Tommy Hailey and The Monotones - Olive Do The Popeye1960 – 1964
On July 25, 1960, Reynolds High School 10th grader, Jimmie Vestal, meets singer, Tommy Hailey, at a Granville High School talent show.
Tommy visits Jimmie’s house on July 30 and he listens to some tapes of Tommy singing.
Tommy calls some musicians and they audition to form the band, Tommy Hailey & The Monotones.
Their first appearance was on September 10, at the Carolina Theater’s Saturday Morning Kiddie Show. They were booked every fourth Saturday thereafter. Payment was in the form of a monthly movie pass to attend movies at either the Carolina or Winston Theater.
The Twin City Sentinel, on Saturday evening, February 25, 1961 featured an article about the Carolina Theatre, and the bands performing there. It included two pictures of the band.
They did receive radio airplay through WTOB’s DJ, Dick Bennick. Recordings do exist of the band, but there were no vinyl 45 RPM records pressed and distributed for sale.
During their years together, they appeared at a number of venues, as catalogued below:
American Legion, Bill Ogburn’s Restaurant, The Babcock Mansion, Carolina Theater Saturday Morning Kiddie Show, Center Theater (High Point), Children’s Home, Churches, Civic Club, Cooleemee School, Dick Bennick’s (a WTOB DJ) Hi Fi Club dances In Winston-Salem and Kernersville, Dixie Classic Fair, Elk’s Club (Lexington), Forsyth Country Club, Frontier Supper Club, Glenn High School Hi-Y Dance, Grey High School, Hillcrest Supper Club, Jay’s Dance Land (Walnut Cove), Kernersville Community Center, Kernersville Dance Land, La Chateau Restaurant, Mountain Springs Restaurant, Navy Armory, North Elementary School, Northwest High School, Old Town Country Club, Pleasant Hill High School, Reynolds Building restaurant, Rock N’ Roll Review (Thomasville), Rudy’s Wooden Rail, Summit School, Tanglewood Barn Theater, Thunderbird Club, Tom Tom Supper Club (Greensboro), Wake Forest fraternity houses, Winston-Salem Business College, Y.M.C.A.
Band Members:
Manager: Frank Foy
Lead Singer – Tommy Hailey
Guitar – Billy Wilson
Sax – Jimmy Mandakis
Bass – Jimmie Vestal
Drummer – Ted Foy
2 comments:
Hello,
My name is Tisha Hailey-Wright, one of Tommy Hailey's 4 daughters. He unfortunately passed away on 9-14-01 by way of heart attack. In his later years he was singing gospel music with a group in North Carolina playing in many places. He is sadly missed. If you would like to know anything more about my father you can email me at haileytisha@hotmail.com or comment back here. Thank you!
Hi purple, it is your baby sister. It is exciting to hear some of daddy's music. I hope to see some comments soon from people who knew our dad!
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