A Perfect Sound for April Fool's Day
#462 / Flood Time Capsule: 2003
If April Fool’s Day has a sound effect, it almost certainly is the dulcet tones of a well-tempered kazoo.
For decades, Flood co-founder Dave Peyton (a/k/a the Voodoo Guru of Kazoo) introduced this humble populist instrument to audience at gigs, parties and jam sessions.
And on an April Fool’s Day exactly 22 years ago, the buzz about Dave’s considerable kazoory reached even further into Huntington’s psyche via television.
As the band prepared for the launch of its second studio album, The 1937 Flood Plays Up a Storm, the guys decided to make the evening a combination album release party and fund-raiser for the host venue, the Renaissance Arts Center (the old Huntington High School building).
To help spread the word, Dave shared a couple of The Flood's famed blue kazoos with his old friend, Cabell County extension agent John Marra, who had a regular segment at noon on WSAZ-TV in those days.
In his budding kazoomanship, John saw a great opportunity for a little shtick with the broadcast's host (and all-'round good sport) Rob Johnson. Here was the result:
The Party
On a Friday night a week or so later, The Flood partied with about 150 folks who came out to listen, sing along, play their new kazoos (after Peyton’s mini-workshop) … and buy about $650 worth of albums.
"We played two hour-long sets and got a standing ovation at the end," Charlie Bowen told his mom later in an email. "These are our hard-core fans — we see many of them at nearly everything we play around here — but we also saw a lot of new faces, especially young faces.
“And the band rocked. Everybody was trying out new stuff in their solos. What a hoot. Magic night.”
About Dave’s Kazoory
Meanwhile, if you’d like to read more about Mr. Peyton’s command of the kazoo, click the link below for an earlier Flood Watch article:
What a day, what a tribute to Dave and his kazoo! May I join in the celebration as I celebrate the 47th anniversary of beginning my career on ol’ man river. April 1, 1978 I stepped aboard the Magnificent Mississippi Queen in New Orleans. A two week gig turned into the adventure and career of a lifetime. I would be given my river moniker Jazoo (eventually respelled Jazzou), and ultimately receive the crowning accolade of my professional life as an exclusive inductee into the 1937 Flood’s inner sanctum as an Ornery Member. This could only inspire a new river song “When Jazzou Played the Kazoo on the Yazoo.” The title was born some thirty years ago. The song is yet to be written.