Monday, March 22, 2010

Butch Greaser and the Hoods




Back row: Fingers Fox, Sweet Lips
Front row: Rocky, Dirty Dick, Baby Paul

*For local historian's, Finger's Fox graduated from Benilde HS, while Sweet Lips, Rocky, Dirty Dick and Baby Paul are alumni from Richfield Senior HS.

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Butch Greaser & The Hoods
by Paul D. McInerny
Latest Update: 12/2/2023

"How'd that happen?  You ask four guys, you get four different versions."  Jersey Boys

 Butch Greaser and the Hoods was a 50's band from Minneapolis, Minnesota that came into prominence in the early 1970's.  The band specialized in music from the 1950's, perhaps taking their inspiration from the group, Sha Na Na who appeared at Woodstock in 1969.

 With the passage of time and fading memories, each member of any band will have their own version of what occurred during that period.  The tales and stories of this band are no different.  I had the honor of being one of them - an original member of Butch Greaser and the Hoods.

 This is my version.

 While still a student at Assumption Catholic School, I taught myself how to play the guitar and eventually was part of a band in high school called, The Herdsman. Upon graduating from high school in 1969, I enlisted in the US Army and served with the 141stSignal Battalion, 1st Armor Division, the 501st Military Police Company, 1st Armor Division and the 545th Military Police Company, 1st Cavalry Division until I was honorably discharged as a sergeant in 1972. 



                            
The Friar's Dinner Theater
724 Fourth Ave. So. 
Minneapolis, Minnesota


Fingers Fox (Kevin Fox)

I returned to Minnesota and hooked up with my very good friend, Kevin Fox who told me he was playing in a band in downtown Minneapolis at the Friar's Dinner theater. He insisted I come down and watch them play. The name of the band? Jay and the Reefers and they were rocking out on music from the 50's. They were playing in the basement of the Friar's Dinner Theater and seemed to be enjoying themselves with the music of Elvis, The Big Bopper, Clyde McPhatter, Dion and the Belmont's, etc.


Now, I wasn't into the greaser mode, but they had an opening for a rhythm guitar player and Kevin asked if I would like to join the group. Of course, I said yes to the offer. There were a couple of other changes in membership, because the group had a solid following and the management at the Friar's Dinner Theater wanted the group to play additional nights. Some of the members did not want to commit to the time it would involve, so replacements were brought in. With a significant change in members, we decided we should have a new name that better reflected our music. 
Butch Greaser (Jay Totino) 

We decided to hold a contest to change the name of the band and settled on Butch Greaser and the Hoods. Our draw was the fact we not only played music from the 50's, but we dressed and acted the part. We exchanged insults, jokes, and dialogue with the audience. The interaction with the audience was an integral part of the performance and word soon spread and the crowds grew larger.

While we performed in the basement of the theater, the main dining area upstairs hosted plays, featuring prominent stars of the day. Alan Sues, Gary Conrad, Imogene Coca to name a few. Unfortunately, our music from downstairs and the raucous crowd noise made its way into the dinner theater, causing consternation among the performers and members of the audience. Frequently throughout the night, management would make their way downstairs to tell us to turn our music down. We would, of course, lower the volume on our amps, but informed our audience that they were having too much fun and making too much noise for the folks upstairs. Consequently, the audience became even more boisterous as the night went on.

When the play upstairs concluded, we noticed quite a few of the people in attendance made their way downstairs to see what all the noise was about. The stairs were off to the right of the stage and we could see couples in suits and dresses meekly making their way as if they feared for their safety. We acknowledged them with insults and barbs, but invited them to come in and join the party. As a result, our audience base grew to capacity crowds.
Sweet Lips (Craig Blubaugh)

Eventually, the management took note of the popularity of the band and decided to incorporate the band into the forum of the dinner theater. The management had someone write a play based on a 1950's radio station and instead of playing records, Butch Greaser and the Hoods played the music. The dinner theater contracted with WYOO radio personality DJ Bob Chase who appeared with us in the play. Bob would interview Butch Greaser (Jay Totino) and when it came time to play a record, our group would play the music. After the play was over the lights came on and the theater staff quickly cleared the tables, for after the break, Butch Greaser and the Hoods would return for a rowdy night of dancing. We dressed in costumes, still bantered with the audience and even rode a motorcycle onto the stage for the performance of "Teen Angel."

 When we first moved upstairs, the band consisted of Butch Greaser (Jay Totino) - Lead vocals; Fingers Fox (Kevin Fox) - piano, vocals; Sweet Lips (Craig Blubaugh) - drums, vocals; Slippery Smith (Kevin Smith) - lead guitar, vocals; Baby Paul (Paul McInerny) - rhythm guitar, vocals and Miguelito Loveless (Bill Kephart) - base guitar, piano, vocals.
The Friar's Dinner Theater 9th Street & 4th Ave., Minneapolis, Minnesota (circa 1973)
Left to right: Baby Paul, Fingers Fox (seated), Butch Greaser, Miguelito Loveless, Sweet Lips and 
Slippery Smith

Baby Paul (Paul McInerny)

 As bands sometimes do, we experienced a change of line up as time went on.  Eventually Jay, Kevin Smith and Bill left the band to pursue other musical interests and the Pacholke brothers, Dick and Randy (Richfield Alumni) filled in perfectly.  Randy on bass, drums, vocals and while Dick was on lead guitar, vocals and composing.   Dick, by the way, was a former member of The Crestmen, another local Twin Cities band.  While we kept the name, we no longer had a front man or a Butch Greaser.


Butch Greaser and the Hoods played at other venues; private parties, weddings, church groups(!). We were fortunate enough to land a second gig that provided a great deal of job security. We held a contract with the Burnsville Bowl in Minnesota and played on the off nights of a well known band called the Delcounts. The Delcounts, by the way, are still performing.

We frequently performed at Brook's Ballroom, previously known as Schlief's Little City.  My memory is faulty at times, but I believe the owner/manager was Jim Brooks?  He was a real gentleman and receptive to contract negotiations.  It was at this time I upgraded to a Harley-Davidson Superglide and decided to try it on the entrance to the song, Teen Angel.  The stage was quite high and did not have an on/off ramp, so the plan was to ride in and stop in front of the stage.  The dance floor was polished and waxed maple wood, and I rode in, slipping and sliding, but safely made it.  It scared the pants off me and I never used the motorcycle entrance again.


Our performance was a little more on the PG-13 side and while we did not experience any repercussions from politicians while performing in downtown Minneapolis, the mayor of Burnsville was not pleased with our dialogue and our occasional use of go-go dancers. He gave an interview in the local paper and said Butch Greaser and the Hoods should not be allowed to perform in Burnsville because of the content of their performance. Mostly, our content consisted of crude jokes and innuendo's that one would associate with a bunch of hoodlums from the 50's.
Dirty Dick (Dick Pacholke)

In addition to playing music from the 50's, we had a very talented song writer in Dick Pacholke who penned two rather risqué songs: Teenager with VD (a parody of the 50's song, Why Must I Be A Teenager In Love) and The Redneck Song, an original Dirty Dick creation. We pressed the two songs out on a 45 (that's a type of plastic or vinyl, round record for you younger folks) and sold some, but mostly gave them away for prizes at dance contests or trivia questions.  The songs can be found on YouTube, courtesy of my cousin, Tim Williams.

Eventually I left the band and moved to California to pursue a career in Law Enforcement.  After another year or two of successful performances, the band dissolved, and the members went their separate ways and had successful careers, became husbands, fathers and grandfathers.





Baby Paul, Butch Greaser, Rocky (Randy Packholke)


Rocky, Baby Paul, Dirty Dick


Fingers Fox

Fingers Fox, Baby Paul, Rocky

Baby Paul, Rocky, Sweet Lips, Dirty Dick

Sweet Lips, Rocky, Dirty Dick, Fingers Fox, Baby Paul

Fingers Fox, Baby Paul

Sweet Lips, Rocky

 


Where are they now?

 Butch Greaser (Jay Totino):

The multi-talented Jay Totino left Butch Greaser and the Hoods but remained very much in the music scene.  He transitioned over to another 50’s band, Teen King and the Princes, and commenced to a life on the road. Teen King and the Princes was the warm-up band for Three Dog Night on three different occasions. 

 

Another talented singer by the name of Jody asked Jay to join forces and start a new group called, appropriately, Jay & Jody.   From 1974-77, Jody & Jay traveled through 15 states, 6 provinces of Canada, and a month-long tour of northern England.  

 

In late 1977, Jody left the group, but Jay and his fellow band members stayed together and renamed themselves, Taxi and performed from 1978-82.   From 1983-86, Jay performed with the Cascades Band. From 1987-91, the same members (minus one) became The Beats.

 

Jay says he finally got a regular job in 1988 with the Musicland Group and eventually with Medtronic (1997-2017) but continued to perform 3 to 4 nights a week. Then came the bands Hi-jinx (1992-2001) and Stranger (2001- 2011) when he and his bandmates finally said their final goodnight. 

 

Jay married in 1978 and has two beautiful daughters and five grandchildren!  He retired from Medtronic in 2017 and is enjoying his retirement and being close to his family.


 Sweet Lips (Craig Blubaugh):
Craig became a police officer/firefighter with the City of Burnsville, Minnesota, At the time, Public Safety personnel divided their assignments as police officers and firefighters.  When the city decided to separate the two assignments into their own departments, Craig chose to become a firefighter and served the City of Burnsville until his retirement as a Captain. 
(http://burnsvillehistory.org/cpg/albums/userpics/10003/Craig_Blubaugh_retires_2001.pdf) 

 Fingers Fox (Kevin Fox):
Kevin is a Recreation/Music Therapist working with geriatric Alzheimer's residents in various assisted living campuses. A man of incredible talent, he has made a living for the past 37 years playing piano, guitar, ukulele, banjo and mandolin

 Rocky (Randy Pacholke) - Veteran of the United States Army 1970-1973 
After a year of studies at Mankato State College, Randy joined the US Army, assigned as a turbine engine mechanic and later a technical engine inspector, serving 11 months in Da Nang, Vietnam.   Retired after spending 52 years in the lumber industry, Randy enjoys his summer retreat in the Wisconsin Dells and trips to Florida during the Minnesota winters.  Randy is happily married, a proud father and grandfather and resides in Minnesota. 

 Dirty Dick (Dick Pacholke):
After Butch Greaser, Dick worked at MTS Systems where he joined the Technical Communications department as a Sr. Technical Writer.  After several years, he was promoted to Manager of the Infrastructure and Civil Engineering Tech Writing Group.  When Company politics became burdensome, he moved to a Sr. Tech Writer/Technology Analyst position and finally retired in September, 2020.  Dick is happily married, retired, still riding Harley's and resides in Minnesota. 

 Miguelito Loveless (Bill Kephart) - Veteran of the United States Air Force 1968-1972: 
After graduating from high school, Bill enlisted in the Air Force, where he received training as an Air Traffic Controller.  After his Honorable Discharge, Bill returned to Minneapolis and joined Butch Greaser and the Hoods as a bass/keyboard player.  From being a Hood, Bill became a Prince with Teen King and the Princes as the keyboard player.  Many people do not know this, but Bill also toured with Three Dog Night!  After leaving the music scene, Bill became an Air Traffic Controller and retired in 2000.  He currently resides in White, South Dakota.

 Slippery Smith (Kevin Carlson-Smith):
Kevin is still active in music and in his own words, "blessed and honored to perform with Christian music icon Mac Powell from Third Day in 2012. I gave my life to Christ in 2010 and am happily married to my wife Laura and we love our dog, Milo.  I will turn 67 years young this August."

Baby Paul (Paul McInerny) - Veteran of the United States Army 1969-1972:  
Shortly after leaving BG&TH's, Paul and good "Screaming Jim" Miller, loaded what they could carry on their HD motorcycles and headed west.  Paul ended up in Orange County, California, but in 1975-76 he returned to Minnesota for a few months to record some personal songs he composed. He was honored and humbled to have members of the Del Counts (Tom, Mike, Chris and Jan) as studio musicians and singers on the album.  Paul became a Police Officer in Orange County, and retired as a sergeant after nearly 30 years of service.   Enjoying retirement, Paul loves traveling, meeting people and making new friends.   He keeps in touch with Tom Holt (drummer for the Del Counts) and Randy & Dick Pacholke (Rocky & Dirty Dick).  He still has the 1972 era Gibson ES335TD guitar he used while performing with Butch Greaser and the Hoods. 










This article appears in the Museum of Minnesota Music (Face Book), courtesy of the Administrator, John Kass.  

If any readers or former band members have articles or photos you would like to submit for consideration into this article, please email me at paulm5545@sbcglobal.net.  

Thank you!

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