Each week, the pop culture website Pop-A-Looza shares some posts from my vast 'n' captivating Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) archives. The latest shared post is my celebration of the album Tell America by Fools Face.
Both this piece and the recent post about The Ramones' Subterranean Jungle album were originally written for the 2005 book Lost In The Groove. While those were my only two pieces in the book, I did write a third entry, which the editors declined. We'll see that piece reprised next week.
Like The Skeletons, Fools Face were from Springfield, Missouri, a fact which enhanced my interest in those groups. My mother was born and raised in Southwest Missouri, and summer visits to the area were an essential part of my youth. The bus or plane from Syracuse brought us as far as Springfield, and my grandparents would pick us up there and bring us back to their home in Verona or (later on) Aurora. We occasionally made it back to Springfield's Battlefield Mall, where my cousin and I could see a movie (What's Up, Doc? was a favorite), and buy books or records. I never got to see any rock bands, mind you, but the idea of such utterly cool bands as The Skeletons and Fools Face coming out of that region always pleased me. I much, much later got to see The Skeletons a couple of times at shows in Syracuse; I regret I never had an opportunity to see Fools Face. But I have the records! And I still cherish them.
Speaking of the Springfield sound, this paragraph from a previous blog post bears a repeat appearance here:
"Man, if you have a chance, check out the documentary The Center Of Nowhere: The Spirit And Sounds Of Springfield, Missouri. It's a fascinating account of Springfield's rich and essential music history, and while I regret that Missouri's phenomenal pop combo Fools Face didn't rate at least a passing mention, the film rightly focuses in large part on the late Lou Whitney, producer and bassist for The Skeletons. The Skeletons were one of the best live acts I ever saw, and I wish I'd had more opportunities to do so (and to see related bands The Symptoms and The Morells). Holy guacamole, these guys were good. I chatted very briefly with Whitney at a Syracuse club date in the '90s, and later did a telephone interview with him, as well. The interview was conducted for DISCoveries magazine, but circumstances moved it to publication in Goldmine instead. You can read that story and interview here."
I never lived in Missouri, and it's likely I'll never find myself back there again. But I have roots there. And I dig some of the music that came out of Springfield. Tell America, a fantastic album by a fantastic Springfield group called Fools Face, is the subject of the latest Boppin' Pop-A-Looza.
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