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Bill played in a number of folk groups throughout junior high and might have continued in that vein if he hadn't made two startling discoveries. "Girls and Rock and Roll! That was IT! I loved the music, the words spoke to my generation, AND GIRLS LIKED IT". I worked all one summer to buy my first electric guitar and my friends and I formed the classic sixties garage band, The Knight Ryders. Cool name huh? We covered songs by the Stones, Beatles, Jefferson Airplane, you name it. Our version of "Wild Thing" shook the walls of the high school gym. These were heady days for us. Tight jeans, long hair and yes.... the girls liked us."
So how you might ask did Mr. Sadler the rocker become Mr. Sadler the actor? In the fall of 1967 Orchard Park High was about to put on its annual variety show. Bill decided to try out. But doing what? "I was sure by that time I wanted to be a performer. The band was great fun but I wasn't sure it was 'it'. I'd always been able to make people laugh so I picked up my banjo, rehearsed a bunch of jokes and went to the audition as 'Banjo Bill Sadler'. Not only did I get in the show, they asked me to MC it." The show was a big success and for next two years Bill split his time between performing with the Knight Ryders and doing solo stand up gigs around Buffalo. (more)
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