1979

Mar. 6 Elvis Costello / the Rubinoos. At Kiel Opera House, the show where he played “Radio Radio” and dedicated it to all the bastard radio stations that won’t play our records, including KSHE. Got him banned from the station that had only played him for two weeks before the show. Actually, other than that, this was the first and worst Costello show I ever saw – he just seemed to be going through the motions, and only played 45 minutes. The Rubinoos were a blast, with their hit “Rock and Roll is Dead and we Don’t Care.”

June 20 Cheap Trick / Graham Parker & the Rumour. At Kiel Opera House. Parker & the Rumour were on fire, touring behind Squeezing Out Sparks. Cheap Trick was out behind Heaven Tonight, and they rocked hard, too – encore brought GP & the boys out to join Cheap Trick on a five-guitar super-loud version of “Surrender.”

July 8 Dinosaurs / Camaros / Welders. My first local show at Kiel Assembly Hall #4. I couldn’t believe people in my city were this talented. I wore my KSHE Unfair to Rock & Roll t-shirt, met a lot of people, many of whom I still know.

July 21 Camaros / Max Load / Welders. My second local show, same hall. I thought Max Load were a little too metal, but they changed their line-up and I liked them more later. Tony Cornejo of the Camaros was a wild man on stage.

July 26 Blondie / Rockpile. I don’t remember either band being particularly great that night, but I remember Tony Cornejo, who I may or may not have met by then, dancing furiously at the foot of the stage to Blondie’s cover of “Bang a Gong (Get It On).” 

Aug 4 Retros. Yep, I was 20, and this was the first party I ever went to, at my friend Steve Gaulke’s house. The Retros had Bob Chekoudjian, who I knew from high school, so I had to see them. I fell in love with this band – they were instantly my favorites.

Aug 7 The Cars / Nick Gilder. Nick Gilder was a smash on stage; the Cars just stood stock still and sounded like their records. Now I loved their records – still do – but I can’t say they translated to an exciting concert.

Aug 23 Magazine / Raymilland. Back to Kiel Assembly Hall #4 for my first look at an underground British New Wave group. Howard Devoto’s Magazine were all over the shows I listened to on KWUR, and my friends in and around the Retros liked them too. Raymilland was a St. Louis band which impressed the heck out of me as the perfect complement to Magazine.

Sept 2 Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes / Johnny Cougar. As much as I later fell in love with John Mellencamp, I really couldn’t stand Johnny Cougar. I know he had a good band, but the schtick was too thick. Southside Johnny, on the other hand, put on one of the most exciting shows of the year with that classic r’n’b vibe, the horn section, and those Springsteen castaways. The show ended early and he promised to come back and make it up to us, but I’m still waiting 31 years later.

Sept 24 Retros. I’m thinking this was their first gig at the No Name Disco, which would be a haven on Monday nights for the next few months with its New Wave night for local bands to play.

Oct 9 Eddie & the Hot Rods / The Dinosaurs This was at the end of their rope, with some line-up changes, but they played “Do Anything You Wanta Do” and “Teenage Depression,” so I was happy. My first time at 4^th and Pine. I wasn’t quite 21 yet, but the door guy was arguing with somebody in front of me about her ID, so he waved me in without looking at mine. I’m pretty sure the Dinosaurs broke up very soon after this show.

Oct. 15 Brown & Langrehr. Definitely at No Name Disco. We all loved the M Street Band single “She’s a Machine,” heard on KWUR, so we had to see this new version of the group without a bass player. Fun time. Around this time, I developed my system with George Dunn and Troy Mingo of going to the No Name Disco before being 21. George was of age, so he’d go in, come out, hand me his ID, I’d go in, come out, and hand it to Troy.

Oct. 17 Talking Heads. My first time at Mississippi Nights. They were touring behind Fear of Music, so it was just the four-piece band, and I loved it. Hated the comedian who opened the show, still don’t know why he got that gig. I took a chance, and the doorman misread my ID, which still needed 33 days to be legal.

Oct. 23 Joe Jackson / Sassy. My first time at Stages across the river, where the drinking age was 18. I had no interest in alcohol back then, so all I wanted was to get in to bars to hear music. Joe Jackson’s first album was just out, and I tried to get him to sign my petition to convince KSHE to play New Wave. He of course was a brand new artist getting some airplay, so he wouldn’t do this. I was naïve enough to think a star like Jackson (I mean, he had a record out, right?) would be able to force the radio station to play other New Wave artists. He didn’t sign, but he hung out and talked with me and my friend George for a long time after the show.

Oct. 29 Rockin’ Robin. This was a No Name Disco night, but Rockin’ Robin was a local bar band guitarist who had no knowledge of or interest in New Wave. 

Nov. 12 Brown & Langrehr – Another No Name Disco show, and these guys were rapidly becoming my second fave local band.

Nov. 19 Cool Jerk. My official birthday at the No Name Disco. I was ready to show my now official ID, but the door guy waved me in and said, “He’s here every week.” Cool Jerk were St. Louis legends, with one of the greatest band names ever, and a set of power pop originals mixed with classic rock’n’roll & soul covers. Or so my dim memory of their actual sound tells me – they never recorded, to my knowledge.

Nov. 26 The Ramones / The Retros. Back to Mississippi Nights for my most eagerly awaited concert experience (and the only time I ever bought a t-shirt). I actually interviewed the band beforehand, thanks to Post Dispatch writer Elaine Viets, who had interviewed me earlier because of my attempt to convince KSHE to go New Wave. I figured she’d want to interview the Ramones and let me tag along, but of course she had no interest. Instead, she very kindly set up (probably with the aid of my later boss Dick Richmond, but I don’t know for sure about that) an interview so George and his sister Duwan and I got to walk into a hotel and meet our heroes. The plan was to publish the interview in Noise, a free one-page fanzine published by Jim Roehm. Instead, this became the center piece of the first issue of Jet Lag.

Dec. 3 The News. I wonder who played New Wave night the time the Ramones played – I’m assuming the No Name Disco was empty that night. The News were a St. Louis trio with a fondness for the Who, the Clash, and reggae. I loved them; the eventually became the Strikers.

Dec. 4 Ultravox / Raymilland. I had only heard Ultravox once or twice at my friend Don Hollenbeck’s house – us punk rockers used to go there to play Risk every Sunday night and listen to records. Little did I know that John Foxx had just left the band to be replaced by Midge Ure. So what we got at Mississippi Nights had little in common with any Ultravox records – it was really a lot more punkish.

Dec. 8 Cool Jerk / Brown & Langrehr. Just before they broke up, Cool Jerk found a new place to play, the Peacock Alley Arts Center, which was a cavernous space just north and west of Union Station. 

Dec. 12 The Sports / Amaretto. I loved going to Stages, but the opening acts were always lame local bar bands. At that time, Illinois had the lower drinking age, so there were dozens of night spots and even more dozens of local rock stars playing their versions of the radio hits, along with the occasional sound-alike original. They all had stupid names like Sassy or Amaretto. The Sports were from Australia, and they had a great song called “Who Listens to the Radio.” I think this was the night Bob Chekoudjian argued with the doorman at Stages about his leather jacket; the club had a strict no leather policy to keep out bikers, and Bob just wanted to look cool.

Dec. 17 The Retros. I’m guessing they played again at the No Name Disco.

Dec. 21 20/20. This was the last original music concert at Mississippi Nights for a couple years. Urban Cowboy had been a huge hit, and the Nights became a cowboy bar for a while, complete with bucking bronco. 20/20 were a great power pop band from L.A., and they had a really cool song on their debut album called “Jet Lag,” which not much later gave John the Mailman and I the inspiration to name our fanzine. Many years thereafter, Jordan Oakes named his fanzine “Yellow Pills” after another 20/20 song, so that album was prime fanzine naming material. “Action Now” and “Tonight We Fly” remain at the ready, I believe.

Dec. 29 Brown & Langrehr / the Retros. This was another party at Steve Gaulke’s house, and it was really a Retros show, but Brown & Langrehr were there, and they played a few songs, too. I remember it snowed like crazy that night, and I had trouble convincing my parents to let me drive their car from North County to Town & Country. I still don’t know how I managed to get those keys, but I know they thought George would be following me home in his car.