Still fabulous after all these years

In “V for Vee” I wrote about my having stood next to Bobby Vee in the audience watching the Fabulous Flippers — Midwest faves — perform at the Minnesota State Fair in 1968. I was at the Fair with my best friend Scott Sansby, drummer extraordinaire, who was there performing with one of the many local Twin Cities bands he anchored in high school. Scott insisted that the Flippers were the best thing going — the first rock horn band we had seen, with Temptations-style choreography thrown in for good measure. I think I remember the Flippers playing a wonderful version of “It’s Not Unusual,” the first time I heard the song as anything but a joke.
Adding to the succession of peak experiences we’ve had writing for Power Line over the past year was the email message I subsequently received from Flippers mainstay Dennis Loewen. Dennis wrote to say that he was a fan of Power Line and to invite me to the Flippers’ one-off reunion in connection with the band’s induction into the Kansas Music Hall of Fame last week — as it happens, the first induction ceremony held by the KMHoF. I told Dennis I would come if I could drag Scott Sansby along with me, but he unfortunately had a prior commitment.
Dennis has kindly written to forward two links of interest:

The first is a good article that just came out in The Pitch, a KC entertainment paper. The second link takes you to the Kansas MHoF website where you can click to see a TV report on the event.
Both are pretty good.

Sincere congratulations to the Fabulous Flippers and great thanks to Dennis Loewen for thinking of us in connection with the festivities.
HINDROCKET adds: Growing up in South Dakota in the 1960s, it was an article of faith that the Fabulous Flippers were the greatest show band ever assembled, and their Harlem Shuffle was the musical highlight of the age. I still think that’s true, actually. It’s an honor to have a Flipper as a Power Line fan!
HINDROCKET adds ONE MORE THING: Following the links, I see that the Red Dogs were inducted into the Kansas Music Hall of Fame at the same time as the Flippers. How fitting: the Red Dogs, who operated out of Lawrence, were second only to the Flippers in our pantheon. They did a wonderful tune called We’re Gonna Hate Ourselves in the Morning. I Googled them and ran across this photo, which I can’t resist passing on: The Red Dogs, circa 1966:
c933.jpg
And here are the Flippers, on stage; click to enlarge:

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