The Jokers contributed one great single to the 60s garage-rock boom
Until recently, 1960s rockers the Jokers were a mystery to me. I'd heard this melodic Chicago-area garage band only on a couple retro compilation albums, which included little in the way of liner notes, and my Internet searches turned up close to nada. Luckily I got the full story from band member Tim Walkoe—one of my favorite ways to put together an installment of Secret History!
Born in Chicago on September 18, 1946, Walkoe was raised in the Edgebrook neighborhood on the northwest side. His bandmates were all from Valparaiso, where he'd eventually go to college. Walkoe began learning trumpet at age eight and started his first band, the Esquires, at 12. Influenced by the Motown sound, Elvis Presley, and pop stars such as Gene Pitney, he switched to guitar at 17, when he founded a group called the Electras.
In the mid-60s, Walkoe attended Valparaiso University, where the Jokers ruled the roost—they were one of the more popular rock bands in "the Region," as northwest Indiana is sometimes called. The Jokers were into screamers like Little Richard and soul singers like Marvin Gaye, and in 1965, when they lost two members, they went looking for a bassist and a guitarist who could double on keys. Walkoe had already been jamming with his Theta Chi fraternity brother Frank Ball, who played guitar, harmonica, and piano, so when he got the call from Jokers guitarist Tom Allison, Walkoe switched to bass and joined the band with Ball.
Walkoe, Ball, Allison, and drummer Ron Januchowski (aka Ron Lee) could all sing, and they got inspired to do something about it when they saw proto-supergroup the Exceptions play at Club Laurel in Chicago, near Foster and Broadway. (At the time the Exceptions lineup included Peter Cetera, who'd later join Chicago Transit Authority, as well as future Buckinghams multi-instrumentalist Marty Grebb and future Aorta front man and lead guitarist Jim Donlinger.) The Jokers pursued a sound based in R&B, and they built it around their impressive vocal harmonies.
Read more: https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/jokers-walkoe-valparaiso-destination-garage-sundazed-allison-roth/Content?oid=79712065
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