Morningstarr Virgin Lover B/W If I Didn't Want to See You Anymore Lion Records 1969

Morningstarr Virgin Lover B/W If I Didn't Want to See You Anymore Lion Records 1969 CAT# L-45-1003

This is the very same band that went on to become Morningstar and record two albums for Columbia in the late-70s...Well, mostly the same, give or take a few members, or all but one. Initially members were in the KC band, 19th Century Sound Affair, but broke off to to form a heavy psych cover band before coming upon the name, Morningstarr (the pic sleeve of this actually says, Morning Starr) in the late 60's. The group was spotted by former White Sox short stop, Lou Rennau, who took them in to record for his Lion Records label out of Columbia, Missouri. Rennau also had some connections with Topeka band, The Morning Dew, and was a musician himself.

"Virgin Lover" is a pretty bizarre psych nugget and an original by Morningstarr member, Greg Soto. The groove is right, feels 1969 with a bit of British influence. The lyrics and the idea of a Virgin Lover are a bit off putting, though. Like if that's what you're seeking out, you're kind of a creep, you know?

The flip side, "If I Didn't Want to See You Anymore" was actually a song intended for the prior band, 19th Century Sound Affair. It's actually co-written by Larry Sands who fronted the 19th Century. The track features the band's female singer, Melissa Mendenhall. It has a nice baroque-pop sound and not as heavy as "Virgin Lover." Both tracks are solid.

The release earned the band enough attention to open some shows for Led Zeppelin. Due to the travel associated with being in a band, Mendenhall would quit. But, the band trudged on for a decade. Legend states that it was this early stuff that brought them to Columbia records almost decade latter. The Columbia exec that signed the band had seen the band 7 years prior to signing them, which would have been a lineup similar to the one featured on this 45 versus the group that cut Columbia LPs.

Virgin Lover

Season To Risk Mine Eyes B/W Why See Straight Columbia/Red Decibel 1993

Season To Risk Mine Eyes B/W Why See Straight Columbia/Red Decibel 1993 CAT# CS7 74888

Somewhere in the late-70's 45s became terribly boring and featured songs that were available on a full-length LP. Both tracks featured here were on Season To Risk's self-titled debut. While a 45 is cool for the completest, this isn't that necessary.

Both songs sound angry and dated today. There's that Jesus Lizard megaphone singing, which in 93' was still kind of cool, now it just sounds cliche. Letting "Why See Straight" stand by itself is kind of fun, though. There's some cool moments and ideas, the band gets a little lighter on the chorus harmony, showing they weren't always so metal about everything. "Mine Eyes" was an attempt at a single, it played around here. Sure it got love in other spots, but again, sounds dated now-a-days.

Mine Eyes

Bob Brookmeyer And Friends Columbia 1965

Bob Brookmeyer And Friends Columbia 1965 CAT #CL 2237

Pretty outstanding list of players for KC trombonist, Bob Brookmeyer. This album was a reunion for Stan Getz and Bob Brookmeyer who had worked together at length for years prior to 1965. It features standards and some Brookmeyer originals.

In 1965, Getz and Brookmeyer were aging and through being cool. What saves the album from standard, boring, white-guy jazz is the young players they brought aboard to fill out the sessions. Namely, a young Herbie Hancock filling out the tunes with some interesting keyboard runs. It also, as the cover indicates, includes Gary Burton, who had done plenty up to this point, but was still young at the time of this release. Hancock and Burton's imagination was allowed to carry the album. Without them, the album would still be top notch, just not as memorable.

Brookmeyer's Jive Hoot

Merrill Staton Choir Kansas' First 100 Years in Song Columbia 1961

Merrill Staton Choir Kansas' First 100 Years in Song Columbia 1961 CAT #XTV 68571

The only real attraction to this LP is the cover. The iconic John Brown painting right there on the front. Talk all you want about Kansas' Old West history, but John Brown would kill you for the right reason. He was a bad-ass and not be crossed.

As for the music and the Merrill Staton Choir, it's okay. Vocal renditions of songs that are historically linked to Kansas. The state song, "Home on the Range", is obviously here. The rest is a little less known. It's all vocal choral work. It gets a bit Broadway at times, there is some instrumentation here and there, but there's probably very few that are interested in this type of thing anymore.

It's hard to place the actual choir. Initially, it appeared as this was a Columbia Records Special release and the Merrill Staton Choir was a canned group of studio singers pumping out these type of albums for all state centennials. A quick major-label cash grab type of thing. However, the Merrill Staton Choir has a discography, often covering Western music. It does appear there is some connection to Kansas here. The choir recorded for Epic and Columbia and apparently was based somewhere in the state.

Season To Risk Self Titled Big Money Inc./Red Decibel/Columbia 1993

Season To Risk Self Titled Red Decibel/Columbia 1992, 1993 CAT# BMI 040

Re-listening and looking back, this LP hasn't aged well. From the ironic artwork to the trendy metal production styles, it just reeks of the early 90's. But, sometimes nostalgia is great. The memories that surround this moment in Kansas City music history for outweigh it's dated style.

The album is a bruiser, though. It's aggressive and mean. It's angry and loud. It's been stated here before, but at the end of the day, it's a shame this brand of post-hardcore with heavy metal aspects didn't beat out bands like Korn and Limp Bizkit to dominate the teenage aggression scene. Season to Risk is far more intelligent and were far better musicians. They just came on the scene a bit too early, the kids that would have been prime for this hadn't gotten to age where they would now how to handle this.

The album doesn't lack highlights. "Mine Eyes" was a solid single. The final song on the LP, "Reminder," is a great example of the band's aggressive style. "Why See Straight" is also a bruiser. The song "Scorched" has some nifty guitar work and is a fantastic take on noise rock. The rest comes in moments, there are times when they stay in places that contemporaries like Failure, Handsome and even the legendary Jesus Lizard perfected, but Season to Risk end up getting too heavy metal. They use a megaphone to sing through a lot which is a nice 90's effect, but it does wear thin. Overall, it's worth it for the memories, if you heard it as a teenager, you'll want to grab a skateboard or go jump stairs on in-line skates, whatever your extreme sport was in the early 90's.

Reminder

Morningstar S/T Columbia 1978

Morningstar S/T Columbia 1978 CAT # JC35316

This is the debut album from Morningstar.  I was hoping after the dreadful experience of their second album for Columbia, this would be better.

Good news, it's better.  Bad news, it's still cheeseball, pomp-rock.  You could tell, the second album was based on the commercial failure of this LP.  This album appears to be a bit truer to the band.  You can actually feel the energy and nothing sounds forced.  The band attempts to rock and at times it sounds kind of Kiss-esque, 70's metal.  Most of the time, however, it sounds similar to other studio rockers of the time. The album is also sprinkled with a bunch of synth driven mid-tempo, sappy, chick tunes.  I'm sure they got laid a lot at bars and such, but they probably would have been a more successful band had they concentrated on straight ahead rock n' roll.

Worst of it, the lyrics these guys (or guy) wrote are awful.  I mean, there's a lot of stuff out there that borders on bad teenage poetry, but this does it the whole way through.  Half this shit doesn't even make sense.  Here's the chorus from the tune, Sweet Georgia Peach, "Like a Sweet Georgia Peach, I got a line on you but my ten foot pole won't reach."  Really?  This is not clever.  I mean, I get it, the cliche, "I wouldn't touch that with a ten foot pole," but it doesn't make it clever to say you can't touch something with something you'd never touch it with in the first place.  It's like that the whole way through, a bunch of lines that just leave you scratching your head trying to figure out if they were attempting to be clever or if they were really that stuck for things to write about.

Props, though.  They mention KC numerous times throughout the LP credits.  The booking company is listed in Shawnee Mission, KS.  They thanked local radio stations.  And, they just gave a straight shout out to Kansas City in the thank you's on the liner.

Morningstar Venus Columbia 1979

Morningstar Venus Columbia 1979 CAT # JC 35713

I can tolerate Kansas City's brief foray into the realms of arena and studio rock.  Shooting Star, whatever.  Missouri, better than you think.  Kansas, they got the prog rock thing and that's cool.  But, this band is awful.  The Kansas Music Hall of Fame states they barely missed their moment.  The band's contemporaries like Styx, Journey, and Foreigner had all opted for a ballad driven sound while the rest of the musical landscape was filled with disco and punk--the hard rock sound of Morningstar was destined to be overlooked.  Really?  That may have been true on the pop charts, but last I checked, AC/DC, Aerosmith, The Who, and Led Zeppelin were putting out "hard rock" albums and staying both successful and enjoyable without support of pop radio.  Last I checked, most of those bands put out good music in the late 70's.  Morningstar just isn't that good.

I mean, they seem like competent players.  They sound slick and polished.  They have cool facial hair and great bangs on the back cover.  One problem, they didn't write good songs.  What they do well is showcase the ineptitude of major labels, even at a time when record labels were still successful. The band  appears to be a case of major labels keeping up with the Joneses.  Whenever and wherever something is successful, the labels always find a way to saturate the market with sound alikes.  The band Kansas scored substantial hits in the mid-70's.  Shooting Star was signed by Virgin and being thrown out there in heavy doses.  The band Missouri had a moderate hit without even having major label support.  So, Morningstar seems like Columbia's attempt to cash in on the Kansas/Missouri rock sound.

Even worse, the label just threw them into the melting pot.  You can tell the band was forced to step outside their comfort zone in hopes of finding a hit song.  There's the Styx moments on the record, the moments that try to be the working man's tune, and the moments that get sappy.  This was their second album, so they tried everything.  Overall, it just created an uneven album and history suggests that Columbia gave up on the band shortly after it's release.

Angel