The Chicago Loop never outdid their first 45, despite a wild psychedelic single in 1968 that holds up great today.
Tag: Mercury Records
Posted inMusic
Fifty years ago, Trilogy brought the west coast’s countrified rock sound to Chicago
Trilogy’s sole album flopped, but it’s ripe for rediscovery by the young bands in love with the old Laurel Canyon scene.
Posted inMusic
Remembering Triad Radio, where the usual was unusual
Triad Radio, Chicago’s pioneering experiment in commercial free-form radio, left the airwaves in 1977. Now longtime program director Saul Smaizys is moving its archives online.
Posted inMusic
Folk genius Dwain Story died a legend to the few who still knew his music
Dwain Story roomed with Phil Ochs and made a fan of Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, but mental illness denied him a career like theirs.
Posted inMusic
If you don’t know Megon McDonough, blame the maleness of Chicago’s 70s folk scene
Folk singer Megon McDonough made her 1972 debut LP while still in high school and in 1990 joined Christine Lavin’s Four Bitchin’ Babes.
Posted inNews & Politics
‘Eye of the Tiger,’ Berwyn musician’s biggest hit, started with ‘Bam! Bam bam bam!’
Songwriter Jim Peterik’s work, which also includes “Vehicle,” first hit the Billboard Hot 100 when he and his bandmates were still in high school.
Posted inMusic
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.
Posted inMusic
Material Issue
Material Issue’s Jim Ellison, the ingenuous kid from Addison, finally got what he wanted: a big advance (in the six figures), a record produced his way (by Jeff Murphy of Shoes, up at his studio in Zion), and backing from a big label (Mercury). The grandiloquently titled result, International Pop Overthrow, isn’t bad: resolutely modeled […]