Today I got a comment on my Facebook page from Craig Waldron who was a friend of Ken Wiles and his bands back in the late 60’s. Here is what he said:

“So I am visiting with my old friend Tom Phelps – looking at the Ambrose yearbook – I did not remember you being there!!”

He is talking about Saint Ambrose College (now University) in Davenport, Iowa. My response to him was, “…Kind of. I was enrolled for one year, but didn’t make many classes which is why I was asked not to come back for a second year! Most of the time I spent in the music annex with Jon Ludtke writing songs and playing the piano.”

To this day I still have fond memories of skipping classes and just writing music in the annex which was usually empty during the day. This was right before I was asked to join The Contents Are:, so I had to still be in Assassination of Sound or Todd Beat Group. The music annex was located on the map where Davis Hall is located which is the long, narrow building (second up) on the far left. The original hall only had a single story, so I think it was torn down and another larger one built in its place.

[Update 8/22/14: after some careful thought, I believe Davis Hall was there, so the music annex most likely was replaced by the building above Davis with the satellite dish on it… so long ago!]

Mick Orton

Categories: Friend Comments, History

Tags: 60's music, 70's music, Assassination of Sound, davenport, Davis Hall, garage band, iowa, Jon Ludtke, live music, Mike Orton, original music, Quad Cities, rock and roll, Silver Laughter, St. Ambrose College, The Contents Are:, Todd Beat Group