Mike Tussey: Rockin’ in the 60s with the Royalaires — great guys and what fun!

Once upon a time, there were some talented young guys back in the mid 60’s who knew where they wanted to be, but getting there was the trick of it all.

It was Spring 1964, I was in the early years of my broadcasting career playing the great hits of the day at WIRO in Ironton, Ohio.

One Sunday afternoon I stopped to see my friend Bob VanHorn who as usual was in his garage playing the hits on his guitar. This was Bob’s focus with his love of music.

After listening and watching him play, I soon recognized quickly he was gifted and certainly his appetite for success was huge. I casually mentioned that IF we could find a few more musicians, we should possibly form a band and see what happens. You never know.

Bob, had that look of disbelief of my statement, so I reassured him that maybe we should do it, the sooner the better. In about two weeks, we had found the talent we needed, so it was now time to get together and see what if anything could be done to form our band.

How would we sound?

My role was to basically manage and promote the band, act as emcee at our performances and even harmonize from time to time. In short, I was to be the facilitator.

Although, I did take piano lessons at a young age for some time, I had visions of helping out but the lack of an available keyboard dictated that idea would have to wait. We soon met with bassist Everett Reeves, guitarist Ron Rudd, and drummer, Bobby Smith who all were very talented and were booming with excitement. They were eager and ready to dive in and form our new band as soon as we could. The fun was about to begin.

Our next thought was to find and secure a lead vocalist and fortunately I knew of a good friend that could fill the bill, his name was Howard Turner. With Howard joining in with Bob and Ron, we had our vocal trio that actually sounded just great

After much discussion, the guys loved the challenge and idea; so now we were set except for a name. After a lot of thought, I came up with our new identity, we would now be known as,“THE ROYALAIRES.”

The next challenge was to work and develop leads as to where we could land a location that would book us and then we would be on our way. However, another factor came to the forefront. We quickly realized that we would likely have to join the local union as a contract was necessary for us to even be considered by the night clubs. After a meeting, we agreed that we would all chip in and get it done.

Next up, what would the ROYALAIRES wear on stage? What would be our identity? I searched for awhile and located some tuxedo looking coats that had a gimmick that caught my attention. Under direct rotating color lighting from a circular carousel, the jackets would change colors accordingly.

Then, I thought for costume #2 for simple variety; we could be more casual with tan trousers, light blue button down short sleeve shirts with an ascot.

The ROYALAIRES were now ready to hit the night spots of the Tri-State area.

That is, except my #1 priority of closing in on local bookings. It was time for the searches to begin on the phone and visiting the clubs, schools, colleges and even pools. One of my responsibilities at WIRO was to host our weekly taped “Coca Cola Hi Fi Club Sock Hops” at various local pools and high school dances. The one hour show was taped recorded and then subsequently played back on WIRO.

The plan was to entertain the kids while playing the hottest hits from a remote dual turntable that our owner, the late Ken Auble built to get the kids dancing.

At the perfect time around the pool, introduce THE ROYALAIRES.

The Coke Hi Fi Club hops were not just confined to Ohio in Ironton, and Lawrence county, but also through Greenup County over in Kentucky, in fact, the Coke hops were Tri-State wide.

My colleague and life long radio friend “Johnny T” (John Thacker ) hosted the hops in the Ashland area on WCMI, and my fellow West Virginia Broadcasting Hall of Famer Bob Bowen, hosted the Huntington area on WSAZ. The Royalaires although performing could not be paid because it was a sponsored broadcast via WIRO, but the exposure would be worth a ton.

The local pools of the area at that time were Sta-Tan, Southside, Breezeland and Tranquilan.
The weekend dances at the schools really kept us very busy that first year while we gained a lot of confidence and experience as well.

Finally, we made it. After sometime, we were awarded a contract into one of the area’s hottest night clubs, THE JOLLY ROGER in Ironton, Ohio.

We practiced overtime to prepare for this incredible opportunity to play in front of a huge audience. We entertained our audience with the hits of the day such as: SHOUT, I GET AROUND, WE GOT TO GET OUT OF THIS PLACE, CALIFORNIA GIRLS, SURFIN USA, GTO, and all the instrumental hits as well: WIPE OUT, MEMPHIS, WALK DON’T RUN, OUT OF LIMITS, PIPELINE. Of course, ballads from Howard such as: BLOWIN IN THE WIND, TRUE LOVE WAYS, AND BABY, THE RAIN MUST FALL.

These were young adults, not high school kids; but adults that knew the music and the sound and they certainly found it with the Royalaires.

The Multi Color Tuxedos were a hit with the crowd, as well as the showcasing of the fantastic talents of the entire band. These guys were tremendous.

However, we needed to expand our parameters and it was up to me to seek out the possibilities. So, to Marshall University and seek out the possibilities and key people as well as the leaders of the fraternities and sororities that may well use us when it was party time.

My efforts soon paid off and after setting some key dates and just like that, we were on our way.
To say we rocked the campus would be a vast understatement as we even performed and rocked Pikeville College as well.

I remember, one of our dances at Marshall University was scheduled to go until 1 a.m. The students were having a ball and so were we, but we had to end at 1 a.m. per our contract.
The fraternity wanted us to play one more hour till 2 a.m. and offered to pay us whatever it took. We agreed to stay for more money; they took up a collection along with another check and we were cooking for another hour.

All good things do indeed come to an end. Sadly, the Royalaires would disband soon thereafter due to the guys having plans of their own and moving around. In fact, our drummer, Bobby Smith would be joining Bobby Bare’s Band.

Today, nearly 60 years later, I still have vivid memories of those guys who were not just tremendous entertainers; but tremendous friends as well. I’m not sure how many are with us now, but wherever they are, I will never forget them.

It’s like Bob Hope once said, “Thanks for the Memories.”

Mike Tussey has “retired” from a 60-plus-year career as a legendary play-by-play announcer for over 2000 football, baseball, and basketball games, including most recently for ESPN+. His career also includes a stint in law enforcement, teaching and coaching, and writing books, including the “Touchdown Saints.” He grew up in Eastern Kentucky and now lives in Florence with his wife, Jo. He has opened another “Door of Opportunity” and is now a regular columnist for the NKyTribune.