Off-Site: Dayton bands at the AllMusic guide...

So I was dicking around over at the AllMusic site and just started typing in names of bands and people from Dayton indie rock. Most returned some kind of result, but only a few included a write-up. I've listed those that returned such a result below (along with corrections where I know AllMusic got it wrong):

TROY CAMPBELL - Troy Campbell was basically the creative force behind THE HIGHWAYMEN. I have a couple of recordings by them that I'll post at some point, but I never met or played with any of these guys. They had relocated to Austin before I really knew who they were. Still, I saw them play once at Canal Street Tavern about a year after they left -- great live show. The only thing I would venture on this article is that I always thought THE HIGHWAYMEN left Dayton in 1988, but the bio puts it in 1989.

BRAINIAC - One correction:

• Tim wasn't driving home from the studio when he was killed. He was driving home from the closing night party of 1470 West, which was both a gay club and a modern rock dance club, depending on which night of the week you went there (there tended to be a lot of crossover, and everybody knew it, so if you were straight and you got hit on by a homosexual, you just had to politely decline -- and no, Tim was not gay). The club was moving to a new location downtown. There's been a lot of unfounded speculation about what caused the accident, and although I don't usually mind reporting rumors, it seems crass to do so in this case. I really didn't know Tim that well, except to say "hello" on occasion.

THE OXYMORONS - Okay, this was the strangest result of all. Not only is there a very complimentary biography (thank you Uncle Dave Lewis), but I actually learned something about my own band that I never knew before. Apparently, we appeared on some kind of indie rock compilation on Shredder Records in 1997 (three years after we broke up). The cover of our first seven-inch record is even reproduced on the cover of the compilation, and our song ("Unearthing Your Grave," which I've always thought was the best thing we ever recorded) is the first track. I had no idea...Again, I think the bio is great (my head is expanding as I type), but I do have a couple of corrections (no offense at all to Uncle Dave):

• Although D.O.A. certainly played in Dayton and hung out with TOXIC REASONS frequently enough to convince the casual observer that they were from this town, they weren't. They were, of course, from Vancouver.
• When Ben's dad found his body (through what must be one of the cruelest coincidences of all time -- Dumb Dayton Luck strikes again...), he wasn't taking him back to Dayton for a family outing. The two of them were going to drive to New York (where Ben had lived the previous couple of years) to pick up his stuff and bring it back home.
• Dancing on Billy's Grave was a regular CD release (our third full-length if you count the first two cassettes), not a compilation of our stuff.

Anyway, other than that, the bio is spot on. Thanks again, Uncle Dave.

THE MULCHMEN - The MULCHMEN were a surf rock combo in the '90s featuring Nick Kizirnis (guitar, theremin), Gregg Spence (drums, and Brian Hogarth (bass). I've got their 7" (All the News That's Fit to Surf). No corrections on this one.

JOHN SHOUGH - Nothing to add except that John is probably the best engineer I ever recorded with.

LAB PARTNERS - Good band still currently playing around Dayton. They're great, but I won't be posting anything by them (though you can hear their stuff at the LAB PARTNERS myspace page).

REAL LULU - One correction:

• The bio seems to imply that Jim Macpherson played drums on We Love Nick, but that's only 1/7 true. Gregg Spence is listed as the official drummer. He played on 7 of the fourteen tracks. Jim and Steve Johnson each played on two tracks. Drummers on the remaining three tracks were Ben, Matt Espy, and Tim Taylor.

take care

---Jones