THE WIZBANGS, demos (cassette, 1991)

THE WIZBANGS were Denny Wilson's band after TOOBA BLOOZE broke up. I already wrote some of what I remember about them in the Viper's Drag post, but here's a bit more:

The WIZBANGS were:

Denny Wilson - guitar, voice
Tim Taylor - guitar, voice
Juan Monasterio - bass
Captain Karl Streuber - pans, harp, voice
J.J. Yates - "soul and groove" (that must mean drums in WIZBANG-talk)

They played groove-style '70s-ish rock -- well evidenced by the music for download today. They recorded these as demos and apparently sent them out to some radio stations (likely clubs and promoters too), but to my recollection, they never released this for general sale.

Will Dalgard told me they recorded these all pretty much in one take on a Saturday afternoon in the same order they appear on the cassette. They did it all live to 8-track at J.J.'s place. I think it was some time around March or April 1991. I don't think there are any overdubs. I'm pretty sure Will was there for at least part of the recording (he used to hang out with Denny and Tim, and he was probably this band's biggest fan -- so much so that he dedicated PLANET ED's first cassette to them, even though by then they had broken up). If I've got any of this wrong, someone correct me.

Will and Tim struck up a bit of a friendship, and I know Tim used to give Will guitar pointers all the time. Will would incorporate these into PLANET ED songs -- usually, but not always, with good results.

I saw these guys probably three or four times, always at Canal Street Tavern. In keeping with the tone of the music, they wore bell bottoms and Robert Plant style frilly shirts. They were quite the sight to see, but I must say, the girls ate it up. One reason I went to all those shows was that the place was always crawling with hot girls.

The WIZBANGS lasted a little less than a year. After they broke up, Tim and Juan, of course, went on to form BRAINIAC. Denny moved to New York. I don't know what happened to Karl or J.J.

Track List:

1. Selfish Son
2. Red Man
3. Don't Cry Mama
4. Disturbing the Peace
5. Funky & Superbad
6. Not What I See

Download It! (27 MB) (link re-upped on 2-1-2013)

My favorite tune here has always been "Red Man" (which Tim sings), followed closely by "Disturbing the Peace" (which features Karl prominently), but they're all pretty good if you don't mind this genre of music. But if you are at all put off by retro-groove, you should pass this one up.

The download pack includes scans of the insert and cassette. Those I got from Grog, but I ripped the music from a different cassette I had. Will had a first generation copy right from the original reels, and I dubbed that from him. I thought that might sound a little better than the production copy.

take care

---Jones