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MMHF remembers Charles Schoen

By Amy Zents 5 min read

NEW ULM -- The Minnesota Music Hall of Fame (MMHF) held Charles Schoen Day on Saturday to honor the leader of The Del Counts.

Schoen got an early start in music. At age 9, he was laid up for a year a half after being hit by a car. A tutor came to the house and gave him homework for the week.

“I did it all on Mondays after she left. I had nothing else to do,” Schoen said in a short video documentary featured by The Current. “My father and uncle used to play and I would watch where my dad would put his fingers on the guitar. When no one was around, I would get out of bed, into my wheelchair, and over to the guitar and practice.”

Soon after his father realized his interest, he entered him into a talent show. After the audition, Schoen started performing shows.

“When I saw that people liked what I did, that’s when I got the bug,” Schoen said.

Schoen started the band in 1961 out of Hopkins. The band has performed since 1961 and is widely considered one of the longest-running rock groups in Minnesota.

The band was named after their first drummer, Dell. He counted off the start of their songs.

“The band members asked, how are we going to start a song? Well, Dell Counts,” Musican Wayne Liebhard said.

Schoen was keyboard and vocals. Steve Miller played guitar, Bob Phalen played bass, Del Leon LaFave and Kelly Vincent played drums.

Schoen led that count for more than 60 years.

His breakout was “Let the Good Times Roll,” released in 1964. The song immediately caught the attention of listeners. 

When it was first released, it became a cue for local gangs to start brawling on the dance floor when the chorus began. According to the video documentary, the band realized they may need to hide behind their equipment while performing the song to avoid injury.

Then came “What Is The Reason,” a cover of the Young Rascals song written by Cavaliere-Brigati. On June 3, 1967 it went to #4 on KDWB Radio Big 6 Plus 30. Schoen said the record sold over 20,000 copies in two weeks in Minneapolis and St. Paul after Record World rated it four stars and flagged it as a hit to watch.

Neal Bond said he first saw Schoen at the New City Opera House in Minneapolis, at that time known as Mr. Lucky’s. 

The year was about 1966. The Del Counts had released “Let the Good Times Roll” in 1965 and had just recorded “What Is The Reason.”

“Charles only played guitar back then, but on that song he played piano,” Bond said. “Just in his later years, Charles just played piano and not guitar. He could play anything.”

Bond said Schoen told him about a phone call he received after “What Is The Reason” was released.

A woman wanted him to give her daughter piano lessons. Schoen was bewilder by the request because he had only learned the piano part for that one song.

Bond said musicians at that time came out to the audience after shows.

“They knew where their bread’s buttered. They come out and say, ‘Hey, how you like the music?'” Bond said.

Liebhard said Schoen was friendly and made time to talk.

“Charles was always very friendly. We always had time to talk to you, and he loved to talk politics. He was so genuine,” Liebhard said.

The band toured with the Moody Blues, Wilson Pickett, the Hollies, the Young Rascals, Sonny and Cher, and Three Dog Night. 

They played First Avenue, the former Met Center, the Medina Ballroom, and a Prince afterparty at Coffman Memorial Union, according to Schoen.

Schoen received two Lifetime achievement awards, the Bill Diehl and Minnesota Music Hall of Fame and entertained crowds across the Midwest.

He also faced cancer multiple times, including Hodgkin’s lymphoma, leukemia, and prostate cancer. The band held benefits. One poster read: Charles Schoen 4th Annual Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Cancer Benefit at Mancini’s Char House, with the Fabulous Del Counts performing.

Bond said Schoen’s son John supported him and worked to get him into the Hall of Fame before he passed.

Shoen's other son, Sean Preese, said, “Dad was from North Minneapolis, He had five boys, two step-sons. I was his firstborn.”

Preese said, “He was a good man, people used to say when him and Jim Walsh from Gypsy were together in the end, they knew a million songs.”

Bond said he last saw Schoen in Duluth. Bond said he used to run shows at the Duluth Armory in the 1960s. When the Armory was gutted and renovated, they held one last rock and roll show with Schoen and Tony Andreason from the Trashmen.

“He was actually out playing again, amazing,” Bond said.

Liebhard said the 50th anniversary show was at the Medina Ballroom.

“The governor, Governor Dayton, declared that Minnesota Del Counts Day,” Liebhard said.

Gov. Tim Walz officially declared April 26, 2019, Del Counts Day as the band celebrated 58 years. The city of Columbia Heights gathered at John P. Murzyn Hall for the show.

In the documentary, Schoen was asked what kept them going after 58 years.

“It’s the people who keep rejuvenating the atmosphere of performing,” Schoen said. “To play in the Twin Cities area and in the Upper Midwest after 58 years, there’s a reason for it. I get choked up thinking about it because most bands don’t last a year. For some reason, this one just keeps going.”

Schoen died in January of this year, surrounded by family, according to family information shared at the Hall of Fame. He performed for more than six decades.

October is Legacy Month, honoring inductees who have passed on, including Charles Schoen Day.

The Minnesota Music Hall of Fame is at 27 N. Broadway St., New Ulm, next to the library.

Hours: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Thursday-Saturday, April 1 through Oct. 31.

Starting at /week.