Skeleton Closet - S/T cd (1995)

Mimi Raiter - Guitar/Vocals
Marty Schwarzbauer - Guitar/Vocals
Doug Herr - Drums/Vocals
David Kosmatka - Bass/Vocals

Mimi was the very first Eugene musician I ever met way back in 1983 when she worked at Earth River Records. I still miss that place. Seemed appropriate to post something Mimi played on for the blog's 100th post, a milestone! Thanks to Mimi and Marty for allowing this post!

Skeleton Closet (1995)

1. Aversion Day
2. Charlie Spider
3. Cobwebs
4. Bittersweet
5. Nuclear Attack
6. Zapata
7. Sometimes
8. Questions On The Netherlands What's Amanda Do
9. Lone Cowboy
10. Suburbia
11. Fucked Up

DOWNLOAD HERE

The Ghosts of 13th St: Killed By Apathy Vol. 3

Even later than usual, here is the third volume of our monthly series that began in July of 2015. Given the current state of things a picture of the torn down animal house seemed appropriate, not sure who originally took the picture. As usual, if you want your band off this comp, just email and your track will be promptly removed. 

The Ghosts of 13th: Killed By Apathy Vol. 3

1. Rope and Ride - The Guardians of American Morality

2. Mohawk Twist - The Jackals

3. Crystal Up My Butt - Billy Jack

4. Eraser - Oswald Five-O

5. El Mosquito - Los Mex Pistols Del Norte

6. Katie's Song - Now William

7. It's Your Life - The Crows

8. Carni Affair - Trey Gunn

9. Shaved Ape - The Venice Liberation Army

10. I Hate Punks - Edison Complex

11. Singled Out - Johnson Unit

12. Aversion Day - A Few Chairs

13. It's My Time - Marble Orchard

14. More Beer Now - The Rangers

15. I Must Kill - The Carrion Commandos

DOWNLOAD HERE

Ken Snead (R.I.P.)

Ken Snead, who passed away in 2012, came up in a recent Facebook thread and I realized I'd never posted this compilation cd of his bands. Apparently this cd was given out at his memorial service. I don't have band names or track listings so any and all help is greatly appreciated.

Ken "Animal" Snead  Memorial CD, 39 tracks

DOWNLOAD HERE

Fire Clown "Junkie b/w Big Disease"

Adem Tepedelen - Guitar

Brian - Guitar

James - Drums

Karl - Bass

Jeff - Vocals

I know next to nothing about Fire Clown other than they rose from the ashes of God Bone and had this lone single on New Rage Records. Adem, can you help me out with history and details?

Junkie b/w Big Disease

DOWNLOAD

Eagle Park Slim (RIP) - Late Late Love Shift (1985, Cassette Only)

Eagle Park Slim played around Eugene for decades, a community figure you just expected to always be there. I found out earlier today that he has passed away. This is the only release I have by Slim, kindly supplied by Erich Boekelheide a few years back. I believe this is the first Eugene release although I imagine Eagle Park Slim had a number of prior releases as well. RIP Eagle Park Slim, please donate to the Go Fund Me link to help pay for services if you can.

Eugene Register Guard obituary 

Go Fund Me - help bury Eagle Park Slim - Currently need just $2000 more to meet goal!

Late Late Love Shift (1985)

1. Born Again

2. I'm Back in School Again

3. You're My Jamaica

4. That Eagle Park Sound

5. Five More Miles To Go

6. I'll Be Your Designated Driver

7. Train #4

8. Landlord Blues

9. Late Late Love Shift

10. I Got a Bank Account

11. I'm Gonna Save My Money (Until I Get Old)

DOWNLOAD 

Superchrist - Unreleased Demo (1990)

E. Ron Harding (RIP) - Vocals

Sean Smith - Bass

Bobby Wane - Guitar

Doug Wilkerson - Drums

I never saw Superchrist play but I got a copy of this demo from Doug 26 years ago. I lost my copy and think I got the tracks from Gayle Truax but I can't remember, even that was a long time ago. Big thanks to guitarist Bobby Wane for supplying some details:

I was just learning guitar and Ron didn't have enough lyrics for the sketches were were working with so he kept pulling things out of a diary that I kept in high school of acid trips. A few months later the band actually started practicing, evolved into a a really different version of itself, and went into the studio to record a nice set of songs by a "professional" who wore a perm and kept insisting we sound like BOSTON.

SuperChrist didn't play out in Eugene much. Co-Art, Max's, and a few parties here and there. It was really just a "practice band" for the next iteration, which was Flower (Ron as singer) & Beads of Mercury (Sean as singer).

A typical show would be me handing out set lists to the band 2 minutes beforehand that nobody could read because my hand-writing was too small; this would typically result in Doug playing one song while the band played a completely different song. At the end I'd ask him why he fucked up so bad on XYZ song and he would say "Oh shit, I thought you were playing a different song!" And it would go that way for almost all of the songs. My sun-glasses would keep getting stuck and dangling from my hair until I pulled a clump of hair out of my head to remove them. Ron flailed around the stage bumping into Doug's drum set and stomping all over my guitar pedals while Doug stabbed him in the back with his drum sticks trying to get him away from us. Ron's signature "move" was the "swoop-a-loop", which was a kind of crazy Iggy Pop meets Michael Jackson move with his shirt off. Mid-way through a song we'd notice that Ron go missing, as he would usually wind up writhing around on the ground in front of the stage. 

Filling in some blanks for the Blog:

E. Ron Harding (RIP) - Vocals (Modern Laundry, SuperChrist, Flower)

Sean Smith - Bass (The Crows, Dionysian 5, SuperChrist, Flower, Beads of Mercury, Chelsea Speed Party, Lee Rude)

Bobby Wane - Guitar (SuperChrist, Flower, Beads of Mercury, The Dotted Line, The Vicious Cycle, Invisible, The Charm & The Conspiracy, Arthur & Yu, This Blinding Light)

Doug Wilkerson - Drums (Mind Garage, SuperChrist, Flower, Beads of Mercury, Chelsea Speed Party) 

Superchrist Demo

1. White House Turns Black
2. Super Christ
3. Liar
4. Sing For Your Soul

DOWNLOAD HERE

The Big I Am - Unreleased Demo (?) (1990 or 1991)

Jim Kelso - Vocals

Sam Oberholtzer - Bass

Scott van Dusen - Guitar

Scott Shively - Drums

I don't remember if this demo was actually released or not. I didn't know these guys although I did seem them play at Max's a couple of times. I thought their track on the Pollen Count tape was one of the standouts. I have a vague recollection of seeing a Big I Am tape at House of Records but it's been 25 years so hazy at best. Fortunately, former vocalist Jim Kelso found out about the blog and was kind enough to send this in. I will email him for track names and a band history because I don't have any of that information.  Here are 12 demo tracks plus the Colt 45 track from Pollen Count:

DOWNLOAD DEMO

Agrosoul / Mona Lisa Overdrive (1989-1990)

Agrosoul

Dave Camp (RIP) - Guitar/Vocals

Jason Sypher - Bass

Harlin Watkins - Keyboards

Bill Black - Drums

Mona Lisa Overdrive

Dave Camp (RIP) - Guitar/Vocals

Jason Sypher - Bass

Rich Cuellar - Drums

I just found out today that Dave Camp passed away in Portland last year after a battle with cancer; he was only 47 years old. I knew Dave a bit back in the late 80's into 1990 when Agrosoul was just splitting up and Mona Lisa Overdrive was forming. Dave's optimism and enthusiasm were rare qualities, genuine. I wish I had more to share from the Eugene days but the four tracks below are all that I have. The two tracks from Agrosoul are sourced from a soundboard tape of the band live at the EMU ballroom. The two Mona Lisa Overdrive tracks were recorded by me and Patrick Yonally on a Fostex 4-track back in 1990 at the band's practice space, as far as I know the only two tracks the band recorded in their brief history. I still remember Dave singing into my oven because we didn't have enough money for anything to throw reverb on the vocals. He was the one who thought of it! Dave was involved with numerous musical projects in Portland over the years and touched the lives of countless people. RIP Dave.

Agrosoul

1. 7/26/89

2. Butt Funkin'

Mona Lisa Overdrive

3. Alien

4. Mona Lisa Overdrive

DOWNLOAD HERE

The Klorox Girls - I'm One, Me Too 7" (Grinning Idiot, 1995)

Nick Tucker - Guitar/Vocals
Mike Healy - Bass/Vocals
Gordon Kenyon - Drums/Vocals

I never saw the Klorox Girls but I was fortunate enough to obtain the single, only 300 pressed! Not sure whether the band thought of itself as a side project, Nick was also in Oswald Five-O, Mike in Kpants and Gordon in Compost.  This is the only single the band released. Not sure if they recorded more or not, probably would have been a good question to pose to Nick when we were messaging yesterday.  I wish things like that didn't happen all the time.  I also forgot to ask whether Mike or Gordon sang Rapunzel's unrest, sounds like Nick on Color My Imagination.

Here is the single with a bonus track by Beradino (Nick with Gordon drumming and maybe Mike playing Bass, Nick couldn't remember but Mike did record the track) which originally appeared on Mike Healy's Pollen Count compilation cassette (HERE).

I'm One, Me Too (7")

1. Rapunzel's unrest
2. Color My Imagination
3. When I Was Hot (Beradino)

DOWNLOAD HERE

Elgin (1993)

Charlie McClain - Bass/Vocals
??? - Guitar
??? - Drums

Elgin was Charlie's post-Now William band. I never saw them, I think I moved out of Eugene not long after they formed.  Someone want to help me out with personnel and history? Grinning Idiot released their lone 7" in 1993 and here it is:

George and Pearl b/w Eastern Grouse download

Hershel Bloom (RIP) - The Mother Teresa of Eugene

I did not know Hershel Bloom. I was a fan after hearing the 36+ minute version of Loose Change on The Way of Things compilation recorded live at the Calkins House in 1987.  The song is a long list of the changes Hershel had taken notice of over the years in Eugene, businesses coming and going, buildings being built and torn down, etc. The amazing thing about the song is that every detail is correct.

As some of you know, Hershel passed away earlier this week having lived the last years of his life with some severe health issues. I was able to put a couple of you in touch with him last year and I should have done more in that regard, including posting the material below a year or so ago. If anyone has any additional recordings of Hershel, please send them here so that we can add them to this page.

The first set of recordings are from the Calkins House compilation cassettes The Way of Things and Cuneiform  Although Hershel only has three tracks, due to the length of Loose Change (a MUST listen) this clocks in at over 40 minutes.

Hershel Bloom Live at the Calkins House, 1987 & 1988 DOWNLOAD

The second set was provided by one of Hershel's caregivers at the facility where he spent his final years. This guy was really amazing, even taking a guitar in so Hershel could play for a few minutes everyday. I believe he digitized this for Hershel off an old cassette simply entitled The Basement Sessions. I have no idea on the year.

Hershel Bloom The Basement Sessions DOWNLOAD

The third set is the last I have, at least for now. I pulled the audio off the DVD Erich Boekelheide was kind enough to burn for me of the footage he shot of a Lenny's Nosh Bar Late Sunday Show which appears to have been a great live music option for 12am-2am or so every Sunday at the time. This was shot sometime in 1986.

Hershel Bloom Live at Lenny's Nosh Bar 1986 DOWNLOAD

Here is the video of Hershel playing at Lenny's.




DOWNLOAD VIDEO

the download includes Hershel's set and a couple of sets by the Rupert Pupkin Quartet