C&L's Late Nite Music Club with Head East
By MaxMarginal Wednesday Jul 29, 2009 7:00pm(h/t Heather)
I had no clue of Head East's existence until Heather here at C+L recommended this song, which is sending me on a rock and roll archaeological dig through clips of 1970's also-rans to find other gems like this downstate IL combo who according to my not so exhaustive research made a minor splash in the Midwest before fading into obscurity.
John Schlitt, like many rockers before him, crashed and burned on drugs and booze and then found God. Like still many but a smaller few, he started making music about it. Like no one I can think of off the top of my head, he had far more success than he ever had in his secular rock career once he joined Christian rock pioneers Petra, a band often credited with being the band that mainstreamed the idea of ministry through rock and roll. I'm sure readers are lining up to thank them . I've always been grudgingly grateful to them since one of my favorites, King's X, met in a Petra-related project that never got off the ground.
Enjoy this clip and ponder the question, "What makes someone edit grainy footage of a band over the track of a different one?" If you have any suggestions for my classic rock also-ran excavation, fire away!
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How about Tonto's Expanding Head band?
The Monroes...one of my early 90s favorites.
Here's an excellent example of what Pop could be.
Stealin'
Max, I'm not sure if it was Head East or Uriah Heep who opened for REO Speedwagon at my first ever concert (Jan.2, 1980, Welsh Auditorium, Grand Rapids, MI), because the two bands have always reminded me so much of each other.
I loved Head East as a teenager and still like to break them out occasionally in the right location --Pabst/Bud and blue-collar crowds.(Not for the meth and soon-to-be-in prison blues (again...) crowd though; all white trash are not created equal!)
They never got much play (OK, basically none...) in SoCal when I was growing up. I played the hell out of their double live LP, circa 1979, but I haven't replaced it with a digital back-up yet. Maybe soon...
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Uriah Heep (of Shit), along with Iron Butterfly, was and has remained one of my most truly loathed bands of all time. And they have not aged well. Fortunately, they get even less airtime these days.
If only that would happen to Bostonjourneystyxforeigner Corp... In my old age, I'm starting to forget much of what I really enjoyed, and rehearing the corporate shit that I hated in my youth still flooding radio today doesn't make me feel better. It reminds me that so much music of my youth SUCKED, and that, today, RADIO still does.
...love that song.
I think Head East was from St. Louis.
...is metro St. Louis, isn't it?
My bad, they were indeed from downstate Ill.
I do remember them playing in St. Louis.
.....smart guy.
:D
It's difficult to string together memories from that particular time period.......must have been something in the air.
Somehow I do remember when this song came out it was (at the time) supposedly filling the void between Boston's first album and Aerosmith's dead air, no record production related partying along with the growing disgust with disco.
..is just another tool of oppression.
Do not dignify these people by showing their garbage here.
This is the hedonistic band the Christian Rock dude was in before he became an evangelical Christian.
BTW, I hope you don't have any U2 in your collection. Or Al Green, either.
..a couple of U2 albums,but it doesn't change my opinions one iota.
...bands that don't obfuscate their roots? Because U2 promoted Boy, their first album, by talking up their faith all the time. Ohh, the oppression you would have known had you been paying attention.
Look, I'm no fan of the genre,or of the people behind it. Odds are that I heard or heard of all of those acts long before you did, Zondervan Publishing and Music- who were the moving force behind the Christian Rock genre with DeGarmo & Key on their Benson Records Label (later sold to Sony BMG)- being headquartered in my hometown. Christian Rock acts might or might not make it through your city, they most definitely come through here.
And you know what? I don't go see them. Don't listen to 'em if I can avoid 'em. But I don't go around telling other people thy must or should do the same.
You claim to be understanding yet you show off your ignorance by saying "if you don't like them, don't listen to them". I got news for you. There's going to be a time when we're forced to listen to sectarian garbage one day. Probably not tomorrow, but soon..
You own U2 records.
..
Because their politics jibe with yours, even when their views on faith conflict with yours?
You can't have it both ways.
BTW, you should read up on John Coltrane and Dave Brubeck before you go supporting, by way of buying their albums, more musicians who professed their faith openly.
I could care less about Coltrane or Brubeck and it's you who want's to have it both ways.
You claim you want freedom for all yet you won't stand against religious types who would stomp on that freedom in the name of the 1st Amendment.
And you wonder why the religious right is so powerful?
Now me, I don't like that genre known as Christian Rock because it is probably the least adventurous, musically, of any genre out there. I don't give a fuck that they're trying to sell WWJD bracelets: I just ain't buyin'. But I don't think that I've got any right to stop them from doing what they're doing. And the fact that the most successful of all of the bands that profess their faith- U2- resonates with the secular community of which both you and I seem to be a part without setting off bells and whistles tells me that maybe if we just let these people play, we'll actually gain something- if only pleasure- from it.
King's X, MeWithoutYou (one of the best bands around right now), Zao, Copeland, Cool Hand Luke and the current Smoking Popes stuff... all that stuff rules, regardless of the Jeebus overtones.
Zao and King's X have both denounced Christianity in recent years.
"christian" rock-n-roll is anathema to actual rock. This was (is) a great song; too bad about John Schlitt going on to "find god." Where was his "god" when he was doing drugs?
I Still Want You
Okay, Max, mid-'80's Boston band. Sounded like a cross between Tom Petty and The Replacements. Pretty minor hits, best remembered for their beer commercial.
I love that song. Thanks, Andy!
in Chicago around 1982. Good band.
I like that song....haven't heard it in a long, long while.
And there's a line in a great Juliana Hatfield song, "My Sister":
"She's the one that would've taken me to my first all ages show. It was the Violent Femmes and the Del Fuegos, before they had a record out, before they went gold..."
Ah, good ole Head East. KSHE radio here in St. Louis used to play them all the time when I was growing up in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Technically, I think they were from Champaign (met at University of Illinois).
Chuck Berry is also from St. Louis....he still plays at Blueberry Hill I think once a month. Miles Davis was from Alton, Illinois, just outside St. Louis....think he also might have spent some of his childhood in East St. Louis.
Another obscure St. Louis band from the '70s, one of my favorites....Pavlov's Dog. Two of my favorite tunes from them, "Natchez Trace"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOgh8WNXWs8
and "Julia"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6uexPmL0fk
I grew up listening to KSHE too, and yes I remember Pavlov's Dog,Mamas Pride, and Missouri....."Moovin On" was Missouri's big hit.
I was in the Hauptbahnhof in '74 in Munich dozing off waiting for a train when two young ladies asked me if I was from St. Louis. Why yes, and how did you know? You're wearing a KSHE t-shirt. What a small world.
I used to listen to KMOX too until they lost the Cardinal broadcast and started broadcasting Lush Dimbulb.
Now I listen to Podcasts and NPR, I have control of what I listen to.......not Clear Channel.
Yeah, Rad Mod...started listening to KSHE freshman year in high school. Was in a car pool with a bunch of guys from Belleville who drove to SLUH every day, and we either had KSHE on the air, or one of the guys brought an 8-track tape to play.
I also used to listen to KMOX....but first stopped listening when I moved to Chicago in 1995. Now that I've moved back to STL, I still don't listen to them much, notably because they have Limpballs....in fact, I've sent a few emails to KMOX's chief guy complaining about limpballs!
Oh, the Hauptbahnof! I've been there many times in Munich....been to at least 6 or 7 Oktoberfests! One of my sisters went to school in Munich her junior year in college, and that's when I first went. Love Muenchen! My sister and I were actually waiting one morning in the Hauptbahnhof, waiting to go somewhere on a train, when another girl got off of a train from Paris.....my sister (and I) knew her...she went to high school with my sister!
Small world indeed!
These are both great!! And my fav is Natchez Trace too...
A few years ago, when I was still living in Chicago, I made a visit back to St. Louis. I stopped by Vintage Vinyl, where they had two Pavlov's Dogs CDs, including "Pampered Menial," which I picked up....great memories!
I love it when that happens... I'll be scouring some of my local spots for Pavlov's Dogs CDs now too. Thanks again!
CDs or LPs? This is the first I've heard about "Pampered Menial" being issued as a CD.
Pete
Yeah, Pete. I bought "Pampered Menial" and "At the Sound of the Bell", both on CD, not LP. The label on both CDs says "CBS."
It was probably 4 or 5 years ago when I bought these at Vintage Vinyl on Delmar, in University City. This place has been here a long time. Many years ago, when I was going to Washington U., I'd often hang out at Vintage Vinyl. At that time, they sold boot leg albums...between my brother and me, we bought every Stones' bootleg we could get our hands on!
I'd bet that you can still get a Pavlov's Dog CD at Vintage Vinyl.
I can't believe I've found someone else who has heard of Pavlov's Dog. They were great. I saw them years ago along with Journey (with the original lead singer Steve Perry) and Blue Oyster Cult...at a free concert. I went right out and bought the Pavlov's Dog album (my ex ended up with it) I've been trying to find the cd...it's pretty hard to find. They were awesome. Loved "Julia".
I have two cd's by Head East...but I think the "Flat as a Pancake" is the best...
Thanks for the 'memories"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuTiTfbfy7Q
Head East and REO Speedwagon. Both started in Champaign. One got huge while the other shined and fizzled, and then REO went from rock to sappy ballads. All good things must end
I still got this album down in the vinyl vault. I bought the second Head East album too but it wasnt quite as good.
Check out this trailer for Bonamassas upcoming DVD of the Royal Albert Hall show. 12 Hi Def cameras. awesome sound and some new guy named Clapton stops by to play a tune with Joe. Joe is the MAN...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDBzeSQoTu8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ra7_60iwpk8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3f72CTDe4-0
Humble Pie - Thirty Days in the Hole
Sorry, couldn't find any good era live performances of this, so still photographs under the album cut will have to do.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyKN8OzzO8s
Sweet's "Ballroom Blitz". I crank both to near-maximum volume And if I'm driving, I instinctively mash the throttle and rapidly jockey for some clean lane space ahead of me. Neither song gets that much airplay any longer, so the likelihood of me mowing down an unlucky pedestrian or tripping a cop's radar gun usually warrants the risk...
Boy, what a movie.
The music on the "Dazed and Confused" soundtrack was by groups that were big names in the 70s (Foghat, etc), not little-known also-rans, but it is a good soundtrack. I remember Rick Linklater saying he tried and tried to get Led Zeppelin to allow him to use their music in the movie, especially the song he got the movie title from, but Robert Plant nixed that idea.
"Never Been Any Reason" *was* on the Dazed and Confused soundtrack, the second disc. It's playing in the background when Wooderson's telling Clint about what "Melba Toast is packin'" :)
Head East made it as far west Warshington state via the county fair circuit. Depressing as that may be this song *does* kick@ss.
Not sure they're quite what you're looking for but I always thought of Molly Hatchet as an also ran, forever in the shadow of Lynyrd Skynyrd. Real meathead rawk, but they had their moments.
same vein as well-- big enough to open for a Skynyrd, small enough to headline the Owensboro, KY Riverfest...
Johnny Hold Back
Don't recall much about them other than the fact that all of their album covers featured women in negligee and too much makeup striking what I assume were meant to be sexy poses.
...enough. If you keep linking all these great bands I'll never get any work done!
The album art (I miss those) was a couple of space jockeys playing baseball in zero G. I think it was Called "First Base". No?
Can't just bring it up and expect us to go searchin' for it!
of Babe Ruth.
Wells Fargo
Kayleigh
10 years late to the Art Rock movement, Max. This was their most mainstream.
I was an intern at their label (Velvel Records) when I was 17. I know some Marillion obsessives. Lemme check this tune out...
I tried Lyrics on Demand 'cause they usually put the album cover with the listing but it wasn't there.
I'm looking but I'm two cadillac margaritas into the evening so give me a break!
Or Bing, or Yahoo! Shoo, off you go until you find it, drinky or no drinky! :D
My bad. It Was a group called Babe Ruth. Here is some info. I just remembered the cover art and associated it with HE.
http://www.rock.co.za/rockit/playlist051019.html
Scroll down to # 17
Horrible name, though. They shoulda stuck with Shacklock.
Shit, there's one for Max: Next band you start should be called Shacklock, Max!
Stickmen and Twang-Twang-Shock-A-Boom! Both great Austin bands before the fall. David Garza (pronounced Dah-Veed for all the bolillos in the audience) is still making great music down here in Tejas. The Stickmen broke up (natch) but Malcolm Milligan kept on keeping on. He recently left Austin for St. Louis. Their major gain...our loss. He's pushing 50 and his pipes are still immaculate. I miss undergrad if only for those stolen nights watching these and other great acts (Javelin Boot comes to mind. REM good before REM was noticed) and sneaking into Antone's when it was on the Drag to be witness to some of the best Blues artists in history. Andele' Pues, Vatos! BTW, numfar, me likey the Monroes. Thanks
Not there either. I must be thinking of another one hit wonder.
Damn ta kill ya
Does the term "classic rock" still mean late 60s and 70s-style stadium rock ranging from, say, Cream and Hendrix through Zeppelin, Three Dog Night, and the Stones to Boston, Journey, and Heart, most of which was just called "hard rock" or just "rock" or "rock'n'roll" at the time? Or has it now expanded to include the 70s-influenced bands of the 80s like Asia and all the bands now referred to as "hair bands"?
And by "also ran" do you mean bands completely without commercial success or those with just one hit or bands that were big in other places but not the US?
If the latter, can the Arrows, with the original 1975 version of "I Love Rock'n'Roll", qualify? They were big in the UK but not the US.
I was fortunate enough to listen to the Seattle "hard rock" station KISW in the 70's & 80's. Steve Slayton was an incredible DJ w/ an ear for talent. He got a lot of "rising stars" exposure in the states, esp. an obscure band from Oz, AC/DC.
Head East was a KISW Rising Star, along w/ my personal fave from down under, Angel City. They were called The Angels in Australia, but had to change their name to avoid competition in the states. Their biggest hit was "Marseilles"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gI3u6wehVWs
but they also had other great songs like "I don't want to face the day" and "After the rain." Doc Neeson had a kick-ass rock 'n roll voice, and while I liked (Bon Scott)AC/DC, I felt The Angels got hosed, for they had more talent.
Other groups were UFO, Rossington/Collins Band, and Uriah Heep.
wrong place - sorry
The Rockets--"Desire": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rsbu_gbeoyw
April Wine--"Roller": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJTwcTPhYyc
First record I ever bought:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2B2clFsLA3w
...this was Styx.
Mahogany Rush
I haven't heard that name for years and years!!! I totally forget about them and I loved them. And yes, Head East and REO Speedwagon were both from Champaign IL. I saw both bands many times since I was raised here myself. As a matter of fact, the first time I heard Head East in concert I was at a small community college in central IL. Now I am the AV Supervisor for that same college and now I'm the one who hooks up sound systems for the visiting bands....gotta love it:)
Grew up listening to K-SHE in the late '60s - early '70s. Still have a Sweet Meat sticker on the back of my '72 Datsun B210. They've got a website with all the K-SHE classics listed. Talk about a time-suck. I've spent the last 90 minutes strolling through and picking out the tracks you never hear anywhere else: Doucette - Mama Let Him Play; Move - Feels Too Good; Moxy - Sail On, Sail Away; Nektar - Remember the Future; Mason Proffit - Two Hangmen; Lucifer's Friend - Spanish Galleon; Chilliwack - Fly By Night; shoot, I could go on for hours, but there's this little thing called work.
One of the last concerts I saw before I shipped out overseas was the Pavlov's Dog Thanksgiving concert in 1975 at the Opera House (is that still there?). Can't remember who opened for them, but it must have been another St. Louis favorite. Still have the vinyl of Pampered Menial, hope it's not too warped . . .
Hey, Pete. The Kiel Opera House physically is still there, but they closed it many years ago. However, several weeks ago, the city of St. Louis approved of opening it again. I'm not sure of the time schedule, but looks like we'll be able to see concerts in there once again.
I saw a few bands in there, including Santana, The Stones, and The Kinks. I've seen the Stones a number of times, and if I'm not mistaken, the first time I saw them was in the Opera House.
Good old Sweet Meat. I rarely listen to KSHE any more (just moved back to STL a couple of years ago, and listen to other things now)....but I think Sweet Meat the pig is still around! I remember in high school, when we dissected the baby pig. One group of students took their pig, wrote "Sweet Meat" on it, and stuck a cigarette in its mouth!
Remember Ruth Hutchinson? She was the elderly DJ, playing rock 'n roll on KSHE. She always cracked me up. I think she was 60 or 70 or even older when she was on the air.
Last night, I looked up KSHE classics...and found the web site you pointed out above. Brings back many memories.
There was a DJ I really liked who usually was on the air during the week, in the evening. He always signed off at midnight, and when he did, he always played Boz Scaggs' "Loan me a Dime".....classic. Can't remember that DJ's name....think his first name was "Lou," but I can't say for certain.
By the way, while surfing last night, I found that one of Pavlov's Dog's members died last month. He was Siegfried Carver (real name, Richard Nadler), who played violin. He was only 60. Turned out, he became a conservative activist later in life.
Grew up in Crystal City, saw Ted Nugent and the Amboy Dukes play at the Caveland Roller Ring in Festus. I too own Pampered Menial, what a great time.
Thanks, Pete....Haven't heard that song in probably 15 years....really love it, and, once again, brings back great memories of K-SHE classics and real rock radio!
Have to admit that when I lived in Chicago, I also really loved WXRT.....but they tend to play a different brand of rock than K-SHE does/did.
King's X have renounced Christianity, in case anyone didn't know this. Doug Pinnick, the lead vocalist/bassist of the band, has come out as a homosexual and an atheist.
I love King's X even more now.
My God (no pun intended what with the Pinnick/athiest revelations) King's X is an amazing band both on record and live. Seriously good three-piece rock band.
and Head East! I saw them at the Austin Opry House back in '79 or so, I was sixteen and got so loaded, I remember projectile vomiting right into the toilet in the bathroom (just made it! ;)
You're right! I had forgotten that they did manage to get the rights to that one song, but there was a protracted legal effort to get better known songs by Zeppelin that failed because of Plant. Do a search for interviews with Linklater about the film and he brings it up with every interviewer. It was a major frustration for him.
Mother's Finest
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SEmPYRlhOw&fe...
Wet Willie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tg0BNTebcbY
Cheer
...and I loved it since I used to march in a drum & bugle corps as a kid, you have to love Bill Chase. Probably one of the most underrated trumpet players ever IMHO.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3cEI1WQYXc&fe...
So, now I'm having flashbacks to law school in Champaign, IL, in the 1980s. Whoa.
Eh. Fairly typical AOR. It was OK but hardly earth shaking.
Head East takes me back to college in Champaign-Urbana. My favorite local band was a progressive rock band called Starcastle. They sounded a lot like Yes. Apparently they've gotten back together.
http://www.starcastlemusic.com/index2.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRLHh9JRkXE
Here is one of my favorite lost bands.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6uexPmL0fk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlDk0gEkhNs
I saw Coldplay on monday evening. Another band from England..."Elbow" opened...they were great. I have to say...this concert was the best concert I ever saw. Coldplay was absolutely fantastic.
Anyway, I was still in high school in '82, but we would crash as many college parties as we could. If memory serves, Head East headlined the year's big beer bash called Pan-Hell, and I recall they were considered a big thing in the area. Btw, I still have those Mahogany Rush LPs.
Knew I'd heard this song recently. Just confirmed it on IMDb. It's also a perfect fit for Dazed And Confused.
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