L-R:
Lorne Lautens (lead /rhythm guitar, lead
vocals), Barrie Creran (accordion, organ,
guitar, vocals),
Greg Black (drums), Bob Shettler (bass
guitar, vocals).
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The Variety Pak (VP) was a
dance band consisting of four friends from
St. John’s High School in Winnipeg’s North
End. We formed the band in 1968 and
played together for about six years, with
our last booking in 1974. The VP
played over 200 gigs that included
weddings, socials, legion dances, special
events, corporate parties, and a host of
other functions. The original band
consisted of Greg Black (drums), Barrie
Creran (accordion, organ, guitar, vocals),
Lorne Lautens (lead /rhythm guitar, lead
vocals), and Bob Shettler (bass guitar,
vocals). Ray Cruickshank joined the
group to play drums for a short period
when Greg left the band to pursue other
musical opportunities.
There are many fond memories as we think
back on all our times playing together in
the late 1960s and early 1970s.
We were one of the first bands to
introduce rock 'n roll into our
performances. Our musical sets would
usually consist of three groups of two
song types such as: two waltzes, two
polkas, and two fox trots. We might
follow that with two waltzes, two polkas,
and two jives. Finally, we might end
the set with two waltzes, two polkas, and
(wait for it) two rock 'n roll
songs. It was always interesting to
watch how much the younger people really
loved the rock songs and how much the
older folks used to hate them. We
always nervously walked that fine line in
deciding how many rock songs to play in an
evening. Some of our favourite rock
songs included: The Kingsmen’s “Louie,
Louie” and Neil Young’s “Cinnamon Girl”
and “Down by the River” which always drew
loud rounds of applause, unless of course
we were playing one of the legions around
town in which case they were almost
certainly met with “turn it down, the
music is too loud!”.
Our original PA system's speakers were (we
believe) the first speakers manufactured
by Henry Kreindler in his upstart company
called “Banquox Sound”. Greg still
remembers making those first black and
gold Banquox name plates when he worked
for Henry.
When we think back on those years, we
still collectively think how lucky we were
to have had such a great “job”. Greg
later made music his full time career and
went on to become one of the most
accomplished drummers in Manitoba and as
of 2013, VP's 45th anniversary, he still
plays as a fulltime professional
musician. Barrie also continues to
play his accordion professionally and is
one of the most proficient accordion
players and accordion entertainers in
Winnipeg. Lorne is still heavily
involved in music, writing and playing
original songs and recording them in his
basement studio for his personal
pleasure. Bob occasionally picks up
his guitar, plays for a week or two, and
then gently puts it back in its stand for
another session in the future.
When we decided to enter The Variety Pak's
story into the Manitoba Music Museum we
began to look for pictures of the band and
could only come up with four poor-quality
photos. We were really surprised and
wondered how that was possible? We
believe that there must be many more
pictures out there and hope that our entry
into the museum may reveal some better
quality VP pictures that we would very
much appreciate receiving (through Bob
Shettler's Facebook account).
Some of our most memorable gigs include:
- Setting up on the bowling
alleys (literally) at Cooper and
Mosienko Bowling Lanes for one of our
first gigs in 1968
- Playing our first New
Years gig at the El’Nor Motel in
Falcon Lake in 1968
- Playing at a local
establishment where one of the
strangest events occurred. An
elderly gentleman was dancing, had a
fatal heart attack, and passed away
right in front of us. We stopped
playing and watched in silence as the
ambulance took the poor soul
away. We were then asked to
continue playing for the rest of the
evening and in fact, to make up for
the lost dance time by playing after
hours. That was too weird!
- Playing on the River Rouge
river boat for a high school
graduation party (instead of going to
our own)
- Playing at one of Premier
Ed Schreyer’s campaign barbeques in
East St. Paul
- Playing for the week at
the bar in the Norwood Hotel in 1970
- Playing at several of
Laclu, Ontario's summer regattas
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Lastly, and perhaps most
importantly, the four original Variety Pak
members, after forty-five years, continue
to be great friends and get together at
least once a year to have dinner, discuss
the good old days, and solve some of the
world’s most pressing problems.
Lorne Lautens
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L-R:
Barrie Creran, Bob Shettler, Greg Black,
Lorne Lautens
2013 |
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