When the Kinks played central Illinois: Screaming fans, guns and a serial killer

Ask Dean is a Journal Star column focusing on all things Peoria: its history, mysteries, quirks and culture. Send your questions to dmuellerleile@pjstar.com.

Question: I'm a retired Peoria native and remember the first concert I ever went to, at Exposition Gardens, featuring the Kinks. It was in the mid-'60s. How about a piece on that? They were just getting noticed here in the U.S. — Jerome Rosenberg

Answer: The Kinks have sold some 50 million records worldwide and were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. Their songs "Lola," "You Really Got Me" and "All Day and All of the Night" are classic-rock-radio staples. But all of that was far in the future — and likely appeared unlikely — after their ill-fated U.S. tour in 1965, a later part of the British Invasion.

The Kinks already had a reputation for raucous incidents, even onstage. Awaiting them offstage in central Illinois were a gun-wielding chauffeur in Peoria and an alleged encounter with a future serial killer in Springfield.

From the archives

According to the Illinois-centric website Downstate Sounds, the Kinks were "a late addition on all of the downstate dates to an already touring package show."

As such, there was limited print promotion for their Peoria appearance.

A June 18 ad in the Journal Star announced two upcoming June 20 performances by the Kinks — "Direct From ENGLAND" — at Exposition Gardens in Peoria. Also to appear were "Paul Petersen, Bobby & The Argyles, The Rivieras ... and others. Plus ... W.S.I.V.'s Tommy Kirk as MC."

In lieu of a review, on June 21 the paper ran what appears to be a supplied photo of the Kinks. The caption, misspelling three band members' last names, read, "The Kinks Were Here. This is the Kinks, a singing group from England, which appeared at Exposition Gardens last night along with several other groups. The Kinks are proponents of the Liverpool Beat. From left, they are Pete Quife, Dave and Ray Davis, brothers, and Mick Avory."

While the Journal Star did not critique the Kinks' shows, the Illinois State Journal wrote up their June 23 performance at the Springfield State Armory. An especially alliterative journalist penned a randomly spelled, five-K headline: "Krazy Kids Krave Kooky Kinks." For unknown reasons, the story put "Kinks" in quotes throughout the review. "The wild, piercing sounds of the four long-haired Englishmen brought the crowd to a near frenzy," the story said. "The 'Kinks,' who gyrate on stage as if they were all flea bitten, had to be protected by a human barrier formed by Springfield policemen and security guards." (According to wikipedia.com, "To keep the fans further at bay, police escorted the band throughout the day and were posted at their hotel.")

The lineup was largely the same as in Peoria, despite some spelling and billing discrepancies.

The Kinks kicked off their Springfield performance with "You Really Got Me," the story said. Other performers included singer Paul Peterson (actually "Petersen"), "who plays Jeff on the Donna Reed television show," and the Hollywood Argyles, who accompanied Petersen and performed their 1960 hit "Alley Oop." The Argyles "also danced the 'jerk,' 'dog,' and 'watusi' to the wild approval of the crowd." The opening act, the Rivieras, performed their 1963 hit "California Sun" — twice.

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Despite the enthusiasm of the "Krazy Kids," the story noted, "The Springfield Jaycees, who sponsored the concert, said that there were no reports of girls passing out."

Other sources shed more light on the Kinks' time in central Illinois.

Pistol-packin' Peoria driver

In the 2004 book "The Kinks: All Day and All of the Night," author Doug Hinman recounts the Peoria performances: "After two relatively prestigious shows in sophisticated major east-coast cities, they now find themselves deep in the heart of America’s Midwest where attitudes toward long-haired British invaders are far less tolerant. No one is happy with this 700-capacity booking. It is not considered a suitable concert venue and the stage is makeshift at best.”

Hinman adds that Peoria "is almost certainly the location of an encounter with a redneck punk who drives the band around for the promoter, brandishing a gun in the process. The incident leaves a deep impression on an unhappy and frightened Ray, who will immortalise the incident years later in his book X-Ray and stage show Storyteller."

The Downstate Sounds account adds some detail to the encounter:

"The most memorable event of their time spent in Peoria however, at least for Kinks’ front man Ray Davies, had nothing to do with the concert itself. Instead it was the group's chauffeur that left a lasting impression. In his 1995 book, X-Ray: The Unauthorized Autobiography, Davies wrote about riding around in a big Ford Thunderbird with a driver that looked like he had stepped out of Jack Kerouac novel, a 'punk from your typical b-movie.'

"According to Davies, the driver boasted about having slept with Ann-Margaret as well as having Elvis Presley’s phone number before pulling a gun out of the glove compartment. Davies writes, 'He waved the pistol around menacingly before putting it down on the seat beside him. Then his mood shifted, he smiled a film-star’s toothy smile and said, "Welcome to Illinois, the home of middle America."'

"Davies would continue to reference this brief encounter at various times throughout his career. He sang about it in his one-man touring show and it gets mentioned again in his 2003 book Americana."

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Near-miss with a serial killer

The Kinks' performance in Springfield was sponsored by the local Jaycees. In 1965, one John Gacy Jr. was the group's vice president. John Wayne Gacy was later known as the Killer Clown due to his public performances as "Pogo the Clown" and "Patches the Clown" before the discovery of his crimes. In Springfield, he worked as a shoe company salesman and department manager.

Hinman writes of the Springfield stop, "Only years later does it become apparent that the vice president of the Jaycees who organises the event and is responsible for bringing The Kinks to Springfield is Chicago serial killer John Wayne Gacy, convicted and executed in 1994. ... Gacy was largely known as an upstanding, civic-minded citizen at the time, and The Kinks probably had no direct encounter with him."

The Downstate Sounds account says, "It had been assumed that Gacy had little or no contact with the Kinks but all of that changed with a bombshell interview that Kinks' bassist Peter Quaife gave to ... Mojo magazine in ... 2000.

"In the interview Quaife says, 'the local promoter that was looking after us turned out to be a real greaseball. ... After the gig, he invites us back to his house. Says he's got some people coming round and he's got some booze, so we say, ok.' ... Later in the interview Quaife adds, 'We could have ended up as mementoes bricked up in his walls.'"

The Downstate account questions Quaife's recollection and says, "Quaife died on June 23, 2010 ... so we may never know." But it adds, "Ray Davies, in his book Americana, neither confirms nor denies the incident saying, 'at Peter Quaife's instigation, we almost went to the house of infamous clown-serial killer Wayne Gacy.'"

The Springfield show was the Kinks' last Illinois appearance in 1965. The band played on elsewhere.

After the tour, the American Federation of Musicians refused permits for the group to appear in concerts in the U.S. for the next four years. The delisting was been attributed to various causes, including the band's behavior and labor issues.

Whether it's a person, place or product, send your "Whatever happened to ...?" and "Wasn't there a ...?" questions, comments and suggestions to dmuellerleile@pjstar.com. Please put ASK DEAN in the subject line.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Awaiting the Kinks in Illinois were a gun-wielding driver and a serial killer.