Dennis Payne

Dennis Payne graduated from St. Louis College on Pandora Avenue in 1965. In the early 90's he organized dances at the old Crystal Gardens with RUKUS playing most of the gigs. In 2000, he thought it would be fun to form his own band and just after Christmas he organized a jam session with fellow 1965 St. Louis College graduates Ray May (Regents), Dave Kissinger (Rukus), Tom Cuff (New & Used), Fred Herfst (Black Cats), Jim Duncan (Phoenix) and Brian Duncan (Jaguars). It was decided to call the group 65 RPM, due to the fact we all graduated from the same class in 1965 and our singer was none other than 'Rockin Ray May'. All of us had played in other bands over the years, except Dennis. He had never played drums in his life. He learned quickly and we supported him. Over the years we played the Crystal, White Eagle, Ukranian Center and other venues. In 2005 we played our 40th High School reunion at the Ukranian Center and in 2010, our 45th. This was to be our last gig with Dennis and he passed away in the late summer of 2011. Tom and Fred no longer play with us but Dennis' son-in-law Paul Vining is our new drummer. Dennis was our good friend, our leader and our drummer and will always b... more...