Every once in a while, in Newark, a truly great band would bubble to the top. It was the Summer of ’69 when Newark High School students John “Joey” Kalmbacher, Kurt Becker, Jim “Wheels” Wheeler, and Pat Monaghan united to form a very special and sadly short-lived band called:
“Kurt Becker was already an accomplished jammer – he could and did play that guitar for hours – almost always cross-legged in front of his Silvertone 1482, which had that tone we all loved.
Joey was from the neighborhood across the creek, and he could really play too – a single manual Vox Continental was his instrument, through an Ampeg B12, which was tuned and hot-rodded by Joey’s father, a radio/TV repair man. Before Sky, he played keys in Rocky Iocono’s Rocky & His Friends [After going through a dozen Brookside area bands].” -Jim Wheeler
“Before the days of Vox,, Farfisa,, Doric, and others, I was given a 2-octave “Emenee” organ.
It had a cardboard back that we cut a circle-shaped hole in and stuck in a 58-style Heathkit mic.
Sounded horrible, but I loved it through the banshee horns. Because it was neumatic, I had to learn how to anticipate the chords. The delay was small but it caused me to rush a bit.”
To enhance the sound of the Continental, Joe’s Dad bought him a Heathkit Leslie Model 125
“2 speed without a top rotor – Just a single downfacing 12-inch speaker -This worked fine because my Continental was loaded with treble. We hooked it up to an old RCA tube amp with a curved metal steel cover. We nicked-named this the “toaster” because the steel cover popped up when it got very hot. You can see it in Jim’s Pic sitting on the Leslie.” – Joe Kalmbacher
Pat Monaghan brought his drums, a decent vocal, and all the charm of, oh, maybe Davy Jones (The Monkee). The girls loved Pat – still do, by all reports. It has also been said they needed,” –Jim Wheeler recalls. Mobus Williams (from Pump Productions) would sometimes fill in on drums when Pat was too occupied with his girlfriend Cathy.
“Jim Wheeler was a reflective Zen kind of gentle soul and a nice melodic bass player. I think he played a Gibson EBO.” – Joe Kalmbacher
The tunes were right off the newly formatted FM station: 93.3 WMMR out of Philadelphia. “Sunshine Of Your Love”, “Spoonful”, “I’m So Glad”, “Born Under A Bad Sign” (Cream), “Hey Joe” and “Manic Depression” (Jimi Hendrix); “Dear Mr. Fantasy” (Traffic); “The Laws Must Change” (John Mayall); and “Dazed and Confused” (Led Zeppelin) … Tommy Eppes remembers them doing Spooky Tooth’s “Waitin’ For The Wind”.
Their first gig was at the local WMCA on Kirkwood Avenue; the offer was $50 – OR – a split of the door. Confident their success was in the bag, they opted for a take of the door, then split $30 4-ways; oh well. To the chagrin of Kurt, brother Steve joined in for a few tunes that could use harmonica. Later gigs were at the local Coffee Houses like Eat At Joe’s, Goldies Doorknob, & The Side Door.
“Well, times fly. Joey went on to a reasonably successful music career, playing with bands and mates that could really lay it down, including Johnny Neel and Bill Dube. Joey is nationally known as a rebuilder of Hammond B3s and Leslies, and remains a legend to all who know him. Kurt passed away in 2021, but not before squaring his life with a successful career in cell biology, playing music to the end. Pat, now retired in Houston, plays these days more guitar than drums, but no longer publicly, and recently stated as long as he was still getting laid frequently, he was a happy man. Jim is still active in the craft, and while perhaps a better player than he’s ever been, that’s not really saying much, but he’s happy, too.
Left To Right: Joe Kalmbacher, Kurt Becker, Jim Wheeler, Mobis Williams (Sitting in for Pat)
The Logo in this only known picture of the band was created by Jim’s step-father David Schoch (rip), who was the art teacher at Christiana High. That badge was only flown once, at the end-of-the-school-year HS Talent Show, the highlight and end performance of SKY, the Band. Sadly, many who saw that prop’ later said they thought it read “shit”, and wondered how the band was able to get that past the censors and high onto the wall of the gym at Newark HS.” – Jim Wheeler (2022)
“I only had the pleasure of seeing Sky once. It was in the Spring of 1970 at a Battle Of The Bands at Newark High School. My band, Pump Productions, was positioned opposite of Sky.
We were more interested in creating a spectacle than winning the battle. We all loved Sky and didn’t mind losing to them. Sky placed second to Sam The Fink & The Garbage Disposal. The winner was not a real band. It consisted of Steve Burkhardt & Tommy Eppes on guitars, Mike Gronka: vocals, Tom Brothers: bass, Jim Keesey: drums, and Bill Sucup: sax, and other popular kids in school. I had to laugh at losing to Sam The Fink because it was my idea from a couple of years before. Disgusted at the way things always went at battles, I told Steve Burkhardt to win a battle, all you have to do is have a band made up of popular people from school. I originally suggested calling the band Sam The Fink and the Trash Collectors and having big trash cans all around the band (which they did). It worked! But this isn’t about that; it’s about Sky being the rightful winner of that battle. By the end of the school year, all three bands were gone forever.” –Hangnail Phillips
Special thanks to Jim Wheeler & Joe Kalmbacher, whose contributions made this article possible.