Rat Pack Flashback: Dell Rats Jerre and Tom Return to Share Magnificent (Men) Memories!

10 years ago today...

...our good buddy Jerre Slaybaugh, a Dell rat

of the early to mid 60s, was on cloud nine.

On December 3, 2008, Jerre appeared

on my old blog, Shady Dell Music &

Memories, and told readers he had

gone to see our hometown heroes,

Central Pennsylvania's blue-eyed

soul brothers, The Magnificent Men,

play to a packed house in the Sunoco

Performance Theater of what was at

that time the brand new Whitaker

Center for Science and the Arts

in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

“The Mag Men show was great," said Jerre, "with five

of the originals being there. Angeluci on drums, Seville

on bass, Pane on Sax, and Bupp and King. The show

ran late with an extremely long encore of, believe it

or not, Sly and the Family Stone medley. They did

songs from all of the albums except 10 Cent Movie.

They managed to do most of my favorites and a few

that were not on their albums. In all a good show.”

The show Jerre witnessed ten years ago was part of a series
of reunion concerts staged by the Magnificent Men over the years.
Dell rat Tom now joins us with a special memory of a Mag Men
show in "The Burg" that he attended 25 years earlier.

It was October 6, 1983," Tom recalls. "I was in my car on the way

to the Mag Men show at The Forum. I stopped at a red light at a

Harrisburg intersection not from the venue. While waiting for the 

light to turn green, I glanced in my rear view mirror. In the car

directly behind me sat two guys. One had a mustache. They

looked familiar. Noting that they were dressed in tuxedos,

I jumped to the conclusion that these two were either on

their way to a wedding or possibly on their way home

from one. Suddenly it dawned on me. 

These were not
ordinary men.

They were...
Magnificent

Men!"

"Imagine," Tom exclaimed. "Mag Men lead singers Buppy and Buddy

were following me to their own show! How cool is that? It wasn’t so
cool, however, when I kept sitting there all starstruck and glassy-eyed
gawking at them in the mirror long after the light had turned green.

Bupp needed to lay on his horn to get me to move.

Smooth... Tommy boy... very smooth!"

DAVE BUPP - THE MAGNIFICENT MEN

"That wasn't my first brush with greatness," Tom continued. "I remember seeing

Dave Bupp at the Dell snack bar chatting with the Ettlines in 1965 a few months

before 'Peace of Mind' broke. As I recall, John was standing at the end of the
counter next to the jukebox. Helen was behind the counter and Dave was
seated on a stool near John. Helen and John were beaming and their
eyes twinkling. Although I didn't know who he was at the time,
I could tell that this gentleman, Dave Bupp, enjoyed the

status of a visiting dignitary - a genuine Dell V.I.P."

Dell rat Jerre experienced his share of celeb sightings, too, occasions when he

rubbed elbows with members of the Magnificent Men and York's Del-Chords,

an earlier group from which Mag Men members Dave Bupp and Buddy King

emerged. Some of those close encounters took place at another youth mecca.

“As for other places to hang out," wrote Jerre,

if I wasn't at the Dell or the Oaks, it was the

York Cue Lounge. It was about one block

north of the Ramona."

(Editor's note: The Ramona aka "the Ram,"

was a very popular York eatery that later

became Bistro 19 Pub & Restaurant and

is now called Revival Social Club)

ADRIAN "BUDDY" KING - THE MAGNIFICENT MEN

"Buddy King was known to show up sometimes
to shoot a little pool," Jerre recalled.

THE DEL-CHORDS - YORK, PA

"Ernie Banks of the Del-Chords was a well above

average pool shark," Jerre concluded.

"I'm sure other Dell Rats will remember Mr. Smith and the Cue Lounge,"

Jerre added. "He ran the Cue Lounge like the Ettlines ran the Dell.”

You racked up some great

memories, Jerre, and your

pool hall story is my cue to

skidoo. Many thanks to you

and to Dell Rat Tom for

sharing your Mag Men

and Del-Chords tidbits.

Have a Shady day!