57 years later, Mitch Ryder finally makes good on a broken promise to Wooster High

WOOSTER, Ohio — The year was 1968. Rock and roll group Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels were scoring hit after hit across America, with singles like “Sock It To Me” and “Devil With A Blue Dress On” dominating radio airwaves.

So it’s easy to understand why students at Wooster High School were ecstatic to learn that Mitch Ryder himself was coming to town to perform a concert — just for them.

Until he didn’t.

At the last minute, for reasons still unknown, Mitch Ryder finked out.

“Our student newspaper had the headline ‘Mitch Ryder Finks Out Quick,’” recalled Carolyn Robinson, Wooster Class of 1971. “The students of Wooster High School will never forget the unhappiness that the infamous Mitch Ryder has caused. The faculty advisor summed it up best — when asked her opinion of Mitch Ryde