In 1967, four 8th grade girls from Aledo, a small town on the fringe of western Illinois, went into a recording studio in the Quad Cities and recorded Bobby Goldsboro’s “See The Funny Little Clown” and Wilson Pickett’s “In The Midnight Hour.”
How did it all come about? Lead guitarist Nellie Hastings told the story in a 1969 newspaper interview. “We were sitting around one afternoon bored with our lives. I said, ‘Let’s start a rock and roll group.’ It was a joke at first, but once we realized we could all play instruments we got so excited over the idea. Our parents liked the idea and gave us the necessary encouragement, that’s how it happened.”
The four were Kathy Talkin (drums and vocals), Nellie Hastings (lead guitar and vocals), Barbara Stutsman (bass guitar) and Alice Appleton (organ) calling themselves The Mod 4.
With a couple months of rehearsals and a few performances at local school dances, just before they headed to high school, they headed to Fredlo Recording Studios in nearby Davenport to record their debut single.
With drummer Talkin’s father Robert “Tab” Talkin acting as their manager, agent and promoter they became tremendously popular in the region playing teen clubs, school dances and county fairs around western Illinois and eastern Iowa.
Starting to write their own material they returned to the Fredlo studio in the spring of 1968 cutting a second single, this time of original material with “Open Up Your Mind” and “Puppet,” both written and arranged by guitarist Nellie Hastings.
Tab Talkin, the promoter that he was, sent a tape of the girls to Dick Clark, who at the time was producing the ABC-TV variety show Happening hosted by Paul Revere and the Raiders. They got selected to perform in a “Battle of the Bands” segment which aired in February of 1969. Although they didn’t win, “We were thrilled to pieces when Paul Revere recognized our name and said he had heard of us when he was in the Quad-Cities for a performance last year,” Nellie told the Quad-City Times after returning home from the taping. She added, “I only wish we could have stayed in Hollywood a while longer. We would have met so many more groups.”
The trip didn’t go unnoticed. A couple of talent agencies expressed interest in the group, although with their high school schedules and the agencies unable to produce a “financially beneficial” tour schedule nothing panned out.
By the fall of 1970 the girls, all honor-roll students, were busy with their senior year and preparing for college. They played their last show on Halloween weekend of 1970, going their separate ways to attend different high schools. (Thanks to Downstate Sounds for assistance on compiling this story www.downstatesounds.com/search?q=the+mod+4)
Discography
1967 See the Funny Little Clown b/w Midnight Hour (Fredlo 6723)
1968 Open Up Your Mind b/w A Puppet (Fredio 6823)