In 1983, Mike Johnson (drums) and I were in the thrash band KGB Secret, playing fast and furious covers and noire originals throughout the region, when the unthinkable happened -- I wrote two pop songs: “Judy” and “Name of the Game.” This did not fit well at all with the general theme of the band. So on the standard (but not really SO cliche) cause, I parted ways with KGB Secret because of “musical differences.” Mike stayed on with KGB Secret and continued to lay down the heavy beat until the band’s demise a short time later.
After an equally short time of writing, I found a partner in bassist Chris Zuck, who helped me flush out 13 original pop “ditties.” Because Chris liked circles, we formed Circle 13. Mike heeded the call and joined on drums for several memorable shows, primarily opening for friends and testing out the new material on music savvy audiences. Chris, however, was still a student (and a serious one at that) and sadly was not able to continue the expanding playing/rehearsal schedule. Enter Derek Bond, a close friend of Chris’ and a formidable talent at bass and vocals, who just happened to know most of our songs. With Derek’s new talent and ideals involved, we decided three things:
Get a little more serious about making this a viable band
Really pursue the sound that was collectively in our heads by becoming a quartet
Honor Chris’ effort and contribution by changing the name of the band
We practiced and expanded our repertoire with new originals and a few select cover songs and looked diligently for the one person that would make the project complete: a seasoned veteran with monster chops, professional gear, and transportation. And we found Kevin Brady -- a first year college student with no car, a borrowed keyboard, and a major deer-in-the-headlights look. He was the perfect fit as the future “voice” of the band. As Kevin would describe our first meeting outside of his dorm: “All I saw was this guy in three coats, earrings, and fingerless gloves smoking a cigarette and looking like he hadn’t slept in three days. I was not at all sure of my decision to get into his car ...”
As for the third item of the agenda, after much debate (well, not so much debate as drinking) we changed the name to Modern Logic. The true methods and actual history may never be revealed (read: remembered) but my main recollection was that having “modern” in the name made us sound ... well ... modern. And that was our main mission: to be boldly musically modern and, I guess, logical. In retrospect, we were modern but very rarely ever logical. I purposely did not specify the timing of the name change because, honestly, I don’t remember (see drinking above). What I do remember is 10 years of explaining what our name meant and how we came up with it ... and that no two explanations were alike.
This happened in 1984. The same year figured prominently in a book by George Orwell and an album by Van Halen. Life would never be the same.
Part 2: Modern Logic Goes to the Movies, or ... Our first “big break”
One of the coolest parts of playing music in the '80’s was that you didn’t need to have two or three hours of music to get gigs. Quite to the contrary, having three hours of music was a hindrance since you were immediately labeled a “cover” band and weren’t allowed to play with the “cool kids.”
There were venues that would make room for three bands in a night. Each band would bring their fans. The bands always played only their best songs which ensured that the people there to hear the other bands would be impressed by the great songs. They might be so impressed that they would come see you next time even if their band wasn’t on the bill.
From a business standpoint, this made great sense to the clubs (three bands’ worth of fans to drink beer), to the fans (three bands for three bucks!!!), and to the bands themselves (larger crowd, free beer). With this setup, we got to share the stage, equipment, and fans of many great, talented bands -- none to be mentioned here, in fear that I will forget one.
When we were lucky, we got to open for a “big act” -- a group from out of town with an independent label record. These acts were not necessarily big or even known but they were on tour and had management that said that they were “headliners” and couldn’t be a part of a 3-4-3 band night. So we got to open for them in hopes that some of the fans that were happy to pay $3 to see us with two other bands they’d never heard of would be willing to pay $5 to see us play with one other band that they’d never heard. What we got was the possibilities to make new friends who might let us open for them in their hometown (in front of LOTS of people), time on a bigger stage with better production, and of course, free beer.
One such lucky night in 1985, we opened for Suzy Saxon and the Anglos at Trax during one of the worst hurricane-like storms that had ever happened in Charlottesville. Kevin and I had been working together for several months writing new songs and finding a blend with our voices, sharing writing and lead vocal duties throughout the set. We were still doing the original two songs -- “Judy” and “Name of the Game” -- but had also added several of Kevin’s own originals as well as a few that we had written together. The storm took its toll on the attendance and the general mood. We went onstage to an audience of, I think, 4 or maybe 5 people. But we went on anyway and played our set like we were at Madison Square Garden during a storm. After our set, Suzy and the boys just decided to call it a night and go home, but they very kindly offered to have us come and play with them again on a better night in their hometown (which was an awesome show BTW). We were bummed but we did remember to thank our “audience” for braving Armageddon to catch our set.
Like they say, its quality not the quantity that counts. The 4 people that were watching happened to be in town making the movie “Home Front” which became “Morgan Stewart’s Coming Home” with Jon Cryer and Vanessa Redgrave. And they wanted us to be in their movie! After we got over our initial “Yeah Riiiiight...” response, we spent the next few weeks meeting movie stars, eating craft services, getting fitted for costumes, and recording in a first class studio (where Derek practiced being a rock star by man-handling a $10,000 microphone) until -- the entire production staff (who hired us) got sacked along with ... yup. Life - 1, ML - 0.
Just for those keeping score, the songs that we recorded but NEVER heard again were: “Judy,” “Name of the Game,” and “The Right Side of Love.” Happily new recordings of these songs appeared on our “Tomorrow’s Sun” EP in 1986.
And, since we’re keeping score: Bass players to date (BPTD) - 2