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 The owners of the Royal Motor Lodge hired us to play in their small lounge on Friday and Saturday nights.
The Dutch Inn used us during the week. The Dutch Inn job did not last but a few weeks. Another club in the area called the Bali-Hai, had a band that played five nights a week. The owner wanted us to play on their off nights, sort of like we were doing for the Dutch Inn and Royal Motor Lodge.
So we agreed to play Sunday and Monday for the Bali-Hai and Friday and Saturday at the Royal Motor Lodge. At this time, I’m no longer working at Harris since the birth of our daughter, Trish. Larry was still working at Harris during the day, and four nights a week we played music.
This was during the time when the band played from 9:00 to 1:00 or 2:00 during the week and 9:00 to 3:00 on the weekends. Needless to say, with a small infant and Larry with a day job, we were staying very busy.
As fate would have it, the owner of the Bali-Hai approached us about playing full time as the house band. I don’t remember the details about what happened between him and the other band, but something made him want to make the change.
Well, this meant we would have to leave the Royal Motor Lodge weekend job. We had really started to get a following there on the weekends.
The owner of the Bali-Hai offered us a nice salary to make the change. We took the job and gave up the weekend job at the Royal. The owner let the other band go. This was our first experience of dealing with disgruntled band members. I don’t blame them for being upset that they lost their job. We found out real quick that this business can be very competitive. We were not experienced in seeking business deals or negotiating contracts. It just seemed like each opportunity became available at just the right time.
We played the Bali-Hai for several months. We had a good following. Actually, a lot of the following we had at the Royal Motor Lodge “followed” us to the Bali-Hai. (I guess that’s why they call it a following !)
Not to be out-done, the owners of the Royal Motor Lodge called us and asked for a meeting. We met with them to find out they were serious about getting us back. They wanted to remodel the lounge, expand the seating capacity and give it a new name.
They wanted us to have a financial incentive to come back and also, they provided us with a brand new Lincoln Mark III to drive while we were there. Well, that was pretty hard to turn down. So we didn’t.
That was the real beginning of our seven year relationship at this club, now called The Back Door Lounge.
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