started to mess around with instruments and tried to learn to play. When he and Gary first started hanging around together and talking about music, it inspired them to have the pipedream of having a band and I hopped along for the ride.


“We didn’t play a live gig until April 8th, ’76! So all of that recording served as our learning tool to write, play, sing and record. Plus, we couldn’t afford to go into a real studio at that time – especially at the level of musicianship that we were at back then. We would have taken forever. Home recording was our musical, experimental laboratory!


“For the label, we simply tracked down a record pressing plant, pressed up our albums and started to ship them out to labels, critics and writers. We’d load a box or two into the car and drive around to local record stores (yes, they had independent record stores back then) and tried to talk the store into carrying some copies. The press turned out to be our biggest ally. Fortunately for us, those were the days of an exploding fanzine scene and the whole punk and D.I.Y. movement was taking hold.”


Black Vinyl Shoes made headway with some influential voices in the underground music scene of the late ’70s. The Village Voice embraced it, and Ira Robbins lauded the album in the taste-making Trouser Press. Better yet, Shoes’ self-made record caught


the attention of Greg Shaw, consummate hipster and then head of the Bomp! label. Shaw got hold of the band and released their brilliant single ‘Tomorrow Night’ b/w ‘Okay’ on his label. There was talk of more Shoes releases on Bomp! –perhaps even a full- length record –but it was not to be.


“The first LP for


Elektra, Present Tense, had four singles


released from it. The record was receiving airplay on several


different tracks across


the country. It confused radio and diffused the focus.”


Jeff Murphy


“Greg discovered us because a writer named Cary Baker from Chicago gave us his name and address to send a copy of BVS to him for review,” tells Jeff. “Greg flew into Zion and met with us. He asked us to record a single for Bomp! and he wanted to re-issue BVS, too. Unfortunately, Greg had


distribution and cash flow issues. We waited for several months for him to get it together but ended up re-issuing BVS on Passport Records, which was distributed by JEM Imports (the same company that distributed Bomp!) Greg wasn’t happy about that move or the fact that we ended up signing to a major label, as he thought it was cooler to stay independent and underground. We simply wanted to reach as many people as we could with our music and a major label provided that opportunity. We didn’t have much contact with Greg after we signed with Elektra in early ’79 but he was very helpful to us with his advice and encouragement.”


The deal with Elektra Jeff alludes to came amidst the buzz that was starting to swirl around the band. This was a test for Shoes in several ways. They were pulled out of the comfort zone of their home studio and recorded their first two major label albums in Oxfordshire, England and Hollywood, respectively. Although they co-produced both, they now had to open themselves to the input of professional knob-twiddlers and had to listen to the demands of corporate honchos – all of this quite a contrast from making home demos and releasing them on your self-made label. But Jeff hasn’t much bad to say about the band’s time on Elektra’s roster:


“We were thrilled when Elektra came


“These songs grow on you until they become engrained in your mind.”


So said Bomp! kingpin Greg Shaw of Shoes’ debut BlackVinylShoesback in 1977. Greg’s wife SUZY SHAW remembers their first encounter with the band vividly...


It was the mid-70s and Bomp! Records had expanded to include a record label as well as a magazine.


Greg Shaw was looking for bands to sign, but it seemed that the melodic pop sounds of the ’60s that he loved were gone for good, with much heavier sounds and the beginnings of punk starting to appear in the market. I remember our astonishment when one day a demo package came in the mail containing the usual promo photos and a cassette tape, but instead of the James Taylor wannabes that were becoming the norm, the enclosed photo was of a band with Beatles haircuts and skinny ties. (It was The Poppees –immediately signed for our second Bomp! single –the music being as great as the photo!)


It was our first clue that something very interesting was happening out there, and Greg proclaimed it to be the dawn of a new era of powerpop and made it his mission to round up the best bands from the burgeoning scene. Soon after we got a letter from rock writer Cary Baker, telling us about an amazing band that Greg really needed to come and check out. The band, of course, was Shoes, and before long Greg and I were on a plane to Chicago.


Greg loved the band and Shoes agreed to do a single for Bomp! which came out in ’78 [‘Tomorrow Night’ coupled with ‘Okay’]. Greg wanted to release Black Vinyl Shoes on Bomp! and record a new album as well, but Elektra made them a better offer which they understandably accepted. Jeff Murphy tells me that when they broke the news to Greg he was very upset and wrote a letter scolding them about the dangers of going with a major label. But, in spite of Greg's disappointment, he remained a huge fan of the band and wrote about them frequently in Bomp! magazine.


His review in The Sex Pistols issue enthused, "Punk fans may not agree, but if you can appreciate solid teen pop/rock in the tradition of the The Raspberries, The Beatles, The Quick, or even Milk & Cookies, you'll share my love for Shoes." He listed


Black Vinyl Shoes among his Top 10 albums in a subsequent issue, saying "These songs grow on you until they become engrained in your mind – especially if you work in the Bomp! store".


And as I write this Shoes is playing one more time on the Bomp! iPod, still one of our favourites. Sadly, Greg isn't here to add his comments and insights, but I have no hesitation in speaking for him when I say that having Shoes on our label is something we'll always be very proud of.


31


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