LIQUID DRAINO, oops! Another Day (cassette, 1990)

A few months after OXYMORONS got together, a couple of guys wandered into the lounge at WWSU (which was my home away from home at the time -- my actual home being Canal Street Tavern) and asked if anyone knew where a local punk band might get a show. They said they were in a band in Beavercreek called LIQUID DRAINO. I got their number, and Grog got them on the bill at OXYMORONS' next show at Canal Street Tavern. As I remember, one or two of them were still underage at the time, which meant their parents had to be in the bar when they played.

They kicked ass. They pretty much wore their influences (SCREECHING WEASEL, 7 SECONDS) on their sleeves (so did we), but they were damn good guys in a damn good band. The only complaint from that show came from the band members themselves. They didn't like the fact that three of their songs were instrumentals because no one had written lyrics for them yet. But nobody else seemed to care.

Over the next couple of years, we played with LIQUID DRAINO several times both in and out of Dayton, and we all got to be pretty good friends. We did at least one mini-tour together, maybe more (I lose track).

LIQUID DRAINO was:

Dave Graeter - drums, voice
Sheldon Mutter - guitar, voice
Eric Bagdonas - guitar, voice
Brian Bagdonas - bass, voice

All these guys played in other bands around Dayton after LIQUID DRAINO broke up. Dave was in COLAVISION, LARRY BRRRDS, THE BARNHILLS, and ART OF CHOKE. Sheldon was in CIGARHEAD and plenty of others (Dave would know specifics). Eric and Brian were in THE PURE PLASTIC TREE and KIL-KARE. Brian is currently in the FOGHORN STRING BAND. I'll be sharing from some of these bands in future posts.

I'll also be telling more about LIQUID DRAINO and the individual members. But for now here are a few random recollections:

• Sheldon earned the nickname "Sasquatch" for his tendency to be sighted enigmatically walking by the side of the road. People who knew him would usually stop and take him wherever he was headed.
• Eric and Brian's last name was often transmogrified to "Bag-O-Donuts" (usually by Ben, who loved nicknames).
• Dave Graeter has the finest private collection of obscure punk and indie rock that I've ever seen, and he has the best taste in music of anyone I've ever known. If Dave ever recommends a band to you, you should listen.
• LIQUID DRAINO was but one of at least five bands that practiced in Dave's parents' basement over the years (the others being PLANET ED, COLAVISION, THE LARRY BRRRDS, and Dave's older brother's cover band whose name escapes me right now -- UPDATE (3-2-2008 it was NOBODY'S BUSINESS).
• Dave's dad, Paul Graeter, is the coolest registered member of the Republican party I've ever met.

About the download, I ripped this from a first generation cassette dubbed straight off the original mixed reel-to-reel, so it's probably the best sound quality one could get without the reel itself. I included a scan of that cassette in the package, but I've also got a scan of the production model insert and cassette. Thanks to Gail for providing me with those.

Most of these songs were written when the band members were still in high school (I remember Ben being particularly impressed by that--me too for that matter). You'll find individual lyric and music credits on the insert.

"Dinosaurs" was intended to have lyrics but nobody ever finished them.

Notice how Dave wrote both "Save the World" and "Blow Up the World"? The boy is a mass of contradictions.

Eric's note to "just whine along" to "Radio" is a dig at Sheldon, who never wrote out the lyrics to this song and doesn't enunciate them clearly enough for anyone to tell what he's singing.

Ben Shelcker (credited as Ben Phlegm) played harmonica on "Blow Up the World."

The cover picture is of the Beavercreek McDonalds on Dayton-Xenia Rd. I believe that McDonald's was demolished and rebuilt some time in the '90s.

As a bonus, I'm throwing in a live recording of Dave's and my other band PLANET ED performing "Room 101" with Sheldon on vocals (and that's me on bass, Will Dalgard on guitar, Dave Graeter on drums -- so it's half and half -- PLANET DRAINO?). At the beginning and end you'll hear some of that classic PLANET ED time-wasting stage banter that used to drive Dave absolutely crazy (more on that when I do the PLANET ED post).

In addition to this, LIQUID DRAINO released a 2nd cassette, Ike Fell in the Water. I'll be sharing that at some point, as well as a LIQUID DRAINO live show I've got.

Track list:

1. Life Without You
2. Room 101
3. Save the World
4. Dinosaurs
5. Don't Need It
6. Grey Suit Man
7. Roller Skating
8. Whales
9. Radio
10. Blow Up the World
11. Innocence
12. Planet Ed (live)-Room 101

All songs were recorded January 6, 1990 at Cro-Magnon studios (engineered by Joe Buben), except track 12, which was recorded by me on a boombox at Canal Street Tavern, March 1, 1991.

Download it! (29 MB) (link re-upped on 2-1-2013)

Thanks again to Gail for providing me with the insert and cassette, which are only a fraction of the treasure trove of stuff she dropped off at my place yesterday. She brought me 12" records by THE PLEASURES PALE, TOOBA BLOOZE, THE OBVIOUS, and THE HIGHWAYMEN, as well as scads of cassettes from the likes of BIG BROWN HOUSE, MOM, LIMITED POTENTIAL, and others -- plus some flyers, t-shirts, photos, more 7"s than I can count, and a couple of surprise items that will remain top secret for now.

So with all that plus my and Grog's stuff, there's enough material to last at least a year, likely more. The bad news is that today the new semester starts at law school, and I'll be busy as hell with that until December or thereabouts. So it may take me quite a while to scan and rip all the stuff Gail dropped by. But I've got a good backlog of posts already written and music already ripped, so you can expect at least one or two posts a week for the foreseeable future.

take care

---Jones