The Wagtones really came into existence whatever day it was that Larry Santucci coined the word Wagtone. It was back in 1995 that Larry walked into his dorm room to hear Wagdy Okaily flailing away at a guitar with a huge grin on his face. History was made as Larry uttered the phrase, "WAGDY! Stop playing those horrible Wagtones!"
It was Larry's roommate Dave Meehan who realized the marquee value a name like "The Wagtones" could have for a band. Dave mentioned this fact to Larry (who was/is a skilled musician) and he agreed that it was a good name for a band. Dave then began his search to form the Wagtones.
His first recruit was, of course, Wagdy. Wagdy agreed to bring someone's (we'll probably never know who it really belonged to) crappy, beat-up bass. Dave would play rhythm guitar. There were many problems with this incarnation of the Wagtones.
So Dave and Wagdy put the Wagtones on hold for a little while and went back to their lives. An unrememberable amount of time later, Dave suggested to Larry that they should form a punk rock band. Larry, who in retrospect must have been intoxicated, agreed. The new Wagtones lineup would consist of Dave on guitar, Larry on bass, and Tim McCoy on drums. This plan soon fell apart, when Tim was never told that he was in the band, and Larry remembered that he hated punk.
However, one weekend while Larry was away, a pseudo-Wagtones concert took place in Dave and Larry's room. It consisted of Dave on electric guitar, Wagdy and Dennis McCarthy on acoustic guitar, and Tim screaming into a hair brush. The only song "performed" was the Beach Boys "Wild Honey". The results of the concert were:
So once again the Wagtones went on hiatus. This hiatus was a long one and lasted through the summer of 1996. However, a very important event took place over the summer. Wagdy got a room on campus with his friend Andy White. Andy would become influencial in the creation of the new Wagtones.