Since the day I started “Rock & Roll Memories,” there is not a month that goes by where someone doesn’t talk or ask about Steve Ellis & The Starfires. I thought the best way for me to look back at this legendary band was to tell of my first experience in booking Steve Ellis & The Starfires.
First, I need to add, while they were just those local kids from Pipestone, I can’t overstate the importance of Steve Ellis & The Starfires to the Minnesota and Midwest music scenes of that time. We all now know now that Steve Ellis & The Starfires were just flat out, Midwest music legends! A very important band.
I grew up in Fairmont, Minn. It was a great town to learn to love rock & roll. To the south of us was the incredible Roof Garden Ballroom at Lake Okoboji, Iowa, to the west, the Fox Lake Ballroom in Sherburn, Minn., to the north Hatfield’s Hollyhock Ballroom and right in Fairmont was the amazing Interlaken Ballroom.
If you were a kid and couldn’t “legally” get into any of these ballrooms, the city of Fairmont wanted to provide something for the kids to do. In 1961 they created the Fairmont Youth Center. It opened as a place for kids to shoot pool and play ping pong. Let’s say it wasn’t an immediate success. The kids wanted rock & roll like the older kids were getting at these great Ballrooms. It took a while, but soon the Youth Center was starting the process of booking bands for dances.
They started with live music slowly, usually a band once a month or sometimes every other week. Mostly they used the regional “up and comer” bands just starting out. By early 1966 it was time to step it up in a big way. They wanted to bring to the Youth Center a band that the kids would be talking about for months. Keep in mind, the Youth Center had a budget of maybe $75-$100 a week for a band.
At the time, a teen council helped pick the bands and I was lucky enough to sit on that council. The Youth Center’s Manager, Mr. Elliot Waterbury, was always the one who booked the bands, but in the case of this special upcoming show, he thought it would be good to have one of the teen council members book the show. I drew the short straw.
The band that everyone wanted was Steve Ellis & the Starfires from Pipestone. In Fairmont, the Starfires always had the reputation that they were super expensive to book. Everyone thought they were too “big time” to play a small venue like the Youth Center. A lot of this was based on their very hot recording on Decima Records, of “Walking Around,” that we heard on local radio, KSUM.
So, I called Steve and was all prepared to get the “no” word about the band playing the Youth Center.
To my dismay, Steve was interested and had the date of Feb. 5, 1966 open. Quickly we got to price. The Starfires needed $400 and that is all we had for the entire month in our band budget. Elliot Waterbury said OK to the price. We were almost there.
I told Steve the kids all had to dress up to attend the dance.
I asked, “Will the Starfires be dressed appropriately?”
Steve said, “don’t worry, we’ll be good.”
I went, “I’ve got a problem.” I told him we didn’t have an opening band. Would the Starfires play all night?
Steve responded, “We’ll get that figured out when we get there.” My next thought was, “I really have a problem.”
An hour before the show the Starfires pull in. Steve on guitar, Mike Mulligan on bass, Barry Hanson on guitar and Dean “Zeke” Senfter on drums. An amazing line-up of musicians. The band set up, then went to get dressed. They all came out wearing matching paisley shirts, tapered black pants and new, two-toned Beatle boots. What a look. The first set they played a full 75 minutes, second set a full 60 minutes with a 15 minute break. What pros.
I’m sure Steve could see I was over my head in booking this show. I’m sure he was smiling inside. As the end of the show was in sight, Steve looked out over the largest attendance the Youth Center had ever seen and said, “Here’s a song you might have heard before” and the band hit “Walking Around.” It felt like the walls were caving in. The kids went crazy.
After the show, it was time to pay the Starfires. Steve had asked for cash, so Elliot Waterbury gave him $400 in cash. He told us he liked what we were doing at this cool little place and gave Elliot $50 back to help pay for the next band. You couldn’t make this up! Amazing.
I so loved this experience, I learned the business and ended booking concerts from Elliot Waterbury and used that information to help put myself though college.
Sadly, I believe that Midwest music did partially die on Aug. 31, 1967 when Steve was tragically killed while riding his motorcycle. It was a sad day for Midwest Music.
It was great to see that the Youth Center kept on hiring the Starfires even after Steve’s passing.
I’ve never told this story before. Thanks, Steve, for helping me make one of my rock and roll dreams.
I hope you enjoy the photos I used with my story. They are unpublished photos shot by the world famous photographer, Jim Brandenburg, shortly before Steve’s passing for his unfinished first LP.
Until next month
Take care & remember the music