'Let the Good Times Roll' often inspired fights
Go Deeper.
Create an account or log in to save stories.
Like this?
Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.
Today's Morning Edition music is from "Let the Good Times Roll," a single released by the Minneapolis-based Del Counts in 1965.
Members of the band recall that when they played this song live at dances, it would often inspire fighting.
The fights would break out between competing gangs of kids who dressed alike and called themselves the Baldies or the Animals.
There was also a Highland Park-based gang known as the Ptarmigans, named after a northern grouse with feathered feet.
The fights would begin when the kids heard the phrase "let it roll!"
That's one of the many stories collected in Rick Shefchik's new book "Everybody's Heard About the Bird: The True Story of 1960s Rock and Roll in Minnesota."
Shefchik and a bunch of musicians who played in those bands will be at a book launch event Wednesday night at the Electric Fetus in Minneapolis.
Turn Up Your Support
MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all.
