In 1967, Brad and I swapped rooms. I was playing the piano more, and was pounding on the drums everyday. The deal was that if we swapped, he could paint and decorate his room however he wanted. He chose to paint it a very dark gray, and decorate it with posters that would glow in the dark using a black light. I asked Mom for some Pop Art style back and white curtains. Also that year my parents helped me buy a new drum set. There was a “keeping up with the Jones'” mentality among musicians — the brand that you played reflected the quality of the musician. This of course was stirred up by instrument manufacturers and music stores — and we all bought into it 100%. When we watched bands on TV or in person we studied their equipment. For drums, Ringo Star and Jon Bonham (Led Zepplin) had Ludwig, Keith Moon (The Who) and Mitch Mitchell (Jimi Hendrix Experience) had Premier, Buddy Rich and Bobby Columby (Blood, Sweat, and Tears) had Slingerland, and Dino Danelli (Rascals) and Danny Seraphine (Chicago) had Rogers. 

After a great deal of thought, I chose a five piece Rogers silver sparkle kit with Zildjian cymbals and a chrome snare. I recall it was a 20-inch bass, 8 X12 mounted tom, a 16 X 16 floor tom, 20 inch ride and 18 inch splash cymbals.  I think the set cost a little over $300.  I paid for half of it. At the same time the rest of the band got into the buying spree. Carl bought a Fender Super Reverb amp and Mosrite guitar with a new Wah Wah /Fuzz pedal; Johnny pick up a Fender Bassman amp and Fender Jazz Bass guitar; Dave bought a Fender PA system and provided us all with matching Turner micrphones.  I have to admit, it was pretty cool having the younger musicians drooling over our equipment for once. The difficult part was there was no excuse now for not being great when we played. The bar was raised, and we had to deliver!