Paul
Halvorson ~ Organ
Walt
Kerr ~ Keyboards
Skip
Mayhew ~ Trumpet
Terry
"T" Ray ~ Bass
Chris
Rusch ~ Saxophone
Mike
Rusch ~ Drums
Jeff
"Little Louie" Thompson ~ Vocals
Steve
Thurgood ~ Guitar
Skip Mayhew
The members of this band attended Sammamish, Lake Washington, and Bellevue High Schools. This band is one of at least two "Continentals" around in the 60's.I was the original singer known as" LITTLE LOUIE" for the band called the CONTINENTALS based out of Bellevue, Washington in the early 1960's. We played alot of local gigs, and the action was always hot. I did the James Brown moves and the band tried to copy the Dynamics. We were just starting to make a name for ourselves when I got into a motorcyle accident at the age of 15. I don't know what happened to the band after that except that I would see or talk to one of the guys every 10 years or so.Skip Mayhew (R.I.P) became an attorney in Puyallup, WA
Terry Ray is an estimator in Bellevue, WA
Chris Rusch resides in Georgia
Steve Thurgood is a trainer with a pharmaceutical company
'64 at Gold Creek Park - Courtesy of Paul halvorson via Steve Thurgood
Jeff Thompson, December 2003
(ed. Note: Jeff, now perhaps you'll hear from them more often)
They are still looking for Paul (found), and Mike. Can someone help them find their buddies? If you have information about Paul, Mike, write to Steve Thurgood
We found Chris Rusch. He's in Georgia and happily received his Continentals 1964 at Gold Creek Park CD.. This was 22 songs recorded on an old,one track Wollensak, by Denny Harding our 'grip' at Gold Creek Park in Woodinville
Steve Thurgood, September 2011
I just received an eMail from Paul Halvorson. He's alive and well in the Puget Sound area, both sides of the water - Seattle / Hood Canal .
Paul was going through some stuff in his parent's garage and discovered the above poster. It came from when we were playing at Gold Creek Park regularly.
Steve Thurgood, November 2012
I played keyboards with the Continentals for a short time in the late 60's. This was after Paul Halvorson left the group. I met them through Skip Mayhew after I moved to Bellevue in 1966. They needed a keyboard player so I joined and we had a semi-regular gig for a dinner/dancing group called Always On Friday.
I was playing a Farfisa MiniCompact organ connected through an EICO HF12 amp to a Leslie 147.
Thank you for the PNW Bands web site... Some great memories.
Walt Kerr, April 2014
