Congratulations to eight outstanding musicians for your dedication to your craft and enriching our lives through your music.  Your professionalism, friendship and showmanship has enable you to achieve a milestone in rock history 40 years. You are truly an inspiration to us all.  The Ides of March will always be Chicago's favorite band and #1 in our hearts.                      X-TREME Ides Fans

Those words inscribed on the plaque (pictured above) echo the sentiments that Ides fans feel about their favorite band.  On March 13, 2004 the Ides of March celebrated their 40th anniversary with a special three hour show that recreated their history from 1964 to the present in a two part act.  In this exclusive interview Jim lets the fans in on some behind the scene secrets and gives his personal thoughts on what the show meant to him. 

It had to be a thrill for the group to have Dick Clark say a few words about your 40th anniversary.  I know the audience was surprised to hear his voice on the PA along with many other local DJ's, tv personalities and celebrities.  As a member of the Ides of March what does that mean to you?  

Dick Clark was one of our all-time heroes growing up like he was to so many adolescents in the 60's - even today he is still rocking!  When Scott May of the Ides originally suggested we try and get  some celebrity congratulatory sound bites  - he said "Maybe we could even get one from Dick Clark".  I said "Yeah right Scott - you go for it boy!"  When he played Dick's grascious message over the phone I just about fell over.  Sorry for doubting you Scott!  Dick said he even remembers sitting in the green room with us when we appeared on "The Mama Cass Show" which he produced, talking about his antique Mercedes convertible.  Sounds like us.  It is obviously a great honor to get a message from him and all the other amazing people who were kind enough to wish us well on our 40th.

"A Vehicle Through Time" was a great title for your concert.  Who came up with that line?

I came up with the title but the whole show was a team effort from start to finish.  Everyone pitched in ideas, concepts, song ideas and hard work.  When Scott May suggested the idea of a linear progression through our career starting with the original four Ides - through all the changes we went through musically, all the way up to the present, I thought it sounded like a musical time machine - A Vehicle Through Time.  This title, of course plays up our biggest hit, Vehicle.

Was there any reason you chose the Arcada Theater for this show?

The Arcada holds fond memories for us.  We played there back in 1973 and we all remember the great acoustics and huge crowd response.  It was great to be back there again.  We weren't disappointed.  That old magic was back - the sound and the people!

Because the show was so special, was the band more nervous then usual?

To be honest, the day before the show at sound check, I was tempted to chuck the whole concept and do a normal show.  So many things seemed to go wrong that night.  I knew I'd get over that feeling of panic but I had to fight it.  That night I finally caught up on some sleep (we had been burning the candle with tv, rehearsal and promo for like 2 weeks straight) and on Saturday I somehow felt very relaxed.  I think the whole band suddenly did.  Our theory is that we had the Ides angels circling around us that night coaching us on our lines, the chords from songs we hadn't performed in ages and giving us the endurance to make it though a 3 hour show! 

How long did it actually take to prepare for this one show in terms of - getting the vintage photos, having the skit written and the rehearsing?

From start to finish, about a month and a half. 

The skit, the slide show and the costumes indeed made the show special.  Who came up with those ideas?

Larry initially suggested a slide show for the New Year Eve show at the College Of DuPage, but we didn't have enough time to prepare.  We vowed that we would do it at the Arcada.  The skit was my idea I believe.  I thought that instead of saying "Here's one from 1966" that it would be cooler to pretend that we were all back in the year 1966 and live it again.  Obviously, everyone pitched in with ideas and added their own spin to the dialogue.  It was Larry's idea to pre-record some of the skits to make everything run more smoothly and to draw attention to the slides at those moments.

 Who wrote the skit that explained the history of the Ides early years?

We kind of brainstormed the life changing junctures of our career - the decision to start writing some of our own material, our first recording session, getting our first record deal, adding the brass, having a number one record, dropping the brass, breaking up, reforming etc.  I put it into loose script form, we all fine tuned it and Scott charted it out with cues.

During the first half when the audience got to trace the history of the band from the beginning to your last show, was it hard to play a character of your self in that skit.

It was very hard to go back to being that age again and being that clueless.  It was also hard to perform as stiffly and nervously as we did when we first started out.  I'm sure you noticed we hardly moved a muscle for the first 3 or four songs. What was going through your mind as you stepped on stage wearing those Nehru jackets?  It kind of reminded me of our very first band uniforms.  Matching outfits are really a thing of the past, but it's really cool to feel like members of the same club.  We'd like to do that again!

Even though the jackets and shirts were made especially for the show, do you see yourself wearing them again in future shows? 

Absolutely!  Why Not?

You had many awesome songs on the first four albums, how did you decide which ones to include for this show?

Each member of the band actually made out lists of songs they would like to revive.  There were some doozys.  We must have rehearsed about 15 songs just to see which ones felt the best to us.  Some were a disaster - like "Hole In My Soul" from 1967 - great record but very hard to pull off live.  If we had like 4 hours, you would have heard "Thing Aren't Always What They Seem" - the flip side of "Roller Coaster" and many more. (Bob Bergland really wanted to do "We Are Pillows" from Common Bond).

The walls of the Acrada cracked when you performed "Eleanor Rigby".  Fans already want to know if you will be including Eleanor in the summer shows?

We hadn't planned on it, but the reaction was so strong that we are now reconsidering it - perhaps alternating it with "Summer In The City".  Besides, it took so much work to reconstruct it - we may as well play it!   

Both "Eleanor Rigby" and "Tie-Dye Princess" were awesome songs and you probably could have performed either one, but was there a reason behind picking one song over the other?  

For me, it was the Beatles connection - with the fab four celebrating their 40th just like us.  Also, many folks heard Rigby the first time around when we performed it in the 60's and early 70's - there was quite a demand for us to bring it back.  I do want to learn "Tie Dye Princess" again though.

Not having performed "Eleanor" since 73' was it hard to re-learn that song in just a matter of a few rehearsals?

It was very difficult.  In fact, after messing it up the first few times we played it, Larry devised a type written cheat sheet that labeled all the sections in succession.  That's the only way we got through it for about the first two weeks!

How did Bob Stroud get the nick-name the 5th Ide?

Bob has been a friend and champion for many many years.  He has probably done more than anyone else on the planet in keeping our name and music live.  He is not only a talented jock and singer, but also a great human being.

Is it true that your new song "Forgotten Oldies" was inspired from the Dick Biondi radio show?

Was "Hound Dog" the first live song the Ides did professionally?  And do you remember that first gig?

It was at the American Legion hall on Harlem and Riverside Drive.  It was on Oct 16th, 1964 and we received only $20.00 total for it.  But it was our second gig that really sticks in my mind.  We were the musical entertainment for the Morton East Women's Club fashion show.  It was there that we opened with "Que Sera Sera" into "Hound Dog".  All the older people thought we were going to do a nice quiet song - then we rock out with "Hound Dog"!  It was pretty funny.

I don't know if the audience caught it, but at the very end of "The Sky Is Falling", during Mike's and Chuck's duel drum solo they happened to put in the Morton Marching band signature beat to it.  Who came up with that clever idea?

I think that was a Borch idea.  He was first chair drummer in the Morton West Marching Band so it had to seep through.  That's the drum part that comes right before the drum major (Frances Chew, by the way) shouted "Click heals!"

What was your favorite part of the show?

For me, it was playing those songs from the early, early days.  We hadn't done them for so long and they brought back such great memories.  When we were doing "Rigby" I was transported to the Baton Rogue festival 1970.  Thousands of southern hippies in tie-pie t-shirts and patchoulie.  I remember Brownsville Station, who played right after us, come up and say they were blown away by the Ides and especially Eleanor Rigby and our 50's greaser bit.  Me and cubby stayed in touch off and on all the way to his death a few years back.

Besides "Vehicle", which song from the Ides catalog is your favorite?

I guess it would have be "L.A. Goodbye".  That was a magic song for us.

When band members come and go like revolving doors, the Ides have always stayed together.  What is the secret to your success?

We love to play together, we respect each other totally and we support each other unconditionally.  We are also totally honest with each other.

As you stood on stage reliving your past with the Ides, what were your personal thoughts?

So many things entered my mind.  It was all a bit surreal.  I kind of felt that we were channeling our past selves.  It was kind of spooky but great fun at the same time.  I also was thinking about all our friends in the audience who were also going back and taking a trip with us through time.

If you never joined the Ides, where do you think you would be today?

Life is so funny - I think if one thing in your life changes - that everything changes.  That is how interrelated the events of our lives are.  I have no idea what path my life would have taken if not for the Ides.

When Bob Destocki was talking about the Ides last concert, how did that make you feel?

It brought me back to that last bittersweet day in 1973.  I felt thankful that we had come to this point in our lives and careers and that we were only recreating the last concert - not actually playing for the last time.

There will come a time again when some announcer will say this is the Ides last show, has that ever entered your thoughts or any of the other band members?

It probably sounds like a cliche.  But we're gonna rock till we drop.  You can't retire from rock and roll if it's in your blood.

As you went down memory lane getting ready for this show, are there any stories you would like to share with us?

There are so many that I think I'll save them for a book I'd like to write someday soon.

What are the chances of seeing some of the those rare pictures on the web site?

Better yet - the photo disks will be for sale at our summer shows.

Do you have any personal reflections of that day and what does the 40th anniversary mean to you?

When we started out 40 years ago - we didn't have a thought in our heads about deomographics, market strategy or the long range picture.  We did it for the love of doing it - period.  We are all so grateful that you have kept our music alive all these years and that there seems to be a new generation discovering us as well.  We initially thought that we would be here today and gone tomorrow.  When we got our second chance in 1990, we vowed to each other never to take for granted our common bond ever again.

Do you have any plans to put this show on again or was this a one shot deal?

We are currently looking into many options for more theater shows in this format probably in the fall and winter.  There is some strong interest for us to do it again.

Will there be a live DVD or video of the 40th show?

We are looking though footage now and it looks good.  We are hoping to have a full length dvd ready for the summer season.

What's ahead for the Ides?

Lots of gigs this summer.  We're also starting a new studio album very soon.  We are starting to jam more and see what comes of it - many good tunes start there.  I have also been writing brand new songs for the band that I am really excited about.  Can't wait for you to hear them.  We may try a few out this summer to gauge the reaction.

Is there anything you would like to say to the fans?

Thanks to everyone who made this show possible -. you know who you are and to the audience - you are what makes us rock.

Back in the early 90's when Jim was doing double duty between the Ides and Survivor, I had asked him - "Where were the Ides in his life"?  And to this day I still remember his reply. "The Ides of March will always be my first love."  I think that summons up  how Jim feels about this fellow band members.

Jim  thanks for taking the time to answer these questions.
Its was my pleasure.  Thanks for everything and as always KEEP ROCKING!

 3-20-04