Apr
23
Other Seattle Bands
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The Heats
Back in the pre-grunge early ’80’s, The Heaters, later The Heats, led a power-pop revolution in local rock, a reaction to the disco and corporate rock of the times in local clubs and on radio play lists.
The Cowboys soon joined in with a rougher-edged sound, and the 2 bands’ good-natured rivalry enlivened the local scene and spurred a boom in the nightclub business. Both played original songs when only Top 40 cover bands could get work in most clubs.
But The Heaters built up such a strong following playing out-of-the-way dives that the big clubs started booking them. The band even got good airplay on local stations, and scored a local hit with “I Don’t Like Your Face”.
The music of The Heats (who had to change their name because a California band owned the name Heaters) stands up well after nearly 20 years, because of the quality of the song writing.
Steve Pearson and Don Short had a knack for writing strong pop songs bristling with swagger and humor. Their recordings were well produced, by Howard Leese and Ann Wilson of Heart.
(Patrick McDonald)
THE SEATTLE TIMES, OCT.1,1998
The Cowboys
The Cowboys were perhaps as motley a crew as has ever been assembled for a Northwest band. Singer Ian Fisher was loud, boisterous, arrogant, and had a fake english accent: In short, he was everything a lead singer needed to be, and he was a commanding presence.
The band mixed a little reggae with power-pop, and it was this knack for being populist that gained it such a large following. Their biggest hits were “Rude Boy” and “Girls Like That”, both of which sound surprisingly catchy even today.
Unfortunately, The Cowboys never got a major-label deal: They were at least as good as many of the bands that clogged the “Rock of the ’80’s” airwaves, and as a live band they were rivalled by few.
(Charles Cross)
THE ROCKET, Seattle, Sept.23, 1998
The Cowboys @ Chuckieboy Records
The Allies
“The Allies is a shockingly good record” is what The Rocket -Seattle’s premier rock magazine of the ’80’s- had to say about this album upon its release in March of 1982.
Seattle Times critic Pat McDonald lauded the album as being “among the most impressive albums released locally. The production quality is first-rate… The songwriting of Steve Adamek, Dave Kincaid-an excellent lead guitarist, and Carl Funk-a local songwriter, generally is excellent.”
Released at a time when the local radio playlists were notoriously tight and dominated by “corporate rock,” and hearing a local band on the air nonexistent, The Allies managed to shatter these barriers with the albums’ opener “Emma Peel”. The song went on to become a classic regional hit which continues to be heard on the airwaves to this day-twenty years later.
Made into one of Seattle’s first rock videos, “Emma Peel” won the honors in the semi-finals of MTV’s “Basement Tapes” competition in 1984.
THE ALLIES, whose core members would go on to form The Brandos, was one of Seattle’s premier and hardest working Rock ‘n’ Roll bands of the early-mid 1980’s.
Reflecting the times, the band presented a healthy mix of Power Pop, Punk, New Wave,’60’s British Invasion and good ol’ Rock ‘n Roll, and played non-stop from the fall of 1979 through January of 1985, being featured by virtually every newspaper and rock radio station in the region, as well as appearing on local television music programs and newscasts.
This version of the band featured Steve Adamek (vocals, rhythm guitar, piano), Dave Kincaid (vocals, lead guitar, bass), and Larry Mason (drums, vocals).
The Allies @ HauntedFieldMusic.com
The Substitutes
Sheldon Hamper, Matt Lorey, John Bradley, Eric Wiseman, Pat Shaughnessy