OK, so they're not the Stones.
But they've still got that old spark.The New-rotic Sound came back to life Wednesday to the obvious delight of rollicking Murray High students who watched assistant principal Bill Long rockin' away with former teenage friends from his old band.
And did they respond - kids were shrieking and dancing in the aisles as the band whipped into golden oldies: "Louie, Louie," "Money," "Little Latin Lupe Lou" and "Gloria."
Long's reputation at school is that of a soft-spoken, fair-minded guy who also can be pretty strict. This clearly was something different.
"He's a cool guy," exulted senior Kristi Plant. "It showed he can be funky."
"I think it's cool that Mr. Long got up there and did this," agreed junior Mindy McDonough.
Furthermore, the band sounded great - despite the fact members hadn't played together for nearly three decades.
"I was impressed," McDonough said.
The five New-rotic Sound members got together in the late 1960s in their southern Utah hometown of Milford. They played professionally for three years to pick up a little cash and have some fun.
They reunited Wednesday to help spur more student contributions to the Sub-for-Santa program. The school had challenged teachers to do something different to drum up money for the Christmas charity.
It worked. Murray students chipped in $7,500 for Sub-for-Santa this week.
Long wasn't the only one to take a risk. Fellow assistant principal Steve Nielsen submitted to having his head shaved publicly, while principal Richard Tranter sang with the madrigal group.
Long was persuaded to revive the rock group to perform at two school assemblies. For the band, it was quite a reunion and a reminder of past good times.
"We played a lot in southern Utah, at Southern Utah University, at a lot of dances, small-town stuff," Long recalls. "We did a lot of things: Paul Revere and the Raiders stuff, some Rolling Stones - `Satisfaction,' `Get Off of My Cloud,' `The Last Time.' "
They weren't paid much compared to today's standards. "We would think a big night would be $50."
For each of them?
"Heck no, that was for the whole bunch," Long said.
How about their parents? Any disapproval there?
"My dad liked it so much, when I went into the Navy, he sold all my stuff," Long said.
Actually, it wasn't that bad. "They thought it was a good way to keep us out of trouble," Long said of his parents. "They felt OK about it."
The quintet hadn't played for 27 years until they got together for a practice in Milford earlier this month.
"We still sounded good," Long said, a slight note of astonishment creeping into his voice. "We had decided that if it didn't sound respectable, we wouldn't do it, but it wasn't bad for a bunch of old guys."
They also made five tapes so they could practice individually at their respective homes in Murray, Orem, Centerville and Milford. One member, Gary Smith, even rearranged his hectic travel schedule so he could take part.
Besides Long, who plays bass guitar, the band consists of Vern Erickson on drums, who now works as a US WEST telecommunications instructor; Brad Whitaker, lead guitar, who works for Utah Power; Larry Barnes, lead singer, an elementary principal in Milford; and Gary Smith, rhythm guitar, an executive for the Dallas-based Recognition International.
All of them sing, and the guitar players have their own instruments and even a few amps.
But drummer Erickson had to borrow a set of drums.
From his son, no less.
Still, the New-rotic Sound rocked on pretty well, all things considered.
"These kids think it's pretty neat," Long said. "As assistant principal, there's that negative, discipline stuff. With this, they see a different side of you."