John Kerry's bid for President has thrust into the
spotlight his former prep school band, the Electras,
with whom he played bass guitar at sock hops and
debutante balls in the early 60s. Ex-Electras members
have described Kerry's contributions to that band's
cover versions of popular rock and roll hits as
"dependable" and "rock steady." But new reports about
Kerry's little-known post-Electras music career have
led to controversy and further questions about his
courage, veracity, and fitness to serve as Chief
Executive.
The Kerry campaign has begun publicizing an incident
that occurred in 1961 while Kerry was playing with
another band, the Swift Beats, at the exclusive
Nantucket Bay Country Club. During the club’s annual
dance, the Bay Hop, Kerry reportedly beat back a
vicious attack by a group of crazed debutantes who
were driven to “paroxysms of animal frenzy” by the
“jungle rhythms” laid down by the Swift Beats. “John
Kerry saved my life,” said the band’s roadie, Sterling
“Richie” Hapgood. “I could have drowned face-down in
that punch bowl if he hadn’t grabbed me and pulled me
to safety while fending off those snarling debs with
his bass – in fact, I think it was a Fender Bass. It
was a horrible scene – whenever I tell this story,
everyone groans.”
However, Hapgood’s account was quickly disputed by the
band’s bongo player, George “Skippy” McManus. With
two other former band members, McManus has formed the
Swift Beat Veterans for Truth, a group “dedicated to
letting the world know the real story of the Bay Hop
incident.” As McManus tells the story, “We were in
the middle of ‘Summertime Blues.’ John Kerry had just
sung the part about ‘I’d like to help you son, but
you’re too young to vote,’ when a totally sloshed
Richie Hapgood let fly this humongous explosion of
flatulence just before keeling over into the punch
bowl. The debs were all going ‘Ick! Ick,’ and
stampeding to get as far away from Richie as possible.
Yes, John Kerry was wielding his bass over his head
like an axe, but he was just trying to save his own
sorry hide by fanning the fumes away from his face.”
Hapgood dismissed McManus’s account by saying,
“Skippy’s just bitter about John’s subsequent
testimony at the Congressional hearings into the
atrocities inflicted by prep school bands on Chuck
Berry and Eddie Cochran.”
