Monocled Alchemist

“The House That Peter Rabbit Built”

Exploring the sought after folk-rock beat sounds on the Get-Hip compilation “The Best Of IGL Folk-Rock’

This set features rare single sides and unreleased recordings from another dimension in time.

Featured songs in order of appearance:

• Harlequin Vipers – Heston Stadium, Arkansas concert promo
• The Mad Lads – Everything Is Blue
• The Senders – She Told Me
• The Epicureans – I Don’t Know Why I Cry
• The In-Sound with Brian Jones
• The Scavengers – It’s Over
• The Dynamic Hursemen – You Tell Me Why
• The Torres – Don’t You Know
• The In-Sound with Mitch Ryder
• Napoleon I & His Relatives – Summer Love
• The Pawnbrokers – Someday
• Menster & Phipps – Great Shakes radio spot
• The Scavengers – But If You’re Happy
• The Dark Knights – Send Her To Me
• Dale & the Devonaires – Never Be Free
• The Monkees – TV spot #2
• The Scavengers – She Don’t Care About Time
• The Turtles – Pepsi radio spot
• The Berries – I’ve Been Looking

The Best Of IGL Folk Rock | The story of the IGL Recording Company began in 1965 when Cliff Plagman and Roger Blunt, both of Milford, IA, and John Senn of Spirit Lake, IA, got together and discussed the concept of being able to record on a local level without having to drive to Minneapolis.

They especially wanted to design it for Dee Jay & the Runaways who were from Spirit Lake and led by Senn. Blunt was assigned the job of finding out what type of equipment was necessary to get the best sound.

After meeting with a representative from Des Moines, the team decided to purchase Ampex equipment including a three track tape deck, two four channel mixers, and Neumann microphones. The equipment was installed behind Plagman’s TV store at 906 9th Street in Milford which became the permanent home of IGL Recording.

June, 1965, saw the official opening of the IGL studio. The discussion by the three owners quickly turned to how to let bands know of its existence. With Senn’s input, it was decided to have the Runaways, who had a good name in the region, cut a record and try to get a “hit” out of the studio.

The session resulted in two uptempo rockers “Jenny Jenny” b/w “Boney Maronie” (IGL 100) with lead vocals by Gary Lind. Since this was a trial record to break in the equipment, only 100 copies were pressed.

The Best Of IGL Folk Rock

In August, the Runaways cut “Peter Rabbit”/ “Three Steps To Heaven” (IGL 103), which featured on the A-side a song originally recorded by Sioux Falls, SD, legend Myron Lee. Peter Rabbit” was licensed to Smash Records, a subsidiary of Mercury Records out of Chicago, where it sold over 400,000 copies worldwide.

IGL was initially the label for all standard releases while Sonic was to be used for higher recognition releases. It worked this way to begin with, but later the studio used whatever label the artists wanted. Tapes were shipped to Wakefield in Phoenix, AZ, for pressing until 1975, when they switched to Queen City in Cincinnati, OH. A package deal including a three-hour session and 1000 7-inch 45’s cost $345.

Due to the success of IGL in its first few years, Denny Kintzi, keyboardist for the Runaways, was added as a fourth owner in 1968. In 1970, Cliff Plagman sold his intreest to Dave Peterson of Estherville, IA, and in 1977 Peterson sold his share of the studio to Jerry “Page” Wolford, a member of the Gas Company from Spencer, IA. In 1979, the entire studio was sold to John Senn, who became the sole owner.

Doors closed

In November, 1980, the business was officially closed. During the final weeks of the studio, many old records were given away for the asking. Thinking that there was no value or interest in the old records, they were trucked to the county landfill and buried.

Some well-known recording artists used the studio over the years including the Trashmen, Dickie Lee, the Velaires, and country western star, Tom T. Hall.

Since 1983, Senn continues to run a 16-track facility in Spirit Lake called IGL Audio, producing local artists and commercials. Dee Jay & the Runaways periodically get together for reunion shows in the Great Lakes region with their last one occurring in 1990.

Throughout its fifteen year history, more than 150 singles and 50 LP’s were released on the IGL and Sonic labels. IGL Recording is cited as the first studio in the state of Iowa in the Nashville Hall of Fame. (Tom Tourville)

Interview with John Senn, Cliff Plagman and Roger Blunt

What was the reason you started IGL studio?

JS In February 1965, we decided it was too far to travel to Minneapolis to record, and we wanted to keep the business in the local area and do it ourselves. The equipment consisted of Ampex decks and Neumann microphones which, for that time, was state-of-the-art. The early success of “Peter Rabbit” laid the foundation for the IGL Recording Company. We sold 5,000 copies on IGL in about three weeks before leasing it to Mercury.

CP At that time we were real busy. In addition, we did some promotion on the Battle of the Bands and so forth. We had bands come and play for an annual thing and we’d give them a little time in the studio so they could come in and cut a tape.

Was the town of Milford supportive of your venture?

RB At first, it was just an unknown and people weren’t really aware of what a recording studio was. But after “Peter Rabbit” came out, the whole town woke up. When it got on National TV, well that really hit home!

How did you come up with the design of the IGL logo?

RB That came about in the Milford Cafe one morning over coffee while John, Cliff and I were sitting there trying to draw up record labels. I think it was John who came up with the diamond label on a napkin, which outlined the letters IGL. We also decided that we needed another label for a different type of record so Sonic was set up for that purpose.

The Best Of IGL Folk Rock

Who did the various day-to-day chores at IGL?

JS Most of us worked during the day so whoever was free to handle the session at night did it. The studio was right behind Cliff Plagman’s TV repair shop so he was really the closest one. A great majority of the sessions were done in the evenings.

Since I had a job at Berkley in Spirit Lake, I did very few days and worked primarily during nights and weekends. Denny Kintzi was brought in because he didn’t have another job outside of playing so he really manhandled it on a daily basis for a few years.

IGL did some jingles but it wasn’t something we were very good at. During the early days commercial work was not a way of making money. We did more of that when Denny was running the studio. Because the “Peter Rabbit” thing happened so quick, we were just overwhelmed with the recording of bands.

Sound of Music

RB We also did some recordings down at the high school that came out on album for their “Sound Of Music” play. IGL also did a thing with the concert band, which released an LP locally. I was hands-on for that project. They’d usually only order a hundred records which covered most of the school people.

CP We all did a little of everything, however, I think I did a the majority of the engineering. John also did a lot of it and Roger did some too. When it came to promoting the records, I did a lot of follow-up to the radio stations. Hours were pretty long because I was also running my TV shop.

As far as competition, the closest thing to us was in Minneapolis or Omaha, although I had never been in any of those studios. My knowledge was primarily through trade journals and I knew Ampex was the top of the line.

RB In the beginning, we all were sitting in on the sessions. I helped a lot of times with the mastering of the tapes since we had a three track and the music had to be mixed down to one. I packed up the tapes to send off to the pressing plant and also had to add leader between the songs.

The Best Of IGL Folk Rock

How were the IGL Jamborees run.

JS Once a year IGL would sponsor a Jamboree at the Roof Garden. The first few were the bigger ones because we did a lot of preliminary work. “Dance Jamboree ’66” featured thirty groups and we scaled things down from that point on. We gave every band that played in the Jamboree three hours of free recording time at our studio. KIOA disc jockey Jim Michaels came up from Des Moines and picked The Bird Dogs as the winners based on the tapes the bands recorded. He was very instrumental in getting “Peter Rabbit” up and going.

Did you have good attendance at those type of events?

CP Oh, we just drew terrific crowds. Huge crowds. Sometimes over two-thousand people!

RB For Dance Jamboree ’66, we recorded the bands at our studio ahead of time. On the night we were going to start the two-day event a March blizzard came in. I recall Cliff and I just barely got home that night. At 4:30 that afternoon they announced Highway 71 was blocked between Milford and Spencer with powerlines lying across the road. It was just a wash out. We had to reschedule it for the following weekend. I just know that Mother Nature did not co-operate.

The Bird Dogs

Tell me about the Bird Dogs.

JS It was quite a surprise when they won the Jamboree in ’66. It was strange because neither Cliff, Roger, nor myself thought they should have won. No one could figure out why Jim Michaels was so high on that song. That’s the one he picked as the winner and they got a 45 out of it.

CP Jim Michaels must have had a tin ear because they played off key. John was pulling his hair out trying to record them. I said that’s the last time we’ll ever run something like that legitimate. But I don’t want to say anything derogatory about Jim because he was the one who broke “Peter Rabbit” and he treated us good. I guess that band did something he liked because Jim picked them, but I don’t know what it was.

Tell me about the Scavengers.

JS That was a group that we were really high on at the studio and eventually got to know quite well. Both Jim Johann and Grant Gilmore ended up being members of the Runaways after I left. The service took so many people that the Runaways were adding and subtracting musicians on a regular basis.

The Best Of IGL Folk Rock

The Scavengers record really did get some nice radio airplay since they were a take-off of the Byrds. Plus they played the part — looked like, acted like, played like, and even sang like the Byrds. Jim Johann really learned to play the Jim McGuinn style of 12-string guitar. Although the Scavengers never really amounted to anything big, they had a nice following and to me were a lot like Steve Ellis‘ band.

CP Those kids did an imitation of the Byrds so well that it was hard to tell them from the records. Jimmy Johann did as fine a job with the 12-string guitar as any little band I ever heard from around here.

Who were the The Dark Knights?

CP Their leader, Bill Rauhauser was originally from Ruthven, IA, who became a teacher and later the principal at the high school in Milford. Eventually he became the principal in Spirit Lake and then moved onto somewhere else. The bassist was a little guy who had the deep voice on “Dark Knight.” He could also sing Johnny Mathis songs note for note.

One of the members was killed

Any stories about Dale & the Devonaires?

CP We heard on the radio that there had been a car wreck involving one of the Devonaires and that one of the two guys had died. And John knew that fellow quite well too. Well, several months later we were sitting in the Milford Cafe having coffee when this kid walked in. I looked at him and I looked at John. And John saw him too and almost turned white because that guy had supposedly died.

Well the kid saw us and came over to the booth where we were sitting and said, “I guess you thought I was dead, didn’t you.” Apparently there had been an error and it was the other boy that had died. So they had backwards. There was a correction put in the paper but we missed it.

Lack of success

Who were the Berries?

JS They were originally called the Coachmen but had to change their name because of the success of Omaha’s Coachmen who charted with “Mr Moon” (MMC-010). I always liked that group and was sur-prised that “I’ve Been Looking” wasn’t a hit. I really liked that song and thought it should have gotten some serious radio play and sold some records. If the groups didn’t really go out and push their music and do the right thing, they just didn’t get success.

CP There was one song they wrote called “I’ve Been Looking” in which their harmonies was pretty good if I remember right. There was something that impressed me with them and I remember that I liked the guys a lot too.

The Groups:

The Scavengers. This Sutherland, IA, band produced one of the best folk rock records on the label. Their Byrds-influenced sound was typical of many other records on IGL along with the previously unreleased Gene Clark cover “She Don’t Care About Time.”

Guitarist Jim Johann and bassist Grant Gilmore later became members of the Runaways. The Scavengers also recorded two more folk rock gems that have been issued on the Dance Jamboree ’66 2-CD set (AA-047/048)

Dark Knights. This Storm Lake and Emmitsberg, IA, quintet led by Bill Rauhauser was only in existence for a mere six months. During that time, they managed to record this two-sided garage classic and play ten live shows including one at the legendary Roof Garden Ballroom opening up for the Yardbirds.

The Epicureans. This five-piece band led by Jerry Clark from Fairmont, MN had a reputation in southern Minnesota as the group to see live. Their single, which received some good local airplay, doesn’t do them justice, as their shows were awesome. An earlier version of their 1970 single, “Blue Side of Lonely,” (United Audio 551) was recorded at IGL along with six other unreleased songs.

The Best Of IGL Folk Rock

The Torres. Calling Huron, SD, home, this band was one of the Plains states’ hottest and most sought after touring acts. They recorded two other singles “I’ve Had It” (Soma 1438) and “Tommy Tommy” (Soma 1463), both of which have alternate versions of “Ride On” as the flip. In addition, the Torres participated in the Dance Jamboree ’66 Battle of the Bands and recorded earlier versions of their two IGL sides which have now been released (AA-047/048).

Dale & the Devonaires. Based out of Fort Dodge, The Devonaires were one of central Iowa’s premier early 60’s rock groups in competition with Terry Klein’s band. Along with this classic 2-sided folk rocker, they recorded another 45 “Come Back to Me”/ “Look Up” (Deb 8500).

The Best Of IGL Folk Rock

Second Half. This group is rumoured to have come from Jasper, MN.

The Berries. This Des Moines group started as the Coachmen but changed their name because of a conflict with the Lincoln, NE, band who scored a Midwest hit with “Mr. Moon” (MMC 010). This one shot single helped get their new name across, but after minor airplay on KIOA, were never heard from again. The Coachmen participated in Dance Jamboree ’66 and recorded an earlier version of “I’ve Been Looking” along with a remake of “That Boy,” both of which have been released (AA-047/048).

Dynamic Hursemen. Along with Dale Gregory & the Shouters, this sextet was the other big mid-sixties act from Sioux Falls, SD. The flip of their only 45 is a solid remake of the Rascals‘ “Love Is A Beautiful Thing.”

Mad Lads. Nothing is known except that they cut one fantastic moody folk rock 45 for IGL.

Napoleon & His Relatives. Calling Fergus Falls, MN, home, this group made a trip down to IGL to cut this laid back folk rock masterpiece.

The Pawnbrokers. This band was a college group from the University of Northern Iowa with members from Mason City, IA, Fargo, ND, and Moorhead, MN. They developed a good name for themselves and were pretty decent musicians.

The Restrictions. It’s thought that this band came from Sioux City, IA.

The Kingpins. Led by the talented Steve Pylmm, the Kingpins were a very popular Des Moines band. They built a reputation on their wild live shows which unfortunately didn’t translate on their only 45.

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