Brillo & The Firebirds (Macomb)

Dennis Albee of Macomb, Illinois started performing at a very young age.  His parents had a square and round dance band and young Dennis was on stage playing music with them before he was ten.  Along with his older sister Dina, Albee was also part of a twirling act where he would perform with flaming batons, spinning them high into the air.  By age 12, Albee had started his own rock band, the Fire Birds.  

The earliest group included Dennis on guitar, Dina on bass and a drummer from Iowa.  At a talent show in Cuba, Illinois in the summer of 1965 the Albees performed both their baton act and played "Henry The Eighth" and "What'd I Say" as the Fire Birds.  Later that summer the band was performing all over western Illinois. 

By 1966, the group was a quartet: Dennis on guitar, Dina now on rhythm guitar and organ, Rob Nelson on bass and Mike Golliher on drums.  Nelson was from Bowen, Illinois and Golliher was from Warsaw, Illinois.   Most of them were still in high school at the time.  It was actually a high school teacher that would tease Dennis about his curly hair, giving him the nickname Brillo.  The band soon became known as Brillo & The Firebirds.

At the 1966 Young America Fair (a division of the Illinois State Fair) the Firebirds were finalists in the statewide Combo Clash.  The Knight Beats of Centralia took the top honor that year.  Earlier in the summer, the Firebirds had participated in the World Teenage Show held at Navy Pier in Chicago.  In September 1966, they opened for Beau Brummels at the Fort Madison, Iowa Rodeo Arena.

  

One of their biggest performances came the next summer when Brillo & The Firebirds won the International Battle of the Bands at the 1967 World Teenage Show in Chicago.  The competition was sponsored by WLS and the Ludwig Drum Company.  According to an article in the Burlington, Iowa newspaper, "The group was awarded recording contracts, booking contracts, an engraved trophy for each member, $25,000 in equipment and a 3-week tour of Europe."

Unfortunately, none of this came to pass.  Instead, Brillo & The Firebirds would continue to perform at county fairs, high school dances and teen centers across western Illinois and eastern Iowa for the next several years.  It would be almost two years before the band would produce their only commercial recording; a self-released single recorded at Golden Voice Recording Co. in South Pekin, Illinois.  The 45 was released in 1969 and contained two original tunes: 

"Some Place To Hide"  /  "Calling Red Rover"

 

Brillo and the Firebirds increasingly performed on the Iowa side of the river and were regulars at the Sunday night dances at the American Legion in West Point.  In April 1969, they opened for the New Colony Six at the Keokuk College fieldhouse.  On several occasions they shared a bill with Gonn from Keokuk.  Before the end of the year however the Firebirds called it quits.

By May of 1970 a band called Tom, Dick and Harry was performing in Iowa.  They were billed as "formerly Brillo & The Firebirds."  Dennis Albee eventually moved to Iowa where he played in a number of bands and continues to play to this day.  In 2010, Albee was inducted into the Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  Questioning his own credentials as an Iowan despite having lived there for quite some time, he told the Burlington, Iowa newspaper, "I'm an Illinois guy."

In October 2023, Brillo participated in a celebration of the Golden Voice Recording Co at the Peoria Riverfront Museum.  Albee performed both songs from his 1969 single along with Craig Moore (of Gonn) on bass, Chris Delbridge on keyboards and Matthew Warren on drums.

 

Jam Factory (Peoria)

Jam Factory at Limestone Community High School, 1969

Advertisements from the summer of 1968 described Peoria's own Jam Factory as "the Newest, Hottest 6-Piece Band in Central Illinois." The group at that time consisted of:

• Dick Bush, vocals
• John Miller, guitar
• John McFarlane, bass
• George McCullough, drums
• Rodger Himmel, saxophone
• John Middleton, trumpet

Years before, Dick Bush had performed locally with Jerry Milam and the Stan'Dels.  Together they had recorded a single for Hit Records back in 1963.  John "Pops" McFarlane and Rodger Himmel had previously been in the Peoria group, the Soulmates.  McFarlane, whose sister is Elaine "Spanky" McFarlane of Spanky and Our Gang, had also previously played with local legend Wild Child Gipson.  Trumpeter John Middleton was a student at Bradley University at the time.  Middleton and Himmel were both from nearby Manito, Illinois.

Jam Factory recorded a single at Jerry Milam's Golden Voice Recording Co. in South Pekin in 1968.  Both sides were written and produced by Eddie Howard.  The record was released by October of that year.

"Give Me The Right (To Love You Baby)" b/w "Good Lovin' Woman"

 

The single was also released on Stereo Village Records, a label owned by Bill Curtis that promoted his chain of electronics stores found throughout central Illinois.

Jam Factory performed at night clubs and dances around the Peoria area for about two years.  They had regular gigs at Club Peorian, Mike's Lounge, The Elbow Room, the Flame Steak House in Pekin and the Town House in Havana.

On May 29, 1969 the Jam Factory, along with Stoned Soul, opened for the Bob Seger System at the Expo Gardens Opera House in Peoria.  Stoned Soul featured Peoria-native Danny Beard, who later joined the Fifth Dimension.

By 1970, a Syracuse, NY band also called Jam Factory released an album on Epic Records.  The group was briefly promoted across the country by Youth Beat, a syndicated newspaper column, that gave away posters of the band to anyone that wrote in.  The Peoria-based Jam Factory however seems to have called it quits by this point.   

A new group, Dick Bush & The Sack, was performing regularly at King Henry VIII in Peoria by April 1970.

The Changing Times (Bartonville)

The Changing Times at Bradley University fraternity dance, 1968

The Changing Times were a teenage group from Bartonville, Illinois that performed around the Peoria area for much of 1967 and 1968.  Members of the quintet included Danny Newby on bass, Martin Hagerdorn on keyboards and Curtis Brown on drums.  (The other members have not yet been identified).  During their brief time together, the group released one single on the Thunder label.

The Changing Times recorded their lone 45 at the Golden Voice Recording Co. in South Pekin in 1967.  It consisted of two covers:  Jimmy Reed's "Big Boss Man" and Vanilla Fudge's "You Keep Me Hangin' On" (written by Holland-Dozier-Holland and first recorded by the Supremes).  An advertisement for the Changing Times' performance at the Canton Teen Center from November 1967 stated "Will Have A New Record Out Soon."

 

In the summer of 1967 the Changing Times were runners-up in the statewide Combo Clash at the Young America Fair (part of the Illinois State Fair).  They lost to the Holidays from Springfield.  Their biggest performance however came the next year when they were one of three Peoria groups to open for the Turtles at the Expo Gardens Youth Building on April 15, 1968.  The other two local groups were the Suburban 9 to 5 and the Coachmen.

For the next six months or so, the Changing Times continued to perform at area dances including several at Bradley University.  The group appears to have broken up by 1969.

Marty Hagerdorn eventually joined the band Souled Out, another Peoria-area group that had recorded a single at Golden Voice.  They later changed their name to the Kule-Aid Kids.  Over the years, Danny Newby played in several area bands as well including the Flying D'Rito Brothers.  Newby passed away in 1994 at the age of 44.  Hagerdorn passed in 2002.