My senior year and first year of junior college did not go well for me.  As far as StingRay Productions and Discotheque Records were concerned it was a slow time as well.  A young man by the named of  Ray Hummell III stopped by the Lafayette Radio Studio and asked me to copyright his songs Fine Day and Gentle Rain.  I have to this day his demo record of those two songs.  I never heard them get much air play but, I am not sure what happened.
The Go Show Dances were a big success for GR and Friday through Sunday night you could find kids dancing to the latest Top 40 Hits.  I spend a lot of weekend nights there playing records or just watching the kids dance.  When a group showed up to play for the dancers I was busy with StingRay Productions recording reel after reel of audio tape that later was to be edited into a live LP record.  Well it never happened and all of the reels of tape disappeared.  Talk about a disaster. We had tape recordings of some of the biggest Regional Bands of the Midwest.  Lyn and The Invaders, The Tempests, Me & Dem Guys, The Quest, The Shadows of Night, oh well you get the picture. To this day I have no idea where the tapes when and many people searched for them.  Over the years I was offered a lot of money,  if I could have produced those tapes.
Second year of Junior College things began to pick up.  Both AQ and RAG were gone for the most part and I was really StingRay Productions and Discotheque Records.  I had the chance to record a group called The Bel-Aires the members of this band when to school with my sister.  She wanted me to record them and put out a record.  I agreed.  We first tried to record them in the Lafayette Radio Studio but with-out much luck.  The sound was just not there for some reason.  I found a recording studio on the NW side of GR and my next attempt to record the group was there.  A four track machine was used and was considered a big deal back then. As I sit here writing this Blog the groups record sits next to me.  The recording secession went very well and with the echo and reverb that was added to the secession later, I remember the drummer commenting that I made him sound like he was playing triplets during his drumming which he could not play.
I always wanted to make the record sound more like a Motown record but,  I did not have the bass guitar on a separate track and could not afford to bring the guys back to lay down more tracks.  I was insistent that we try and make this record different than what "Fenton Records" had been putting out up to this time.  I added an ocean sound and the sound of a lonely Seagull to the If You Love Me side (a few months later the Shangra-Las added some Seagulls to Walking In The Sand one of their records.  Just to set the record straight I was first.).  I added a trailing 6 echo sound to the Ya Ha Be Be track all in an effort to make it have a different sound. I even brightened up the label colors to make the record display better on the turntable and in the stores. To this day I think it was my best work and Discotheque Records best effort.

I was shocked to be offered a drive time DJ job at WGRD Radio, the number two radio station in GR at the time.  AQ and I would have had a great time trying to figure out who had the most listeners because he was at the number one station at the time WLAV. (it never came to be, keep reading).  I guess I should tell you that I used a stage name during my radio days.  I was known as Lee Allen Davis LAD for short.  So when you look to try and find me try L.A.D..  My Mom was so proud of me being on the radio and having my own show but she could never understand why I did not use my real name. Oh Mom. 

Back to my story.

It was in May 1967 when everything crashed for me, my production company, and my record label.  Uncle Sam called.  Up to then I had had a student deferment from the military but, between the Spring Semester and Summer Semester I was reclassified and drafted.  Dad was furious and wanted to go to court and fight it.  I knew it would just postpone the inevitable.  This was nearing the height of the Vietnam War and Local Board 42 was way short on their quota of strong young men. So I told Dad not to fight the re-classification.  I never thought on not going so running to Canada never crossed my mind.  Dad served in WWII so I figured it was my turn and got my affairs in order. 

I had just a few weeks to finish editing The Bel-Aires record and get it off to RCA Custom Records.  I made it but with very little time to spare.  I left for boot camp on June 10, 1967.  RAG tried to handle the record business but he had little time and his heart really was not in it.  The record was a success by all accounts and reorders for more were placed.  I really do not know much beyond that.  My DJ days were over and my record label and production company were in shambles.
Just for the record I could spend pages on my Army career but not now.  Lets just say it was an experience that would make a great book or movie.  (I plan on telling the story later in this Blog.  It will make for interesting reading)
I came back from the Army a changed man.  No longer a boy with a dream of making it big in the record business but a man who wanted to move on with his life.