Wayne Proctor obit

We The People’s Wayne Proctor Has Died

 

He was not on the list.

We The People songwriter Wayne Proctor has died.

The band drew from various groups in the Orlando, Florida region, playing their first shows as We The People in 1966. Unusually, the line-up was driven forwards by two songwriters – Tommy Talton and Wayne Proctor – with the latter penning most of their iconic songs.

Early single ‘My Brother, The Man’ is a frenzied classic of garage punk, while fuzzed out follow-up ‘Mirror Of Your Mind’ is equally intense. Sadly, the 45s didn’t quite trouble the charts, but became beloved by crate-diggers, earning prominent placement on the Pebbles comps.

Retro-actively dubbed garage punk, We The People summarise some of the genre’s key touchstones – teenage angst, howling vocals, pounding drums, and frenzied guitar that sits just on the verge of psychedelic implosion.

Covered by 80s group The Fuzztones, The Horrors also interpolated ‘My Brother, The Man’ in their garage homage ‘Count In Fives’.

Sadly, We The People’s time together was short – in an attempt to avoid the Vietnam draft, Wayne Proctor departed the group in 1967. A compilation of the band’s output – ‘Declaration of Independence’ – was released in 1983.

Remaining musically active, Wayne Proctor connected with fans during the band’s post-split rise to cult fame. Frequently discussing We The People, and 60s music generally, on Facebook, his passing has been widely mourned by fans.