Tonight's Windrush practice session was a special one, with ex-Caravelle Jack Vanderzee returning to Columbus and hanging with the band. We made some noise, rehearsed a little and reminisced a lot.Back in the day, Jack played bass and rhythm guitar for Joe Walker's garage band, the 'Caravelles'. The Caravelles were one of the WR bands that sprouted on the far east side of Columbus during the mid-60's. As Jack remembers it, they played many street dances in the area from 1965 to 1966, usually for no pay - they just wanted the opportunity to play in front of a crowd (and impress their girlfriends).
For those of you not familiar with the term 'street dance', there was a time in Columbus when the moms and pops of a neighborhood could obtain a permit to block off a street and have a party, usually with a band playing. Anyone could attend and there was rarely a charge to get in. The bands that played were usually made up of local high-school kids, although occasionally a more prominent band like the Dantes or Fifth Order would play.
The street dance era was short-lived, but provided a great opportunity for many garage bands to (literally) get out of the garage and play a real live gig. The Caravelles were certainly one of those vintage street-dance bands. Although they did not leave behind any recordings for us to hear today, they played frequently in the WR area and were well known in that part of town.
On a hot summer night, what could be better than hearing a band at a street dance playing "Gloria" and "I'm A Man" and a pepperoni-and-mushroom pizza at Tommy's afterward? Joe Walker - where are you now?
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