There is no way of knowing for sure,what with memories being eroded by age and abuse and the notion that things used to be better, so just grant me this: The 'Trippers version of the Kinks' "See My Friend" may have been the best cover I ever heard. They never recorded it, but it was on the set list purt' reg'lar for awhile. Drummer Mark Bruggeman flailed about in an eerily Moon-esque fashion while bassist Scott Stecklein did some McCartney bits and the whole thing just exploded in a whirl of modcolor. It was friggin' HUGE, I tell ya...

Iowa City's Dangtrippers are one of my favorite bands of all time, because they played in Lawrence quite frequently throughout the late 80s, and my friends and I had wild crazy drunken intellectual bad-dancing FUN every time. They were a great cover band; among the ones I can remember are: "In the Street," "Foxhole," "Bangkok," "Dr. Robert," "Glory," "Lucifer Sam," "Changeless," "Brontosaurus," and "When You Dance I Can Really Love." They cranked out great renditions of these classics, for they could all play and sing very nicely, and they did so long before playing a Big Star or Television song would impress more than four people in the audience. Their original material was fine as orange juice as well, as a listen to their albums demonstrates. When the What Gives actually became a band, I had the Dangtrippers in mind as the live act I would most like to emulate.

Their recorded output, compared to their strength as a club attraction, is merely magnificent. It didn't capture the full-on sonic wallop of the rhythm section, and isn't quite as wired as the band was onstage in a sweaty bar. Nevertheless, it is all well worth seeking out, especially the Days Between Stations LP on REM manager Jefferson Holt's Dog Gone label, which neatly explored the tension between Devin Hill's pure pop longings and Doug Roberson's quirky psychedelic leanings (though Roberson certainly knew his way around a hook as well).

As DBS was being released, Devin Hill left the band to be replaced by Pat White, trading winsomeness for some muscle without affecting the quality of the band much. Hill went on to make a couple of nice records for the short-lived Big Deal label. The Dangtrippers dissolved in the early 90s, at which point Roberson formed Head Candy who did an LP on Link that I really should track down. When that folded he went the retro route, first with some of his Dangtrippers pals in the Bent Scepters, and then with the Hammond grooving Diplomats of Solid Sound, where he currently resides. (According to their Website, they're appearing in Lawrence on Saturday at the Gaslight.)