The history of the local music scene as seen through the eyes of John Quill. (My Story)

Images assciated with this story can be found at: RockOnColorado.com

When I first rolled into Denver in the fall of 1982, I was a struggling musician who had given up on Nashville.  In unfamiliar territory, I had no clue what I was going to stumble into, namely the most exciting music scene anyone could imagine. By chance, I got an apartment on Capitol Hill right around the corner from the old Mercury Cafe and Wax Trax. Then, in 1983 I saw the Chelsea Girls on the second floor of an old downtown office building at 13th & Lincoln. There was a good crowd and the show was excellent. I saw Jill Sobule, and Images among others at Spirits on Grant. I saw a variety of bands at Mr. Lucky's, Hermans and others including Niel Haverstick at my local hangout, Cricket On The Hill. It didn't take long before I too got sucked in.

John Quill Entertainment...

I learned that starting around 1980, Denver musicians were moving away from cover bands, and experimenting with all-original. Early 80's bands like The Aviators, Young Weasels, Transistors (Boulder), Your Funeral, Lunch, The Gluons, Mau Mau 55, Crank Call Love Affair, The Frantix, The Trees, Define Print, Cage of Reason, Diet Plan, KamiKaze Klones (Evergreen) and many others had led the way by gaining the attention of the music community, only to disappear. At that time there was little, if any, infrastructure to support them. Being young, ambitious and a frustrated songwriter, I wanted to be a part of the industry. So I started John Quill Entertainment in November of 1987. My first stop was Westword. I ran a classified ad "Looking for bands for an original band Booking Agency". The response was surprisingly strong. I mailed out a list of these bands with my brochure (See pic) and started booking sporadically at colleges, including CU Denver, Arapahoe Community College, Regis and various clubs. In addition, always looking for ways to hear what else was out there, Richard Turner and I helped Jeff McGuire launch the first open stage at Paris On The Platte. (See pic) Terry Dalton was a regular performer. Interesting side note - the artwork was done in part by friend Suzanne Schirra, daughter of the astronaut.  

My first real break though came when I got the exclusive gig at Tequila Sunrise at 9th & Lincoln. The owners were getting ready to close the business. Since the club was right down the street from my apartment, it was super convenient, and implementing the all-original concept, within two months manager Steve Moore and I had turned the club around.(See pics) This was when I first met the "Surrogate Bands" and really got plugged into the music community. More on that later. But right from the start, Tequila's became an institution, including the now infamous dispute with ASCAP. Soon I expanded the all-original concept to Zenobia's at 13th & Pennsylvania and a few other clubs. (See pics) The business model was so successful - no guarantee, just the door plus a % of the bar - even the bands liked it - the concept was later adopted for a time at numerous venues.

The Denver Music Fair...

In 1988, I also initiated the first Denver Music Fair. (See pics) This fledgling effort was the front range's version of SXSW. No doubt an ambitious and somewhat risky undertaking, it was incorporated as the non-profit Songwriters Association of America, (SAA). The first two years I did it alone and lost money, but the third year, with the help of Laurie Day-Workman and her staff at Original Projects, it was expanded into a three day event and we broke even. (Her famous producer-husband Geoff helped out alot). Over the years it has enjoyed several incarnations, and has been co-produced by various entities, including the RMMA (Rocky Mountain Music Association). This annual event has featured countless bands, clubs, competitions, trade shows, press, major label participants, and brought tons of attention to the scene. We always tried to be sure Billboard was there. (See pics). The programs themselves are time capsules (See pics) - among the many highly recognizable names, Big Head Todd performed at the 3rd Annual in 1990, prior to his major label deal. That same year Jon Ims won the Country/Folk Category for his song, "Walk", years before his Grammy nominated song "She's In Love With The Girl" was picked up by Trisha Yearwood. (See pic).  As successful as they became, these events were very labor intensive, whereby funding and manpower were always the biggest challenges. Thankfully, the torch has since passed to Westword as the "Westword Music Showcase". One observation - back then the goal was to gain national exposure by inviting major label representatives. Today that doesn't seem to be the case.

Radio Free Colorado...

About a year later (1989) I got the urge to do a radio show. No one was airing local music at the time and judging from what was going on in the clubs, I felt the material was broadcast quality.  So, armed with amazing cassette demo's I got together with friend and producer/engineer/ songwriter Henry 'Broz' Rowland who I had met at Free Reelin' studios and we co-produced a 1/2 hour pilot, "Denver Radio Stars". It was shopped around to numerous stations, but nobody signed on. Not one to give up easily, we re-worked the show, and Radio Free Colorado was born. In January, 1990 I drove up to Fort Collins and met with John Hayes and Stu Haskell at KTCL. They liked it, and KTCL became the pilot station. (See pics)  It was an instant hit, expanded to an hour, and was subsequently picked up by five more FM's around the state. Steamboat (KFMU), Grand Junction (KMSA), Alamosa (KASF), Durango (KDUR) and Colorado Springs FM "102.7 The Max " where Tom Frickey was the PD. The show was taped - first at Hi Kite in Denver, then, thanks to Linda Warman, for several years at Avalanche Recording in Northglenn. Engineers included Chuck Edwards, George Counnas and Bill Thomas. DJ'd for a time by Sheri Mozier of KVOD, guest hosts, band interviews and features were numerous. There was Robert Smart as the "Roving Reporter", Mollie Shea did "Club Connection", and Kirke Wilde hosted the "Radio Free Flashback". For a while we even had a call-in! Soon other stations began playing local bands on a limited basis. Every little bit helped. It was after the radio show began that things really started to pick up speed. With years of pent-up material boiling over, combined with the availability of producers, lots of recording studios and small record labels, along with great new songs, it just snowballed. 

The Scene Back Then...

If I'm not mistaken, as of 1987 The Fluid had just gotten a deal with Sub Pop. What remained in the region was still quite remarkable. There was the blues/rock of Mollie O'Brien, Cathy Burns, The Captain & The Red Hot Flames, Chris Daniels & The Kings, The Landsharks, Wendy & Eli, Paula Westerfield and Donna McGee. Country rock of Kidd Pharaoh, Western Vogue, Hillbilly Hellcats, Truth Of the Matter, Maree McRae, The Flatlanders, The Jinns, Mustang Lightning. Jazz included Dotsero, Images, and Breakaway. There was the grunge/hard rock scene. Twice Wilted, Spell, 57 Lesbian, Psycho LoveScene, Trancemission, Choosey Mothers, Dogbite, Jux County, Rok Tots, Malice In Wonderland, Abdomen of Hypnosis, Godrifle, Lovebuzz, Warlock Pincers, Dogs of Pleasure, Foreskin 500, Human Head Transplant, Pilbug and Baldo Rex. And punk bands. Cavity, Pinhead Circus, Crestfallen and many more. 

The songwriting was out of control. Bands like Kirby & The Attachments, Men About Town, Otto Bootzman, The Naybors, Uncle Ubb, China My Eyes, Poetic Justice, The Magellans, Hammerin' Hanks, Flesh Mannequins, Big City Noise, The Simpletones, Boss 302, The Nixons, and Jux County. Then there were the "Surrogate Bands".  Based on Capitol Hill in Denver, it was a phenomenon of original bands that included Blah Blah Blah, The 40th Day, XEQ, Shades Of Persuasion, Hanging Tree, The Guild, Computer Class, 27 Dreams, The Jonez, Babelogue, Lethal Tender, Sympathy F, Baron Saturday, Meatoplasty, Thumposaurus Rex and others. Coming out of north Denver there was some really good rap too. Renegades Of Funk, Denco Set, COP, Rhythm Action Police, Pure Devocion and The Cool Emcees. Reggae from Vibe Tribe. And true alternative house music projects,  Kid Sonic, The Ism, Hands of God, Element 308, Enzyme, Dance Floor Terrorists. Studio projects were numerous - Big Foot Torso, Brawley & Woodrich, Doug Mcginnis, Ben Tanler, Citizen World, and Doug Anderson. And the hard rock scene. There were tons more. It just went on & on.

Boulder had a thriving scene. The Samples and Big Head Todd were just coming into their own.  Giant Peach, Hobbledehoy, Durt, The Winebottles, Love Lies, Lord Of Word & the Disciples of Bass, The Feds, Flourescent Echo, The Girls, Chris & Maggie, Bleeker Street, Watson & Edge, Steak, My Evil Twin, Saint Andre, Band Du Jour with Sherry Jackson, Chip & The Chowderheads, Acoustic Junction, Flesh & Bone, Water, Runaway Truck Ramp, The Griffins, Peter Kater, Doug & The Thugs, Old Soul, The Reejers, Sic Em Fifi, Red Beans & Rice, The Vengers, Durt, Karen Capaldi, Chowder, The Naildrivers, Slacker, Beth Quist, Danny Heines, and I know I'm  just scratching the surface there.

Fort Collins had Liz Barnez, The Atoll, Fourth Estate and the Subdudes. Greeley had The Insomniacs, and it's where the Psychodelic Zombies first met. Colorado Springs had the Bo'l Weevils, Zen Radio, The Auto No, The Zimbricks, Twist Of Fate, The Time Beings, Five Live Engines. Telluride had Zuba and the 8750 Reggae Band. Vail had Little Hercules & Nina Storey. Laramie had Some Kind of Cream and Badstone. 

AND THEY WERE ALL GOOD - IT WAS NUTS !

Colorado One Stop...

Due to all the airplay, about 1992 customers started requesting these bands at their local record stores, so the stores called the radio stations to get more information. (This was the same year Radio Free Colorado received "Best of Denver" - See pic).  At the time Encore Distribution, a national distributor based in Denver was only willing to carry some of the bigger bands. No one had ever tried doing an "all-local" music distributing company before. Therefore, in 1993 along with Tammy Olson (the former lead singer of Alarming Trends who had recently returned from Los Angeles), together we started Colorado One Stop and mailed out our first catalog. (See pic) Initially, we kept all the inventory in the basement of her house out in Aurora. By now, CD's were starting to become the new music medium and this worked in our favor as, unlike vinyl, CD's wouldn't warp. So I kept a big box of cd's in the back of my Subaru (covered with a blanket so no one would steal them) and I would drive the entire front range filling orders. The stores were really receptive and fun to work with. Before long, we had accounts throughout the state, up and down the front range, in southern Wyoming, Nebraska, and a couple in California. Michael Serviolo was hired and did a great job as a sales rep. Cross promotions were common. Then in May, 1993 a big article appeared on the front page of Billboard Magazine "Local Talent, Radio Create New Rocky Mountain High". (See pic) In retrospect, I should have known this signaled the beginning of the end. The word was definitely getting out. Airplay, combined with bands touring more, added up to more visibility. Soon the bands required more distribution and support than we could offer. It wasn't long before Big Head Todd got a deal. The Samples went with WAR Records. The Subdudes, 16 Horsepower, Spell & Chris Daniels all got deals. The Apples In Stereo got on with SpinArt. Other bands moved to the west coast. It all happened so fast we had real trouble keeping up.

...and then it was over

Around 1995 everything lined up: the club scene, press, studios, management companies, producers, young promoters (including Doug Kauffman), graphic artists, industry showcases, airplay and distribution. Samplers were plentiful - Westword put out their annual "Best Of" cd that was getting airplay and cross promotion. (See pic). Even MusicLink and Teletunes were on board. KTCL's "Big Adventure" had a stage for local bands. Finally, it seemed like we were hitting on all cylinders. Of course, all good things must come to an end. I had gotten out of booking bands because of management shifts at the clubs. The radio show lasted until January of 1996 when I was diagnosed with ms and needed to take a break. By then, I estimate I had booked over 650 club dates, produced over 250 radio shows, aired roughly 500 bands, and over 2,500 songs! My good friend Bill Thomas stepped in to take the reigns of the One-Stop around 1997. We changed the name to USA One Stop to sound more national. That worked for a few years, but the digital age and the internet had arrived, and with it the slow demise of the business model as we knew it. As of 2000 many of the bands that we had developed relationships with had gotten deals or moved on. The slowing economy in the aftermath of 911 didn't help either. By 2002 the writing was on the wall and the One Stop shut its doors.

Looking back, I wouldn't have done anything differently. It really was something.  I couldn't do much about the way it ended, but it really was quite a ride along the way.(I guess I'm a little sentimental as 2007 would have marked our 20th anniversary). The goal was to put local bands on the national map, and although I certainly can't take all the credit, with great bands and everyone working together that's exactly what happened. Where one entity left off, another picked up and kept it going. All said, the local music scene is now highly regarded nationally.  Hopefully, future installments by others will cover much of the excitement, and the bands that I have missed, including the hard rock scene. It would also be fun to post some of the old band artwork, and pages of the old programs and catalogs. I've got a ton of it, but it would take some doing. Please keep in mind I've done the best I can to remember the most important moments. Some of it's a little hazy but I think I got it right. Thanks COMA for giving me the opportunity to tell you the way I see it!