This big, ambitious band scored a couple Billboard hits and wrote several more for other artists, but their discography ends in 1977.
Author Archives: Steve Krakow
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Power poppers Brevity might be the most obscure act Secret History has ever covered
Frank Zappa’s labels took an interest in Brevity’s mix of Badfinger and Harry Nilsson, but the band split without playing a show or putting out a record.
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Chicago techno-pop trio Scarlet Architect reunite for a European tour after 32 years apart
Scarlet Architect’s forthcoming archival release, Eternal Return, includes the 1982 international hit “Rose Grey.”
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Synth collective VCSR return after more than 30 years with their first release
Original VCSR members Bil Vermette, Dave Palmer, and John Vignola reunite for the Chicago Summer Psych Fest.
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Elvis impersonator Rick Saucedo released a psychedelic LP in 1978 that collectors have sold for a cool grand
Rick Saucedo looks and sounds like the King, but he’s made his best music when searching for his own voice.
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The Riddles’ lone 1967 single made its CD debut in 2008
Suburban garage rockers the Riddles released just one original song, but they’re still fondly remembered around the Windy City and beyond.
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Best transcendental deep-space synth trip
Matchess It’s always nice when a solo project comes into its own, and Whitney Johnson, aka Matchess, has taken off into the stratosphere. Better known as the singer and violist of psychedelic Krautrockers Verma, Johnson has been performing as Matchess for years, using prepared tapes, delay-treated vocals, minimal beats, cosmic keys, and viola to pursue […]
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Jeff Lescher’s power-pop band, Green, should’ve been Chicago’s Big Star
Despite decades of effort and a brilliant, multifaceted lead songwriter, Green never found the fame they deserved.
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Redwood Landing’s groovy 70s folk-rock made them favorites on the midwestern college circuit
Jazzy folk-rockers Redwood Landing have reunited a few times since splitting in the late 70s, and in 1994 bassist Ron Kaplan cofounded talent agency Monterey International.
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South-side favorites the Hounds flamed out before they could reach arena-rock stardom
The Hounds toured with REO Speedwagon and Foghat, but despite a huge local following, they never followed those bands into rock-radio immortality.
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Marty Grebb played in the Buckinghams during their late-60s peak—and that was just the beginning for him
Marty Grebb’s long career has included sessions with Bonnie Raitt and Leon Russell, a stint in the band Chicago, and soundtrack work for a Steven Seagal movie.
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Late-60s suburban band Churchill Moor had the talent to break out, but not the luck
The garage rockers should’ve been canonized alongside the likes of the Buckinghams and the Cryan Shames.
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Meade ‘Lux’ Lewis helped kick off the boogie-woogie craze with his lifelong friend Albert Ammons
This powerful, imaginative pianist shot to stardom in the late 30s, but changing fashions dropped him back into obscurity by the 60s.
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Not even a gorilla mask could bring blues pianist Johnny ‘Big Moose’ Walker out of the sideman shadows
Big Moose worked for years with Earl Hooker and Elmore James and backed Otis Rush, Howlin’ Wolf, Ike Turner, and many more, but his own recordings never caught fire.
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Bluesman Leonard “Baby Doo” Caston played with the legendary Willie Dixon for years
Leonard Caston helped convince Willie Dixon to pursue the blues instead of boxing, but ended up overshadowed by his friend and fading from public view.