Celebrating Forty-Two Years of Classic Rock

The Moods, one of the original "garage bands" of the 1960s, will be celebrating 42 years of playing music from the Classic Rock era. It was October 1965 when six high school students burst on the scene to become one of the top performing groups in Orange County, California. Four students from Villa Park High School and two students from Foothill High School in Tustin came together and formed a band called "The Moods." In those days everyone was caught up in the excitement created by The Beatles, Beach Boys, and the great sounds coming from the artists representing Motown. There has never been a period where so many great songs were created by such a variety of different groups and singers. As one famous radio disc jockey would describe the music coming out in that era: "The hits just keep on coming." The Moods started performing by playing at the local high school dances and small parties. The group would play all the popular songs of that time which were being played constantly on the radio and local dance shows. They entered their first "Battle of the Bands" at Larwin Square, in the city of Tustin, and walked away with first prize. That was only the beginning for this talented band. Winning this contest gave them the honor of playing at the "Teenage Fair" at the Hollywood Palladium with some of the other top bands in southern California. From there the band went on to enter and win six other "Battle of the Bands" contests. The most prestigious victory was the "Pepsi Boss Battle" in 1967, as the best band in the state of California. The year before, The Carpenters, Karen and Richard, won as best performers in the "Pepsi Battle" to give some idea of how stiff the competition was. Two of the band members, Eric Pollard and Pete Jones, left the band to pursue other interests, Eric in 1966 to follow his dreams of becoming a professional golfer and Pete in 1968 to continue his education in medicine. Those openings brought in lead guitarist Ron Herrick of Santa Ana High School and Wayne Smith as the organist and a graduate of Orange High School. From that time on The Moods grew in popularity.

After winning the "Pepsi Boss Battle" the Moods' fortunes really took off. They played at Disneyland in the summers of 1967-1969. They were one of the first groups to perform at Disney's world famous up-and-down stage in Tomorrow Land. They were seen on "Boss City," one of Los Angeles' hit dance shows hosted by Sam Riddle. The Moods performed in concert with many of the great groups of that era: The Byrds, The Doors, Sonny and Cher, Ike and Tina Turner, Wilson Pickett, The Music Machine, and The Jefferson Airplane, to name a few. The Moods then became the main house band and played nightly at one of the most prestigious dance night clubs of the time, The Cinnamon Cinder in Long Beach.

As the band members went on to pursue careers and start families they remained friends throughout the years. It was not until 1987 that The Moods finally got back together and played for the Villa Park High School Class of 1967 Reunion. It was a great night to play for such a wonderful group of friends and old classmates. "Villa Park High School has always been our favorite group to play for," says bassist Paul Dustin. "They were there in the beginning, when The Moods played our first gig ever in the gym. They were there at the 20th year reunion in 1987, the 35th in 2002, and we can't wait for the 40th in 2007. Villa Park is our family!" The Moods have reunited as the original members have come together to play again. This group is made up of a dentist, two American Airlines pilots, a landscape architect, and a Newport Beach businessman. They are back together because of their lifetime friendship and for the love of the music from that era. Without a doubt, Classic Rock is the greatest music and represents our generation. The Moods look forward to the future and will play as long as anyone who loves Classic Rock 'N' Roll will listen. Members of the Moods are: Guitarists Ron Blatt of Lake Arrowhead, Ron Herrick from Newport Beach, bass guitar Paul Dustin of Rancho Santa Fe, drummer Dr. Tom Richardson, of Carlsbad, and on the keyboard is Wayne Smith from Tustin, California.