Hangin' Out with Bob

If you grew up in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul during the mid-1960s and 1970s, you know it was a “golden era” for local music. We had legendary venues, unforgettable bands, and a rock scene that could rival any major city in the country.In this podcast episode, host Bob Edholm gets together with Paul Groves, his friend since their junior high school days in Columbia Heights, to talk about that special time for local music.Paul’s journey into the Twin Cities music scene began when he was just 11 years old and saw The Bad Omens, a local rock band, play at the Columbia Heights Field House.In addition to the Field House, Paul started watching bands play at nearby venues like the KC Hall and Casino Royale in Fridley and the eighth-floor auditorium at Dayton’s in downtown Minneapolis. Once Paul reached “driving age,” he saw bands play at places like The Launching Pad and The Mermaid in Mounds View and The Chalet in Robbinsdale. Basically, Paul watched dozens of local bands virtually every weekend in the mid-1960s and 1970s.Some of those unforgettable Twin Cites bands that Paul followed included South 40 (later renamed Crow), The Castaways, The Del Counts, The Underbeats (later renamed Gypsy), The Hot Half Dozen, Michael’s Mystics, and T.C. Atlantic.But Paul didn’t just watch the Twin Cities music scene grow—he became a part of that scene as a drummer and singer. He bought a Slingerland silver-sparkled drum set at B Sharp Music in Northeast Minneapolis, and he played in a couple of Heights bands in the late 1960s (The Fourth Generation) and Seventies (Hi-Way). And more recently, Paul provided the vocals for several recorded covers of classic Beatles tunes.Also in this episode, Paul gives kudos to several outstanding bands and musicians from the Heights during that same “golden era” of Twin Cities music.Paul has lived in Florida since late 2019 (he loves the warm weather so he can wear short pants every day of the year!), but he was back in Minnesota in August 2026 to organize the 55-year reunion for the Columbia Heights Senior High School Class of 1971. (To paraphrase an old advertising jingle, “You can take Paul out of the Heights, but you can’t take the Heights out of Paul.”)So have a listen as Paul shares with Bob his stories and memories of the Twin Cities rock band scene in the mid-1960s and well into the 1970s.

It’s a big leap from high school football to major college football. The players in major college football are simply bigger, faster, and more athletic.But in the mid-1970s, Ron Kullas made that big leap—impressively. He went from being an All-Metro football player at Columbia Heights High School to eventually being named an All-Big Ten receiver—twice—with the Minnesota Golden Gophers.The best receivers in football are said to have “hands of gold,” but in Ron’s case, as a wide receiver for the Gophers, one might say that he had the hands of "maroon and gold." When a pass was thrown Ron's way, he usually caught it—and it was usually for a first down. And sometimes, for a touchdown.Success in the college game didn’t come immediately to Ron, but his hard work and dedication eventually paid off. During his junior season, Ron set three team records in pass receiving, and he was named an All-Big Ten receiver in both his junior and senior seasons.In this podcast with host Bob Edholm (who also grew up in Columbia Heights), Ron shares stories and memories of his four years as a student athlete on scholarship at the University of Minnesota, including:· The steps Ron took to make the leap from high school football to major college football, where virtually every player had been an All-Conference, All-Metro, or All-State star in high school· How Ron learned to balance classroom and study time with football· His favorite wins and most frustrating losses with the Golden Gophers· The other Big Ten football stadiums that Ron liked—and disliked—the most· How a back injury that Ron sustained in one game forced him to miss a game the following week-the only time he missed a game due to injury· His lifelong friendship with Tony Dungy, the former Gophers quarterback who threw all those passes to Ron

No doubt about it—the 1965 Minnesota Twins season was a special one. Consider this:· The Twins won their first American League pennant since moving to Minnesota in 1961 from Washington, D.C., where they were called the Washington Senators.· They set a franchise record in 1965 with 102 wins. The Twins were known that season for winning close games and for their ability to come back from deficits.· They had six players selected for the All-Star game, which was played that year at Metropolitan Stadium, their home ballpark at the time.· The 1965 Twins team had a strong pitching rotation, but they also led the American League in runs scored.· That 1965 season culminated in the Twins' appearance in the World Series, where they faced the Los Angeles Dodgers.Podcast host Bob Edholm gets together again with brothers Wayne and Al Damerow to discuss that special season. These three lifelong Twins fans weren’t yet teenagers in 1965, but their memories of that Twins season, plus their love of baseball, come shining through in this podcast episode.

His name was Murray Warmath. He was a football coach.Warmath was born and raised in Tennessee, but once he moved north in the mid-1950s to become the head football coach at the University of Minnesota, the Gopher State became the home he would never leave.Warmath led the Gophers for 18 seasons, from 1954 through 1971. There were some great seasons for the Gophers during that time, but there were also seasons that didn’t go so well for them. Still, Warmath was the last head football coach to lead the Gophers to a national championship as well as a pair of Big Ten conference championships.In Part One of this two-part podcast about the Murray Warmath era at Minnesota, host Bob Edholm gets together with his two brothers, Dave and Tom Edholm, to talk about the 1954 through 1962 seasons. They’ll provide you with the specifics of each season, including such things as:· The Gophers’ overall record· How the Gophers fared in their traditional “trophy games” each season against Michigan (the Little Brown Jug), Iowa (Floyd of Rosedale), and Wisconsin (Paul Bunyan’s Axe)· Those Gophers players who won individual honors, such as All-Big Ten, All-American, and the Team MVP Award

They called it “The Brick House.” It was Memorial Stadium, which served as the football home for the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers from 1924 through 1981.Welcome to “Hangin’ Out with Bob,” a podcast with host Bob Edholm. In this episode, Bob provides an entertaining rundown of Memorial Stadium, which literally required more than a million bricks during its construction. Hence, “The Brick House.”Memorial Stadium was dedicated to the more than 3,500 university workers and graduates who served in World War I, 98 of whom died in service.The Gophers had a stellar record at Memorial Stadium, including 12 unbeaten seasons. They didn’t suffer a losing season at home from the building’s inception in 1924 until 1950, a span of 26 years.The Gophers left Memorial Stadium after the 1981 season and played their games at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis from 1982 to 2008. Memorial Stadium was eventually torn down in 1992. The Gophers returned to campus in 2009 to play in a new stadium just across the street from where “The Brick House” once stood.Although Memorial Stadium is long gone, it certainly has not been forgotten. Start here and listen for the fun as Bob Edholm also shares his own thoughts and memories of “The Brick House.”