Chuck Kirkpatrick - Game

Kirkpatrick with his late mother.

Circa: 1960.

April, 19, 1946, Delaware County Hospital, Philadelphia, PA. Yes. My memory that far back is c loud, but my mother swears that I used to draw crowds in the department stores where she shopped. I was only two years old, but I would start singing and people would gather around me. My mother played piano and sang from he time she was a teenager. I have two brothers, Scott and John. Scott is a very well known and respected drummer with major artist / album and touring credits. I liked model railroading, bike riding, building go-karts, anything to do with flying. I had aspirations of becoming a pilot. Don’t remember my first actual concert. The Beatles on Ed Sullivan convinced me that playing music for a living was what I really wanted to do. There were a few venues here in South Florida. But I was playing more concerts than I was going to just as a listener. The Aerovons formed in 1964.

The Good Reasons.

The Impalas. Lauderdale-By-The-Sea (Freidt Park on Bouganvilla) circa: 1963.

Chuck and Tommy Strickland (on the right).

We started out as a Beatle copy band like the 150 other local bands, but decided to become a Beach Boys tribute band in 1965 after meeting and hearing them perform local concert. When The Aerovons broke up, I joined a band called Gas Company. We recorded several single for a local label, one of which charted nationally. We had to change the name to Proctor Amusement Company because the other name was already registered and owned. I had a lot of experience arranging vocal harmony which made me invaluable to the band. I had started writing and recording songs in 1964. My first single release with The Aerovons was “Was It Meant to Be”. All bands had to play covers to survive. Proctor Amusement Company became Game after we decided we’d had enough of playing great covers to indifferent audiences.

Pictured from left to right in lower photo: Kirkpatrick, George Terry, Ken Byers (r.i.p.), Sandy Meyer, and Gary Carter. This group was the GAS COMPANY circa: 1966.

The Aerovons circa: 1964.

The Aerovons: Strickland, Kirkland, and Paul.

The Aerovons. This was taken at "Teen Town" (the place Jaco wrote the song about) in 1965, or 6’'6.

We decided to write and perform our own stuff. We had a warehouse in Oakland Park - as did a dozen other bands. We spent nearly every day and night there rehearsing and arranging. We were also very fortunate to have had the use of a professional recording studio where I was employed at the time. Game became the top band in South Florida, opening shows for Allman Brothers, Ten years After, Ike and Tina, Van Morrison, BB King, Janis Joplin, Johnny Winter, Edgar Winter… All at very large venues; Pirates World, Sportatorium, Miami Jai-Alai, Convention Center, Maine Stadium.

Game at Criteria studio B circa: 1970.

Game, VIrginia Key circa: 1971.

Game circa: 1972.

We started producing and headlining our own shows all over South Florida. Game produced its first album in 1969. Our manger shopped it in New York, but no one was interested. The songs were just not considered commercial enough. However, our musical and production skills impressed one company and they sent down a bunch of songwriter demos fro us to produce. The demos were atrocious, but we went into the studio and delivered some very good masters, three of which were commercially released.

Game’s Promo shoot for Evolution Records.

Game circa: 1971.

Following that, we began working on another album - our first release entitled “Game” on Faithful Virtue Records. A year later, we released our second LP, “Long Hot Summer” on Evolution Records. In 1971, my brother - our drummer - gave notice. He was replaced by David Robinson. In July 1972, we moved to Los Angeles to try to get a record deal. We had some major financial backing that allowed us to move the entire band and family members and to secure housing and a studio to work in. When money ran out, we had to start playing bars. George Terry and David Robinson quit and both moved back to Florida a year later. Game finally dissolved in 1976, and I began writing and shopping demos for a deal of my own. I signed with Capitol Records in March of 1977 and began producing my first solo album at Brother Studio in Santa Monica. The album was released in January of 1972, but was a commercial failure.

I was dropped from the label in June of 1978 and returned to a newly formed Game band to play clubs. In 1979, I moved back to Florida to return to my former job as recording engineer at Criteria studios. In 1983 I joined the group Firefall and went on tour, leaving my engineering career for a second time. I started as an engineer at Criteria in 1966 and left in 1972 when the band moved to California. Firefall was formed in 1976 in Boulder Colorado. But the original band fell apart in 1980, leaving only Jock Bartley with the name ownership. I was recruited along with several other South Florida musicians to reform the band. Firefall has maintained popularity over the last 48 years because of the hit songs they recorded. I went into the automotive advertising business in 1989 and worked for the next 30 years for two different companies, producing thousands of radio spots and jingles. To this day, I still go out and perform several times a month. I am now 76 years old.

Dakota Brown