The Smoke Ring was a rock band from Norfolk, Nebraska active in the 1960s. It was formed from two previous regionally popular rock and roll groups, Little Joe & the Ramrods and The Strollers. They had strong regional success but charted only one national hit, 1969's "No, Not Much".
Little Joe & the Ramrods
"Little Joe" Hupp, founded this group in the early 1960s, and had some success playing throughout the Midwestern United States. They recorded a single in Oklahoma, "B.B. Limbo" b/w "Yogi Twist", released on Soma Records; a second recording session, in Minneapolis, yielded "Somebody Touched Me", "Hurtin' Inside", "Oop Poo Pa Doo", and "We Belong Together". The Ramrods split up over a disagreement, at which time discussions with members of The Strollers picked up.
The Strollers
The Strollers had originally formed in 1959 and played mostly local events into the early 1960s. Among its members were Little Joe's brother, Bob Hupp. In 1965 the group lost its drummer and decided to merge with Little Joe & the Ramrods into one group, which they would rename The Smoke Ring in 1966.
Their first national release was the single "That Girl Was My Girl" on Mala Records in 1966. Starting in 1967, they expanded their lineup to include more brass instruments, and regularly toured the Midwest, opening for Dickie Lee, Rufus Thomas, The Shangri-Las, Bobby Vee, and The Everly Brothers. Soon after meeting Thomas and Lee, they booked time at Sun Studios and recorded the single "No, Not Much", a cover of a 1950s hit by The Four Lads. The local disc was picked up for national distribution by Buddah Records, and the tune saw nationwide success, becoming a hit in several major metropolitan areas in the U.S. and climbing to #85 on the BillboardHot 100 early in 1969. A second single on Buddah, "Portrait of My Love", missed the charts, and a full-length that had been recorded was shelved; it has yet to see release. The group appeared on American Bandstand in 1969 following the single's success. Later in 1969, Certron Records released their single "High on a Rainbow" b/w "First Reaction", which also did not chart but was a regional success. During this time, the group's wardrobe consisted of tuxedos fitted with bell bottom trousers. They disbanded in 1972; that same year, Little Joe Hupp released a locally produced full-length, Heavy Metal Whale, under the name Smoke Ring, which did not feature any of the band's previous members. The members, Mike Smith, guitar and vocals, Mike McKern, drums and vocals, Ralph Goldhiem, keyboards and vocals, Joe Lalich, bass and vocals, Scotty Hastings, drums and vocals. This song was recorded at Shue records engineered by Garth Fundis in Nashville. The next band, were some of the members continued under the name MSFunk in 1973, basing themselves out of Chicago. The group was inducted into the Nebraska Music Hall of Fame in 1995, and has occasionally reunited for regional concerts since then. The Group still plays in concerts, several times at the Divots Concert series as opening acts to Chicago and others Played at Nebraska Rocks http://www.divotsconcertseries.com/2010/july_concerts.html - still based in Norfolk Nebraska with many of the same members. The Band, who Joe Hupp had released "Heavy Metal Whale", featured Garth Fundis as the recording engineer on the 45, who also played rhythm guitar and tambourine on the recording. This song "Heavy Metal Whale" was recorded in Nashville. All of the following union members: featured Ralph "Ralphie" Goldheim on vocals, organ, piano. Scotty Hastings on vocals, drums and flute. Mike Mckern on vocals, drums and steel drum. Joe Lalich "Jody Ray" on vocals and bass. Mike Smith on vocals and guitar.
MSFunk
Smoke Ring guitarist Keith Goins put together the last version of The Smoke Ring in September 1971. At that time, all he had left was drummer Danny Keller, so he nearly had to start from scratch. Lindy Gallaher was the first to arrive, along with Colin Keefe and Mike Ragatz from another regionally based horn band, "The Chancellors". Lindy suggested two other members from "Isaac": Robert Orr and Larry Stewart. The new players moved into Kings Ballroom and put an entire show together in three days. Six months later, the band moved to Memphis, soon hired Tommy Shaw, and not long after that changed their name to MSFunk. MSFunk members later became members of Toto, The Ides of March, Styx, Damn Yankees, Le Roux, and Shaw Blades.
