After forwarding us the links regarding the induction of the Fabulous Flippers into the Kansas Music Hall of Fame (see “Still fabulous after all these years”), the Flippers’ Dennis Loewen sent us a late-night message and a set of photos:
The night was great, and it is always astounding to me that after all those years so many people are still so into it.
My frequent thought is that yes, people remember the Flippers fondly, but in a more profound way they are remembering the time that it represented. The middle 60’s were the last of the age of innocence. When the late 60’s arrived with Vietnam and the emergence of the left-wing ideologues, things were not the same after that.
I am so encouraged that there are signs that we are starting to emerge as a nation from that long dark night of godless ignorance under the influence of these people.
They are pretty much done (and just don’t get it), and YOU have been an important player in that process. My sincere congratulations to YOU, for contributions so very significant!
Dennis Loewen
P.S. Sending a few pics.
As always, we appreciate the kind words and the encouragement. Here are the photographs forwarded by Dennis — in this one, Dennis is shown fronting the band.
Below is Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, whose active participation in the event (here she is depicted dancing) allows us a rare moment of bipartisanship, praising her for her taste in music and for being a good sport.
Below is an updated memento of the work that brought the Flippers to their third Hall of Fame induction.
Reader Jim Haney also wrote to offer a few related recollections:
I remember listening to KOMA and WLS at night in my hometown of Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. They would run ads for the top bands in the Midwest. The ads went something like this: “Tomorrow night, at the Starlight Ballroom in Wall Lake Iowa, direct from the Red Dog Inn in Lawrence, Kansas…the rip-roaring Red Dogs…….Thursday night, at HerbfJohnson’s Barn, in Arthur, North Dakota…Spider and the Crabs….Friday night…at the Detroit Lakes Pavillion…the Fabulous Flippers…” and so on.
The main band in our town was The Unbelievable Uglies, featuring the obscene and very funny antics of Winston Fink a/k/a/ Dave Hoffmann. The Uglies toured the Midwest about like the Flippers and Red Dogs. They spent awhile on the road as Bobby Vee’s backup band as well. Bobby was from Fargo, his wife Karen is from Detroit Lakes, her younger brother Mike Bergen was in our band, the Sons of Liberty. Sometimes Bobby would come over to my folks house and watch us practice and give us tips. He would give us ”dubs,” 45 rpm reords with new songs, freshly written, submitted to him by songwriters like Carole King and Gerry Goffin, Neil Diamond, Lieber and Stoller, Hoyt Axton, and so on. He told us the famous story about Dylan playing in his band for a couple of weeks.
Life was pretty cool back then, kids from other towns were jealous because we lived in Detroit Lakes and had great bands all the time, and hot chicks in bikinis on the beach all summer. Keep up the great blog — and hope you come see our Irish band Poitin when next we come to the Cities to play.
Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.