Kerry Coonan ~ Drum,
Vocals
Chase Hensel ~ Bass
Martin Hensel ~ Keyboards,
Vocals
Larry Kendrick ~ Tenor
Saxophone
Cary
Ordway ~ Guitar, Drums, Vocals
Allen Thompson ~ Drums,
Vocals
Melvin Willms ~ Guitar
Release on Julian:
J-110 World Of Woe b/w Why Can’t You
Tell
Me
Released in 1968
Compilation Appearances:
(CD) Quagmire Volume 7 – Why Can’t You
Tell Me
(CD) Quagmire Volume 8 – World Of Woe
This group was from the Wenatchee area and their record, 'World of Woe', is a highly sought after collectors item, generating calls and emails from around the world. The record in fact is being re-released this summer by a New York record label.I was in the Aztecs and, interestingly, I have just joined the Wenatchee-based Chargers who got back together after 45 years. We play gigs in North Central Washington.
More info on the Aztecs is at Julian Records. More info on the new Chargers is at www.reverbnation.com/thechargersrecharged
Cary Ordway, May 2013
The Aztecs: One of the most popular groups from Central Washington in the late 60’s was called the Aztecs who hailed from the tiny wheat farming community of Waterville, near Wenatchee. The group played dances, proms and fairs from Okanagan down to the Yakima Valley and was particularly active in the Wenatchee area.The Aztecs were one of the groups recording on Julian Records, a company owned by Wenatchee radio DJ Don Bernier. They released World of Woe and Why Can't You Tell Me in late fall 1967 with World of Woe getting extensive air play on Wenatchee’s KMEL radio. Interestingly, the song was picked up by an Australian company in the mid-2000’s to be included in a compilation album of 1960’s rock and soon after generated an almost cult following on the internet, popping up on hundreds of internet sites where fans have expressed their wish that more Aztecs songs were available. Record collectors from around the world were seeking copies of the original 45 RPMs and paying top dollar for the copies that were still available. Eventually, SunDazed Records signed the Aztecs to re-release the song in the summer of 2013.
In spring 2013, Aztecs founder, Cary Ordway, joined up with the Chargers, a popular Wenatchee group from the sixties who have gotten the group back together and are actively gigging throughout North Central Washington. Ironically, the Aztecs and Chargers were competitors back in the late sixties and even appeared on the same stage competing in a Battle of the Bands. Out of a dozen or so bands, the Chargers took No. 1, the Aztecs No. 3.
When the Chargers ultimately disbanded in 2015, lead guitar player Steve Barone and keyboardist and former Aztec Cary Ordway joined Waterdog, a popular oldies rock and roll group that plays regularly in North Central Washington. In the fall of 2018, the Aztecs were planning to release a single on Snatchee Records of an original 1966 recording called "Night Teaser."
For more information on the Aztecs, go to http://julianrecords.com/theaztecs/.
Cary Ordway, 2 November 2018
