MADISON — A song written and performed more than 50 years ago is still paying dividends for Madison High School graduate Steve Geary.
It’s the kind of story that makes rock and roll history.
A high school marching band member at Madison, Geary and some of his classmates formed a band, “Yesterday Memory” in the 1960s, performing at numerous places around Mansfield.
The band didn’t stay together, but Geary continued to work on his music. He and another group of Madison graduates started the band “Top Drawer,” featuring Geary as the front man.
“Top Drawer” recorded one album, Solid Oak, in 1969, a collection that included the song, Song of a Sinner.
According to the website, Rockasteria, the band also included Ray Herr, John Baker, Alan Berry and Ron Linn. Unfortunately, the band dispersed when one of its members was drafted into the U.S. military during the Vietnam War.
Fast forward a few decades.
Geary received a call from a producer in California. He told Geary the Netflix series “Hunters” used his song at the end of season one, and HBO also picked it up for the “Barry” series season three thriller.
Much to Geary’s surprise, the producer told him would be receiving a check in the mail soon from the Netflix series and later would receive a check for the HBO series for using his song.
The CD “Solid Oak” is available to at the Marvin Memorial Library in Shelby.
