#8: Give Me One More Chance by Wilmer & the Dukes

City: Guelph, ON
Radio Station: CJOY
Peak Month: July 1968
Peak Position in Guelph ~ #5
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #80
YouTube: “Give Me One More Chance”

Wilmer Alexander Jr. was born in 1943 in Geneva, NY. Alexander Jr., Ronnie Alberts, and Ralph Gillotte formed Wilmer Alexander Junior and the Dukes in Geneva (NY) in1957. Except for Alexander, all of the members were white. This made the band stand out even more in some of the all-black clubs that they first played in. The Alexanders lived on 90 Wadsworth Street in Geneva, and the band used to practice at one of the garages owned by the Felice Trucking Company on Kirkwood Ave. Alexander sang and played saxophone, and the band was managed by Ebo (Owl) Alberts, the father of the drummer, Ronnie Alberts, and the original bassist, Monty Alberts.

They were primarily a cover band, playing other people’s material, such as by Steve Miller and The Rolling Stones. Other music was from Sam and Dave and there were also saxophone based hits such as those originated by Junior Walker & The AllStars. One of their most popular covers was Lee Dorsey’s 1966 Top 5 R&B hit “Get Out of My Life, Woman”.

The band played from approximately from 1961 to 1974 at various locations around Upstate New York, mostly on the college and bar circuit. Regular venues were The “Pittsford Inn” in Pittsford, NY, “Club 86” in Geneva on Saturdays, and “Bristol Ski Lodge” in Canandaigua on Fridays. Summer 1962 found them at The Dolphin, Sodus Point and the Boom-Boom Club, 9 Mile Point, Webster. They were also regular guests at St. Bonaventure University, and known to play at the Gargoyle Park Pavilion in Olean. In 1964 and 1965, they appeared regularly at parties sponsored by the Social Lions, a secret society at Niagara University in Lewiston.

One club which helped them was The Inferno in Williamsville, as well as Gilligans in Cheektowaga, N.Y.both suburbs of Buffalo. Every Wednesday night, long lines of fans formed through Glen Park and over the bridge on Glen Avenue, some waiting for hours to get into the sold-out Inferno. Wilmer & the Dukes would play such cover songs as “Reach Out” and “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)” by the Four Tops, “Shotgun” & “Road Runner” by Junior Walker & the Allstars, and “Baby Let Me Bang Your Box” by Doug Clark and the Hot Nuts. Other acts they opened for included Wilson Pickett and Sly & the Family Stone. Another of their venues was a bowling alley, Clover Lanes in Rochester. The lanes would be covered over with a temporary wooden stage, Wilmer and the Dukes would play an opening set, and then a national act such as Tommuy James and the Shondells, Freddie and the Dreamers, or The Association would be the headliner. Wilmer and the Dukes also regularly played at The Red Dog in Manilus, a Syracuse suburb. They also performed a number of Sunday afternoons at the DeMay Hotel ballroom located on the corner of Latta Road and North Greece Road in Greece, NY.

It was at the “Holiday Bar and Grille” in 1963 that they were first heard by future Blue Oyster Cult vocalist Eric Bloom. He became a fan of the band, attending over 100 performances, and stayed close with them for years. In 1967, his own student band, Lost and Found, opened for the Dukes when they played at his campus, Hobart College, and they also came to perform at his fraternity, Tau Kappa Epsilon.

“Give Me One More Chance” was written by bandmate Doug Brown. He was raised in the southern states and had served in the United States military before coming to Geneva (NY). The lyrics tell about a guy who is in love with his woman. Though they are on shaky ground, he wants her to “given me one more chance.”

“Give Me One More Chance” peaked at #1 in Geneva (NY), Buffalo, Atlanta, and Erie (PA), #2 in Louisville (KY), #4 in Miami, #5 in Guelph (ON), Cleveland, and Rochester (NY), #6 in Troy (NY), and Albany (NY), #7 in Toronto, and Jackson (MI), and #9 in Syracuse (NY), and Fargo (ND), #11 in New Haven (CT), #12 in Hamilton (ON) and #18 in Toronto. The B-side, “Get It” also charted in Rochester (NY). The single stalled at #80 on the Billboard Hot 100, but reached #63 on the RPM Top 100 singles survey in Canada.

In 1969, a followup single, “I’m Free”, reached #3 in Canandaigua (NY), Rochester (NY), and Albany (NY), #8 in Syracuse (NY), and #10 in Geneva (NY). This same song would much later be a hit for the Soup Dragons in 1990. In the summer of 1969, “Living In the U.S.A.” climbed to #1 in Rochester (NY), and Geneva (NY), #8 in Troy (NY), and cracked the Top 30 in Buffalo and Detroit. It was written by Steve Miller. The band’s final regionally charting hit was “I Do Love You”. It reached #7 in Geneva (NY) and #19 in Cleveland (OH). The B-side, “Get Out Of My Life, Woman”, charted to #10 in Endicott (NY).

The group disbanded in 1974, but came back together for some benefit concerts in 1988. The group reformed for a series of sold-out benefit concerts to help pay some medical bills for the ailing Alexander. Thereafter, various members (without Alexander) continued touring as The Legendary Dukes.

Doug Brown told the Democrat and Chronicle in 2015, “I had been living a real rough, high life for a while; I was confused.” He fled to Massachusetts, got cleaned up and worked as a mechanic at a high-speed packing plant. Then he returned to Rochester, rejoined the band and “got right back into drinking… Ever try to be around three alcoholics and not drink?”

The Dukes original organist, Ralph Gillotte, died in 1999. Ron Alberts, the last original band member, retired in 2004. A new lineup continued to play the band’s material until 2012 when it dissolved.

In 2015, Wilmer & The Dukes were inducted into the Rochester Music Hall of Fame. A local Rochester newspaper, the Democrat and Chronicle, wrote ahead of the induction ceremonies, “The plans are to bring in Wilmer Alexander Jr. from his home in Las Vegas. He is not in good health. Cancer and some early signs of dementia now, added to a pile of physical woes that were just beginning to show as the Dukes were fading away in the mid-’70s. Guitarist Doug Brown will be at the show, and drummer Ron Alberts. Keyboardist Ralph Gillotte and the two bass players who played with the band over the years, Bob Eagan and Monty Alberts, have died.”

The Rochester Music Hall of Fame, stated in 2015, that Wilmer & The Dukes were the inspiration for the band Otis Day & The Knights from the movie Animal House was Elmer & The Dukes. In a Rochester Democrat and Chronicle article about the band, “screenwriter and producer of Animal House, Ivan Reitman, saw Wilmer & the Dukes play gigs at The Inferno and at his frat house. Reitman attended McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, 65 miles from Buffalo.”

July 28, 2025
Ray McGinnis

References:
Jeff Spevak, “Wilmer & the Dukes brought ‘stunning’ R&B here,” Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, NY, April 26, 2015.
“Wilmer and The Dukes,” Rochester Music Hall of Fame, 2015.
“RPM Top 100 Singles Survey,” RPM, July 20, 1968.
“Wilmer & The Dukes,” Discoogs.com.

CJOY 1460-AM Guelph Top Ten | July 5, 1968