Donald Beary (FF 1085) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 57 text:

OPERATIONS DEPARTMENT h 1 !

Page 56 text:

BAHRAIN ISLAND R.V.C. TOWING COMPANY It all started innocently enough; an occasional guitar twang, a keyboard glissando, a voUey of drumrolls, a stray note or two warbled off key. It culminated with an open air concert in Port Vic- toria, Seychelles, played before 6,000 spectators and a live radio Seychelles audience. The R.V.C. Towing Company (name courtesy of OSl Miuray) was indeed a reality. During the Middle East deplojonent, the combined musical talents of LTJG ' s Smith and Cichanowicz, RMSN English, 0S2 Andresky, BT2 Sutcliff, FTG2 Pelz and YN2 Slodysko faithfully practiced and daily tuned their instruments into an expansive 60 song repretoire which served to entertain embassies, clubs, hotels, parties and ship- board functions spanning 3 continents, 2 islands, 3 seas and 2 gulfs. The groups style varied from Bread to the Beatles to Bad Company, and improvisation was the name of the giune. When lead crooner Elton English couldn ' t remember the correct words to a song, he ' s simply make some up as he went along. For example, one night Ticket To Ride sounded like this: think I ' m gonna be sad, but I guess its o-kaaay yeah. The girl that ' s drivin ' me mad just stole all my paaay yeah. Now she ' s got a ticket to ride, and also a piece of my hi-yi- yide; She robbed me of all my pride, but she don ' t care... When bassist Tom Andresky, a mid season replacement for short-timer Bob Sutcliffe, discovered he didn ' t know the chords to the next song, he merely turned down his volume, still energetically plunking away as if nothing were wrong. When keybocu-d player Knuckles Cichanowicz got so wrapped up in a song that he forgot where he was, the guitars quickly dropped out to allow for another unscheduled organ solo. When drummer Frank occasionally fumbled his drumsticks while in the heat of battle, he ' d always come up with a spare set..clamped firm- ly in his teeth. This never bothered his spirited rendition of Wipe Out , but it severely hampered his vocals on At The Hop . So the band played on and ultimately made it to the finals of the all navy talent contest held in November 76 (which was won incidental- ly by a marine snare drummer who performed Pass In Review, Morn- ing Colors, Yellow Rose of Texas, and Ruffles and Flourishes while simultaneously singing At The Hop at rigid attention. Attaboy!) All in all, the R.V.C. Towing Company was a most re- warding experience for all those involved and it certainly made for a S musical summer on board the Donald B.

Page 58 text:

LT. R.J. BECKER OPERATIONS OFFICER