We were allowed fifteen minutes for the battle, which means 3-4 songs. We chose the soul number "Knock On Wood"; the Beatles' "With A Little Help From My Friends", one of our best tunes; and "Purple Haze". We didn't play either of the songs from our 45 because we wanted popular tunes that would galvanize the audience. Slow love songs and pop tunes were rejected. A large cheering section showed up, including a bunch of freshmen girls who were dropped off by their parents. (Steve Crosse remembers dating a few of those freshman, a side benefit of being in The Moving Violation.) Lee had urged us to pack the battle with our fans and supporters, so Lee and I went to the library during our free periods (I didn't waste too much of my school time actually studying) and chatted up freshmen girls, encouraging them to show up for the battle. Everybody had seen the Beatles and Stones on TV, and had witnessed hordes of girls going berserk. That's what we were hoping for, and that's what we got. Our cheering section went wild when we played, which may have beneficially influenced the judges. To be fair, I have to give most of the credit to Lee. He wasn't in it for the money, Lee was driven to make a career in the music industry, which he did. He didn't try to influence our song selection or personnel or playing style; it was the business end, the recording and promotion, that gave him a thrill. Lee Abrams was an innovator who would later be credited with creating the album orient rock format―AOR―that transformed FM radio. We also liked hanging out with Lee; he was a fun guy who brought great energy.
Not only did we wear uniforms―which was about to become seriously uncool in rock and roll―we also arranged synchronized moves for Purple Haze. Although choreographed dance moves was not a pop thing, it was a standard part of Motown. Chicago has, of course, a huge African-American population and the entire city―black and white―was very much into Motown and soul: The Four Tops, The Temptations, The Supremes, The Jackson Five, James Brown. All these groups used synchronized dance steps and it must have rubbed off on us. Purple Haze was our big number and we started the song with everybody kneeling on their right knee; the three guitar players in front of Mike's drums, the two singers in the front line. As the song starts with its familiar guitar riff, each guitar player jumped to his feet, one at a time, followed by the singers, also one at a time. We also employed some funky moves, including one where the two singers shuffled to their right while the three guitarists shuffled in unison to their left. Pretty cool.