The TR4 Band

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The Thingies were a band that knew how to get around. If they hadn't been plagued by bad management in Austin, they would have ended up in San Francisco as another great group on par with The Jefferson Airplane. Unfortunately fate would prove otherwise as the following story will make evident to all those willing to probe into the deep recesses of the 60's.

In Topeka Larry Miller formed his first real rock and roll group called TR4. The band was a surf band and its name stood for a cool surf car, the Triumph. The band members were: Don Ferguson on lead guitar, Dave Daws on organ, Joe Rodriguez on drums, and Larry Miller on bass and vocals.

In mid-1963, The TR4 released a single "Peter Rabbit" b/w "Surfin' TR". Peter Rabbit was written a few years prior to its release by Larry when he was in high school. Later when he was in basic training he would sing the song in the barracks to his roommates (who advised him that it was a cool song worth recording). The band paid for and produced the single, pressing 500 copies. It was such a popular song that it made the Top 10 on the local radio charts. During TR4's stint they played at all the popular clubs in Topeka, like The Hilltop(a strip club) and The Low 20 Club. The band also did many live three hour shows on the radio from The Meadow Lakes Ballroom.

By mid-1964 the band began to change. The Beatles and the British Invasion had swept through the States and TR4 became known as The Coachmen by the end of the year. They came up with the name because they traveled in a big Buick Hearse from 1948. It was quite unique in that there were really cool coach lights on the sides! No records were ever released by The Coachmen.

One day in the late summer of 1965 The Coachmen were on their way to Kansas City. While driving there the group thought up a new name: The Horrible Evil Thingies! How did they think up that name? The band had recently viewed The Beatles new color film "Help!". In the movie there was a scene where Ringo and Paul are in the bathroom and the hand-dryer starts sucking up everything in the room, like Ringo's shirt sleeves, etc. George enters and says "It's a Horrible Evil Thingie!" The Thingies were Larry Miller on bass, Gordon Marcellus on drums, John Dalton on lead guitar, Phil Weaver on lead vocals, and Ernie Swisher on organ. The Horrible Evil Thingies eventually was shortened to Thingies because it was too hard to handle all the words.

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Nicola Marras 2004

Credits: Cicadelic Records