Song Of the Day: March 26, 2005
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.
4 Comments:
Interesting review. The bass player, Ron Smith, actually wrote a majority of the material. He was the mastermind behind the band, just as Syd was in the beginning of Pink Floyd. Smith played bass, but wrote a great deal of the guitar parts as well, (in addition to playing sax on "Time Trap," just to name one instrumental deviation among many).
Something definitely worth checking out is Nervous Pudding, a band led by Smith that clearly shows the influence he had in Klyde Konnor. (Of course, he was also in Walter Ego, The Black Poppies, Hissy Fit, etc).
Oh, and Ron Smith is my father, so if you're interested in any history/news on future releases, email me at sithicar@yahoo.com ("Post Neo Retro" by Nervous Pudding won't be the last cassette-to-CD conversion. Once things calm down with his other gigs, there are plans that even the most casual fan of Klyde Konnor will be excited about).
Actually, that's a small overstatement. Mike Coykendall started the band in 1984 with a different bass player, and was principal songwriter then. But there's no denying Ron brought a whole lot to the band (in terms of both songwriting and arrangements) when he joined in '86 or '87. His daughter's comments suggest maybe a competitive Lennon/McCartney type of thing developed of which I was previously unaware (maybe not!--they played a decent reunion gig in Wichita recently).
Very glad to hear that the Pudding has not been lost to the world! Well worth a listen.
Well, I suppose I can clear up some of this if it matters to anyone. In the beginning Klyde wasn't even a band; it was the name Mike put on a cassette that he sent to KMUW. People liked it, so a band was put together. If Mike would have known the name would stick, he probably would have thought about it more.
Although I wrote and co-wrote several tunes, contributed to a lot of the arrangements, and played a few guitar parts (as well as keys and sax), Mike wrote the vast majority of the tunes. I had been playing professionally since the mid-seventies--everything from big-band to punk, saxophone to guitar, Wichita to Norway--and I was well aware which tunes of mine were Klyde material.
Mike and I work well together and the second half of Hypnopotamus is pretty much just the two of us. He also did the majority of the mixing on the Nervous Pudding material and is currently making some superb recordings at his studio in Portland. Both of us are making a living from music, and that is good.
Apparently, a band in St. Louis has taken the name Nervous Pudding. They're a decade late, but I wish them well. Perhaps they'll hit it big. Then I can sue them.
Oh, one more thing, the overly-enthusiastic reviewer is my son--not my daughter, although I have one of each.
Ron
It's not odd at all that the best bands were from Wichita. They still are. College towns like Lawrence are great, but the bands there too often get swept up in music fads and passing fancies. In Wichita there's an idiosyncratic disdain for the "next big thing," and musicians just relax and do what comes naturally.
Klyde Konnor used to blow me away. They do a reunion every once in a while, and I never fail to catch them again. Awesome.
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