In The Record Store: Watershed Reflections

Hannah Herner at In The Record Store talked with Colin Gawel of Watershed about the band and their busy summer back in 2017, here's an excerpt:

“The first time that we played on the main stage Comfest is a big memory and playing it again this year will be a good memory,” Gawel says. 

Watershed was founded in 1987 and has not broken up since then, with varying periods of activity.  In its tenure, the band toured with Insane Clown Posse, The Smithereens, and Gawel’s favorite, Cheap Trick. 

“It’s rare but if you get to open up for bands that you’re just really a fan of is the best because you get to play and watch one of your favorite bands play every night,” he says. “It’s like a dream.” 

Gawel says the band toured consistently for 15 years, only taking the last 10 or so to focus on other projects. He opened Colin’s Coffee and bassist and vocalist Joe Oestreich decided to dedicate time to writing a memoir on the band, which would become the nationally-acclaimed “Hitless Wonder: A Life in Minor League Rock and Roll.”

Video: WATERSHED - Black Concert T-Shirt

Pencil Storm: My Thirty Favorite Watershed Songs

Colin Gawel from Watershed runs Pencil Storm, an outlet for longer form writing about music, sports, politics, etc. Tom Linzel contributed his list of "My Thirty Favorite Watershed Songs" back in December 2016, here's what he said:

Last summer a guy named Nick Jezierny, in a clever twist on Colin Gawel's ranking of every Cheap Trick song, ranked every Watershed song recorded.  He included live albums and even some bonus tracks.  This was great reading, especially the notes from the band &  Ricki C. and links to videos. It inspired me to make my own list.  I have known these guys since grade school, before they picked up their instruments and decided to form a band.  I have no idea how many times I have seen them play live, but I am sure it is more than a hundred shows.  Now, I'm not going to rank every song.  "What??" you say. "What a rip off!" Really, who wants to write or read about songs that are just ok? Are we going to argue about the 40th vs 41st best football teams? Ain't nobody got time for that! So here are my top 30 songs - the ones I would put on a mix tape (CD) for someone who has never heard the band.  

New Additions: The More It Hurts, The More It Works by Watershed

I moved to Columbus in fall of 1998, and my knowledge of Watershed was slim. I had heard them thanks to working in college radio, but it wasn't until the release of their 2002 The More It Hurts, The More It Works did I get more of the backstory. Still, at the time being focused on my own band at the time, recording, booking and playing shows, I still had some serious gaps in my musical knowledge. It wasn't until recently that I rectified that by hosting Joe Oestreich on the Dig Me Out Podcast to talk about his 2012 book Hitless Wonder (Part One / Part Two). Since then, I've slowly filled in all the gaps and just about completely my Watershed discography, save for a few truly rare items. Recently I grabbed this album, and glad I did. It's a power pop ripper, full of tightly written tunes with heaps of melody.

Know Yer Band: Watershed

Band: Watershed

Members
Vocals/Guitar - Colin Gawel
Vocals/Bass - Joe Oestreich
Drums - Herb Schupp / Dave Masica
Additional Guitar/Vocals - Dave Borror/Joe Peppercorn/Rick Kisinger

Releases
1990 - Rise 7" single (Bravo Records)
1991 - How Do You Feel? 7" single (B Minus Records)
1992 - The Carpet Cliff album (Palas Records)
1993 - Twister 7" single (Not On Label)
1994 - Three Chords And A Cloud Of Dust - Live album (Epic)
1995 - Twister album (Epic)
1997 - Star Vehicle album (Thunder Creek Records)
1997 - Split Single w/Hoarse (Idol records)
1998 - Still Love Christmas EP (B Minus Records)
2002 - The More It Hurts, The More It Works album (Carney Records)
2005 - The Fifth Of July album (Idol Records)
2007 - Three Chords And A Cloud Of Dust II album (Idol Records)
2012 - Brick & Mortar album (B Minus/Curry House Records)

Columbus Monthly: Exile on High Street

In 2016 former Johnny Go's House of Music owner John Petric reflected on his history selling records on High Street, Campus Partners and more at Columbus Monthly. A snippet of that:

Campus was record-store nirvana back in those days. In addition to Mole’s, you had Singin’ Dog, Capitol City, Discount Records and Magnolia Thunderpussy, as well as Used Kids and its sister operation, School Kids, which focused on new product. The competition was fierce, and Mole’s, the first used-record store in Columbus, struggled to keep up. In 1988, I dug into my savings to buy what was left of Mole’s from the IRS for the ungodly sum of $2,500, as well as paying Ken Stone’s $3,600 in unpaid rent. I now had my own business right in the heart of campus, taking over the old Mole’s space on the second floor of the Wellington Building at 16th and High. I christened my store Johnny Go’s House O’ Music, naming it after my band, Johnny Go and the Awesome Dudes.

Video: The Load play The William Tell Overture

Prog Archives on The Load

The website ProgArchives has a section on The Load, giving a solid biography of the band and providing a number of listener reviews of their two albums. Here is part of a review for Praise The Load:

The Load is keyboard driven blend of symphonic progressive rock generally in the vein of ELP, REFUGEE, early Rick Wakeman and Rick Van Der Linden (TRACE/EKSEPTION) very slightly touched by "American prog influence" that "infected" such American's bands as Kansas, Starcastle, Fireballet. The main feature is definitely virtuosity of keyboardist Sterling Smith using huge variety of keyboard units from Hammond organ to string synthesizer (that makes The Load's uniqueness), however exciting bass lines by Dave Hessler and very effective drumming by Tommy Smith create excellent support. The tracks very crafted primary instrumental numbers with complex themes influenced by baroque era of classic music. 

New Additions: Praise The Load by The Load

Part of the fun of unlocking the mysteries of Columbus music history is digging into the releases on Owl. Unfortunately, like with Raven, other original releases are hard to come by, including the 1976 album Praise The Load by The Load. Forget trying to get a vinyl version, the best option and what I opted for is the 1991 compact disc re-release on The Laser's Edge label, which includes two songs not included on the original album. From all the descriptions I had read, this was going to be a headtrip on par with the heavyweights of 1970s progressive rock, and they were right.

Know Yer Band: The Load

Band: The Load

Members
Vocals/Keyboards - Sterling Smith
Guitar/Bass/Vocals - Dave Hessler
Drums/Percussion - Tom Smith

Releases
1974 - Now We'll Say We Tried / She Calls My Name 7" single (Owl)
1976 - Praise The Load album (Owl)
1995 - Load Have Mercy album (The Laser's Edge)

Robert Christgau on the Royal Crescent Mob

Did you know that Robert Christgau, the "Dean of American Rock Critics," is a fan of the Royal Crescent Mob? It's true, and he wrote up reviews of all the 1980s albums. Here's what he had to say about their 1985 debut Land of Sugar:

White funk that by some alchemy generates not only a groove, which is rare enough, but also the irrepressible fun every garage band pretends to think it's having. Two of the originals are up to the two covers, Slick James's wasn't-that-by-Kiss? "Love Gun" and the Ohio Players' long-time no-hear "Love Rollercoaster." Couldn't have hurt their karma that lead singer David Ellison cut an Ohio Player's lawn when he was a kid, and somehow seems fitting that first pressing they got mixed up at the plant with a Christian heavy metal record. A-

Video: Royal Crescent Mob - Live "Fire"

Zero To 180 - RC Mob: Transit Advocates?

At the Zero To 180 website, "pop music archaeologist" Chris Richardson recounts seeing the early Royal Crescent Mob open for NRBQ and share others thoughts:

Ed Goldstein and I would marvel at the band’s formidable rhythm section each time we had the opportunity to see The Mob when they took their seismic road show to Cincinnati.  This rhythm section would include not just bassist, Harold Chichester, and drummer, Carlton, but also guitarist, B, who never took a guitar solo —  a concept that completely bent my mind. Still does. 

Washington-area readers (if, indeed, they exist) might be intrigued to learn that The RC Mob once tore up DC’s fabled 9:30 Club in 1987, back when the venerable venue was kissing cousins (abstract Abe Lincoln reference – get it?) with Ford’s Theater and locally famous for (a) “that smell” and (b) guaranteed encounters with over-sized rats should you dare to venture behind the club.  Land of Sugar would also feature stand-out original track, “Get Off the Bus” which may not be as supportive of mass transit as I imagined it to be. 

New Additions: Land Of Sugar by Royal Crescent Mob

At some point in my 20s or 30s, I picked up Royal Crescent Mob's second album on Sire, the 1991 album Midnight Rose's, gave it spin and thought, nah, not for me. Maybe it was the wrong album to start with, maybe it was the wrong time in my life to figure out what was going on, but it just didn't connect. A few years ago, independent of working on this project, I found a copy of 1987's Omerta in a record store and that immediately changed mind. It's weird to think I've gotten more expansive with my listening tastes as I've gotten older, but truth is I listen to a wider variety of music now than I ever had, which is why I psyched when Kyle at Lost Weekend Records let me know he had a copy of Land Of Sugar (originally released on No Other Records in 1985) in his local section recently waiting for me to grab it (along with a few other things).

Know Yer Band: Royal Crescent Mob

Band: Royal Crescent Mob

Members
Vocals - David Ellison
Guitar - Brian "Mr. B" Emch
Bass/Keyboards/Vocals - Harold "Happy" Chichester
Drums/Percussion - Bill Schwers/Carlton Smith

Releases
1985 - Land of Sugar mini-album (No Other Records)
1987 - Omerta album (Moving Target)
1988 - Something Old, Borrowed, New album (Moving Target)
1989 - Spin The World album (Sire)
1991 - Midnight Rose's album (Sire)
1992 - 13 Destruction album (Mobco)
1993 - Good Lucky Killer album (Enemy Records)

Short North Gazette: Thunderstruck!

Thanks to archive.org, there is a nice in-depth article about Magnolia Thunderpussy by the Short North Gazette from sometime in the early 2000s. Check it:

Overdub the chirping, the rustling, the campfire crackles with the soundtrack to Magnolia Thunderpussy. The clickety clack of hipsters rifling through rows of records and CD's. Customers firing off litanies of must-have records. A derelict wind of words exchanged as paychecks get cashed on rare gems, and behind it all the kick drum of a song taking shape, a hip-hop groove, a heavy metal anthem, and enough blood and guts rock-and-roll to satisfy Mick Jagger. 

The 55-year-old Kubat, owner of Magnolia Thunderpussy, has made a life of selling music. The store whose name comes from Indian legend or an acid-laced vision, depending on whom you talk to, has sputtered, evolved, grown, shrank, flourished, and withstood the onslaught of changes the music industry has undergone in the last 34 years, from the birth of compact discs, to the advent of hip-hop and MTV. 

It has evolved from a small family-owned-and-operated shop stocking a couple hundred top-selling Billboard artists like Led Zeppelin, Elton John, and Aerosmith in the early 1970s, to a veritable warehouse storing colossal racks of tens of thousands of records, hundreds of T-shirts, posters, pins, and even video games. Kubat says you can find anything from "Abba to John Zorn" on the shelves, and a quick jaunt through the store will send you past Goths armed with fists full of metal, and indie kids going ga-ga over the new Bright Eyes album. 

And the records keep spinning.

Video: Bush League All Stars at Comfest

Music In Motion: Bush League All-Stars at the Rumba Cafe

In 2017 Bush League All-Stars played a rare live show for the release of their album Summer's Gold at the Rumba Cafe with Bavo Choco. Music In Motion Columbus provided a nice write-up the show, here's a snippet:

Wailing guitars kicked-off Bird on a Wire. The juxtaposition of Spurgeon’s twangy vocal work laid-over a 1990’s post-grunge groove works delightfully. 

After more arcane tax information for the crowd from Spurgeon, the band launched into Liver Spots. The track has a full sound, with the two guitars trading riffs back-and-forth, with a bass groove that chugs along nicely. 

The funkiness of Pixie Dust was next, with Spurgeon reciting the lyrics in an almost spoken word cadence. The tempo was ratcheted higher midway through, as they let loose and rocked.

New Additions: Old Numbers by Bush League All-Stars

Before I started this project, I had no idea who the Bush League All-Stars were other than they contributed a track to a Cringe.com compilation in the early 2000s. All the research and listening I've been doing has finally allowed me to fully dive into the BLAS catalog, both physical and digital, and I'm happy I did. I was already of fan of Dan Spurgeon's work with his brother in Greenhorn, so I was happy to discover even more fun country-ish rockin' from the BLAS albums and other releases. I was able to track down a copy of Old Numbers and it's been in rotation frequently over the months since being added to my Columbus collection.

Know Yer Band: Bush League All-Stars

Band: Bush League All-Stars

Members
Vocals/Guitar - Dan Spurgeon
Guitar/Vocals - Sean Beal/Kevin Happell
Bass/Vocals - Dan Cochran/Jacob Sundermeyer/Thomas D. Schmidt
Drums - Matt Gramly/George Hondroulis
Keyboard - Jessica Faller Schmidt

Releases
1995 - Mashed Potatoes 7" single (Pop Narcotic)
1995 - Old Numbers album (Pop Narcotic)
2003 - What A Mess EP (Bladdernine Records)
2009 - Cedar Knees (Horny Records)
2017 - Summer's Gold album (Not On Label)

Aquabear Legion visits Used Kids

Aquabear Legion, via Ghettoblaster Magazine, talked with Dan Down back in 2012 about the history of Used Kids. Here's some of that article:

“I started up Used Kids in 1986,” remembers sole remaining owner Dan Dow. “Ron and I both worked for another record store called Mole’s… I could actually briefly explain why it’s called Used Kids.” True to his word, Dan goes into a short explanation of Mole’s relationship with a record store down the block specializing in new releases, School Kids, where customers could take credit from for trading in old records at their shop. “Anyway, School Kids moved into an upstairs level spot and said, ‘Hey, why don’t you guys move downstairs for Moles and then people will get this concept better?’ Fortunately for me, the guy who owned Moles didn’t want to, but I did and Ron was working there too, so we both went down and literally overnight set it up and started.”

Video: Near Paris - Hey You