Mike Waggoner and the Bops (1956 – 1964) 1950: 10 year old Mike Waggoner begins singing and playing guitar with his father’s three-piece band. At age 13, Mike makes his first debut on television, playing on the Toby Prin talent show (WCCO), the Jimmy Valentine Talent Show (KSTP), and the David Stone Talent Show (also on KSTP).
1956: Mike, a student at Richfield High School, puts together a band with his brother Colin and other students at the school. The lineup is: Mike Waggoner on rhythm guitar and lead vocals; Colin Waggoner on lead guitar and vocals; Lyle Gudmanson on drums; Rusty Bates on bass guitar; Dick Benedict on rhythm guitar and Doug Barton on Saxophone. At the bands first performance, a record hop at St. Richard’s Catholic Church in Richfield, Mike Waggoner comes up with a band name: The Bops, based on the Gene Vincent song “Do the Bop”. The record hop is hosted by Karl Peterson, a DJ from WLOL radio. The band plays cover songs from Elvis, Gene Vincent, Buddy Holly, Richie Valenz, Chuck Berry, Rick Nelson, Fats Domino and other popular groups from the era.
1956 – 1958: The band plays at various venues around town including: the Ford Union Hall in St. Paul; the Laidlaw VFW in Minneapolis; the Bloomington Roller Rink (94th and Lyndale Avenue South); The Green Door in Hopkins; the VFW in Richfield and school dances. Since none of the band members are old enough to drive, they rely on their parents to drive them and their band gear to the jobs.
1958 – 1959: The band goes through a transition period and comes out as a four-piece band with Mike Waggoner; Colin Waggoner; Sheldon Hasse on bass guitar and John Lentz on drums. The band has a name change to Mike Waggoner and the Bops and play at numerous school and community functions including the Friday night teen dances at The Crystal Coliseum (a roller rink with a portable elevated stage), one of the first local venues to feature rock n roll bands.
1959 – 1962: The band plays for the opening weekend of a new teen club in town, Mister Lucky’s. The band is now booked by T.B. Skarning and begins to play the ballroom circuit in the five state Midwest area. The band also plays jobs that are booked through Jimmy Thomas, based in Laverne. With the help of Dick Schaak at Schaak Electronics, the band puts together custom built speaker cabinets with Shure industrial PA amps, and also build a custom light system that features lights that change color (controlled by the drummer). In addition, the band uses an Echo-plex on the lead guitar and also on the lead vocals. These innovations help to elevate the band’s popularity. Del Upsahl with Del’s Music in Richfield, sponsors the band and provides them with equipment. The band is eventually featured in national editions of Gibson product magazines.
1962: The band records 12 songs at Kay Bank, most are cover songs. Two of the songs are released on the Vee label: Baby, Baby (Dale Hawkins) backed with Basher #5 (an instrumental written by Colin). The record is produced by Bing Bengston, Bobby Vee’s manager. Approximately 1,500 to 2,000 45’s are pressed. Baby, Baby gets airplay on WDGY through Bill Diehl and also on KDWB through Sam Sherwood. Mike picks up out of state radio shows at night on his radio and hears new rock hits that are not being played locally. Mike is able to obtain the 45’s of these rock hits through HI FI Records, at the Hub Shopping Center in Richfield and then play them for the band to learn.
1962 – 1964: The band travels extensively, working primarily in the larger Twin Cities venues and the ballroom circuit in Minnesota, Northern Iowa, the Eastern Dakotas and Western Wisconsin. Mike and The Bops win the coveted Minnesota Ballroom Award in 1961, 1962, 1963 and 1964. June, 1964: Mike receives a phone call from Ray “Big Reggie” Coulihan, who asks Mike if the band would open up a show for a relatively unknown British band, The Rolling Stones, booked to play Danceland in two weeks. Mike agrees. June 12, 1964: Mike Waggoner and the Bops open up the first show in Minnesota for The Rolling Stones, at Danceland in Excelsior. Mike reports a relatively low turnout of 300 people, with very little interest from the audience in The Rolling Stones. Late 1964: The band is offered to play a number of jobs in Australia, New Zealand and other countries, where American Rock and Rockabilly are very popular and in high demand. Mike, married with two young children, declines the overseas jobs and decides to wind down the band, and pursues a career in broadcasting. Mike enrolls at the Brown Institute in Minneapolis to study broadcasting and journalism and also obtains a First Class Radio Engineer’s License. Mike recalls the final job for the band is at Woodley’s Country Dam, a popular live music dance hall near Amery, Wisconsin.
UPDATE: 1965 – 1976: : Mike goes into radio broadcasting, spending 11 years as an on air personality and as a music and program director at three AM stations (WEAQ, Eau Claire, Wisconsin, WEBC, Duluth, and WDGY, Bloomington). 1974: Mike puts together a band called The Music Machine, which plays primarily for weddings, class reunions, proms and community events. The band stays together through 1978. 1976: Mike moves from broadcasting into radio sales at WCCO-FM (now WLTE).
1981: Mike moves into radio station management at KJJO-FM creating the “20 Years of Rock n’ Roll” format.
1986: Mike moves into television sales at KMSP-TV.
1989: Mike moves into sales management at KSTP-TV.
1981: Mike Waggoner and the Bops perform with several other local bands at a concert at the Medina Ballroom. This concert is considered to be the very first reunion concert in the twin cities to feature local bands from the 1950’s and 1960’s.
2005: Mike Waggoner puts together a new band called OSR (Old School Rockers) that plays locally.
2008: Mike Waggoner and the Bops are inducted into the Midwest Music Hall of Fame.
2010: Mike Waggoner puts together a new band called Memphis Trax. The band plays songs that showcase the evolution of rock n roll, rockabilly, blues and boogie. The band plays their first public performance in July at the Richfield 4th of July celebration, headlining a street dance. The date June 12, 1964 takes on legendary significance, as the date the relatively unknown British band, The Rolling Stones, played their first job in Minnesota, with Mike Waggoner and the Bops opening the show. The Rolling Stones would have a huge hit the following summer with Satisfaction and would go on to become what many would say to be, the greatest rock’n’roll band in the history of popular music. The events of that day, the concert and the events following the concert would be the topic of conversation for decades to come, with various and often conflicting information reported. October 30, 2010: Mike Waggoner, an eyewitness to history, summarizes the concert with The Rolling Stones during an interview for minniepaulmusic.com as follows: “It was another night at Danceland in the middle of the week.” Mike Waggoner also reports during the interview that various songs recorded by the band have been released over the years on over 30 unauthorized compilation records and CD’s that feature early US rock and rockabilly songs. The most recent use of the bands songs is on a CD from France. The songs on the records and CD’s include both songs released on the band’s only 45 and unreleased songs from the bands recording session at Kay Bank. 2013, 2014, 2015: Mike makes his first European appearances with shows in Benidorm, Spain, two shows in Sweden, and the legendary Hemsby Weekender in Hemsby England. 2015: Mike is a part of the also legendary Ponderosa Stomp, New Orleans, Louisiana. 2016: Mike returns to Benidorm, Spain for his second visit for the Ubangi Stomp. Mike releases a new Rockabilly CD with his Memphis Trax Band featuring another new song; I’m Still Playin’ Em Now, also the title song. 2017: Mike plays the ‘Good Rockin Tonight’ Festival in Attignat, France.