RICHARD ALLEN SCOTT - Through the Years

RICHARD ALLEN SCOTT
THROUGH THE YEARS
The Band
It was in 1964 that our band, The Shandermen, came together, and our mop-top hair grew in
tribute to the Beatles.
Richard Scott
Backup Vocals
Tom Warner
Lead Vocals
Gary Taylor
Bass Guitar
Bill Daniels
Drums
Jim Middleton
Rhythm Guitar
Doug Rusu
Lead Guitar
For a bunch of high-school students from different parts of the city, and who practiced in Bill’s
basement, we were phenomenally successful in an age when local bands tended only to be
instrumental. We were the only band in the city to have not one but 2 vocalists. We of course
emulated the Beatles and many other British Invasion groups, and it didn’t hurt that I had an
English accent! We went on to win back-to-back ‘Battle of the Bands’ contests for two years in
a row (1964 and 1965), beating out established, popular groups. Those contests were held in
high-school gymnasiums and were something to behold.
It wasn’t very long before the Regina radio station CKCK approached us to ‘sponsor’ us, which
meant that we got free radio advertising and added “Club 62” to Bill’s bass drum (62 was the
position on the AM radio dial for CKCK). We had posters made and distributed far and wide,
with bookings coming in at an alarming rate for dances. Every small town in Saskatchewan that
had a high school. It was crazy. Either Jim or the radio station would take the bookings. Most
Saturday afternoons were committed to playing at dances in the Regina YMCA, which were
packed and broadcast live with a radio personality hosting, quite often, Terry David Mulligan,
who went on to become a Canadian actor. Often, we would play there that evening as well. If
June 2017
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