Menlo Park - My Heart

My Heart


Wrong Side Of A Gun


MENLO PARK (Ashland, KY)
My Heart b/w Wrong Side Of A Gun
Wrong Planet (103260), 1980

Growing up in the late 50s and early 60s, Mike Fitzpatrick was exposed to a lot of different styles of music. He picked up a guitar at an early age and by the sixth grade had formed his first band, the LTDs. By high school, he was playing in a band called the SoundWave with Gary Kesling on drums. Mike and Gary continued playing together for many years through various incarnations. By the mid 1970s, they were going by the name Lather.

A seasoned guitar player named Ed Fields was asked to join them on bass. Ed grew up watching American Bandstand and listening to AM stations on the transistor radio his mom got him when he was eight. He first met Mike at the Boys Club in Westwood, a suburb of Ashland, KY where every Saturday night there was a dance. Instead of chasing girls, the two watched the bands that played and intently studied their techniques.

By 1979, Mike and Ed were ready to try something new. Fully aware of the new wave crave, they wanted to put a fresh spin on the 60s music they had been playing for so long. They began working together on original songs and brought Gary back in on drums. They recruited a bassist named Dave Copley, who had played in a metal band called Shotgun with Ed back in '74. They concentrated on writing catchy pop songs, giving extreme attention to the vocal harmonies.

Since there were few bars and school dances to showcase their music in Ashland, the band often ventured out to Huntington, WV, just across the state line. They had come up with between 30 and 40 original songs but still had to incorporate some covers into their set to appease the crowds. They did material by the Beatles, Kinks, Zombies and other British Invasion acts as well as contemporary groups such as Elvis Costello, the Clash, the Police, Shoes and even Devo.

Menlo Park, named after the research lab where Edison invented the phonograph, went to the Recording Workshop in Chillicothe, OH in May 1980 to lay down two tracks, “My Heart” and “Wrong Side Of A Gun.” The songs were engineered and mixed by staff instructors at the school and since the band was so well rehearsed, they finished up in a single evening. Using funds they earned from playing gigs, Menlo Park released the songs as a single on their own Wrong Planet imprint in a tiny pressing, which they recollect being only 100-200 copies. Despite the optimistic "First Pressing" notation on the center labels, another batch was never made.

For the next two years, Menlo Park became the regular band for student practice sessions at the Recording Workshop, which was located about an hour and a half from their home town. They were there every six weeks. One of the songs they recorded there, "Run And Run," won a talent contest from a radio station out of Huntington, WV. The band was given studio time to re-recorded the song in a Huntington studio and then it was included on a WKEE compilation album that was released in 1981. The song was played on the air just one time at two in the morning.

In January of 1982, the Recording Workshop released their own compilation album featuring three of the bands that recorded there the summer before. Five Menlo Park tracks were included on that record. Not long after, Gary left the band and they went through a couple different drummers before Ed departed as well. In 1986 Mike and Gary reunited to form a new band called the Return. Several years later, Dave joined them and the band is still going strong to this day.

Rubber City Rebels - Bluer Than Blue

Bluer Than Blue


RUBBER CITY REBELS (Akron, OH)
Bluer Than Blue (Stereo) b/w Bluer Than Blue (Mono)
Capitol (P-4936), 1980

From 1974-76, Rod Firestone and Buzz Clic were in a band called King Cobra that were playing top 40 hard rock and glam covers. They discovered the likes of The Ramones, The Heartbreakers, and other stalwarts of the New York underground scene through the pages of Hit Parader. After seeing The Heartbreakers play a gig in Cleveland, they decided to go original and the Rubber City Rebels were born.

Originally consisting as a five piece with Rod on vocals, Buzz on guitar, Donny Damage on bass, Stix Pelton on drums (later replaced by Mike Hammer), and Pete Sake on keyboards (later removed entirely), the Rebels shared local bills with such notable acts as Devo, the Dead Boys, and Pere Ubu, eventually releasing a split EP with fellow Akronites, The Bizarros, on the local Clone imprint.

Sire Records took interest in the band after they played a New York City gig with the Dead Boys on 7/7/77, and they even got to the stage of recording for the label. But alas things weren't meant to be, and the band took residence in LA where they showed much promise opening for bands like the Go-Gos, The Knack, and others.

Jack Lee helped the band with songs and musical expertise during the period after the Nerves split, and the Rebels would occasionally sit in with him as the Jack Lee Band. He produced their first single, which featured a cover of The Nerves "Paper Dolls" and the Rebel's-penned "Young And Dumb." Both tracks would be re-recorded for the band's debut LP, which was put out by Capitol soon after.

The Rebels had also become close friends with Doug Fieger of The Knack through their new drummer Brandon Matheson (who had previously played with Doug in the Sunset Bombers and was replacing Mike, who returned to Akron with Donny to start Hammer Damage). Doug's influence was invaluable to the band getting picked up by Capitol. Their Self Titled album was produced by Doug, and a single for "Bluer Than Blue" and "Rubber City Rebels" was issued to coincide with it (promo copy above), but unfortunately the label didn't push it and sales were stagnant.

"Brainwave" and "Surprise, Surprise" were two of the songs recorded for their follow-up LP for Capitol, but that project was halted when the label dropped them. However, the songs did appear on a short-run, self released single. More demos were recorded for Elektra/Asylum, but the contract with them fizzled as well, and those songs would never surface. Eventually the band gave up.

Fast forward to the early 2000's and the advent of ebay. Noticing that people were buying their records, the band decided to make a website and issue their old music on CD. Shortly after, they were approached by Smog Veil to cut a new album. "Pierce My Brain" was released to positive reviews and tours of Europe, Japan and the USA ensued. The band still plays dates whenever possible and is currently working on material for a future release.

Baloney Heads - I'm A Drunk

A. I'm A Drunk


B1. Life's Rough


B2. D.T.'s Reprise


THE BALONEY HEADS (Cleveland, OH)
I'm A Drunk b/w Life's Rough/D.T.'s Reprise
O-No (NR-12007), 1980

From the opening warning of "O-No, it's the Baloney Heads!" to the British accents and chantable "I'm a drunk, I'm a drunk" choruses, this Ohio single reigns supreme in the category of dumb punk. In fact, "I'm A Drunk" was comped on Bloodstains Across The Midwest.

On the flip side, "Life's Rough" is a solid punk tune that comes across as a sinister take of "What I Like About You," complete with hand claps. The record closes with "DT's Reprise," a bizarre flange-induced, backwards-sounding, almost psychedelic reworking of the title track.

Although this five-piece from Cleveland received some local airplay on WMMS and were around from 1978 until 1982, they only ever released this one unforgettable single on their own "O-No" record label. They played a reunion show in 1988 to celebrate their 10 year anniversary.