Wayne Wadhams

Yes, Wayne Wadhams was my (third) cousin. Although he became famous for writing music, and developing the soundboard, to me he was Mom's cousin. One day Wayne and, we believe, his father, came to visit my mother. My mother's family is large, my maternal grandmother being one of eleven children. I remember very well playing on the staircase, then letting them in and calling my mother. Wayne said to me something like "Do you know the movie The Wizard of Oz?" and I said "Do I!, It's my favorite." He said "I did the song - "Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead"- and he handed me the 45. Of course I thought it would be the version with the Munchkins, but it was even cooler, rock and roll.

Wayne was one of the founding members of The Fifth Estate. He was also a faculty member at Berklee. He loved music. I was four when he started his first band the D-Men, and to me he was "dreamy" when I saw him when I was about 10 or so. He wore all the coolest clothes and was the nicest cousin to talk with! He was about 10 or so years younger than my mother and father, so his age was like a bridge between the kids and the grown-ups. We had lost touch over the years, and when I started looking for him, I was saddened to read he had died in 2008. My life was so touched by this man, not only by his music, or his being such a nice person, but I was changed, really, when as a ten year old, he gave me a 45. He validated music for me, although we did already include music in our daily lives. He "made a living at it". Man, did he.

Links:

"Remembering Wayne Wadhams"

The Fifth Estate

Berklee Wadhams Production Scholars

"They had a national / international hit in 1967 with a sunshine pop version of "Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead", which reached No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[3] ...." from Wikipedia

On the left are my mother and grandmother. Wayne's grandmother was one of my grandmother's sisters, Edith. On the right is the photo of Wayne from the Berklee page ( no infringement intended) - he looks just like Gram as he got older.

For the movie reference, below is a recording of the movie at the point where the house lands on the witch (the red and white stockings) and soon after the Munchkins sing "Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead" - yes, it's still my favorite movie.

The Fifth Estate - album Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead