Network – Tuning In To Mt Sterling’s Hottest Dance Band

Network was unapologetically a show band, dance band, and cover band and each weekend brought it in style to stages around the Central KY area. They are an important part of the rich musical legacy from Mt Sterling and Montgomery County and well worth a tribute – enjoy! [2023 Shawn Chambers / Lexingtunes]

I guess it started with me meeting up with Jerry and talking about getting something together. We had Steve on guitar…but we really didn’t have any place to practice. This was before we moved into Jerry’s basement. So we went and talked to this preacher and wanted to see if we could use the church basement to try some things out and see if this was gonna work…
– Bobby Thompson

Fortunately for the Gateway Area it more than worked! The band would be named Foxfire and it was stacked with talent. Jerry Hatton was an original member of the legendary 25th Hour and had been playing since his early teens – first on drums and later on keyboards. Steve Schultz had played lead guitar for a later incarnation of the 25th Hour with Hatton and now carried on with his friend. Teenager Scott Marye already had years of experience pounding the skins and a head full of band tales from his big brother Ted (who had also been a member of the original 25th Hour). Bassist Danny Charles was a well-known player in the area with a solid musical reputation. Handsome and sharply dressed, Bobby Thompson brought the cool factor and his duets with Conchita Stockton were something missing from other bands in the region who often lacked a female vocalist.

This earliest version of Foxfire would be shaken when Stockton announced she had to bow out. The hunt was on for a new vocalist, but a strong and versatile female lead was something of a rarity in the area. Their choice of Sandra Stone was complicated by the fact that she was still in the early years of high school. While Stone was willing it was the will of her mother that was the real obstacle. Stone’s father had spent years playing music over in nearby Sharpsburg so he certainly would have been keen on the discussion as well. Ultimately, the full band agreed to meet with Sandra’s mom and promised they would protect her like family – heck, for Bobby Thompson this was an easy vow as the two of them were actually cousins.

 

Booking and management in the early years was assisted by Tony Warren who many in the Mt Sterling area will remember as both a WMST dee-jay as well as the former manager of local legends Soul Syndicate, Inc. and he got the band off to a great start. The late 1974 or early 1975 appearance at Studio Stage Cinema in downtown Mt Sterling would be the largest crowd they had faced and it would act as the coming out party for young Stone as a new vocalist with the band. Understandably nervous, she quickly got lost in the moment alongside the departing vocalist Stockton. In their stage dresses sewn by Conchita the two young ladies glowed with an intensity worthy of the name Foxfire. After the duo finished the opening number of “I’ve Got the Music in Me,” the applause drowned out Stone’s pounding heart and she realized this was where she belonged.

This transitional phase for the band would play out by June 1975 as Network was born. A contemporary flyer from a summer party includes the new name while noting their Foxfire bona fides for fans not yet attuned to the switch. And while the new name was accompanied by personnel changes the live shows were as hot as ever!

The core of Network carried over from the Foxfire days with Scott, Jerry, Bobby, and the more recent addition Sandra keeping the same roles. They were joined by Kenny Kemplin on bass, Kenny Becraft on lead guitar and, at least for a time, Ray Purvis (another 25th Hour alum) who joined the band as a second keyboardist to deliver a twin attack. Later, Dave Law would occasionally sit in for shows on rhythm/lead guitar as needed. Like most local groups there is a bit of fluidity and it is likely a few other local players subbed in from time to time during both the Foxfire and Network era.

 

The band practiced in Jerry Hatton’s basement and stayed up to date on the latest Billboard chart hits. Network’s set list reads like a classic rock playlist, but included some real surprises like the Beatles “Back in the USSR” and “Giving It Up For Your Love” by Delbert McClinton. With everything from Mellencamp to Motown hits on tap, the band had no trouble keeping a fresh set list for each show. In particular, their romantic duets always played well – sometimes too well as Sandra recalls:

We’d do a song and later you would hear someone whispering to their friend…you know like ‘I bet those two got something going on’… we would just laugh and laugh. They had no idea Bobby and I were cousins!

The band was in constant travel to the far flung reaches of the hills and hollers of eastern Kentucky. For a time, Network almost completely sewed up the rural high school dance and prom circuit, but were also in demand at Eastern Kentucky University and other regional college campuses, festivals, conventions, and holiday parties.

 

Still based out of Mt Sterling, the nearby city of Richmond would often seem like a second home for Network. Sandra studied at EKU and fell under the spell of Exile – who still maintained a strong presence on the campus scene when not on the road. It was ex-Exile member Billy Luxon who also helped launch the band to new heights by signing them to his Progressive Productions booking agency. Here they joined a solid roster of talent that included the likes of local legends The Techniques and Winchester’s Brass Underground. Being a Progressive stable member had its perks.

One time Exile had a sold out show at the Brass A over in Lexington. They couldn’t make it for some reason and Progressive called us up and wanted to see if we will fill in. Man, I was nervous (laughs), but we did okay. – Bobby Thompson

Their fees grew and soon were routinely in the $800 – $1000 range (pretty heady for a local band in the early 80s). Network was constantly upgrading equipment and it helped that Purvis had a job at a local music store and sourced some great deals. Bigger and better. By the early 80s the band was said to be toting $30,000 worth of equipment on the road, which included lights and even lasers.

The group was late comers when it came to recording. An earlier demo tape session of a cover song in Nashville had been shopped around a bit, but hadn’t received much attention. Now they had original material and hoped to try again. Fortunately, the band went a step beyond just a demo tape and a deal was struck with Allen-Martin productions in Louisville. Their subsequent 1984 release on Rondo would make them the third Mt. Sterling band to cut a 45 for a Louisville label joining the original 25th Hour (Trump) and The Soul Syndicate, Inc. (Boss).

This twin-spin easily demonstrates the band’s ability to craft original songs that seem somehow instantly familiar on first play. Whether by choice or accident there is no A / B side designation on the label, but a scrawled ‘B’ in the dead wax of “Make It Last” would imply the A-side is “Don’t Ask Me”.

Credited to Kenny Becraft “Don’t Ask Me” features some great guitar as expected and a solo that would be just at home on a Southern Rock record as it is here. Sandra’s voice is smooth and controlled and the sing-along-chorus is enthusiastically delivered by her and Bobby.

 

Penned by Sandra the flip side “Make It Last” is a well-rounded band showcase with some nice bass lines from Kemplin and Marye is precision personified on his drums. Of course, Becraft gets the chance to slip some licks in there as well. The harmonies blend nicely and Sandra delivers the lyrics with a real romantic optimism of a young woman in love.

 

A year prior to the recording a feature on Network in the Mt. Sterling Advocate had discussed the group’s plans for a record and had the prescience to see the hard road ahead for airplay. Indeed, the glory days of local bands on local radio was coming to a halt. The group did manage some spins on the hometown station WMST, but serious widespread airplay did not materialize.

 

On the heels of recording Network was back on the road and entertaining, but their time together was drawing to a close.

Sandra Stone became both Sandra Krajewki and pregnant and left the group to start a family. The band realized the loss of their female lead coupled with more than a decade on the road was just too much and they only carried on for a short time later and were done by around 1985.

Married to a military man, Sandra spent time crisscrossing the country with stops in Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania and Tennessee where she tried to break into the country scene. A strong young black woman who could belt out country tunes as easily as soul was obviously still a bit of a novelty on Music Row and the views between singer and potential agencies regarding image were a constant battle.

“I went in for a photo shoot…wearing a nice western shirt. They wanted me in a hat. I said…okay… and then they wanted me to pose with a piece of straw in my mouth! (laughs) I knew this would never work, but I sure got to meet some great singers down there.” – Sandra Krajewski

She ultimately resettled back in Kentucky. Well remembered by the music fans in Montgomery County, Sandra was invited to sing with Dry Ice (originally a late ‘60s band also from Mt Sterling) for one of their earliest reunion shows in 2019. She has also performed as Sweet Emotion with her current partner Al. She has been a teacher and published author and makes her home in Lexington.

Bobby Thompson is a self-declared “Trojan for Life” and was a member of the 1969 State Championship football team during his freshmen year at Mt Sterling High School. Sticking to vocals during his touring years, Thompson continued to play rhythm guitar on his own time and after a long lull in music following the Network days he has recently been playing with the ICU Band around the central KY area. He resides in Mt Sterling.

Lead guitarist Kenny Becraft has spent years as a guitar slinger. After Network, he reunited with his old bandmates Scott Marye and Ray Purvis in the popular band Shiloh and has continued to play to the current day (most recently as a member of Boone Alley). He is still a hometown boy at heart and remains in Mt Sterling.

Beyond his years on stage for the 25th Hour and Network, Gerald “Jerry” Hatton is remembered for his annual Fourth of July fireworks display. What had started simply enough in the early 1970s became an event so popular that it had to be moved to his parents’ farm in Judy and was eagerly anticipated by hundreds in the community. He passed away in 1995 from illness at 41.

There are few that live and breathe music the way that George Ray Purvis did. From his earliest days as a teenager in 25th Hour through the Network years and onto Shiloh, Blackwater, the Bandit Band and others. Toss in years of casual get togethers, sit ins, and jams as well as his years working in a music store… it all sums to enough music for two lifetimes. Ray also passed away from illness in 1995 at age 40.

Central Kentucky and indeed the world would hear much more from Scott Marye. In 1992 he joined forces with Eddie Groves and Jeff Perkins to form the original version of Inside Out. The trio was lucky enough to land a Department of Defense tour entertaining overseas for years from Saudi Arabia to Japan. Scott was taken by cancer at age 52 in 2010.

Even though he crafted a career as a successful home builder, Kenneth Kemplin still found time to nurture his spirit and his passion for music as the bassist with his church band. He passed away in 2022 at age 70.

Discography:

Rondo   8401                        Don’t Ask Me  / Make It Last               1984