Bobby and Robbie Kissick reunited their efforts since Larry Kissick was off and content with another group. The practicing and Bobby's writing went into second gear. Unbenounced to them, the buzz was out on the street. In comes George Marian. Seems word got around quickly that Bobby was able to play pretty well anything and then some, by all accounts, so George phoned Bobby to play guitar for the failing Popcorn Blizzard Band. Bobby said no way and returned the offer to George. Once George learned of the underground FM material, he said he'ld love to join Bobby's band. They just needed a bassist so George offered his old bassist John Ellis who wasn't trained but proved to have a good ear and became a formidable player under Bobby's tutelage. The entries here at first are somewhat confusing since the first three weeks of rehearsal show Brian Beatty as drummer who was let go after he demanded to go to the beach instead of following his commitment to Bobby's practice schedule of 8 hours a day, minimum 4 days a week which usually ended up six they say. However the next entry shows that Robbie needed to be convinced that the ex-Popcorn Blizzard alumni of bubble gum music were up to the task of elevating their prowess. As it turns out, they were to become one of Winnipeg's all time greatest rock bands. Just one snag, the name. In the spirit of Jethro Tull it was voted at Nancy and Ted Wiebe's place that Bobby and Robbie's old school mate PETER DOBO (r)(c) would have the honour of having a band bare his name. George's girl Gail Groom began to knit the boys some mitts to keep them all warm through the approaching winter. Recordings of rehearsals and original material along with posters, press, documents, journals, contracts and video/audio abound from this point on.

Thanks once again to Rita Zelanko (nee; Crawley) for supplying the pic and insert shown directly below. You will also find Rita was responsible for the magnificent artwork on the cover of Bobby's first solo history making/trendsetting Extended Play 7" disc we will cover later. (also see; HISTORY button link subsection SESSIONMAN COMPOSER PRODUCER and subsection PRESS RADIO TELEVISION for many more related items of interest pertaining to this landmark recording)

As the band Peter Dobo rehearsed rigorously, far off in Toronto one Ervin Bartha Junior ('Cash' as he was called then by everyone) was attending a college gig that the Guess Who were perfoming at. After the show Cash went back stage to talk to the guys and reminisce about Winnipeg. When Cash asked if the guys thought there was anyone new from Winnipeg worth hearing, Burton and Jumbo (Burt's ex-bodyguard) both chimed "Bobby Bilan". Both Burton and Bobby went to the same high school and although Burt was the senior of a few years, he often attended the raveup parties that Fat Rat Blues Band played and took a quiet liking to Bobby's formidable advanced guitar chops.

So Ervin 'Cash' Bartha Jr. ventured back to Winnipeg and sought out Bobby. Coincidently enough Peter Dobo was rehearsing in George Marian's basement at the time which was only a couple of streets away from Cash's family burial vault factory warehouse. George's neighbours were at wit's end with the 8 hour a day schedule so after being shut down by the cops yet again, Cash directed the band to a warehouse called Western Wilbert, Cash's family owned burial vault factory about three streets from George's place. A very short-lived haven in disguise, it proved to spook out many people and musicians alike. The boys were about to unwittingly become the first precursors of the Goth movement on this side of the pond or maybe anywhere for that matter. With the continued rigorous rehearsal schedule the band soon became a genuine musical force and not just "those weird guys that practice in the burial vault place!". Bobby's 8 hour a day 4-5 days a week schedule became an uninterrupted reality for a short time until Cash's father found the boys reheasing 'til the wee hours at tax time, and of course, promptly threw them out. Seems Cash neglected to inform dear ole dad of the sitch. So back to George's they went. Further entries of the time show that often many of the city's more noted players were found to be parked along Fife Street, listening in on the band's now legendary progress.

After a hand full of school dances and a couple of Lord Selkirk High School out of town dates pictured above, the band began to move forward rapidly. Early recordings from these live first shows are loaded with impressive then unheard of guitar techniques including false harmonic pick squeals, backward bottleneck slide playing and overhanded finger tapping in early 1970, guitar techniques that were nearly a decade ahead of their time. During rehearsals while learning new material, George would often comment puzzlingly "How do you know that, You're not supposed to know that, How do you know that?" as Bobby would leisurely play along with what ever new was put on the record player or radio. As for the groundbreaking guitar sounds and techniques, George loathed them calling them 'Glinkies', in turn Bobby would prophetically forecast (with great accuracy) that some day guitar players everywhere would make much money and become famous from these new techniques. George went on to autonomously do the bands first print interview which came off sounding even more bubblegummy than his previous band (named Popcorn Blizzard), so Bobby wisely instituted a press blackout, mystifying local media causing a great shroud of intrigue which worked perfectly in his new band's favour.

Below - we see how even rigid school policies and opinions were changed when the band performed. The vice principal at the school defiantly taking to the dance floor with a young student was akin to the Pope giving the nod to pre-matital sex. The Peter Dobo band was quickly becoming known for it's professionalism and intense commitment to the craft, something no other band was displaying at the time in any abundant or consistent manner. The biggest payoff would be in sheer popularity.

Below we find a very rare review from one of the band's earliest performances.

The Peter Dobo band was ready for it's first band battle held at the north end of the West Kildonan mini shopping mall near Jefferson and Main Street in Winnipeg. The judges included highly regarded local media personality Boyd Kozak and several press and industry people. The method of voting - applause. The competition - 15 bands, one being from Toronto. Unbenounced to the Peter Dobo band, the newly found Lord Selkirk High contingent brought half of Selkirk Manitoba with them and the entire proliteriate of Winnipeg's real northend naturally showed up, so with 8 hour a day rehearsals, Peter Dobo put on an stellar show with two encores, and won the battle. But wait! The journal notes that the cash prize was never paid. The main organizing sponsor was Bachman Opticians, Randy Bachman's dad. As Peter Dobo triumphantly walked off stage after the annoucement of their win, [someone] lunged at Bobby over the barricade of tables attempting to strangle our not yet 17 year young lad. Not exactly how you would expect an alleged professional musical peer to be taking care of business in a gentlemanly manner, followed by a huge gasp from the crowd and many boos and pick on your own size calls. Robert E. Lee Mulvaney was further noted, "After me and [Trevor] Shineton cleared Bobby safely down the barrier, we all ended up at the end of the tables next to George's old buddy Robin Bachman, who said 'You guys shouldna done that!' George goes 'Wadda ya mean?' and Robin goes 'Win!!!' They all turned and looked at Bilan who turned to Mr.[Not exactly how you would expect an alleged professional musical peer to be taking care of business in a gentlemanly manner], then Bobby kissed his own right hand and threw it up at the sky. It's like Bobby knew exactly what the future was gonna be like for all of us! Bobby smiled, nodded his head to the crowd and walked to the truck real peacefully, the crowd went wild. That day, Bobby became the peer! After we got to the warehouse he took his last sawbuck and gave me and Trev a fin each and said 'Thanks for helping'! and Cash bought the beer and chinese food french fries [laughs]." Apparently a band road crew ritual. This journal notes the class of players listening in on Fife Street rehearsals seemed to elevate thereafter so Bobby and Ervin [Cash] decided on staggering the rehearsal times to protect the musical ideas from further pilfering, in the end, to no avail. But they moved ahead consciously and with fidelity to their purpose.

Interestingly enough, after The Guess Who moved on from their locally produced national broadcast TV show, the producers at the CBC had invited the very popular Peter Dobo band to the studios as a replacement band. The audition and a couple of subsequent tapings went fine according to the entries, the band tickled, the producers and crew ecstatic, but the band was told the higher ups suddenly decided the rock thing had run it's course and the idea was abandoned. Seems the lads wasted no time in grabbing all the work they could find, and along with it, a lot of fans and admirers. Their presence at such engagements as the first two downtown original "Get Together" shows made quite a positive and memorable impact on the fans and quite the opposite with the old flatulating organizers who complained that the band could be heard from one end of the street festival to the other, about 10 blocks. The myth built quickly from then on. They went on to play at University of Manitoba's Tache Hall with groups like T-Rex, the not yet signed ZZ Top and the pre-makeup Kiss who both went largely un-noticed until their future major signings. no doubt leaving Winnipeg all of them now armed for the better with new ways to approach the electric guitar.

Melvin James Harlton is noted, "One after noon at the Plaza [aka; The Zoo or The Osborne Village Inn] Kurt Winter came and sat beside me and said about Bobby, 'He's pretty f**king good eh!', I looked at Kurt and said 'He's f**king better than you'll ever will be!' We both sat there for a while and listened to Bobby play Going Down the Jeff Beck way, but he didn't stop, he played the whole side of the LP. When they finished the place went wild. Kurt nudged me with his elbow and said 'You're f**king right, he is better than I ever will be!' and walked away shaking his head. After that Kurt got a red double cutaway Les Paul (like Bobby's) for his main guitar except he sanded off the red, [added Grovers and a vibrola arm from one of his SGs and two humbuckings some hacker put in. Bobby figured a way to add a Claptone-Beckup (a PAF humbucking pickup nickname concocted by Shineton and Harlton) in the lead position without chopping his guitar and kept it the original TV yellow finish]. Kurt came around a lot after that, and always encouraged Bobby." Later in Bobby's recording career phase, Kurt would be present as a spectator at all the sessions he could attend. They became friends, and even later when Bobby agreed to replace Kurt on the Guess Who live tours, Kurt's favourite SG LP Standard and Kustom Bag were sold to Bobby, Kurt even threw in the wah pedal he used on many hits. In his latter years, Kurt found peace in sitting outside periodically picking his guitar with his sweetheart Vickie by his side at the old Chevrier homestead. Kurt had two favourite pasttimes, one was his computer and two was golfing. Also a golf nut, ex-Peter Dobo Band roadie and shortlived vocalist Trevor Shineton, became friends with Kurt who would voraciously quiz Trev on the greens about Bobby's goings on, always maintaining an avid interest in Bobby's career. Suffice to say, after all those golf outtings with Kurt, Trevor has some very interesting personal stories in his golf bag. Much later when Kurt was very ill, he insisted on Bobby replacing him for the first Minnedosa Rock Festival (see pics; HISTORY button link subsection BEST OF THE GUESS WHO for many more related items of interest pertaining to this item)

Somewhere around 1971, Bobby began his what we will refer to as 'formal' studio session work some of which is partially difficult to detail since a separate private journal for this early work and before, was believed lost in the fire which consumed Bobby's shop before Christmas of 1999. It is known through other entries and references that he was hired for some very special high profile projects with legal stipulations involved, he would occassionally disappear for stretches and return quite refreshed generally sporting some very nice vintage guitar and new duds. Donnie McDougall's wife Bonnie repeatedly commented "He always looked great on stage, he always had such great shoes!" So, much like Bernard 'Pretty' Purdie being hired by George Martin to play drums on early Beatles recordings, some of these early recordings sessions involved re-doing tracks for individuals who were sadly either alcoholic, strung out on coke or smack. Sometimes called in to play guitar or bass by the producer unbenounced to the members, sometimes by the member(s) unbenounced to the other players and producer, or convolutions thereof. We even have entries where the engineers were so perturbed, they put in the call. As unfortunate and sad as it is, at least one famous Winnipeg band that made it 'big' has past it's time with original and current members who still suffer from these self-medicating life stucking habits today. Bobby would be called upon many times during his career as a "ghost" player to help clean up several messes, shall we say, that were created by such highly unprofessional behavior. More on this later.

We're going to back up a tad. It should be pointed out that Bobby devised a most ingenious way to sustain the group between club dates etc... with the creation of a string of new venues - the schools. Seems the once bustling community club circuit that spawned a legion of Winnipeg bands had fizzled and died at the hands of the drugs and violence that generation indulged. No adults wanted to chaperon these musical night time "crime scenes in the making" so they all closed down to live music activities and exclusively went back to daylight hour sports and healthy activities which they were best equipped and initially intended. The obvious downside - neighbourhood crimes spiked high. To help appease that generation's lost souls, the school divisions had a pilot weekday summer program for inner-city kids where the powers that be, opened a select few school gyms daily to occupy the wayward in healthy activities, or so they hoped. That generation had already found quick money on the streets so the only ones actually using these facilities were the next generation - Bobby and his northend school mates. After two days at Isaac Newton Junior High School of sheer boredom from playing soccer and shooting hoops ad infinitum, Bobby realized the formal stages of these school gyms was the ideal place to host a rockshow/dance after a hard week of ping-pong and sports. So Bobby did the obligatory petition thing amongst the kids, consulted teachers at home, arranged meetings with the few available Winnipeg School Division #1 heads, dovetailed with the City Parks and Recreation Dept who paid senior honour students to police the schools, he used his Major Work student charm with his ingenious proposal and the Summer Drop-in Dance was born. Jobs were created for responsible students (many of which Bobby was taking accelerated Major Work classes with - yes he was an ultra-uber nerd geek and a good one), guitar playing bands sprung up like weeds, music stores had a fresh shot of sales and rentals, tax payers saw their dollars put to good civic use, school facilities were being utilized, the kids were occupied in non violent activities, plus city councillors got to wear hero hats.

That summer saw the Peter Dobo Band knock down the doors and set the future tone (and volume to 10), as they performed nearly every Friday evening at those pilot program schools to the thrill of the northend neighbourhood kids who could not afford a summer cabin at the lakes. This left Saturday night bookings open for more lucrative out-of-town shows where most of the kids were at anyway. Oddly enough, it instantly became a ritual, an exodus for some better off kids to drive in from the various prairie lakes (somewhere around 100.000 lakes in this region of the prairies), to attend these Friday eve dances and then drive back out to continue the joy of summer holidays. Before you knew it, rich and not so rich began to mingle and these evening dances became an almost obligatory social summer activity. Suddenly poor inner-city kids could strive for and tangibly achieve dreams of success as a musician, and so the real northend of the city was reinvented as a breeding ground for a plague of guitar players and such. The multi-level successful news of these dances spread through other school divisions and each subsequent summer the program grew until the better part of the city had now unwittingly helped feed this new string of Friday evening music venues that nurtured/showcased another wave of musicians and bands now from all over the city, plus earned them some pocket money while gaining much needed live stage experience and public exposure. All this without the imposing threats of agents who dictated to bands what mundane commercial AM radio material they had to play to get work. Music was once again free to be imaginative and original, so thereafter as this wave of bands went off to play professionally, unlike their predecessors, they did so with a much higher level of virtuosity and untarnished creativity. The club scene would thereafter change from cheap draught beer night to social and musical events, the die was cast and the early '70s became a lush furtile ground thick with live music. Furthermore, as the bands matured and went forth, they were equipped with the ammunition to demonstrate and remind their respective agents that the music is what attracts the crowds, not the ego of the agents. These summer dances ran in tandem with the Peter Dobo Band's tenure and obviously once they had gone their course, no one picked up Bobby's proverbial ball to further lobby for the program, so that was that. But it was extremely impactful on the landscape of Prairie music and Bobby (quite modestly but thoughtfully) would in future be responsible for many other such profound ideas/actions.

These entrepreneurial and creative imaginings presented themselves early in Bobby's youth and spread throughout school where he regularly initiated & spearheaded class projects such as painting 20 foot long hallway murals depicting Louis Riel's life, architecture of the Greek & Roman Empire, what the civilization of Atlantis might have been like etc... you know, the kind of ideas every grade 3 kid acts on. Later when high school began, Bobby and some likeminded students convinced the principle of St. John's High to suspend all classes for three full days while they held an arts and music festival in the courtyard, that spread to the lunchroom, gym and hallways. A new feather in the principal's cap, it became an annual event which continued for several years after they all graduated. Bobby triumphantly returned with the Peter Dobo Band to perform at one of the last festivals. Half the proceeds to go to the band and the other for a fund to enable the music teacher to buy (guitar bass P.A. and drum) equipment other than the recorders and one piano they all had to learn on. Very forward thinking for a band leader of any age at the time, his dream would eventually be realized.

From humble beginnings of their first booking at Andrew Mynarski School [where the entire audience ended up on stage with the band], the Peter Dobo band went on to win three consecutive Battle of the Bands. It has often been said that Ervin 'Cash' Bartha Jr. is credited for giving the band what Georgio Gomelski gave to the Yardbirds and the entire British Boom, and he's inclined to agree, just ask him! Bobby's old school mate Guy Whincup, (older brother of one time Peter Dobo Band PR whiz & innovative comedy writer - Lorry Whincup who we'll get to in THEE OUTPATIENTS section), recounts an absolutely hilarious summer afternoon when Ervin 'Cash" Bartha Jr. while attempting to park, backed the band's first equipment truck (really only one of those spooky flatbed burial vault trucks) right through a massive plate glass window of an office tower on Winnipeg's very busy business strip called Broadway. The road crew became imfamous for getting the band (Bobby mostly), into serious trouble with club owners, agents, police, you name it. Bobby remains not very keen to recall "how many times I had to talk myself out of someone else's serious cock up". If they weren't driving trucks through office building windows, the crew members were fighting amongst themselves which would often spill over to the crowds, some would seemingly disappear by passing out underneath vehicles then come close to being fatally run over, or they would drink bars completely dry and then go nutty. Although Winnipeg is known as the Slurpee capitol of the world, much to the horror of the Southland Corporation, the road crew was solely responsible for turning the city's first 7-11 into a full fledged hangout where the equipment truck (by now a big old milk delivery truck), was often host too a wide variety of 'moments' shall we say, most of which might be best untold for now, the least of which was the illegal consumption of any number of alcoholic beverages mixed into a Slurpee, then skillfully camouflaged from the unknowing eyes of cruising police cars. And they thought everyone was happy just from being at the 7-11. The cops eventually got wise, so the show moved to the first McDonald's out on north Main Street in Winnipeg and boy was Ronald not impressed. Once an entire town went dry (yes - the whole town including every liquor store and every licenced restaurant in and around that town) of all it's beer wine and champagne at the hands of the road crew, hangers-on and fans which then naturally led to another most imfamous nut-out, where in comes the local police & R.C.M.P. (for our international fans - that's the Royal Canadian Mounted Police) who eventually threw their hands in the air as they ran out of tickets, handcuffs & jail cells that weekend, so when the band left town after their now trademark riot causing stage performances, they of course had a very long eager escort far down the highway back to Winnipeg. Many bars were torn to bits, not always by the road crew's doing. After a literally rousing show which stirred the crowd beyond the brink, one hotel in particular had it's entire club with it's bar and hotel hallways totally destroyed, not just the furnishings & glassware, but the pictures, the windows, wainscoting, along with carpets and doorframes of the foyer as well, save the front desk, lucky clerk!. No one then really knew of the Led Zeppelin or The Who style of insanity in any detail since that was not yet chronicled, but these guys along with their clan sure could have taught the so called big boys a lot of new feats of madness and they had barely left their home province. Many other equally or more greatly bizarre twisted past occurrences which can only be told in his unique slapstick manner, have been recounted by Guy Whincup who recently moved back to Winnipeg after spending several decades in the seemingly normal world of Las Vegas creating advertising for most every major casino there. Aside from all the bumbling clumsy often frightening or comedic events back then, a sense of direction necessary to achieve the highest level of musical proficiency was Bobby's primary goal from the onset. So while the crew, hangers-on and fans would go insane even on down time, Bobby developed his reclusive ways by staying away as much as possible, concentrating entirely on the prime directive. For Bobby as a soloist/bandleader & Peter Dobo as a band, the side benefit was that they attracted unprecedented standing room only audiences with lineups every night of the week once they hit the club circuit and the road, not something any other Winnipeg band of the time could claim with authourity. It may also be noted that another one of Bobby's old school mates Billy 'Toad' Garbasz (who has many stories of his own indeed), who still comfortably resides in Sin City in the entertainment/advertising/PR field, had once played drums for one of Bobby's very early pre-Peter Dobo Band projects when Bobby first conceived the idea of a two piece band with drums & guitar. (covered in EARLY EXPERIMENTS AND RECORDINGS just prior to this HISTORY link sub-section.)

A promising young northend artist Garry Lubkey, casually created the above pencil crayon poster at an after the job party for the Peter Dobo Band. This impromptu poster was soon to become a fixture on the walls and ceilings of many city venues, high schools and rural dance halls, colleges and universities. This became a trend as many bands were encouraged to followed suit, before you knew it, the first of this city's very spectacular poster collages appeared in assorted venues following the Peter Dobo Band as some kind of musical right of passage. The postering went on in earnest, Bobby had troops of fans cover any and everything in sight. If you could tape it staple it stick it or wrap it, you saw a poster there. Soon Bobby designed 1/4 page handouts on card stock that could also be jammed in window frames doors car wiper blades and so much more. Very shrewd indeed since you could cover new advertising territory plus you got more than 4 times the coverage at the same printing price per page. All this was not without consequence. They would become the first band to be cited for inappropriate public display of nudity and littering, causing huge discussions regarding the redefining of civic regulations. In the end the establisnment threw their collective hands in the air in defeat. Bobby's advertising creativity and efforts paid off then and in the long run for all to follow, this is no longer considered much of an issue in today's postering world. At the time, even the powers that be had to recognize this young northender's ingenuity so after an initial wrap on the knuckles, Bobby made sure that only non-members do the postering, manufacturing or distribution thereof, that way the band could not be hassled charged nor fined when the posters went up, a logical practice used by many today, evolving into professional poster persons. Fans loved 'em, the parents hated 'em, the city was furious over the drug reference and the [gasp] classic nude art that they continued to described as litter, so in further response to the anal establishment, another casually created far more humourous poster was gingerly released.

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The giant smiling lecherous old toad ready to pounce on this reclining young art nude Simian-headed Woman (nicknamed by fans as the Monkey Woman poster), in true Monty Python style did nothing to elevate the humour or level of artistic appreciation from the elders and 'old frogs' of the day as she mockingly winked her way to infamy. The boys always did like a good laugh, "nudge nudge wink wink say no more!" The next more generally favoured poster was an elaborate mix of a cosmic scene blended with a fantasy world featuring psychedelic images of trees with ears, flowers laced with subliminal faces and such, a very labour intensive less frivolous artistic endeavour. The problem became that moreso than previous issues, these new expensive posters were getting torn down or nicked as quickly as they went up. This master piece below was to be Garry Lubkey's last contribution to the band. From left to right the caricatures are Bobby, George, Robbie and John. Garry was then commissioned to paint Ervin "Cash" Bartha Junior's entire house at Stonewall, inside and out, including windows, carpets and all. When Cash sold this art/house, the new owners disassembled it into sections and put them into private collections before the skeleton of the house was demolished, a most joyous day for the neighbours of that town. It seemed rural Manitoba was not ready to have a house who's complete exterior was a replication of the prismatic strip overlayed on a black background as was the case on the Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon album cover along with roof adornments of ancient UFO landing patterns found in the Andes mountains and elsewhere. Garry Lubkey's house at 519 Manitoba had a similar fate before being demolished to make way for the then new William Whyte School. The boys, and gals, used a ten inch concrete basement dividing wall to express their artistic creativity which took several years to complete by Bobby, Garry, and a host of artist friends who worked only when most inspired. Apparently the demolition contractor was so taken with the results, he pulled the art wall out, then flattened the house for ever.

As the music demands increased, George's voice fell victim to his joy of the party animal in him, sadly he left for a position in a band that was less demanding than his initial commitment, achieving a short lived measure of success. George was and still is well liked by all. Thereafter an entry states that Bobby disallowed any consumptions prior to and during rehearsals and performances, prefering to put his own money into a Marshall stack or band business and not a case of beer for the crew. In stepped roadie Trevor Shineton for a courageous attempt at filling the vocal slot. George was a good performer particularly well liked by the girls, Trevor's work was cut out. Soon into his tenure however, Trevor took his misdirected angst and turned on Ervin 'Cash' Bartha Jr. one night causing well meaning Cash to leave the band without an equipment truck or driver, so back to Hertz Rentals Bobby went yet again. Booked commitments were fulfilled but the rhythm section soon mutinied on Bobby who was forced to replace Trevor after a mere few months. In stepped vocalist Greg Harrison for only a few weeks and entries show his voice was great but his range rather limiting. There's a short point in time here when the suddenly disenchanted and preoccupied Robbie Kissick took George's example to a regretable heartbreaking extreme and for the second time collapsed in the middle of a show, but this time never to return to the stage, barely to return to life at all. In speaking to anyone today, they all bow their heads and become solumn in the memory of the once great northend drummer Robbie Kissick thankfully captured on a handful of tapes. Greg suggested Gordie Tye, a much harder hitting drummer who remained clear headed and faithfully committed to the band. To avoid another predictable mutiny, out went the still much appreciated efforts of Greg (who very graciously stepped down), and in stepped Bradley Beauchemin. With Brad's limitless range and Gordie's powerful but melodic drumming, the material took another sharp turn for the better and there seemed to be no limit to what Bobby could do with this new lineup.

At the inception of the band, Bobby called all the agents who basically hung up on him, an entry shows the largest agent of the prairie region Frank Wiener owner of Hungry Eye agency laughed at the set list calling it too heavy for Winnipeg and said before hanging up, "Call me back when you're a star!" Bobby continued booking the band direct to the clubs and dances which led to an invitation to warm up for Nazareth on their first Canadian tour in the wake of the single 'This Flight Tonight'. Often a Peter Dobo set would now involve the performance of both A & B sides of entire FM albums to explosive audience standing ovations and nightly lineups. Entries show that at least three clubs made enough in one week to relax for two or three weeks, and often they would simply rebook Peter Dobo. In one instance the Village Inn booked the band for seven out of eight weeks and took an entire month off to repair damaged doors, plate glass, tables, chairs, washrooms and still had record profits for that quarter. The popularity of Peter Dobo required a second show be added to accommodate the ticket frenzy once it was learned they were performing on the Nazareth date at the historic (Pantages) Playhouse Theater, an old vaudeville concert house which hosted many stars such as Jack Benny, the Marx Brothers, Jimmy Durante, Jerry Lewis & Dean Martin etc... With Cash's reluctant help, he and Bobby went out to rented the first quad sound system to hit town. The bizarre sequence of events to follow need be saved for a John Cleese style novel. Peter Dobo did perform two shows, cut short with no encores allowed, but the crowds were there to see their home town favourites hands down. The very next day, Frank Wiener of Hungry Eye agency called Bobby to sign the band to a 6 month club contract to start immediately. Local entertainment columnist and music critic Andy Mellen had rented a video cam and managed to tape about 90 seconds of the band's infamous first show. Entries show that Manny the Nazareth vocalist had their roadies pull the plug on Peter Dobo's second show and had further threaten to throw the equipment off the stage if the band continued. The quad PA was mysteriously rendered useless during Peter Dobo's shows but magically operated flawlessly for Nazareth all night even though it wasn't theirs. Not very gentlemanly behaviour for Nazareth or crew! As you can guess, the rest of this story quickly becomes more than simply bizarre. An attache case belonging to Nazareth's manager found it's way into Peter Dobo bassist John Ellis' truck thanks to his roadie - filled with money passports visas contracts plane tickets - all for the remainder of the Canadian tour. The case was returned to the clutching manager's hands the next morning at the Charterhouse Hotel restaurant through a waitress who was a Peter Dobo Band friend, who kept them deservedly waiting just long enough to make them sweat in regret. Of course the behemoth video camera equipment slipped off Andy's shoulder and found the floor a good place to explode. The video tape survived which also shows our boys with a guest sax player by the name of Wally Zinyk enjoying a rousing hard rock run-through of a Jesus Christ Super Star medley with snipettes of Bobby performing some startling Jeff Beck style lead breaks. Bobby would often enlist newcomers to the band's exceedingly popular Saturday afternoon matinees, helping kickstart some great careers. One favourite being saxophonist Dave Parasz, who with Bobby's soaring guitar would create some of the most memorable spontaneous avante garde trade-offs ever heard of in these parts. Bizarre episodes of lunacy and madness became common at any and all Peter Dobo Band performances. In a rare interview Bobby (a man of few words) claimed "The most entertaining place to be at our shows is on stage looking out!"

Below - The local press thereafter affectionately named the Peter Dobo band "Winnipeg's own heavy metal kids"!

Far before the Hungry Eye exclusive contract appeared Bobby not only booked the band direct, but to fill in blank calendar dates, he was also likely the first in these parts to cross-book the band using no less than five agencies from Peter Stone to Mel Shane, Len Andre and the imfamous Freddie Glazerman. Freddie took an instant shine to Bobby's talent very early on as did most everyone and considered managing Bobby but did not necessarily agree with the choice of band members, so Freddie shut down his music booking agency and took up managing boxer Donnie "Golden Boy" LaLonde instead. However Freddie would always retain a close interest in Bobby's career until 'Fast Freddie's' sad passing. Another very odd set of old contracts turned up from Hungry Eye but were signed by Gerry Kolt, Frank Wiener's right hand man. Apparently early 1971 Bobby's neighbour and older friend noted bassist Rick Shukster, set up a casual meeting so Bobby walked right into Gerry's office one day, sat down and began talking business with Gerry, gave him an original tape, cordially walked out. Gerry apparently very impressed with the young lad's business acumen, presentation and his growing reputation, went wild over the recording and began to sneak out contracts to Bobby. Gerry further made copies of Bobby's original songs and sent them all over the planet, eventually loosing the original to some unscrupulous office thief. In restitution, Gerry booked studio time for Bobby (who by now a somewhat mythical performer/recluse), at a then fairly new Roade Recording Studio which unwittingly marked the beginning of Bobby's prolific and now rather legendary session career. We'll cover this more in the 'EARLY EXPERIMENTS AND RECORDINGS' section. In the end, Gerry who never left his office except to get in his Vette and leave, attended many of Bobby's early shows to the amazement of Gerry's stable of acts. He too seriously entertained dropping the booking agent drill and singularly handling Bobby but not only did he want Bobby to fire the band, he also insisted Bobby change his name to 'Bo', pronounced 'beau'. Well by the time it came around to the so-called exclusive contract ending and the name change thing beginning, Gerry died, and sadly with him another pro manager.

Back to the early '70s. Soon Lenny Breau sought out Bobby. As was the case with many players by that time, Lenny was spotted in the corners of many clubs watching Bobby closely. Finally he had his 'Man' go to the stage at the Marion Hotel who invited Bobby to sit with Lenny. The entry says all eyes were on the two during the break and why not, plus it was Bobby's birthday so he could finally be there legally. The entries are very interesting here. Quote Lenny - "Hey man, that's some serious playing! You wanna hang out?" The answer was obviously "Yes!" Bobby lived in an apartment near the corner of Ruby and Wolseley, Lenny was in spitting distance one street away and a few houses off Wolseley north on Lenore, west side of the street. They would often get together, Lenny showing jazz moves and new scales to Bobby, and Bobby showing Lenny how to use feedback/sustain, distortion, note bending, bottleneck and fingertapping. Lenny's 'Man' an afro-american named James Burney {sir name spelling unclear} was not only around as a 'charge de faire' but Bobby has him entered as a "stunning" and "frighteningly imaginative" guitarist who Lenny clearly had around for daily jazz inspiration to say the least. The entries are quite specific and more indepth but that can be saved for the novel.

It is around then that Bobby also met Jeff Beck for the first time at the sound check, later to give Jeff some original tapes in the hotel lobby, followed by an invitation to have a drink and chat at the downtown Holiday Inn hotel lounge after the concert. Good ole Ted Wiebe and friends worked for Winnipeg Enterprises, the entity responsible for the Winnipeg Arena and the Winnipeg Stadium so if a back door needed opening or a full access pass, it happened. That's how Bobby came to be at Jeff Beck's first soundcheck, and earlier managed to get Jimmy Page a tape at the now famous Man-Pop festival where good ole George Marian caused a riot by kicking in the glass front doors of the Arena when the rain washed away his stamp and the fire marshall sealed the over capacity building. We'll save all the details and other bizarre events for now. The second time, indeed there was a far more bizarre second Jeff Beck meeting, this time Bobby and friend with their women in tow, sat in Jeff's hotel room after that concert to tip a few healthy Canadian beer while enjoying Jeff's Monty Python tapes, smoke a few of Jeff's thin cigars and listen to Bobby's new live tapes while sharing a few laughs with the unclothed 'professional lady' under the covers of the other twin bed who immediately recognized Brad Beauchemin's powerful and distinct voice. The very personable Mahavishnu Orchestra violinist Steve Kindler shared in the visit. A good time was had by all no doubt. The details of what happened at these two meetings could be an entire other novel itself. Bobby's future would be filled with many such bizzare unique encounters as his illustrious career developed.

When Ervin 'Cash' Bartha Jr. (Peter Dobo Band's first equipment manager) married for the first time, he had requested that Peter Dobo play at his wedding 'social' (a Winnipeg/Prairie custom of having a night time blowout party after the wedding ceremony where everybody gives money to the lucky couple - and yes, we're told there were tons of fake wedding money making schemes) to be held at St. Nicholas Church Hall with a capacity of approx 275 people. During the early evening approx 10PM a still unidentified irrate individual winged an empty beer across the hall screaming that the hall had already ran out of booze. Not something you want to hear any time before midnight at a deliberately over-sold & over-crowded northend Winnipeg social. The bottle smashed near ex-vocalist George Marian (already replaced by Brad Beauchemin on vocals but still a friend & wedding guest of course) who then proceeded to grab the nearest fire extinguisher and hose the guy down from several tables over. As they say, all hell broke loose and the hall erupted into yet another imfamous free for all - this time a full scale riot of around 400. Those who fled, had to do so through the stage wings, the rest tore the hall and each other apart. Chairs flew, tables next and then bodies. To add to the surreal moment, someone pulled the breaker on the lights. The over-selling strategy was indeed an ill conceived idea on that night. Entries show four riot wagons and ten police cruisers waited an hour for the mob to stop before they even bothered to enter the building, only to find bodies scattered amongst the rubble. Of course money went missing as well as some attendees, one who was found three days later still alive stuck after being thrown inbetween two garages a block away. He survived, completely recovered and lived to tell the story or at least what he could recall. Thankfully there were no serious injuries or known fatalities. The hall was never rented out again and soon after demolished altogether. Gordie Tye had been convalescing from hip surgery, one of Bobby's old St.John's High buddies Steve Zaparnick filled in on drums that night but refused to ever play with the band again stating "If this is what it's like every night - forget it!" Fortuitously Gordie's hip mended quickly and returned to reclaim his spot. Bassist John Ellis disruptively quit in the midst of recording and was replaced by Bob Hughes. The band carried on for another six months before Bobby shut it down after a memorable five year stretch. Several bands were thereafter created from the remnants by former members, every attempt failing without Bobby's presence. However, a few went on to have some measure of career success locally as individually regarded players. George Marian, we should note from another entry, again with some good reason it may be argued, was also responsible for the much larger near riot in Winnipeg at the day long Man-Pop Festival featuring Led Zeppelin and a star studded cast. The outdoor fest at the sports Stadium was rained out early, the crowd was moved to the neighbouring Arena. Problem was, back then the hand stamps were not waterproof. All the onlookers easily got in to the Arena beating out many legit ticket buyers still gridlocked in the drenched Stadium, one being our dear old George Marian. When the fire chief closed the already over capacity Arena doors, the outraged George who still had his ticket stub but was refused entry, kicked in one of the many Arena glass doors, causing a very dangerous glass kicking frenzy. The ensuing flood of fans carried George right by the authorities who then wisely stepped back until the entering numbers became somewhat manageable. This was all unbenounced to the crowd already inside the building. The concert was postponed, the fire chief rightfully fearing collapse of the outdated structure, proclaimed the building dangerously overcrowded, the swelling audience (a very large persuasive swelling audience) strongly disagreed by apparently shaking the building. The chief gave up, and the show was back on, with a very pissed off George who managed to settle down once the music started. So yes, even some band members had their moments of madness.

A private entry shows that Bobby, a very hard working lad by all accounts [he first began working in music stores at age 12, his first salaried position at 15], was forced to take his doctor's recommendation to quit being manager agent publicist arranger writer teacher session player band leader guitarist of the Peter Dobo Band - or else. Along with studying the art of luthery with local genius Joe Morrissey, Bobby was a voracious writer, at every opportunity writing and sending tapes to any and all agents, managers, record companies, recording artists, producers throughout the world. When explained that he was giving his compositions away to people who benefited but gave him nothing in return, Bobby simply replied "I'll write more!" Friends such as Freddie Glazerman, wisely steered Bobby to copyrighting, registering and retaining publishing for all future compositions before scattering them around the planet, but the toll was due. Apparently Bobby had simply fallen over one day and blacked out for six hours before regaining consciousness to a diagnosis of extreme exhaustion, malnutrition, mononucleosis and mild pneumonia. Childhood anemia was not a benefit. With no management, he had given over all his energy, resources and every spare minute to the success of the band, the spirit clearly willing but the body in a complete state of collapse. Although being slight but athletic, similar attacks of severe exhaustion would now begin to dictate his future if gone unchecked. Health and regained strength were now the priority. Bobby had already begun his studio session career near the beginning of the Peter Dobo Band's reign and became equally productive as a highly sought after session player, composer, arranger and producer without the compounded strain of his former band commitments. No wonder it was very early on that this young multi talented ingenius musician/composer was noticed by The Guess Who producer Jack Richardson and a host of others. Yet still, Bobby was quick to return to the stage with another vigorous foray of music as he charged through the second half of the decade.

Jumping far ahead - In the mid '90s the Museum of Man and Nature asked Bobby to resurrect the Peter Dobo Band to aid in an all star benefit to raise funds for a proposed new wing to the museum which stands erect today. Privately made video and audio recordings show Peter Dobo Band and the Bobby Bilan Band both stealing the show at this very successful function. Bobby further donated a plethora of memorabilia to their Rock and Roll display which also raised funds for the cause. The early popularity of the Peter Dobo band would be revisited during several of the city's school reunions as shown in the 1998 poster below, it appears in two scans due to it's original size. The band's early reputation for winning every Battle of the Bands would clearly not go unforgotten, plus mention of Bobby's inclusion of the Theremin.

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As a final note to the above poster - the band was so popular that their photo was included in one of this school's yearbooks in the early '70s even though none of the band had attended that year. Bobby did however previously attend an electronics shops class there for one season even though he was well out of that district, details for this strange displacement remain a mystery, but there is one Monty Python style journal entry where Bobby tells of the exceedingly bland teacher as offering the students a project no more interesting than an electric weiner cooker which promptly inspired Bobby to leave that class forever.

(also see; HISTORY button link subsection PRESS RADIO TELEVISION for many more related items of interest pertaining to this page)

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