Hi.

I'm Mark Greer, executive director of the Akron Bicentennial.

And in partnership with PBS Western Reserve, we're pleased to present a forgotten history Forum series.

The Forgotten History forums will explore aspects of Akron's history that, while critical to our development, are not often discussed.

Throughout this yearlong series will highlight seminal points in our history, some undiscovered and others which still challenge us today.

Topics will include women trailblazers in Akron's history, the development of the New Akron History Anthology published by the University of Akron Press, Akron's Native American History, The History of Deaf Rubber Workers, The Impact of Urban Renewal, particularly on Akron's Black community, and the history of the African American Church, among others.

On behalf of the Akron Bicentennial, we hope you enjoy our Forgotten History Forum series.

So now we get to kick off one of our most exciting, forgotten history forms.

And it's my pleasure to bring to you the program director at the Summit FM, Mr. Brad Savage.

But actually, before Brad comes, because I forgot to- Sorry Brad.

I kind of wanted to get him moving first.

So, before Brad comes, I want to just point out your question cards.

How many of you have an index card?

Great.

So, hopefully you grabbed a pencil, write your questions down.

During the show about half way, our team will be coming down the aisles.

You can take your question cards and pass them to the ends of the aisles.

That's going to help for our Q&A portion at the end.

And Brad, who will actually be moderating the panel, will actually read the questions from the stage.

So we'll pick them up about midway through the forum and leading up into the Q&A.

So question cards very important.

Pass those to the ends of the aisles.

And now we are going to bring forward Program Director of the Summit FM, please help us welcome Mr. Brad Savage.

Thank you sir.

All right.

All right.

Well what a great turnout.

What a great crowd for tonight's event.

And thanks for being here.

We'll introduce the panelists, in just a moment.

And so, first off, do we have any Summit FM members, regular listeners?

The Summit is local, independent, all music, public radio.

Thank you for your support, we do all music.

We're affiliated.

Our license is held by the Akron Public Schools, but we're a fully independent organization supported by, member support and local underwriters and grants.

We’re heard at 91.3 FM here in Akron and in recent years, about ten years ago, we added Youngstown 90.7 FM.

We're also heard in Athens, Ohio, home of OU, Ohio University.

Any Bobcats in the room?

Yep, yep.

So we're also heard there at 90.1.

So, three signals across greater Ohio, but a real focus.

We started as an Akron station and a big, big part of what we do is Akron music.

We play a ton of local music, and the whole mission of the radio station, it comes down to music and community.

New artists, indie artists, deeper tracks from older artists and library material, and a ton of local music, including 3-3-0 at 3:30 every weekday.

So I moved here about, coming up on ten years ago and really immersed myself in the Akron music history.

And that's why I think it's such a great honor to moderate and to host this panel.

Also, just a quick note.

Tonight's show is a TV show, or it will be.

PBS Western Reserve is filming tonight.

So, they're going to turn this into a full TV program.

Yes, yes.

And the whole Forgotten History series they're making into a program as well.

We're also going to use the audio as a radio broadcast for the 7:00 special on The Summit in the coming weeks.

So it's a radio show, it's a TV show, it's a history forum.

And we also are very thrilled to partner regularly for over nine years now with PBS Western Reserve, we do our Studio C Sessions.

Those are the in studio live concerts, with touring bands, with local bands.

And we've been doing that since even before I joined the station in 2015.

It's a great partnership, and those are one of the perks of being a member of the station is you get invited to our performance facility at our studios.

We're at Ellet High School, we're at Ellet CLC in Akron.

That's where the station studios are located.

And if you're not a member, take out your phone right away and become a member at thesummit.fm.

Let's get the panel up here.

Let's start out, I'm going to introduce each of our panelists and have them take a seat here.

And first off, our first panelist is a founder of The Bizzaros, who have been going since the mid 70s and still are playing today, still an active band and he's started a major indie record label in the late 70s called Clone Records.

Please welcome Nick Nicholis.

And also Nick does a podcast with Bob Ethington.

And Bob is traveling, he couldn't be here tonight, but the podcast they do for The Summit FM is called, ‘From Akron and Beyond,’ and it's available on all the podcast sites.

It's available on our website, or we broadcast the show on Thursday nights at 10.

A deep dive into local music history, not just music either, like arts and culture and other community leaders.

From, you know, from Akron and beyond.

So join us on Thursdays for that.

And a big salute to Bob Ethington who worked here at the library for years.

He retired just a couple of years ago and then started up this radio show podcast.

So, but yeah, Bob's doing a family thing, he's out of town right now.

Up next, I'd like to introduce an archivist, a musician with a ton of bands through the years, but really just a man who makes the scene in the Akron Sound and his history, really is, we'll get into this a little later, but the Akron Sound Museum and the Akron History Center, he and the late Wayne Beck really put together a lot of the collection that is now permanently displayed there.

And Mr. Imij is also a radio DJ.

He does a show on Cleveland State at WCSB 89.3 each week for a number of years now.

So let's welcome Jimi Imij.

Come on up.

And then up next, we call her, Little Miss Akron.

She has a recent memoir about Akron music and kind of growing up around the Akron music community and a new solo album.

And you may know her for many years, as the front woman of Unit 5, Tracey Thomas.

Come on up.

And many of our guests actually have some items available in the lobby after our panel tonight.

They'll be able to sell and autograph for an additional fee.

The records and books and so forth.

I'm just kidding about the additional fee.

Let's bring up someone that is really synonymous with Akron area music and has a long and storied career, including Tin Huey and The Waitresses, Mr. Chris Butler.

Come on up, Chris.

And, then up next we have a local author.

And when we say he wrote the book on the Akron Sound, we're not kidding.

And he has copies available in the lobby, Calvin Rydbom.

Calvin, come on up.

And then, also today, a co-founder of Devo, and he's going to talk about the d-evolution concept and all the early history.

He's been on Nick and Bob’s from Akron & Beyond show as well.

Fascinating stories with Mr. Bob Lewis.

Come on up.

So it's a heck of a panel.

I'm so excited to to kind of get started.

Now, we had announced that local author David Giffels would join us as well, and sadly, he had to cancel.

He got called out of town, special project.

He had to go to Nashville to interview the Black Keys.

So a fair excuse I suppose, but, you know, I kind of want to start there though, guys.

You know, the recent success of the Black Keys, would this would they have even happened if not for the Akron Sound in the late 70s into the early to mid 80s, kind of setting the stage, you know, for putting Northeast Ohio on the map, musically speaking.

They would’ve still?

Well, but did we kind of in this area did your music scene kind of, you know, somewhat make it fertile ground will say for major bands to break out of this area across different genres and sounds.

- They busted their butt for ten years.

- Yep.

Yep.

- Which kind of we all did too.

But, they really played every possible venue they’ll jump at a stage with.

Those days, you know, you can't really do that anymore.

Jump in a station wagon because there were two people in my band, right?

And they drove everywhere.

The opening of an envelope, as the cliche goes.

- Yeah, they do.

- So they they earned, there's blood on every one of the records they sold.

And congratulations, because they're really great.

- Absolutely.

Well, - I would say that they came from good stock.

- Yes, yes, for sure, for sure.

Nick.

Yeah.

Nick, go ahead and mention, I kind of want to start at the beginning of when when we say the Akron Sound era.

Now, Akron, Ohio has some history in music.

Going back to, you know, one of the biggest singers of the 40s, Vaughn Monroe, came out of here originally.

And you know, and then Ruby and the Romantics in the 1950s and- Yes.

Yes.

- Two of the guys from Alice Cooper's original band.

- Right, which we just heard Alice Cooper is getting his original lineup back together for a new album.

Nick, when did the Akron Sound era kind of begin?

Tell us what you know, where it started for you and the Bizarros, and then what led to Clone Records?

- Chris, it wasn't around?

You were still in The Numbers Band in 75 would you say?

So, I'd say a little between 75 and 76 things started forming, you know?

- When did you start up Clone Records as a label?

- Well, it's weird.

I, I wanted The Bizarros to get signed so I, put a a record out on, I couldn't think of anything else.

Gorilla Records and it was an EP, and I sent it out to different record labels and different, and then got a lot of, not a lot, but international success.

And a lot of college stations were playing it.

So I thought, oh, that might be something more to this than- - Yeah.

- Than just that, so then I, you know, turn it into a label.

- Signing other bands, was it mostly Northeast Ohio bands?

Yeah, except Bowling Balls From Hell Volume 2, I have a band from Osaka, Japan.

You know, I'd get you know, unsolicited- - Bowling Balls part two, the compilation.

I brought show and tell everyone, so that's great.

- I got an unsolicited demo, tapes from all over the world, actually.

And those guys were, they look cool, and they sounded cool.

- So first off, this wasn't common.

Like back in that era, the major labels were running everything as far as music.

Like, it wasn’t as easy to start an independent record label at that time.

How did you, you know, make that happen?

How did you finance that happening?

- Well, you know, it was interesting that I don't know if anybody here, knows well, I think my favorite Ohio band is Pere Ubu.

- Yep.

- And, we recently lost David Thomas.

He just passed away recently.

And him and Peter Laughner, who's also a member of Pere Ubu went on to do other things later worked at a cool record store in Cleveland called, Hideo’s Disco Drum.

And I'd visit that, you know.

Yeah, John Thompson.

Yeah.

He just passed away about about a year ago.

So I go there and hang out, and I put my record out.

They influence you.

They had a record out a year before I did.

And, they told me who to send a record to, where to have it pressed.

The different magazines and authors and radio stations.

So that's how it started.

- So we saw Bowling Balls ll, now this was the original Bowling Balls From Hell, which was 1980 release, with The Waitresses and the late Ralph Carney is featured here, and Bob Lewis.

Yeah.

Hurricane Bob is on here, right.

Right.

So, I guess talk about did Clone end up being kind of a full time thing for you along with the band?

- No, I was always a part time deal.

I had worked three part time jobs and that in the evening.

And tell us about The Bizarros today.

You guys are still going strong.

- Yeah.

Three of the original members.

Well, and actually our drummer who's been with us the least, he's been with us 24 years.

Yeah.

So.

Yeah.

Yeah, he's here today.

Martin Flunoy, he's out there.

- Oh!

There's Martin.

Hello, Martin.

- He's going in for rotator cuff surgery.

He's going to be out of commission for six months.

So tomorrow we're auditioning our first drummer in 24 years.

You know?

- Nice.

And so let's start also with, you mentioned The Numbers Band.

Now The Numbers Band are technically out of Kent, right?

And how did they play into this?

Into the Akron Sound, because they're still going strong today too, 15, 60, 75.

The Numbers Band are what, 55 years into their career now?

So go ahead Chris.

Yeah.

- The Numbers Band are a force of nature.

And we are so lucky in this area to still have them.

They are amazing.

Before a few of the Akron Clubs actually opened, we all got work in Kent.

And on the Water Street strip and The Numbers Band were really significant because, I believe that they created an audience with an expectation, for original music.

Yes, there were blues bass, but, there was a, you know, they did so much within the genre.

And Bob began to write, and I believe that they’re really significant for all of us.

Because they kind of set the stage for, or groomed or whatever term you want to use, for our audience which still goes out to see live music.

Thank you very much.

There’s an expectation of hearing something that you wrote or something original and all the other bands on Water Street also picked up on that.

Now on Water Street, you were not in music business, you were the beer business.

And it wasn't like there were 50 bands on the bill.

There was one band, you had a residency.

And you played three one hour sets a night.

And that made you really, good musicians.

But also you have a lot of time to fill.

And so there was a lot of writing.

And so maybe there were, many genre bands as a country rock band or whatever, but people began to write and that was really key.

And the audience accepted it, liked it, expected it.

And I think that spillover came that wave, so to speak, also reached Akron when the clubs like, The Bank and The Crypt were established, because I don't think there were any other Akron- This is before my time because I'm a Cleveland brat.

So maybe you guys could fill me in.

Were there were there any clubs, rock clubs in Akron before those two venues?

- There were the ones in Portage Lakes you know, the people would go to.

Yeah.

What was that again?

The Drafthouse.

- But that was like cover band stuff, right?

- Yeah, yeah.

- Yeah, so the expectation for originality was kind of shot through all of us, you know?

I mean, we were also blessed with a couple fortunate things.

One in Akron or Kent for that matter, too.

Nobody gave a (censor) about us so we could, nobody gave a sugar about us.

Sorry.

Beep bleep.

Which means we could do whatever we wanted.

And also it was an era where semiprofessional tape recorders were manufactured that didn't cost, you know, $50-$60,000 you could get an 8 track machine for $1,500, say.

And so we now had a way to record, to make our own records.

And then, there were pressing plans.

There’s one in Cincinnati I think called, Queen City we alll went to.

- Yeah, the add in Nashville Record Production.

- Nashville, right.

Okay.

Right.

So there were places you know, like they're usually used to high school choirs, right?

With you know, really bad graphics on the cover and you know, we were starting to sell with cool graphics and all this weird music and get back.

It was like, Bob and I were talking earlier.

I think it was like a maybe a backup pressing or something with the package was like a dollar for an LP.

Wow.

You know.

So yeah.

we had- - Yeah the 45s without a color you spend $0.20 for a thousand.

- Yeah, yeah.

- How do you remember that?

- Debbie Becker on cover.

Right.

So anyway, we had means about that opportunity - You know, too we should mention you're talking about Kent.

We had three, you know, bands and residency, it was The Numbers Band of course, but three bands that became you know, national and internationally known.

You started out with the James Gang, right?

With Joe Walsh and JB's and then the, yeah, the Raspberries and the Glass Heart.

You go on Friday nights for like 3 or 4 months, and that's who you saw.

Would have mid-week blues shows.

So we got to see, it was a stop on the on the blue circuit because, a touring artist could pick up a date in the middle of the week in between going to a major urban center for the weekend.

So on a Wednesday or Thursday, we got Hound Dog Taylor was there every month from Detroit, Charlie Musselwhite and a whole bunch of other people.

James Cotton, you know, all these people blew through Kent.

So there was a really wonderful history of the blues.

- And a lot of that happened because of Bob Kidney.

- Yes.

Because he was in the Navy and he was stationed in Chicago.

He wasn't in the Navy very long about six months.

But while he was there, he went to all the Blues clubs on the South Side and then and got to know other musicians.

So then when he came back to Kent, he was able to, like he would call him and say, you know, come play in Kent we'll take care of you.

- Let me ask this then, with Chris.

When did Tin Huey come about?

And is that about the same time as the Bizarros.

They're starting to do their first recordings.

- I have a basing, there are available recordings particularly dates back to 1973.

And Harvey, you need to correct me if I'm right or or wrong, Harvey Gold.

- Harvey Gold is in the audience give a hand for Harvey.

- Yeah, I was playing bass in The Numbers Band, either upstairs or downstairs, the chair bass and this weird little band from Akron would blow it.

And they were Tin Huey, and they were phenomenal.

And they had maybe, 15 people, ten of them being wives and girlfriends or whatever.

And they were just spectacular.

Very long story about I began to write songs and, the mindset of The Numbers Band is very factory.

It's very, this is a working band, tt is a blue collar institution.

You make the gig, you show up for rehearsals, unless you're in jail or in the hospital.

Well, I tried to make it a third exception to get my picture taken for this fake Waitresses band, because we were going to be on some stiff record.

So I blew off rehearsal, so I was fired and I swore that I would never be in another band, but Ralph Carney from Tim Huey said, “You know, we're looking for another writer.” Which is bizarre because Tin Huey was the most creative band I've ever been in.

Everybody and Tin Huey wrote songs.

Why they didn’t (unknown) person I don't know in fact, one of our inside jokes is typically music is defined by always having one too many people playing on something, in any given song.

But we noodled around for a couple of weeks, Mark Price is bassman and it was a wonderful fit and so I stuck.

- So how did Tin Huey end up on Warner Brothers Records?

Because I've got here, I don't have it on LP, but I've got an unopened original 8-track tape of Tin Huey, unopened.

Tin Huey 8-track of contents dislodged during shipment.

We’ll open the bidding, here we go.

This may be one of the strangest records to ever be released on a major record label, and it's so great.

I mean that as a full compliment So, yeah, kind of take us to that point, I guess maybe part of that is the success of Devo at the time.

Is that right?

Devo started to kind of get some attention by mid to late 70s.

- Yeah, well you know, originally, Devo was a cat phenomena, but I like to think of Akron and Kent as being like twin stars, you know?

- Yup.

- The stars rotate around and they pulse because there was always interplay between the two areas.

And in fact, there was really no place for Devo to play in Kent.

And then Ward Welsh opened the crypt and all of a sudden, there was an opportunity for unusual music to be heard.

And then through contacts that were made with them, you know, the Rubber City Rebels, the Dead Boys, and then from then expand it out.

- Yeah.

- And then after, we used Queen City to do our first single, I think we wound up selling 19,000 of those just, you know, out of the car and stuff like that.

But that got the interest of a bunch of record companies, and the record companies were in this weird place because they didn't know what to do with punk or new wave.

They didn't.

They hadn't predicted it.

You know, it wasn't a manufactured sound like The Monkees or something like that.

And so they didn't really know how to judge them.

So they wanted to, like, sign up bands that would be kind of in the genre.

I remember, Chris Blackwell from Island Records flew into Akron in one of those horrible blizzards, like 77 or something like that, because he just he had heard a demo tape and it triggered something in him.

I always thought that actually Devo would have been better off signing with Island because after Devo turned him down, he went out and he found another little obscure band called U2.

And he had told us that he would make us Island's number one project worldwide.

But, you know, decided to go with Warners.

- Well, and let’s back up from there.

Give us a little history of the foundation of Devo and the whole concept of the band and as kind of an art project really.

- Well, it was an art project and a political response to the war in Vietnam, the shootings at Kent State, and the fact that we could see the hypocrisy between what they said was going on and what was actually going on and in light.

So we predicted that it would not end well.

And, if you look around at the situation today, it was worse than we could have imagined.

- Right, right.

Well, and how fortuitous that Devo is on a high profile tour right now, right here in 2025 as well.

So then let me bring up women in the Akron music scene.

Let's talk about Unit 5 and Tracy Thomas.

So this is the Scared of The Dark album, 1981 Clone Records.

And Tracy so tell us a little bit, leading up to how Unit 5 came to be.

Well, it was me and Bob Ethington who is not here tonight.

- Right.

Yep.

- Worked at Record Theater in Fairlawn.

It was my first job, and I heard he was a drummer and I wanted to start a band, but I was into Linda Ronstadt, Carly Simon, and he refused, because Bob.

And then we decided just to give it a go, and we got together and we just jammed with a bunch of people, for lack of a better word.

And then that was it, we were off and running.

- Was there a lot of participation from women?

In the in the Akron Sound music scene?

Where were women going To the shows anyway?

- Oh, God yeah.

- Yeah.

- Yeah, especially, like Hammer Damage, because those boys were so cute.

- Right.

Right.

- All the girls be at the Hammer Damage business.

But, there were more than you think.

I think they just weren't as recognized.

And I'm not trying to like, say that to be sugary.

But, yeah there was Sue and Deb from Chi-Pig, and there was a band called the Bettys.

All women.

You remember the Bettys, and then Myrna from Human Switchboard.

I mean, we were out there, but we weren't necessarily getting the attention for whatever reason.

- Sure.

- And then Unit 5 did.

I mean, I'm grateful we did start to get some attention.

- Well, and now's a perfect time to mention your new project and the book, the tell all memoir.

Tell us a little bit about Little Miss Akron.

- I don't know what the (censor) I was thinking.

I just did it, it was the pandemic.

I was bored, and I got really into genealogy and I'm like, well, I'm going to start keeping a record of things for my kids.

And it turned into me just writing and writing and writing.

And then my friend read it and she's like, oh no, this is a book.

I'm like a book?

And so I did it.

I sat there during the pandemic, it ended up taking four years, and I wrote everything.

So, well not everything I would I would have been blackballed from the city of Akron if I hadn't written everything.

But there's a lot of stuff in there.

It's just, you know, my life in music and other things.

- And you have a terrific new album, Words Can't Save Us Now, just released a couple months back, yes?

- Produced by Ryan Humbert.

- Produced by Ryan Humbert, who is in the crowd here tonight.

And he's with the band, The Shootouts these days.

So Akron to this day, yeah.

How about that?

I mean, to this day, so much music.

If you look at Akron and then add in, you know, Canton and Kent and Youngstown and surrounding, and of course, Cleveland, which is its own other world, this is some pretty influential and powerful music.

I want to ask Jimmy Imij here.

Jimmy and I were talking just the other night.

We were out, seeing Big Pop and Tomcat and Fancy Legs.

And actually, Chris Butler joined Fancy Legs on stage.

So did Harvey Gold, as a matter of fact.

So, you know, a thread to today's current music.

But Jimmy and I said at the Rialto Theater the other night, he said, you know, of the whole panel, he's the biggest of the the fan, the listener, you know, you were there at all the shows.

So tell us a little bit of your history in this area too.

- Well, yes.

I'm not really a musician.

When I grow up, I want to be an artist.

But I am a fan.

I'm a fan of the bands, I’m a fan of the sound, I'm a fan of the fans.

I love it when everybody shows up because that helps all of us, you know, keep on doing what we do.

And if I could start at the beginning, in the beginning of what I do, somewhere around 1996, I had a pretty good box of live recordings I had made.

And, you know, cassette tapes only lasts so long, I hear, even though I still play them today.

And I said, well, you know, I really need to do something with these before they just fall apart.

And my love of music and the bands that were on those tapes, I wanted to preserve, present, promote and share that sound with the friends I knew that were there at the time or other people go, “Oh, I heard about them.

I'd like to hear them, but they're not around.” And I would share.

And I started making these little CD-R compilations from there and just passed them around and said, “Check it out, see what was happening.” So my whole thing was to preserve and present and share the sound as I knew it.

And then with a lot of help from my friends, I got boxes and boxes of cassette tapes, fanzines, fliers.

I have some fliers and pictures out in the corridor there that were given to me by many of my friends.

And yeah, nothing belongs to me.

It all belongs to the people.

It's like a library, so I could never sell any of what I have.

- Yep.

- It is, I hope someone will take it when I'm gone and share it continuously throughout history.

A real archivist and, you know, it’s just someone that's been present through much of this.

Now, Jimmy, I understand your, some of your collection, along with Wayne Beck, lead to what became the Akron Sound Museum, which has moved around a couple of times.

It was at the bomb shelter for a while, but just recently, it's become an exhibit at the new Akron History Center.

And Calvin can speak to this a little bit, too.

- Thank you, Calvin, - Because Calvin has been quite involved and you've been the executive director for a while of the museum, right?

- Oh, not so much anymore since we moved it over to today's venue.

But for many years it was, yeah.

You know, Jimmy and Wayne started the first shows out there of the the memorabilia.

And, I mean, I'm an archivist, a writer, and I have been living in Cleveland for a number of years, and I had done a couple books up there for Burton, Ohio, Twinsburg had hired me.

And basically I moved back to Akron for various reasons, contacted my publisher, and they said, “You're living in Summit County now?

We'd really like to get some books on Akron.” Decause my publisher did local histories.

Sure.

- Sure.

- So I wrote the modern history book, for Modern Akron, which was Akron from 1959.

And when they were out selling it to stores, my company called me up and said, “You know, it's this music thing that's selling this book.” I'm like, yeah, I was there when I was like 19.

It was cool, I was in the crowd.

It was a lot of fun.

And I actually reached out to Wayne Beck and he asked me to get involved.

And I wrote that book, and I started working with the museum with Wayne.

And then when Wayne started to fall ill, I wound up taking it over because by that point, you know, Nick and Chris and Tracy and Jimmy and Harvey and all these people had become friends.

And I felt obligated to keep it going, because quite honestly, when Wayne first called me about it, I was looking at maybe being a paying gig, I wound up putting money into it.

- Yes.

- But yeah, I mean, it was just, I was there as like a 19 year old kid at the bank.

So and you know, for any of us that were there, we felt so cool that we were the in crowd watching these bands, watching you know, watching you guys.

So yeah, we just, Wayne and I ran with the museum and we started getting more and more stuff.

You know, Chris donated a ton of stuff, Nick did too, Jimmy did too.

Jimmy was on our board of directors.

So, yeah, it was a labor of love and I'm glad that I was able to move it over to the- - The History Center.

Yeah that just opened, like, just this spring.

So, yeah.

- One thing though, Brad.

I don't know why I was thinking of this, but because you mentioned it earlier.

You are one of the most positive, upbeat people I know.

- Amen.

- And it’s mostly real.

- The most excited I think I ever, ever saw you is when we were working on a radio show together.

- Yep.

- And I mentioned to you that Vaughn Monroe is from Akron.

And you didn't know that.

You blew up.

- That’s pretty cool.

Yes, I happened to have a deep love of the pre-rock and roll era and the crooners and the swing era and so forth.

I put on one of my radio shows, tt's all about that era.

So, yeah.

And you know, I just kept realizing and finding more.

You go down the rabbit hole for Ohio based artists and in all genres, you know, I mean, back into the 30s and 40s and then people like Bobby Womack is from Cleveland, you know?

There's so much Ohio history or The Godz out of Columbus, who I've become a big fan of through the years as well.

So Calvin, talk about the Akron Sound.

This is the book on on the History Press, available locally, available here tonight even, in fact, yes.

I mean, it's pretty neat that a major history book has come out.

Tell us about the process of documenting all this great history.

- When the first, the book on modern Akron came out, the publisher said that it was the music scene that was really driving it.

And I got asked, do you know anything about it?

I'm like, well, just I was a kid in the audience watching them.

I know that, you know?

And then I did a lot of hard work by calling up people like Chris and Tracy going, “Hey, can I interview you for this book?” And then I wrote down what they said.

- Perfect, perfect.

- Doing archiving work because I you know, all joking aside, I've done a couple projects about city histories, things like that.

It's very interesting when you're doing that because you get things like Nick talking about them being together for years.

So when you talk to the Bizarros, you get the same story from 4 or 5 people because they're still friends, they still know each other.

You know, when I talked to Chris and Harvey, I got some of the same stories.

Some of these bands, where the people hadn't spoken in years.

I get four different stories about what happened, like, completely different.

And it was an easy project because there wasn't that usual sifting through the different stories like there are in other projects, because so many of these people had relationships and friendships that were still solid after 40 years.

I mean, well, it was pretty much just the Rubber City Rebels that didn't have that.

But everybody else, I mean, it was such an easy project because I didn't have to sift through the different stories.

- So let's take another important piece of the story, the Stiff Records Akron compilation.

So this is kind of remarkable.

Stiff Records is a very respected British label, like a coolest of the cool.

And where Elvis Costello and Lena Lovett and Devo, had early singles.

How in the world did this British record label end up coming to Akron and putting together this full collection of, it's like a local music compilation of all Akron bands.

Chris seems to have have some history here.

- So I think it was 77, 1977, all right?

Knocking around Mark Price's house.

Mark Price was the bass player in Tin Huey, and he had one of the 8-track machines that I mentioned.

It was an Atari 8-track, but I think DBX noise reduction.

And my other friend I was working with, Liam Sternberg, Rick Dailey, he had a teac TASCAM which I believe was Dolby noise reduction.

They’re incompatible.

It didn't matter.

What do we know?

We just went from, you know, studio to studio and recorded with our 8-track tapes.

As I understand it, excuse me.

Dave Robinson and Paul Conroy were the principals for Stiff Records.

Stiff really quickly started as a mail order.

Bob the Hope and anchor in Islington.

Very big on pub rock.

They signed a lot of people that nobody else would touch, like Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe on and on and on.

And they became a very eccentric.

They were famous for their promotion.

They were famous for their graphics.

Lot of jokes.

They also were famous for not paying people, but that's another story.

Anyway, they brought us little Paul Conroy.

Come in like December or something, November maybe.

And they were going to woo Devo.

They wanted to woo Devo, right?

- Jerry Casali and I had written the song, ‘Be Stiff’.

- Okay.

- And when they heard that, they thought, well this is perfect for them.

- Yeah.

- And so they signed a limited deal with us for two singles.

We let them know that we were not the, you know, the only people in Akron, Ohio, were trying to do things and- -The key thing here is good old Ohio weather, because they got snowbound and their planes were not flying out of Hopkins.

So they said, “What else we got around here?” What he got was Liam Sternberg orchestrated a listening party at Mark Price's house, where everybody who had been doing their individual recordings, played song after song after song to Dave Robinson and Dave Robinson would like this to do you know few 10 sseconds, B-side 10 second B-side, ten second B-side.

But in the end, it must have been an impression because they decided that we were the new Liverpool.

Yeah, you got it.

You need to mention, And they were going to do this.

Yeah.

That they.

Yeah.

That they were going to do a compilation album and well we said, well, you know, let's see a contract so you don't write your own.

We're not going to ever honor it anyway, which is what we did.

And I have a side story of actually going to going to Stiff's offices in London years later, demanding my 150 pound royalty, which surprisingly, I did get because the week earlier madness on their label, the ska band had been in there, wanted their money and they they blew the place up.

So, so, so they were afraid that this crazy yank, you know, was going to, you know, start another fight.

So I got 150 quid anyway, they, they, they put out this, compilation.

A lot of the bands were made up bands because, we, we didn't have enough bands.

And so we each played that everybody's records and, and it gave the appearance of that.

They, they put a scratch and sniff tire on it that smelled like burn burn rubber.

That was great.

Again.

Sniff promotion.

They they went to Knebworth.

They made these crazy hats with that tie or that, tire logo.

They like, you know, Akron compilation crazy hats.

They made a ton of these and they lost their shirt.

In fact, in the, on a BBC special on Stiff Records, it was out several years ago.

Dave Roberts had said, yeah, I still got a garage full of these.

But it was wonderful.

I made golly stiff records.

Chris.

Remember, there was a stiff, had a contest.

Whoever answered the right questions or whatever got an all expense paid trip to Akron.

Remember that?

Yes, yes, yes, I'll explain Somebody won.

Somebody.

Richard.

He became like a party of ours.

Everybody.

Right?

So many people are in a pen.

Remember Richard Baer?

Yeah.

He came to my.

Yeah, yeah, this this guy came.

This guy came.

Yeah.

So, I mean, it had a wonderful time.

Part of the contest was he got to come to my house.

So he came and sat in my living room.

He and my mom talked about poker.

That's amazing.

He came back.

I bet you for 7 or 8 years, he made so many friends here that he would just keep coming back.

Remember the...

He even bought a I took him to a city of Akron, car auction where they had cars they didn't want any more.

And he bid on one He got it and he drove on the wrong side of the street, wrecked it like, right away.

Or our side of the street.

Anyway, you know, you you talk about promotions.

They had, you trace down chase down legends when you're writing this kind of book.

And one of them was, oh, there was Akron Nights and Bars in London.

And honestly, I didn't believe that.

I thought that was folklore.

And I went through some, you know, I got some old London newspapers ads, and there literally were Akron nights in London clubs and I can't I can't prove this.

But looking into it, when this happened, that was out.

The Devo singles were out and what Rachel Sweet had an album with them.

So they were promoting 3 or 4 Akron releases.

Oh yeah, and they were promoting 3 or 4, albums.

So I think all those like Akron Nights and London bars were basically Stiff like promoting it, that record.

But that's still pretty cool.

What is the story that's come up on from Akron and Beyond podcast a couple times about, like a group from Akron, like several friends went to New York and got waved in for free.

They.

Is that that's in your book, right.

That was when Wayne went there to see the American debut of Flock of Seagulls with some people from Akron, and when they went up there and started showing their ID’s, the people at the door said, you guys are from Akron.

You can come in for free.

Akron’s cool.

And we still are today.

Absolutely.

You know, I, I, I've done some events in Washington DC because the unfortunately he passed away last year.

But the a close friend of mine was the punk archivist for the DC Public Library for their collection.

He actually graduated from Revere.

So I did some events in DC with them, and I had and I was at the Society of American Archivist convention in DC one year, and I was doing something in, Donald Byrd's old club, and I had some archivist from Germany come up all excited about, like, I was selling a book about the Akron Sound because these Germans knew the Akron bands and wanted to buy the books.

Wow.

So let me ask this.

This is a question that comes up about the Akron Sound sometimes cohesively, or when you look at that movement, is it punk?

Is it punk rock?

You know, my my favorite line, and this is from Buzz Click said that, you know.

Yeah.

None of us sounded alike, but what was going on is there was no seat for young people like us at the record label table.

And then this new wave punk thing happened and we just pushed through that door.

We didn't sound alike, but we were all talented people that kicked that door down because it was open when there was nothing at the table.

Otherwise it's real, a real diverse scene.

I mean, nobody, you know, the Rubber City Rebels came close to maybe what people thought punk was, but they really weren't.

And nobody else, you know, fit the category.

I have a I have a quick, definition of Akron Sound because.

Oh, right.

You know, Akron sound know, two things going first.

One real estate.

We had a place to practice.

We had basements.

That's so key.

You can't do what we did in New York City or, any other, large urban area, because there's no place to play, or practice or work on stuff.

Now, the second thing is we are we had, a limited pool of players.

I use this example a lot.

I lived in New York for a long, long time, and if you were wanting to put together a rockabilly band, you would put an ad in the Village Voice that would say, okay, rockabilly band forming must have the right look to buy an instrument, know all the material.

Here.

Audition day.

And you'd get 100, 200, 300 or 500 people, in Akron, there was a one rockabilly guy.

All right.

And my point is that if you wanted to start a band with a person, you usually had someone who is about a majority of one, had a really loved a certain genre, a certain thing.

So you had these diverse you starting with diverse people and, you take a little from each, and you make a new thing because if you wanted to play with someone else, which is the thrill usually, you know, it wasn't compromise.

It was like, what could you bring to the party?

Or you bring this or you bring that.

And so, it was a very a savory soup.

You know, it wasn't just one thing.

It was it was that amalgam of a lot of different talented people with divergent and, disparate interests.

And out of that that I believe that you got a, a, a singular band uniqueness with each one of these organizations and, and a lot of, a lot of it was just blind luck.

I mean, so so the crypt, the crypt was in, a rubber workers bar that, you know, Rod and Buzz or Ward and Buzz used to play in on a regular basis.

And then the strike happened.

And the guy that owned the bar wasn't making any money, and supposedly his wife was saying, you need to be home more.

So he asked.

He asked Ward and Buzz, hey, you guys are the only people here that are making money.

You guys wanted to take this bar over and just, you know, do what you want with it and pay me so much money.

And they said, sure.

And then Ward lived in the same apartment building with Mark Mothersbaugh, and it just all of a sudden they had their own bar because a guy wasn't making money because of the rubber strike.

I mean, wow, pure luck.

Yeah.

So that was probably the last rubber strike in Akron, as a matter of fact, because after that there was no longer building tires.

And.

Right, right.

Yeah.

So a lot of changes in the city and, you know, and just what's going on and what the city is all about at that time, around that same time too let's talk about Cleveland as well.

We mentioned Pere Ubu and the late David Thomas, who passed away recently, and there was quite a scene going on in Cleveland, as well.

Did they interact were the Akron bands going up and playing Cleveland, were the Cleveland band's coming to Akron?

Yeah, we had, pretty steady Thursday night gig, opening for Pere Ubu by which, you know, half a dozen, probably about a dozen times over a year.

And I brought them down to open for, Devo at the crypt.

Okay.

Yep.

But there wasn't a whole lot of that going on.

Yeah, yeah, it seemed like were.

Were Cleveland and Akron further apart back then.

Like, was it just.

It's.

We played with, Cleveland bands a lot.

We used to play the band called The Wild Giraffes.

Do you remember them?

We played with them.

We played with them quite a bit.

Okay.

I felt like we kind of did a lot with Cleveland, but then I was a little after that was after I was like, what they call the second wave.

Yeah, sure.

And we were more engaged with Cleveland at that point.

I think, I remember, you know, Dave Thomas would come and, goof around in Mark Price’s studio with, with, Ralph Carney.

In fact, I, he took one backing track of they, he did Dave Thomas that his own thing on top of it.

Closet pairs, I think.

Right.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So there was there was cross-fertilization.

And I know Tin Huey before me, maybe with me.

I don’t remember, you know, I see old poster listings or, seen listings with Tin Huey playing at Pirate's Cove or the fantasy on the west side.

Right?

Right, right.

So, yeah.

Now, now there's like a, you know, a Berlin Wall between.

Oh, Cleveland.

Akron.

Oh, you know about.

But at the time, yeah, there was a lot of because, you know, this the wonderful thing about all of this, it was only about 100 people doing all this, you know.

And so we were pretty close.

It was a little competitive, but friendly competitive.

It kind of got ruined when somebody got a record deal.

But but at first we played softball on Sundays.

Yeah.

Everybody ended up fighting.

Yeah.

Everybody was kind of like, helping... You had good fight and, you know, but we were able to we were able to pull shows together.

a bit of a long story.

I'm sorry.

I, but you had asked about Tin Huey earlier and how he got signed to Warner's.

I wrote a letter.

You would get the Village Voice, in Kent a week later, and there was an article by Robert Christgau, on him going to England declaring, England is this is 77 again.

And maybe Harvey help 76 Oh this great scene of The clash.

And The Who, the books, and the wa-wa was fantastic.

And I, I wrote a letter that I said, well, you ought to come to you know, Akron, Kent.

Mr.. Look, we got a great scene going on here, and I got a letter, he said, yeah, okay, I'm going to be there in two weeks.

And I was like, okay, okay.

I sent him the album.

I sent him the album.

Yeah.

The Bizarros Rubber City Rebels, he responded to it Yeah, exactly.

So, you know, we were all triangulating on this guy.

So what I have coming.

So, you know, I go to Joe Bujack Okay, I’m going to cuss and if you cut this, it's okay.

But it's for these people.

So I, I sing.

Okay.

You can okay.

So I got I, so I go to Joe Bujack JB so Joe Joe I look at this guy come in and two weeks up can you give us a date Chris.

You Chris you're going to be big time rock star now.

Big time.

Not like that Joe Walsh.

He never come back.

He never come back to play my club.

He never play.

You're going to come back and play my club.

Yes, Joe, I will.

So.

So we cobbled together PA system and we got either Bizarros or (indiscernible) I forget who the first time was.

Oh, okay.

Bizarros for sure.

And we all live together.

We plastered everything with with, you know, fliers and all this because we were trying to make a scene because it was kind of a scene, but not a scene.

Scene.

Okay, so we did it.

We had a great show.

All right, all right, that's good.

All right.

So then Robert Christgau says, I want to, I want I told my friend Karen Berg.

Karen Berg was A&R, woman for, Epic at the time, then had moved to Warner's, and I had sent Karen Berg a couple, a few years ago, a copy of the Numbers band album, because I was in charge of, of of doing something with the album because I thought, oh, television.

Well, I loved, you know, there's similarities, in approached to what television was doing and what Numbers band were doing.

So I sent her that.

So, she said, okay, she's coming in two weeks.

Go.

Go to Joe Bujack, Joe?

Joe, I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

Could you give us a date?

We got it all.

Oh, Chris, now you're going to be really big rock star, right?

Not like that Joe Walsh.

He never going.

Are you going to come back and play my club?

Yes, Joe I will.

Okay, so we did it.

We cobbled together a big PA system.

Chi-Pig or Bizarro boom boom boom.

We have a show.

Then obviously, you know what happens next.

The two weeks, she, Karen Berg says, Jerry Wexler you know, big muckety muck A&R, you know, invented the term rhythm and blues is coming.

And, yes, the same.

Not like that bleep, Joe Walsh.

But he gave us a date and we did a show, and that's how Tin Huey got asked to be a waters, and we tried like to get Jerry to go down and see the Numbers band, because that's who we loved.

And and we thought Jerry Wexler, Atlantic Records, rhythm and blues.

You are going to love this.

He he didn't want to hear about it.

Bob still talks about that.

Yeah.

Well, what a what a surprise.

What a great panel.

In a minute we're going to move into a little bit of the audience Q&A.

Some great questions have been coming in.

I have one more show and tell.

This is when the Bizarros got signed to Mercury.

The Bizarros also went national and and so this album came out in, what, 79, 79.

So just briefly tell us how that happened.

And here you are running Clone Records, but you're getting you're getting upstream to one of the major labels at that point is luck.

And, you know, a little bit of work, I guess.

But, a guy by name of Cliff Bernstein who went on to he's, you know, he's managed Metallica now for, for many years, like 20 some years more than that.

Yeah, 30 years.

And he signed brush and, he was an A & R guy for for Mercury and for some reason he took an interest in Midwest bands, and he formed a label called Blank Records that was, designed to be run the way jazz labels where we didn't have to sell millions.

He could break even on 100,000 or make money on a hundred thousand.

He signed Pere Ubu, the Suicide Commandos from Minnesota and us.

And, there's a shake up at Mercury Records, and the label was dissolved.

I mean, and yeah at Mercury and Blank was dissolved.

So we were released on Mercury proper a year later.

It's again just kind of like funny luck stories, and you just never quite know how it's going to work out.

But in our case, you know, it.

All this music has so much history attached to it.

So we'll move now.

Thanks again to our great panel.

Let's have a hand.

Let's have a hand for the Akron Sound panel.

I do have 1 or 2 things to add.

Oh, yeah.

Go right ahead, Jimmy.

That's great.

Grandpa Jones that's where I'm from.

I mean that's yeah.

Yes, that's exciting to me.

But you know, he wasn't born here.

Maybe.

But he, he performed a lot of times all around here.

Yep.

And then the other thing is one of the reasons in my genre is slightly after Tracy genre, which is slightly after Chris and everyone, Chandor and my friends always said the reason they were in a band was because winters were so bad.

All they had to do was stay at home, play music, listen to music, have a friend stop by and jam with them so they'd start a band.

And the same thing with all the bands having members that were in all the other bands, that was very common with people I knew.

Tim Longfellow in the 80s, you know.

Yeah, well, I didn't say sleep in bed with them, but anyway.

And then for me, I wasn't in a band till Klaus Naomi came to Akron with open, with unit five and the Nelsons and Chi-Pig opening, and I got to go work.

I thought I was going to do theater because I was into makeup.

Stage design and stuff like that at the time wasn't into music.

Well, I hadn't played music.

And then after doing everything in New York with Klaus, I realized when I got home the first time, someone said, oh, you want to be in a band?

I said, oh yeah, and that's how it happened for me.

I just wanted to mention a a cool, thought from, just what it was like back then when the bank was open.

But one of the nicest memories I have is we went to see The Clash play at, Civic Theater.

And after the Clash show, we all walked down the street to the bank and watched Unit Five.

Yeah, I miss the Clash.

How about that?

And Nick, who working who opened for The Clash?

This came up on the radio show.

-The hip hop.

I can't think of it.

It was Grandmaster Flash.

Grandmaster Flash.

No, no no, no, it was, Kurtis Blow.

-Blow.

It was Kurtis.

But early hip hop.

Early hip hop, which I think is super cool that they took them out on the road too, to take Kurtis Blow.

Well, all right, we've got a couple questions that have come in on the note cards here.

And let's start with with Bob Lewis first, question when did Devo adopt the Devo look, was it pre MTV?

Oh, yes.

It was definitely, the first performance at the creative Art Festival in Kent in April of ‘73, we were already in, in costume.

And you had a lot to do with that concept, right?

The costume concept and the look.

Yeah.

Very good, very good.

And then another question.

Yeah.

How about that?

I mean, think of the impact on musical culture and just, just worldwide pop culture.

The other question, for Bob that came in is, have you mended fences with Devo?

Did you go to their show on Mother's Day?

I did not go to the show, but, the next day, Geri Casale and I went out, to Kent because there are some gentlemen that are here tonight who are shooting a documentary about northeast Ohio music.

And, so we went around the campus, we looked at, the site of the shootings, and then, we went out, out to eat at Kent Stewart's.

Oh, very nice that night.

So, yeah.

Very good.

Now we've got one for Chris Butler.

Someone wants to hear some of the details of Christmas Wrapping by The Waitresses.

Just share with us that story.

Okay?

We were in limbo.

Our record, was finished, and, February of ‘81, but our label had lost their distribution, so the record was on the shelf.

We were out.

We were out flogging, all we had was, this the single.

I know, it was like, with a flip side, no guilt.

And, if there was a college radio station or independent radio station or a or a major market, but few because of what Bob said earlier, they didn't know a record companies and, radio stations that didn't know what to do with this new wave punk stuff.

We kept we kept playing all the way through, all the way through ‘81.

Try to try to stay alive until our record come out.

So they fixed their distribution.

And then around in August, our record label had, Michael Zylka, came up with the idea or that he would like all the artists on his roster to do a Christmas album.

You know, Phil Spector Christmas album.

And we all thought it was obviously ridiculous because he had people like Lydia Lunch, all right, and Alan Vega from Suicide.

And these are not warm and fuzzy people.

Okay.

And us, we were just, you know, whatever.

Punk, new wave band, whatever.

And we are like, I needed this, like a hole in the head, and, he said, well, we booked you into the, Electric Lady Studios, which is really cool.

Jimi Hendrix's, studio on eighth Street.

And it was early September, and, okay, two weeks to write something and literally cobbling together and, and I'm the worst person at the time to do any kind of Christmas.

Like, I was such a Scrooge because my family upbringing was just awful around Christmas.

I mean, some people they all all they get is underwear for Christmas.

We got nothing I mean, Oh, it's Christmas every day.

So you're not getting anything.

No.

It was just awful fights and it.

And I was a freelance writer and a freelance writer.

You know, everybody in New York would pull the plug on everything December 1st.

Which means.

But, you know, if an editor has an assignment or let's call Butler, he'll he'll work for the holiday.

So it was like everybody else was goofing off, you know, and I had, I kept working, trying to hit deadlines.

So I was a such a sourpuss about this.

And so I tried to write against type, which is always fun to do.

If you're a songwriter, you know, try to do something uplifting when you're such a sourpuss.

It's it's it's really fun.

Of course.

It has that, that fake Hollywood ending at the end of the song, which if you believe, you know, I have a, bridge to sell you and although it just got hit by a by a Mexican boat.

So maybe it's maybe we'll mark something off.

Anyway, anyway, an incident, right?

Right there.

And so we.

But we're pros.

Okay?

Our band was such good players.

And we went in, we did our thing.

We had three days and, turned it in, literally.

It's a cliche, I know, but I was cobbling together lyrics in a taxicab from my little house.

Little, little apartment.

Over the long way, I, Electric Ladyland, because he had a guitar there.

Now, you know, and I'm literally writing it, and and we recorded it.

We turned it in and we promptly forgot about it, and, know we did our bit for the label.

Hurray!

And then, we go back on the road and they finally set a release date for February, of 82, I believe.

And, but we're still flogging.

We're still on the road.

Opened November Rochester, New York.

I call home to my girlfriend, and, she says, wow, you're all over the radio.

And I go, finally we push this.

I know what boys like saying, you know, through, you know, through whatever slot we could.

No It's your Christmas song.

What?

And so we we we hadn't played and thought about it.

We've learned that it's our soundcheck.

And then we played it that night and it stayed in our repertoire all the way through and, you know, and had a really good run for a couple of years, came out two different editions and that it kind of went away for a while.

And then it came roaring back maybe, oh, ten years later or so, and much to my incredible surprise and gratitude, it's kind of become a staple and it seems to do no harm.

I mean.

At it, it it kicks me in the butt because because I'm in my typical grouchy Christmas mood and it comes through on the mall speaker or on the radio and it kicks my butt.

It says lighten up because boy, does this sound good on a car radio.

It just comes roaring out.

And it was, it's it's it's really wonderful.

And I cover with my band, The Crones.

Yes.

How about that?

Well, let and let me say, not only The Crones, but I find it so fascinating that in the late 90s, a pretty big name international pop group did a cover of Christmas wrapping, the Spice Girls.

The Spice Girls covered that song as well.

We do it better, and the Crones do it even better.

It was their last release, and so version was the record label that I. I went to London to thank the A&R person who did this because it was quite a coup and because I own my publishing and, you know, I was one of the, one of the few things I did right was hold on to my rights.

Yeah.

And and I thanked her.

I gave her a bottle of champagne, of flowers.

She said, oh, yeah, we wanted to do it last year, but but, it didn't happen.

And, and they included it.

And because it was their last release, they had like an album that they had a, like a, a CD single, and then they had a, like an EP and it was an every one of those, releases.

And it's not a very good version, but because it's there, I get paid.

That's awesome.

And it kept going back to going back to 91 three the summit.

It gives me an excuse to play the Spice Girls each holiday season.

So, I mean, we play the waitresses too, of course, but hey, he's his is on the on the writers.

Credit.

So there, here's a great comment.

Someone said not being an Akron native been here just four years, but being a huge music fan and history fan, I am discovering the great music from Akron.

So this, this audience member wants to know, how can I hear the music that isn't on the streaming services like Chi-Pig or Unit five?

And I would say this is where a great record collection comes in.

You got to own the physical media because not everything is out there.

And we, we do play all those bands, on the summit FM as well.

But any tips for, like, bargain hunting in the thrift store used record bins, things like that.

Some, British labels have been releasing some of the Akron stuff the last years, like soul jazz records.

Oh yeah.

Yeah they did.

Their time traveler has it.

Yeah.

Time traveler, time traveler records Scott Shepherd.

There's a great compilation called Burn Rubber City Burn on that soul jazz label with a big bright green cover.

There was a Cleveland compilation too.

That's the second one.

Yeah, yeah.

So that stuff is out there.

Hey, here's another question for anyone on the panel.

Any thoughts regarding a music scene developing around that same time?

70s and 80s in Athens, Georgia, B-52s, R.E.M., the DB's, dreams.

So real bands like this, was it did any of those bands come through our area, or did you guys know any of them?

No.

Not really.

Well, I, I just want to say I believe every community has its sound, and I wish those people who had the ability would archive and present that music, because what I've done has people in other countries, and definitely other states have learned from, I have a YouTube that I put up videos, mostly live videos.

I shot some things I got from people.

One thing I haven't done a lot of is taking albums and just putting them up there.

But, every community has its sound and I support all of them.

Like, it's this is the Akron Sound.

But what I do, the Ohio Historical Music Society, is all of Ohio.

And with Akron for at least 1825 to now.

Right?

Yeah.

There were canal boat songs that I, I've heard of that I love, but all communities that are the people have music.

Well, here's a question or comment really, for Jimmy, someone writes Jimmy, thank you so much for your archival work.

I watch on YouTube all the time.

What support do you need to continue money, volunteers, equipment.

And then they said, when I grow up, I want to be Jimmy Image.

Well, then you'll be an artist when you grow up.

Because when I grow up, I want to be an artist.

But, the help I need is the help that the bands, the fans, the radio stations and all of that.

You just.

Let's just keep doing it and I'll have a reason to do more, you know, or I'll have more material to work with.

And when I'm gone, hopefully I'll inspire one to keep someone to keep doing it.

And so, I mean help, you can donate anything, but just keep doing it.

Yeah, yeah.

What very, very well said.

We have one for Tracy.

Someone wants to know where did Tracy grow up and where did unit five play like most often.

What were your top venues?

The bank.

And then JB's down every Thursday for so long.

Or was it Friday?

I don't know, numbers.

Man up, five down up for years.

But those were the two big ones.

Yeah.

And I grew up in in Akron.

I, we moved 32 times before I was 12, and my mother made sure I stayed in the Akron Public Schools school district.

So, my, my little, DNA is everywhere around the city.

And then an additional part, this is kind of a good a good, couple of questions to wrap up.

Where is the Akron Sound being performed formed now?

Maybe, or maybe to say what is the equivalent on today's, you know, three, three.

Oh, and Akron music scene.

Just shout out to me.

Oh, and Bob can jump in.

Yeah.

Well, last fall, my wife and I moved back from Euclid.

We were right across the street from Lake Erie, and we, decided to move back to Akron.

And we just kind of stumbled upon the porch rocker phenomenon.

And I got to tell you, I could not believe it.

I it was like, I don't know, is there any other place that has that?

I mean, not not to that level.

It seems like 10% of the population of Akron is involved in the porch rocker.

It's amazing.

I mean, it's well over.

It's like 125 bands or something throughout the day on multiple stages.

That just gives you an idea of how thriving the independent music community is today.

And I really believe that this movement of the late 70s and early 80s helped to set the stage for all of that and the vibrant music scene, that we have today.

And how about one last question?

How has the Akron music scene changed from your perspective?

So, you know, what are some of the the biggest differences or most notable things that are different today?

You know, while this was going on and, you know, the joke years later is like every night there was 150 people seeing those bands, but it was the same 150 of us.

But what's what's really odd is while that was going on, there was a pretty big African American music scene.

So like Howard Hewett and James Ingram came out.

Yep.

They're the legendary shows they had in the civic were off the charts.

And that's not even getting into right down the road at the cathedral tomorrow, one of the biggest gospel recording empires in the world was going on.

Did any of you guys make friends with Rex Hubbard Jr so they could get in that studio?

Just because that was the best studio in town?

So he made friends with Rex to get in the studio and you could hear, I can sound, stuff.

There is still a huge just, you know, it was brought up earlier at the Rialto.

They're they're having their 10th year anniversary show.

There were, 4 or 5 bands.

Right.

And, it was a lot of the same idea across fertilization, you know, everybody playing in different bands.

And every one of these people would like, Holy mackerel, they're great players.

It's still going great writers, it's great performers, it's still going on.

I have to plug funeral proposals, which is they're amazing young band.

They're in their early 20s.

They're the best, but they're it's going on right now.

The difference is the difference is, as the pop music era, has, has completely changed.

And, what you what you really need to do is establish yourself as a regional act and get out to, Cleveland, Columbus, Pittsburgh, Detroit and set up, you know, I still believe they could do really well.

And do you do original music?

Do really well without, you have to do everything.

It's still DIY.

Well, it's always been DIY, but it's even more so DIY because, you know, a major labels are not interested in rock music.

It's rock music.

It's a pain in the you know?

Live instruments, recording.

It's expensive.

As opposed to, working in the box computer and doing beats and all of that.

Which which, is very sophisticated and very interesting, but it's a completely different, toolset mindset.

And, that's what the audience is.

So, the music is still here and thankfully you all still going out and seeing shows because that is it.

You know, I mean, that's the as you said, that your applause is the real Akron sound.

The the bands are important, but the bands wouldn't be here without the fans.

Now, if you saw this, Chris, but like a few weeks ago, the number one album in the country was a rock album for the first time in years, and then one showed up the other day, a second rock album hit number one and it and it it it had been years since a rock album was a number one right in the country at number two with you, and I know, one of them was ghost, right.

The, the, heavy metal band.

They wear masks.

They're very Alice Cooper influence as a matter of fact.

And like Blue Oyster Cult and things like that, they're great.

Don't give up.

Don't give up.

The rock is.

That is the point.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So.

Well, Most excellent.

This has been a real blast.

Our panelists will be available in the lobby, to meet and do photos and everything.

Let's hear it again for Nick Nicholas and Jimi.

Image.

Okay.

Miss Tracy Thomas and Chris Butler.

Kelvin ride bomb down here.

And Bob Lewis.

Thanks as well.

Thanks as well to Bob Effington who helped put this whole panel together.

Even though he couldn't be on the panel, he's traveling thanks to, David Giffels, who had to travel as well.

And stay up for a minute.

We're going to get some, all a large group, photos on the stage, thanks to Ryan Hubbard as well.

Who helped put this together on behalf of and Akron 200 and some closing remarks.

Oh, I did want to mention every single person on this stage has been on the summit.

FMS from Akron and beyond show they're all archived.

They're all available as podcasts for a deeper dive into all their stories, you got to hear the Jimmy Image episode where he talks about Klaus Nomi.

I mean, the Klaus Nomi, affiliation with Akron and just learning about him and his story and his music.

Zagar wrote a song about Klaus, Nomi.

Oh, yeah?

Well, how about that?

So, one more hand for our panel.

Thank you, thank you.

And here's Mark Greer with a couple closing remarks.

One more round of applause, everyone.

One more round of applause for our great panel.

And Brad Savage, our moderator from the Summit FM.

We hope that you enjoyed this Forgotten History Forum and that you learned something new and exciting about Akron and the people who shaped it.

If you're interested in watching more from this series, or attending a Future Forum event, please visit Akron 200.org.

or pbswesternreserve.org Thanks for watching and celebrating Akron’s Bicentennial