4.2; JoJo Forms a Band

January 1973

JoJo was over Janie, and he decided to just play the field with the ladies. (In other words..no girls were interested in him at the present time.) Tommy and JoJo had been planning on starting a Rock Band for a few weeks now. JoJo played "by ear," so he already new about 10 songs. Tommy could play any song! They had a bass and guitar, so they figured all they needed was a drummer and a singer. Charlie Price went to Large County Jr. High, but they new him from playing baseball at Smallville Rec. Department. Charlie could tear up the drums. He played in the school band, and he had been part of a rock band previously. Charlie found out about JoJo and Tommy starting a new band. Charlie called JoJo.
"Hello."
"Hey JoJo, this is Charlie Price."
"How's it going, Charlie?!"
"Groovy man!"
"Oh. Brother," JoJo thought to himself. (How he hated that word...)
"I hear you and Tommy are starting a band."
"That's the plan. We need a drummer and a singer. Know anybody who plays drums?"
"Yes, I do, and he is interested in joining forces!" (Charlie was talking about himself of course.)
"Cooooool."
"I think I might know a singer if you guys want to give him a try."
"Who?!"
"Bob Walk."
"Oh yea. Didn't he used to sing with the Alarm Clocks?"
"He used to, but he quit late last year."

So, Charlie, Tommy, and JoJo had a meeting at JoJo's house. They talked things over about the band while they shot hoops. The fellers were all in agreement about the style of music and about inviting Bob. Sure enough, Bob was interested, and the new rock group, Loudness was formed! The boys practiced three nights a week and most Saturdays. They were pretty good. But, they caught a break that most bands do not get early in their careers. Johnny Ironside planned on having a big Valentine party at his house, and he asked Loudness to be the party's band!

Valentine's Day 1973

The guys were so excited.Their set included:
1. Dream On
2. Bennie and the Jets
3. Band on the Run
4. Bad Bad Leroy Brown
5. Rock On
6. Gimme Three Steps
7. Saturday Night

Honestly, they performed some songs better than others, but to their surprise...the kids loved them. The next day, they each got several phone calls of congratulations. To their surprise, some were girls! Somehow it never crossed their 13-year-old minds that girls would be attracted to them once they were Rockers!

Even Cindy called JoJo. He didn't play it quite as cool as he would like to, but he asked her to go to the movies that Friday night! He thought This must be how Lynard Synard feels.

Maybe the most exciting thing that happened to the band as a result of the Valentine's Day Concert was an invitation to play at the Smallville Jr. High Dance on April 30th. They had hit the big time after 1 concert. "Eat your heart out, Butch," JoJo said out loud...in his bedroom one night, when he was alone....