It is SO difficult not to just turn out a string of superlative-laced babble when discussing the best Flying Nun bands...Sneaky Feelings, unlike their Dunedin friends The Chills, The Verlaines, the Stones, etc. were less influenced by The Velvet Underground than by the Byrds and Elvis Costello, and as such they placed a very high value on the art of songcraft. Their first LP, Send You (1984), is one of my favorite records ever, a great mix of the more song-oriented West Coast bands of the 60's with some guitar work that recalls Felt or Television. The strange thing about that record is that in 1992 Flying Nun released a CD version with three extra tracks that had been recorded in 1990. The even stranger thing is that they fit in seamlessly, making a truly great record even better. "Ready Or Not" is the only one of those three extra tracks not included on the Sneaky Feelings' anthology CD, Positively George Street. That also seems odd to me, as the intro alone makes me swoon, and I think it's one of the best things they've ever done.

Subsequent Sneaky Feelings releases showed them getting a bit more twee, relying perhaps less on hard-strummed rhythm guitar than on keyboards and such, and at the same time taking their melodies in a more effervescent direction. Our other Sneaky feelings track is "Wasted Time," the B-side of "Coming True" from the fine Sentimental Education LP; it hearkens back to their earlier sound.

All three of the Sneaky Feelings LPs are worth owning in their own right, including the 3rd, Hard Luck Stories. The anthology is the only CD currently in print, but Flying Nun seems to try to re-issue old catalog material every few years, so there's a good chance you'll be able to get the proper LPs in their original form at some point.

If you're not that familiar with the wonders of Flying Nun Records, or if you are, and you want to hear more, or basically if you've liked looking at Little Hits for any reason, I implore you to buy this. It's the album that introduced me to the label when it became the first FN record to be released in the US. It's still my favorite compilation ever.

Other than the Embarrassment, Klyde Konnor may have been the best Kansas band I ever saw, and isn't it odd that they were both from Wichita? Klyde Konnor had a lead singer with a Syd Barrett infatuation, a bass player who wore flares, and a drummer who looked way too straight to be hanging out with the other two. They also had great harmonies, weedy guitar, and often amazing psychedelic pop songs. They didn't venture up to our end of the state too often; I remember one night they played three sets at a frat bar while a handful of us looked on with rapt attention, while Philistines screamed "woooo" at TV sets in adjacent rooms. The reaction to Klyde Konnor at legitimate music venues was slightly, but only slightly, more encouraging.

Klyde Konnor's first "release" was a cassette of not-terribly interesting college rock. I'm not sure what happened in the the two years between it and the next tape, I Always Forget, but somehow, singer/guitarist/songwriter Mike Coykendall found an interesting and distinct voice during that period. The songs were still frequently reminiscent of a certain band from Georgia, but the hooks were much, much stronger than ever before, and little instrumental and lyrical touches were creeping in that suggested that Klyde Konnor was ingesting something other than Coors beer. Their next album 1989's Wallpaper, confirmed it. Brilliant, twisted pop; like a very Midwestern Robyn Hitchcock. Their final missive was the ridiculously ambitious Hypnopotamus (1990), a double cassette that sprawled and occasionally meandered, but contained enough gems to make it more than worthwhile. The band wound down when Coykendall split the Midwest for San Francisco where he formed the Old Joe Clarks. He's currently resides in Portland, and is working on a solo record.

It should be noted that all of these releases were originally available only on cassette. (There is now a CD of Hypnopotamus. Contact Mike Coykendall at PO Box 86236, Portland, OR, 97286) I've got way too much going on right now, but someday I'd like to put together a compilation of all of the late 80s bands who never had the financial means to release anything other than cassettes. I know there are dozens of them out there, because there were plenty of them right around Lawrence. If you know of any from your neck of the woods, drop me a line.