Miscellaneous Musings by FunGirlDi

It’s the BopCats - Not the Bobcats…

I was too young to remember the Ely award-winning band, “The Electras,” and my parents were not fans of the kind of music they created. My parents were first generation Slovene Americans - my father was born in 1921 and my mother in 1925. Immigrants from the “old country” played an accordion or button box so polkas were frequently served up to family and friends on a regular basis in their circle.

Our home had a Zenith phonograph in the living room and my dad was a big fan of Roy Acuff, Herb Albert, Floyd Kramer, Dean Martin, and Nat King Cole. Rock and roll was quickly evolving, but my parents simply ignored it all thinking it was just a passing fad.

I was introduced to faster music during my childhood in the early 1970s, as every Saturday night was when “Request Radio,” was featured on our local WELY radio station. Anyone one (mostly kids) could call in and request a certain song for a crush, a birthday greeting or nods to friends. It was great because we could stay anonymous while proclaiming your undying love and affection for that special boy in your grade school class.

Performers like Michael Jackson, Donny Osmond, Barry Manilow, Bread, America, B.J. Thomas, Paul McCartney and so many more put out hit after hit with plenty of love and “crush” songs to fill every Saturday night to our pre-teen delight.

I heard of The Electras – a local garage band put together by Bill and Earl Bulinski in 1962. They invited members and at their peak, the five-guy band made a name for themselves and many years later in 2010, The Electras were inducted into the Mid-America Music Hall of Fame.

Before the Electras were on the Ely music scene, there was the first totally electrified, rock and pop band that named themselves, “The BopCats.”

The first iteration of The Bop-Cats played between 1957 and 1959. The members included Joe Palchar (rhythm guitar and a MEAN sax); John Salo from Soudan (drums); Mike Weinzierl (rhythm guitar); Ray Slogar (lead guitar); and Ronan James (bass).

The band played 100% instrumentals except for a song titled, “Matilda,” since they did not have a dedicated vocalist at the time. Rumors abounded that prior to the electrified version of the BopCats, other Ely musicians were associated with the band’s name such as Jim Krall (trumpet) and Eddie Ruzic (accordion), but no one is around any longer to confirm those rumors.

In 1959, the lineup changed as Ray Slogar (Slogar Oil and Appliance) was drafted by the Minnesota Gophers to be their backup hockey goalie. In 1959, he made a record save of 67 shots for Ely High School against International Falls, which was a state record at the time.

After Ray’s departure, Mike Weinzierl moved in as the lead guitarist and Ed Steklasa joined the band as rhythm guitarist and vocals. Ed was a mere freshman in high school at the time when he played his first gig with them at the Babbitt roller rink before school started in late summer 1959. When asked about his music playing history, Ed will brag he was technically still a freshman in high school.

In the fall of 1960, Joe Palchar left the band and from time to time, Ed and Mike sat in with local established musicians.

Ed Steklasa is my neighbor, and we chatted about his time with the BopCats and asked me if I would be willing to put together a column with the history of The BopCats band. I agreed to do so, and he shared the history with me and amazing photographs that I have included in this column.

One of the photos he shared with me was of nine members that Ed said was a bit like the “Who’s Who,” on the Ely music scene at the time. They called themselves the “Melodiers,” and Ed and Mike were invited to play along with them at an event called the “Military Ball.” Ed said that the band was looking to add some rock and roll street cred.

Another photo from Ed is one from 1961 at the Pioneer Mine Labor Day Picnic, which was a big day for Elyites and a highly anticipated day each year. The BopCats played at the picnic that year after Mike Weinzierl was asked to find some music for the event. Fran Lindbeck played with them during the picnic.

In 1961, Linda Anderson (Klobuchar) joined the group as vocalist.

With the addition of Linda, that led to the printing of the band’s color poster (see photo).

At summer’s end in 1962, Mike Weinzierl and John Salo departed to attend college at UMD. Linda left to attend beauty school and joined the Vaqueros Band in Virginia. Ronan and Ed were left without a band until Jerry Fink contacted Ed for him to come listen to him play drums in the basement of his home in Ely.

After Jerry dropped the needle on a Ventures album and played drums to it, Ed was wowed. He convinced Ronan that they had to keep going with Jerry now as their drummer. At that time, the BopCats performed as a trio until the spring of 1964.

By spring of 1964, the early Electras were disbanding as drummer Lenny Erickson moved to Buhl and the Bulinski’s cousin from Chicago left Ely. Bill Bulinski approached Ed and asked if he could play with the BopCats as lead guitarist. The addition of Bill upped the count of the band to four members.

Soon after, Ronan left the Bop-Cats to join Mike Weinzierl as an accordion/guitar duo. His departure created the opportunity for Gary Omerza to become the bass player. The BopCats band lineup in early 1964 was Bill Bulinski (lead guitar and vocals); Gary Omerza (bass and keyboard); Jerry Fink (drums); and Ed Steklasa (rhythm guitar and vocals).

This band established the Longbranch building as a premier band venue and was the first pop/rock band to play there. Songs like “Pretty Woman” by Roy Orbison and “Memphis” by Johnny Rivers were huge crowd pleasers. It was noted that Gary Omerza’s bass would strongly reverberate through the wooden floors of the Longbranch on those two songs, which added to the excitement when they were playing.

The band played the Longbranch every Sunday in the summer of 1964, ending on Labor Day. The band lineup was short lived because Ed left to study engineering at the University of Minnesota right after their last gig at the Longbranch.

Bill then added Earl Bulinski and revived The Electras name. Tim Elfving was brought in as the front man on vocal duties and they added songs from the Rolling Stones and the Animals to their repertoire.

Gary Omerza bought a Farfisa organ to give the group the ability to cover the passages of new arrangements that were brought on by the British group invasion to the American music scene. This organ gave the group a quantum leap in rock sophistication at the time.

At the same time, Earl would switch to bass while Gary was on the organ, which led to the witness of the amazing rebirth of The Electras. This group became a phenomenon that many in Ely are still proud of to this day.

The lineup of the BopCats in 1965-1967 included the return of Ed Steklasa (lead guitar and vocals); Frank Preshiren (drums and vocals); Terry Salo (bass); and Phil Matson (rhythm and vocals). Phil was new to playing an electrified guitar and Ed stepped in and coached him into playing with the band. The group stayed together until the fall of 1967 when Ed left for a job with Rohm and Haas Chemical in Philadelphia.

The musicians went their separate ways until the early 1980s thanks to Doug Luthanen for pulling together The Bopcats once again with Ed Steklasa (lead guitar and vocals); Rich Dunstan (drums and vocals); Jim Gornik (guitar and vocals); Phil Matson (bass and vocals) and Doug (keyboard and vocals).

As it is with many things, life got in the way for Doug Luthanen and changes/additions were made in the band to round it out. Some members that played with The BopCats included Jerry Fink (drums); Chris Fink (drums and bass); Mike Zgonc (keys and vocals); Joe Shaheen (bass and vocals); Rich Dunstan (drums and vocals); and Larry Groves (keyboard and vocals).

Throughout many years, the musicians that played in The Electras and The BopCats provided many hours of wonderful music for the crowds they drew. So many of these men have now moved onto their eternal resting place, but their impact and memories remain for those who were there.

The information for this column was mostly Ed Steklasa’s words so I cannot take credit for them. Ed is proud of his history on the music scene from the past, but also he still stays busy these days with his music. He is a constant draw when he has played and plays karaoke at Zaverl’s, Samz Place, Fortune Bay, and others. Ed spends the winters in Stuart, Florida and plays gigs in that area, as well.

I was too young to remember the bands, but I have heard stories about them from talking personally with the musicians or hearing about them from those who were there to witness their greatness. Greatness can be defined depending on those who are present and from what I hear, these groups put on great shows with great music in a great town at a great time. How great is that?