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A ‘Revolutionary’ Approach to Showmanship

By Daniel Dullum
Spectrum staff writer

Walking past a storefront window in downtown Portland, Ore., on a late October afternoon in 1963, Paul Revere and the Raiders collectively noticed a display of vintage Revolutionary War uniforms. What followed was a flash of promotional inspiration that would alter the course of the band’s career.

Always looking for a new twist for their wild stage shows, the Raiders unanimously agreed that, as singer Mark Lindsay explained, “It would be great fun for us to look like the name sounded.”

Originally, this wardrobe of three-corner hats, colonial army jackets, white lace shirts, black slacks and flamenco boots was intended as a one-time-only gimmick. However, the Raiders soon realized they’d found a distinct trademark no other band could duplicate.

“As I recall, we were playing in Portland for a costume-type ball. It was around Halloween,” Michael “Doc” Holladay, the Raiders’ bassist from September 1963 to January 1965, said in 1998. “It seems to me most of us were there when we passed this costume shop and there was Revolutionary outfits up there in the corner. And one of us said, ‘Hey, I wonder if they’ve got five of those we could rent.’

“We rented them the first night and the crowd loved it so much when we came out at halftime in the Revolutionary outfits,” Holladay continued. “The crowd decided for us that it would be part of the act from that time on.”

Drummer Mike “Smitty” Smith, who passed away March 6, 2001, explained in a 1997 interview how the uniforms were introduced with the usual dash of Raiders showmanship.

“We were going to take a picture of the band,” Smith said. “We went inside this costume store and saw those uniforms. They were actually the real, authentic antique colonial coats. Today, they’d be worth a lot of money.”

Smith said the Raiders rented the uniforms out of necessity. He remembered that when their new, bright red, collarless La Jolla jackets were improperly cleaned, a solution was needed before the next gig.

“We played a couple of nights in those [red jackets] and Mark [Lindsay] was the one who took them to a cleaner, or maybe he did them himself or whatever. Anyway, when the jackets came back, they shrunk up and the sleeves were about four inches too short. I didn’t think we were going to make short-sleeve jackets the new trend,” Smith said. “So, we devised a little plan. We loosened all the threads in the shoulders and so on.”

That night, the crowd at the Lake Oswego Armory outside of Portland — estimated at 1,500 by Smith — witnessed one of the Raiders’ most memorable antics of their pre-teen idol era.

“We get on stage in our new La Jolla jackets with sleeves too short on everyone. We’re playing our regular dance and just before the middle break — and this was set up in advance — the whole band starts fighting each other,” Smith recalled. “We’re ripping these brand new coats and everybody there knew we just bought these things just a couple of weeks ago. [The audience thought] we wouldn’t really be tearing up our own coats unless we’re really mad! We ripped those coats to shreds and stomped off the stage!”

As part of the ruse, Roger Hart, the group’s manager, assured the crowd that the dance would go on, and to expect a longer-than-usual break.

“We went back in the dressing room and put on the three-corner hats and the colonial outfits. With tension in the air, we came back on stage and started playing and everybody boogied down … good party,” Smith said.

The group returned the coats to the costume shop, thinking it was a one-time stunt. Smith remembered that during one of their next dances, some of the fans asked why they weren’t wearing the colonial uniforms.

“That was such a highlight that we rented them again and later had some custom-made. That started that trend,” Smith said.

With their regal threads came the nightly challenge of averting the level of dehydration usually associated with sports like football or hockey.

“[The jackets] were complete bulls—-,” Smith said. “They were really terrible. They were heavy coats and with all the frill and everything, we were spending a lot of energy from the moment we started a show until we finished.

“We would weigh ourselves afterward and found we’d lose 12 to 15 pounds a night.”

By 1968, the Raiders had phased out their on-stage Revolutionary styles. However, in 1974, near the end of Lindsay’s stint as lead vocalist, Revere brought back the colonial look. The change in wardrobe helped the band cash in on the American Bicentennial celebration, and the uniforms remain a popular staple of Raiders shows.

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