim, (Chris), Tom, Jeff, Carolyn, Susan, Karl & Mark
This meeting was as much social as it was musical. It was a get together with the extended "family." Mark and Tom both had young boys, both coincidentally named Chris, and both had a second one on the way.... with different names this time. Activities included a visit to the Smoky Mountains and long dinners, as well as extended music sessions in Mark's basement. They worked out an arrangement of "Hurt So Bad" which Mark had always wanted to do with the group. In addition to a few of their old standbys, they did a marathon medley of every G-C-D song they could think of... "Louie Louie," The Game Of Love," "Hang On Sloopy," ":La Bomba," "Twist And Shout," Etc.
This reunion was organized to play together, and record a few of the band's favorite tunes. The guys agreed on the songs and laid down Guitar, Bass, Drums and Keyboards (mostly electric piano) in the "T.H.E. Memorial Music Room" at Jeff's house in Charlotte. Hammond Organ and Vocals were added at Mark's house in Maryville, TN. Final vocals, including Don's lead vocal on "Everybody Needs Somebody To Love," percussion overdubs, and additional guitar and synth parts were added at an 8-track ADAT studio the guys set up in a Cincinnati hotel room, with the help of long-time friend Roger Trauth. SOUND SAMPLES: Feel a Whole Lot Better - I've Been Lonely Too Long
Everybody Needs Somebody to Love - Summer in the City - Love is a Beautiful Thing
Three of the guys got together for Karl's Dad's funeral in July, 2001 (Mark wasn't able to come in from Tennessee, but sent his condolences.) There was no time for music on this trip, but it marked a reunion with one of their "Fans" from the early days. Denise was a close friend of Karl's sisters, Barbee and Alice. In 1966, she was a big fan of the band (and the Monkees too). She was thirteen at the time. Denise is now married to a Cincinnati policeman, and has a married 24 year old daughter of her own. Obviously, being a fan of T.H.E... or The Monkees hasn't hurt Denise one bit. The guys, and Denise, were glad to have the chance to get reacquainted.
The band's first major reunion in seven years happened in April, 2002 in Charlotte. Over a period of about a week, they record several new songs and finished production on several older tunes destined for their long-awaited CD. The highlight of this reunion was their first live show since 1968, at Charlotte's Double Door Inn, on Sunday night, April 21. They performed a twenty-five minute live set, which was also recorded for the upcoming CD. Carolyn Willis provided third harmonies for both the live show and the recording sessions.
T.H.E... Mark, Jeff, Tom, Carolyn and Karl... at The Double DoorTHE LIVE SET 4/21/02:
Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White
I've Been Lonely Too Long
Evil Ways
But It's Alright
Light My Fire
The Monkey Time
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