The Wild Things started  in 1965 with Jack H. Lewis on Drums, Ted Engle on Guitar, and Bob Bledsoe on Keyboard. This group was short lived as Mrs. Bledsoe would not allow her son to hang around with such “hooligans”. Jack secured a contract with George Bush, supposedly one of the Anheuser Bush brothers, to perform at 'the beer garden' in the 1965 Missouri State Fair. The band added Charlie Ford on bass and Bill Lovell on keyboard to replace Bob Bledsoe. Their live sound system was primitive-a single amplifier.  The Wild Things were wildly popular with the crowds and their reputation as a fine performing live band grew and another band member was added, Steve Thorn.

     Steve Thorn  was a student and DJ at Missouri Valley College in Marshall, Missouri. Marshall then became the stomping ground for The Wild Things, as Bill Lovell's wife Widgie took on management of the group.   Widgie  owned a music store called The Vox Box in Marshall. She set up a brilliant  sponsorship campaign with Vox Music Equipment and Sound. Now The Wild Things were a outrageously  cool band  with Vox equipment — "Super Beatles," "Royal Guardsman," and "Buckingham" model amplifiers and teardrop-shaped guitars and basses (see photo's of them at Widgies shop below and also out in the Wild Plains. They also got a plug in the great teen newspaper of the mid-60's Vox Teen Beat! Now   The Wild Things were  booked to play all over the Mid-West.  It was at this time(1966) that they paid  for and recorded two songs at Damon Studios in Kansas City  . “My Girl” and “Tell Me” were  written by Steve Thorn and produced with the efforts of the whole band-Jack / drums, .Steve / Lead guitar / Lead vocal, Charlie / bass / back up vocal, Ted / rhythm / back up vocal, Bill / Keyboard. Around this time Ted had to leave with his family and relocate in the state of Washington.  Jeff Peak entered the band around this time and was a member for a short time.   The Wild Things were so well accepted  as a live band  that their engagements took them all the way to Rochester New York to perform at 'The Grange'.      

   In 1967,Charlie Ford, enlisted in the Army ,as he was very close to being drafted and was replaced by Alan Criswell, a local from Marshall. He was known for playing bass and trumpet at the same time and doing it well.  Steve Thorn  enlisted in the Navy and was replaced by Mike Tichenor who became the  lead vocalist  and guitarist. Another Marshall local. Mike was eventually replaced by Raymond Henderson as lead vocalist / blues harp and an excellent showman. Guitarist Tom Nicholas entered the band about the same time. Both were from Marshall. Bill Lovell wanted to slow down and was replaced by Bobby Williams, who at that time was welcomed with his Hammond B3 and the great sound it produced. He also was a Marshall local. This became  the most popular lineup for  The Wild Things in terms of the number of booking engagements and reputation and they toured all over their home state of Missouri, Iowa, Arkansas and Kansas constantly.  In 1969 Jack Lewis the originator and only original member still in the group was drafted in to the US Army and replaced by Wayne Woods and as the sixties grew to a close so did the Wild Things who broke up in 1970, leaving behind the one fantastic single of which "Tell Me" is included on the compilation of 60-'s garage band greats , Garage Beat 66'.