Sherry Jones Mike Ning Quintet Blame it on the Music Ning Dynasty 1988

Sherry Jones Mike Ning Quintet Blame it on the Music Ning Dynasty 1988 CAT # 003

This LP is more of the 80's KC jazz scene players trying to bring back a legitimate KC jazz scene instead of trying to hang onto a memory. There's a number of these LPs floating around all featuring a combination of many of the same players featured here.

Pulling this one out just recently, what struck me is that the longtime KU professor, Chuck Berg, played tenor on it. Berg just passed recently at the end of July, but he was a well known/loved film and music professor at KU. A good friend of mine took a Jazz in Cinema course from Berg. During one of the classes, Berg mentioned how he was once in a rock n' roll band to which my friend asked the name and was told Spider and the Traps. Constantly digging, my friend then asked if there were any Spider and the Traps records released, to which Berg advised him there were not. Undeterred, my buddy tracked down a 7" by Spider and the Traps (there were at least two released) and confronted him with it. Berg still held that he wasn't on it as he was unaware the band released anything. Maybe he wasn't on it, but, maybe he just didn't want to admit to recording with a juvenile frat rock band.

He never mentioned this record to my friend. He was a jazz snob, maybe he would've proudly proclaimed this LP as something he was part of. It's decent, although the Quintet's name, Sherry Jones Mike Ning Quintet, is a bit fractured. For 80's jazz, these players never sounded too 80's. It's still pretty slick, but it's not smothered by smooth jazz and quiet storm sounds, they try to keep a bit more traditional.

Todd Newman and the Leatherwoods To Win You Back Reverb 1988

Todd Newman and the Leatherwoods To Win You Back B/W Downside of an Eightball Reverb 1988 CAT# REV701

I've been hearing legends concerning Todd Newman since hosting a power-pop show on KJHK. His songs were a must have per Lawrence power-pop enthusiasts.

So, up until finding this one, the hype has been building in my mind. Legendary Lawrence, KS power-pop, so good you can't find his 7"s anywhere. Then I got it and I'm like, meh, this is pedestrian.

Not to say it isn't good, it's enjoyable. "To Win You Back" has a great harmony on the chorus, but the rest could have been a Romantics song buried away on a second side of one of their albums and people might point it out as a highlight. The amount of swearing on the B-side, "Downside of an Eightball" is impressive. All the curse words paired with a power-pop balled is kind of humorous, but I'm not sure Todd Newman was trying to be funny.

Interesting bit about the band, formed in Lawrence, presumably as Jayhawks attending school (the 7" even thanks KJHK). The drummer of the Leatherwoods was Tim O'Reagan, who would move off to Minnesota and join the influential alt-country band, The Jayhawks, Coincidentally, Newman lives in the land of 1000 Lakes as well.

FULL 7"

Three Businessmen Laughing at the Face of Danger Terminal Squat Records 1988

Three Businessmen Laughing at the Face of Danger Terminal Squat Records 1988 CAT# Squat 001

Ron Rooks was interesting dude.  For 26 years, he ran the premiere record store in Kansas City, The Music Exchange.  By the time I started shopping there in the 90's, he had amassed an absurd amount of vinyl.  There were rumors that hidden from the customer's view, both in a warehouse and above the store he was sitting on even more.  When he passed in 2006, the rumors virtually became confirmed (can't totally be true, the legend of hidden vinyl got a bit absurd) as thousands upon thousands of LPS, 78s, and 45s were unloaded in the West Bottoms.  It was insane.  Store owners that purchased from the collection still have untouched boxes sitting in various spots throughout Kansas City.  However, it should be noted Rooks' best stuff was donated to the UMKC music archives, which is run by Chuck Haddock (local radio host who does a great job on a program called the Fish Fry).

Besides being the operator of the Music Exchange, Rooks was documented as quite the prankster in Westport.  Google his name, you'll find some of his antics with The Pitch and the KC Star.  He's no different on his self produced and released album.  There's jokes all over this thing.  The large green bar over the top meant to mimic the Mobility Fidelity label stating, "Original Three Quarter Master."  The grotesque cover art meant to make you think you're holding something fascinating, rare and artistic, but upon further look, more jokes.  The backside states, "Acousticly Enhanced for Two-Channel Mono," and, "Pressed on Vinyl Virgins."  Rooks also gave a rundown of all his songs, comical little notes on his thought process.

Unfortunately, his legacy in KC wasn't for his ability as a songwriter.  The jokes keep coming, but in song they become childish and weak.  Furthermore, he jumped all over the place on the LP, country, funk, new wave, etc. and with all the cheap jokes, he just seems to be poking fun at music in general.  The production is pure 80's and awfully watered down.  I'm sure he wasn't working with much of budget, but you would have thought he'd let some musicians run free on his LP, y'know?  He knew people.  Overall, the music is kind of goofy and nonsensical.  We're better off remembering Mr. Rooks for his Westport antics and his enduring love of vinyl.

Homestead Grays Big Hits Fresh Sounds Inc 1988

Homestead Grays Big Hits Fresh Sounds Inc 1988 CAT #FS 219

I live in the suburb of Overland Park in a pretty normal neighborhood, filled with pretty normal people, except maybe closer to the Glenwood Theater, there seems to be a neighborhood of hipsters with children in homes near there.  Anyway, I consider my nextdoor neighbor to be a pretty normal dude.  In his 40's, he works a lot, he drives an economical Nissan, he likes to mow his lawn, and he is always willing to have a friendly conversation.  I don't know him to be hip on musical trends, one time he told me he was going to a Metallica show and I've pretty much stopped talking to him about music since then.  On one rare occasion I did discuss music with him I was feeling him out to see if he remembered any local bands from the years he attended KU.  His answer was the Homestead Grays.  He fondly recalled this band as a "big deal" in and around Lawrence back in the 80's.

This EP was put out the same year KU won a NCAA Basketball Championship with Danny & the Miracles.  Not that the basketball has anything to do with the music, but as a KU alumnus, I felt the need to point that out.  If you listen to the EP, you get why they were a popular band around town.  They were being touted as a "next big thing" right next to artists like the Rainmakers.  Both bands were steeped in roots rock, but due to the lack of production budget the Grays have aged much better.  This band wasn't drenched in bad studio effects so the recordings don't sound as dated.  Further, all four songs featured here are all solid.  You can tell for they held back in the studio, but the potential for rowdy live performances is evident.

The first two tracks border on honky-tonk and are bar room stompers.  High energy, each track would have gotten the crowd worked up.  The two tracks on the flip side are really clever pop tunes.  There's a little twang on "I'd Like to Get to Know" and even a country breakdown, but overall, it's got as much to do with the Beatles as it does Hank Williams.  The final track entitled "285 DeSoto" is diverse, it's got a conga line drum beat, a ska derived guitar line, and chanted lyrics.  Despite that, it still finds a way not to sell it's soul and keep some twang.  It's a hit song that never happened.

The group was centered around the talents of Lawrence native, Chuck Mead.  After the Grays disbanded, Mead went to Nashville were he still sustains a career in music.  Currently he is a solo artist, but was previously helped form the alt. country pioneers and heavily acclaimed band, BR 549.  He also had success in Nashville songwriter.  Other members, Guy Stephens drummed for local bands Tendoerloin, Arthur Dodge & the Horsefeathers and did work for another local legend, Todd Newman.  Gray Ginter also played in Tenderloin and a number of other local bands, as did Brock Ginther, although I don't believe Brock was ever featured in Tenderloin.