You’ll find Shelbyville a few hours south of Springfield on Indiana state highway 35. We’re not talking about The Simpsons here! Drive a few miles west of Shelbyville and you’ll come to Whiteland, a farm community on the southern fringe of Indianapolis, near Interstate 65, one of America’s busiest roads. Whiteland is the home of a barn that rocked out in the late 1950’s, surrounded by hot rods and pickup trucks, and filled with wild and crazy midwestern teenagers, girls in poodle skirts and farm boys with crew cuts or greaser haircuts. One of the bands that turned the Whiteland Barn upside down was Keetie And The Kats, led by Keetie, also known as Keith Phillips who, as you will soon hear, is one heck of a drummer!

Along with Keith, the band’s original lineup included Larry Lee, Dave Ellman, and Bill Rooker. By the time they cut this record in 1959 the group had replaced Bill Rooker with two new members, Norm Shafley and Jimmy Clendening, who does the vocals on this track.

Here’s That’s The Way by Keetie And The Kats on K-W 503 from 1959:

The band continued to evolve, adding Gary LeMaster from a band called Sons Of Liberty and changing their name to Keetie And The Casuals in 1963. A couple of years later you’d find Keith Phillips heading up the Keith Phillips VI.

The hits just keep on coming! There are now over 125,000 oldies from 1911 to 1973 beaming from the MusicMaster Oldies “Tower of Power” to the whole planet.