Artist description "Underground" (or pre-alternative) sound of the mid to late '80's

Music Style defunct 80's alternative band

Artist History Back in late '85 the band I was in at the time was on the bill of a nightclub gig in Chico, CA and the band just before us was a very unique act that went by the name of SPORE. It was definitely not typical for those days but there were a few pioneers of a sound that would eventually be called “alternative”. SPORE sometimes thrashed and sometimes were more laid back but always were a little demented. Adding to the quirkiness was the frontman’s incorporation of trombone, accordion and chromatic harmonica. As a part of this small and interesting music scene I became acquainted with the SPORE guys and in early ‘86. They were getting a following, got themselves a manager and went to a 16 track studio to record their material. Basic tracks for all the tunes were laid down but only six were completed and mixed, 3 of which are available here for download. Later that year I was asked to join up as a second guitarist. The sound was a little more full as I had come up with parts to overlay the other guitar while keeping the sound they had developed. As a five piece we played a few gigs, did a spot on college radio and even shot a low-budget video at the school where a friend of ours was taking media classes. I saw pieces of the video once but never got a copy. We were stagnating a little at that point, especially when the other guitarist started losing interest and became less and less involved. He quit altogether toward the end of '86. 1987 saw another new iteration as we were back to a more sparse sound, but different than the original with a more wild and thrashy guitar style I had decided to take it to. We played the clubs and a few out of town gigs and there was brief talk about a tour in Europe, but we lost our momentum because of internal conflict (the usual story) and we were all involved in other projects, some of which with each other. SPORE was unofficially no more for some months but we still saw and/or worked together. Myself, I never wanted that to happen. I really enjoyed what we had going so I talked the other guys into getting together. That led to it quickly falling back in to place, but this comeback lasted only a few months, falling apart again for the same reasons. After a short period I once again pulled us back together, this time with less enthusiastic response at first but with addition of a new member on sax and keyboards we all really got into again. But alas, not for long. Probably a couple months, long before 1989. A few practices and a gig or two, I don’t really remember and didn't get any recordings of this 4th line up. It must have died quietly, never to resurrect. I haven’t seen or talked to any of these guys since I left Chico in ’92 but I don’t think they would mind my doing this. It was a long time ago after all so what does it matter? I hope my memory serves in my attempt to recollect all this. I could never have imaged that in ten years I could digitize my recordings and share my nostalgia of the 80’s and SPORE.

Location Chico, CA - USA

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