Friday afternoon in downtown Chicago's magnificent Millenium Park, the beloved Zion, IL band known simply as Shoes, one of the Midwest's most significant power pop pioneers, will be performing a free live concert as the kickoff for the Great Performers of Illinois Festival. As one of the forefathers of the midwest American pop phenomenon of the mid 70s, Shoes were operating on their own schedule from the start, releasing two private label homemade albums and an EP which have become the holy grails of pop record mongers the world over. Even two years before the appearance of Cheap Trick's debut, Shoes released Und Das Versailles, Bazooka, and the Heads or Tails EP as far back as 1975, which you can pick up in digital format as the "As Is" CD HERE. Starting up with the two Murphy brothers, Jeff and John, along with Gary Klebe and Skip Meyer, they went the DIY route well before it was fashionable and decided to record, produce, and release their own records on their own Black Vinyl imprint. Along with the Raspberries, Big Star, and the Scruffs, Shoes were moderately successful enough to issue enough copies of their Black Vinyl Shoes LP in 1977 on their Black Vinyl label and their impressively fey stab at rock'n roll snared the attention of Greg Shaw at Bomp! Records who sought them out for a single. After squeezing onto the Bomp! roster with just one 7" single, this led to the immediate reissue of the Black Vinyl LP by PVC Records, which heralded the LP as one of the top albums of the 70s by The Village Voice, and dispersed their records more effectively than their private edition albums in editions of 300 ever managed. As word spread of Shoes' impeccable pop prowess running completely parallel to the current surging punk movement, they were snatched up by Elektra Records in 1978 and recorded and released their major label debut, Present Tense in early '79 and their sparkling and powerful follow up, Tongue Twister in '81, which spotlighted such power pop classics such as "Too Late," "Cruel You," "Hate To Run," and many more. Their following album surprisingly retains its merit as the Boomerang LP delivers solid genre-defining song writing and style that's made a lasting impression, despite waning popularity, and eventually influenced some of the more keen pop bands running today. Dropped by Elektra in 1982, the band lost drummer Skip Meyer and retreated back into their home-recording mode and after releasing a trickle of albums throughout the late 80s, they went dormant along with many of their pop peers of the era. Shoes reunite this Friday at 5PM at Chicago's lakefront Millenium Park and if you're anywhere near the area, it better be on your schedule.
check out Shoes' "Cruel You" video from 1979 right here...
