As most of you well know, the music at the Paper Bag does not stop - from 10 pm to 4 am we are cranking. There is, however, that short window of time while the Designer Bag Contest happens, when the band is not on the stage. At this point in the show we use the Disappearing Bag Tape, an audio cassette containing about 10 minutes of the Bag theme.

The DBT was recorded by Phrögk at the Silver Dollar before Bag #5 - 1982. (On the tape are Bob D’Andrade, Larry Ports, Jim Rutzler- bass; Phil Reilly, Doug Baldwin, Bruce McCullough, Ed Carucci, Mike Lawshé, Ed Wright, Ted Rispoli- guitar; Paul Shields- harp; Gary Q, John Martin- keyboard; Scotty K, Bill Grillo- drums.) The original purpose of the tape was so that I could make the band stop playing but the music would keep going. I know, it sounds nuts but remember this is the Paper Bag.

One of the running jokes I have had with Phrögk over the years involves him not cueing the DBT properly. Anyway, we use this same cassette every year- except 1991, when Tom Griffin lost it. He panicked, of course, and then spent the whole night-before-the bag in a studio sequencing a digital facimile. As you can guess, I was not pleased. But we used it. And he found the real DBT soon after. In 1998, Mulcahy’s was nice enough to allow Scotto and I to record a radio commercial. What did we use as a sound track? The 16-year-old-recorded-in-a-bar-on-a-cassette-machine Disappearing Bag Tape. It now has quite a bit of wobble and wow, as you will hear. I have finally converted it to digital and burned it on a cd. This little group of electrons, aligned on magnetic tape is a small, but important, element in the show we all enjoy.

The Paper Bag is the World's Only 70 Piece Rock Band ~ It is a celebration of friends and musicians who have been together over 30 years ~ Fun is the best thing to have