Denny Wilson
My first professional music job was writing 3 commercials for Jolt Cola. I was very young when I started playing professionally, and I have loved the experience.
My first original band was called the Tooba Blooze, and featured tuba, guitar, and drums. We were signed to Dayton's original punk rock label,
I Wanna Records. The video link above is a cover that we did by Fats Waller called the Viper's Drag performed at the Angst Museum at Antioch College when I was a teenager. I wasn't much older than Quinn is now when I started this band.
We toured the country and the East Coast extensively playing in many cities and states. We often played strange gigs because of the tuba. For example, our gigs varied from playing a night at Tipatina's in New Orleans opening for a national blues act, to playing in a punk rock show in Atlanta, to playing at a German Festival in Columbus...all in the same tour.
Our first gig in New York City was at The Knitting Factory in the Village opening for Tiny Lights. The venue was small, but it blew my mind. The Indigo Girls were in the audience that night, and we were reviewed in the Village Voice.
We contributed a few songs to Dayton's WTUE homegrown album. One of our most popular songs was called Greedy Mr. Creed, which is still played on the radio on St. Patty's Day. People always assumed the tuba was the soul of this band, however I always thought Karl Streuber a more accurate choice.
Hal was one of the best tuba players in the country, and he got a gig with a symphony in Iowa and the band broke up. I started playing with Tim Taylor and we formed a new band called the Wizbangs. Tim was an amazing songwriter and musician. He definitely influenced me. Tim went on to form Brainiac. J.J. Yates played drums with us and went on to play with Kool and the Gang.
I played with David Poe and Rod Bradley after that. David is a brilliant songwriter and musician. Rod, David, and I moved to NYC and briefly shared a place on 6th Ave.
The songs on this player are from the Tooba Blooze and the Wizbangs. Tim wrote songs in the Wizbangs as well, but I've only included songs I wrote.
Tooba Blooze songs: Hal Taylor is playing tuba, Rod Bradley drums, Karl Streuber singing on the Rainbow Song and playing various pots and pans.
Wizbangs songs: Tim Taylor lead guitar, J.J. Yates drums, Juan Monasterio bass.
Karl Streuber is singing on Disturbing the Peace.
The Vipers Drag by Fats Waller.
All songs by Denny Wilson copyright 2015 except The Rainbow Song by Karl Streuber and Denny Wilson copyright 2015.
The photos on the top right-hand side were taken at a practice by our friend, Buckwheaticus.
The songs are free to download, but if you feel compelled to contribute, please donate to the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance so the arts may flourish in Dayton. A community cannot thrive without the arts! You can contribute any amount of money through the link below.
https://daytonperformingarts.org/give
Here are links to all the music on this site, there are many songs on different pages
The Fair Shakes/ The Rude Boys
Photo Credit
Tuba girls pic: http://www.zazzle.com/girl_playing_tuba_1928_greeting_card-137052192602418164