You never know who’s going to show up! (Above) Jimmy Page & Lynn Zecca at the Kensington Olympia Record Show in London.
You can buy records from gojohnnygo- live in the flesh- at these upcoming events:
Rochester Music Expo 10AM-4PM Sunday May 5th at The Best Western Plus Soldier’s Field Tower & Suites, located at 401 6th Street SW, just off of Broadway
The Minnesota Record Show 9AM-4PM Saturday, June 1st, 2013 at The Ballantine VFW Hall, 2916 Lyndale Av S. (at Lake St), Minneapolis
(this post is second in a series saluting the estimable BILL AXELROD)
CROSSOVER came together from the ashes of two White Bear Lake-area bands: Watersign, which included Enrique Toussaint (bass), Dan Fashing (drums), Greg McNeely (keyboards), Tim Moeller (guitar), Rick Odell (sax– pre-Lamont Cranston), & John Elms (vocals, ex- Copperhead) and City, which featured Jimmy Lawrence (vocals & congas), and Bill Axelrod (tenor sax & percussion– post Fabulous Flippers). Watersign were regular performers at The Sunset Bar in White Bear Lake and The Dugout in Willernie. City played throughout the Twin Cities area & Groucho’s at Hwy 61 & 2nd Avenue in White Bear Lake.
Members of Crossover throughout their history included:
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Josh Weaver (bass)
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Greg McNeely
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Ron Lundquist (drums)
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.Jimmy Lawrence
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Bill Axelrod
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Tim Moeller
Enrique Toussaint
Josh Weaver (bass)
Dave Sletten (sax)
Ricky Washington (drums)
Johnny Hodges (vocals)
Bruce Jackson (keyboards)
Paul Johnson (bass)
Lee Blaske (keyboards)
Jim Barringer (guitar)
Pioneers of jazz fusion with a stage entirely covered in congas & other percussion, Crossover was one of the first jazz fusion groups to play The C Sharp Jazz Room at The Oz Night Club & Disco in Downtown St Paul. They played at Taste Show Lounge & Chicago Bar in Minneapolis, and at the 617 Bar in White Bear Lake too, kicking off the start of jazz fusion music there.
The self-titled LP on Atomic Theory Records (c 1985 1002) is Greg, Johnny, and other Twin Cities musicians along with some stellar L.A. studio musicians, including Vinnie Colaiuta on drums. (You can buy a vintage brand new sealed unopened unplayed copy of this sought-after wax right here.)
Civil Defense bio courtesy of Mike Reiter. It is also included in Civil Defense CD “Propaganda vs. Civil Defense” (buy it here).
In the early 80’s, Prince was beginning to make a dent nationally, but if you were a punk rocker in the Midwest, you had no reason to think of a “career” in music. So you played like you had nothing to lose. And at places such as The Longhorn, The Seventh Street Entry, and Goofy’s Upper Deck, plenty of young bands did. Those bands included: Husker Du, The Replacements, Loud Fast Rules (later Soul Asylum), Rifle Sport, and a young band from the East Side of Saint Paul, Civil Defense.
Civil Defense began in 1982 as a three-piece featuring Dale Schuster on guitar and vocals, Vinnie Karshnia on bass and vocals, and Mike Reiter on drums. After honing their sound for a few months in Mike’s basement, they played mostly parties and rented halls. They first appeared under the name “Propaganda.” Soon, they played the legendary “Upper Deck,” appearing with many of the local and touring punk bands of the time. Three songs from one of those performances (billed as Propaganda) appeared on the cassette-only release “Kitten Compilation.” It would later be re-issued on CD in 1999 by Reflex Records.
Later that year they would add Scott Grubich on guitar and vocals, and make their debut at The Seventh Street Entry as “Civil Defense.” The band’s sound was compared to The Buzzcocks and Radio Birdman. However, songwriter Dale’s prime influences were The Kinks and The Beatles.
In March of ‘83 they headed into Blackberry Way Studio in Minneapolis, the site of The Replacements early recordings, to produce what would become the “Gun Control EP.”
Due to the usual circumstances, the band would dissolve in ‘84. Dale and Vince would work together for a number of years. Dale still records under “The Throwbacks.” Scott would move to L.A. and join a band with skateboard legend Tony Alva, and then move to Australia for a time.
Mike would join The Dig with Ed Ackerson. He would go on to play in The Mighty Mofos, The 27 Various, and many others, including an appearance with Velvet Underground drummer Moe Tucker. Mike is still performing and recording, and is currently appearing with The Mood Swings on Susstones Records.
Thanx to my homeiz for allowing me to post this. Civil Defense were not only a favorite of mine, but they changed my life.
Sometime about 10 years ago, I met a guy at a garage sale in the Battle Creek neighborhood of St Paul. Bill was a jazz drummer in his sixties, and told me about some Sunday all-day jam sessions that some cats would hold in South Minneapolis back in the 1970s. He had some old Staples Singers records, and a box of reel to reel tapes. Hoping he had tapes of the jam sessions, I volunteered to transfer them to digital, so we could examine the tapes further. What popped up instead was this set or recordings. Bill said that when he was in L.A. for a few days, he had recorded some radio in his motel room with his portable deck. Commercials, gig announcements, and news reports are intact. It’s a great snapshot of how Jazz was presented on commercial radio back then. Thanx, Bill, wherever you are.
photo courtesy of socalradiohistory.com
Criteria is based on many things, but, in a nutshell, this is what is important here: good writing, attitude, knowledge, originality, covering uncharted territory.
1. Creem
2. Punk
3. Bomp
4. Kicks
5. Slash
6. Your Flesh
7. Phfudd!/Black to Comm
8. Trouser Press
9. New York Rocker
10. Friction
11. Conflict
12. Forced Exposure
13. Ugly Things
14. Bucketful of Brains
15. Sick Teen
16. Rock Scene
17. Flipside
18. Seattle Rocket
19. The Bob
20. No Mag
21. Op/Option
22. Galactic Zoo Dossier
23. Ptolemaic Terrascope
24. Transmission
25. Savage Damage Digest
26. Crawdaddy
27. Zig Zag
28. Touch & Go
29. Search & Destroy
30. Teenage Wasteland Gazette
31. CLE
32. Away from The Pulsebeat
33. Damage
34. Punk Rock/New Wave
35. Freakbeat
36. Mojo
37. Ripper
38. Circus
39. Maximum Rock n Roll
40. Sweet Potato
41. The Wrap Up
42. And She Said
43. Cake
44. The New Number Two
45. Goldmine
46. Record Collector
47. RPM
48. Hot Wacks
49. Matter
50. Bang
51. Howl
52. Big Takeover
53. Seven
54. Sounds
55. New Musical Express
56. Q
57. Hit Parader
58. Super Rock
59. Boston Rock
60. Sound Choice
61. Stylus
62. Buzz (Minnesota)
63. Raygun
64. B-Side
65. Reflex
66. Flexi Pop
67. Fusion
68. Ice
69. Rolling Stone
70. The Record
71. Billboard
72. Alternative Press
73. The Face
So, I opened a record store in White Bear Lake, and with that comes the “regulars”. Our first real regular is Bill Axelrod, former tenor sax player for The Fabulous Flippers during the 1970s years. The Lawrence, Kansas-based Fabulous Flippers are a legendary ‘horn-show-soul’ band that literally brought the funk to the cornfields, and regularly played from Oklahoma to Canada, L.A. to Illinois.
Bill shared with me some astounding photos & stuff to show you. Hats off to Bill for passing this stuff on, I sure hope he can make a wild movie, because he sure has a good plot with all of the stories he’s told me.
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Bill playing drums(!) at The Fabulous Flippers reunion, Summer 2012 in Marcus, Iowa
The Fabulous Flippers reunion, Summer 2012 in Marcus, Iowa
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The Fabulous Flippers reunion, Summer 2012 in Marcus, Iowa
late-1960s Flippers publicity photo
The “Oklahoma” Fabulous Flippers (Max Carl of Grand Funk Railroad and Jack Mack & The Heart Attack on the left) publicity photo
Fabulous Flippers famous 1964 “Harlem Shuffle” pose with the ladders publicity photo
1964- “Harlem Shuffle” video
1964- “Tell the Truth” video
the ‘Something Tangible’ vinyl LP record circa ~ 1970
pinback button for The Sanctuary Band, a Flippers gospel-rock spinoff band, early 1970s
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Magnificent Sanctuary Band “Join The Magnificent Sanctuary Band”05 Track 05
Sanctuary “In All My Dreams”06 Track 06
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rather boring bumper sticker
Mid-Continent Entertainment (booking agent) wooden nickel
Fabulous Flippers MATCHES(!)
Mid-Continent Entertainment (booking agent) business card
1970s rhythm section publicity photo
color logo
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Bill’s very own 1970s publicity photo
1970s horn section publicity photo
souvenir flag- 1960s
the bus, as it sat to rest, Dodge City, Kansas
1970s publicity photo
1972- “Harlem Shuffle” 7″ 45RPM single 03 Track 03
1972- Peace of Mind 7″ 45RPM single
Please post any additions in the comments, and I’ll update the list.
Thelma Buckner and The House of Refuge Choir Reach Me a Hand LP Narthex Records 827N-4579/80
The Cantinos Vol. I LP
The Cantinos Touch Me LP
Sam Davis and The Gospel Ensemble Keep on Praising Him LP 1981 Cada Records 8005
Sam Davis and The Twin Cities Gospel Ensemble I’ve Been Changed LP 1980 Cada Records 3-79
Evangelist Crusaders a good source claims there is one more records released previous to these:
Evangelist Crusaders In The Beginning God LP Univeral Audio Corporation UAS-542-48690
Evangelist Crusaders Just Jesus LP 1979 Browntown Records 2000
Gospel Choirs United I’ll Be a Witness LP Cada Records 8002
Gospel Crusaders Quartet Present Go Down To Jordan KNOF Records SKR-LP 1016
Gospel Swanns Gospel Singers There’s Going to be a Pay Day LP Gospel Time Records 00109
Greater Sabathani Baptist Church Mass Choir The Little Church with the Big Heart LP no label
Danny L. & The Brewerettes As For Me And My Household — We Will Serve The Lord LP no label or number
Metropolitan Male Chorus of Minnesota He Has Done Great Things LP no label 11370
Minneapolis Gospel Temple House Of Refuge LP KNOF Records SKR-LP-1159
Mount Olivet Celestial Choir Sings LP Sound 80 Records 853-37805
James Murray Command Performances LP Narthex Records 7506
John Patton Black Spirituals and Art Songs LP Narthex Recording Records 4582
Sounds of Blackness Images of Blackness LP Sound 80 Records 719-35765
Sounds of Blackness Images II LP no label 08116
Sounds of Blackness The Night Before Christmas- A Musical Fantasy LP ASI Records 398
Tom Tipton Hymns My Mother Taught Me LP Sparrow Productions 217
Special thanks to Mark Trehus & Eric Foss for filling in some detail here. Y’all got the spirit!
