After beginning this blog and announcing our reunion, we started getting questions about the band from friends and family. One of the most-asked questions is, “How did you get the name, The Nickel Revolution?”
If you’ve read the post, “Before The Nickel Revolution,” you’ve already learned that we began as the “Wailing Phantoms,” for a couple of months and then renamed the group, “The Inchanters.” The group included Keith Follese, Scott Jeffy, Louie and Jerry Lenz.
Later under the Inchanters, Ron Honeybear Hort would replace Follese on keyboards and we’d add Jeff Goldberg on lead guitar. This would be late 1966-67. Most every band goes through name changes and as the styles of music expanded with more rock/R&B/blues/folk influences, so too did groups adapt and decide to put a fresh coat of paint on their brand. We were ready to change as our repertoire was expanding. Our agents, Central Booking Alliance, also wanted us to do so, and the process of finding a new name began.
We had developed a list of potential names and one Saturday morning we were sitting about the kitchen table at Scott’s house, working on the new name thing. Scott grabbed the Minneapolis Tribune to see if anything would spark an idea. It did, as he spotted an article about a nickel shortage…and a revolution of sorts.
Thanks to the internet, we located a source that describes what was happening with nickels in the late 60s. The disappearance of 90% silver coins from circulation in the US in the mid-1960s created a desire for the coins. People quickly realized that the debased copper sandwich coins were low-value, so folks started saving every pre-1965 (90% silver) coin that they could find. This resulted in a coin shortage from 1965 to 1967. It created a nickel revolution (saving the old coins instead of spending them) and the government having to rush production on the cheaper nickel coin.
So, there really is a good story behind the name, The Nickel Revolution.
The name was an instant “like” among the members and the experts at Central Booking Alliance dubbed it, “perfect,” because it fit right in with the emerging rock bands of the era; Pink Floyd, Canned Heat, Vanilla Fudge, Three Dog Night. You can quickly see how a name like Nickel Revolution was very marketable.
The logo and design of The Nickel Revolution can be credited to the talents of Skip Dahlin who was the original bass guitar player of the Accents. Skip was a gifted illustrator and many bands called on his creativity to come up with the right look and design. For the Nickel Revolution, Skip keyed in on the Indian Head Nickel, and thus the brave’s head is the centerpiece of the Nickel Revolution’s logo. It worked perfect for Jerry’s bass drum head and always drew rave reviews wherever the band played.
We welcome your comments and feedback on this blog. You can post here and share this with your friends via Facebook and Twitter (see easy links). If you want to email us any questions or comments: NickelRevolution@gmail.com
Listen to The Nickel Revolution now on You Tube
Link for Sweet, Sweet Lovin’: Sweet, Sweet Lovin’
Link for Treat Her Right: Treat Her Right
See these great websites for further insights to Twin Cities bands from the 50s, 60s, 70s:
http://www.jeanneandersen.net/musichighlights.html
© 2011 © 2012 Jerry Lenz, Lenz Entertainment Group All Rights Reserved
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