I got turned on to Charlson by Tom Sorrells. I used to buy lots of stuff from
him. He pointed me to his label. I thought the Charlson records were the
best. In the late 80's, I'm thinking maybe '88, Karen had to go to Kansas for
a meeting. I met up with Tom  and bought more records from him and a couple
of other shops he pointed me to. I also got to see Gary Charlson play twice
in a week, with two different bands. One was a cover's band, and he seemed to
be just the guitar player. The other was a "mid western Power Pop" band. They
were a bit heavier than his records, like The Romantics or some such.
I was sorry I didn't get to see his own band, but I got the feeling that he
wasn't doing that as much as these other bands.  still it was a gas to see
Gary. I've got all those singles and the live EP. Any further releases would
be welcome.

RS



Randall J Paske wrote:

> I live in Kansas City, but I didn't grow up here, so I've discovered some
> of the area's older power-pop acts after the fact (Fools Face, for
> example).  A friend turned me on to some of Gary Charlson's stuff on Titan
> Records.  I've looked for information on the Web but never turned up too
> much.  I still don't know a whole lot about him, and I've wondered what
> became of him since the early '80s.
>
> The other day I was out shopping and found a couple of curious CDs.
>
> One is a CD credited to Marty Wall and Gary Charlson, titled "Ed's Dainty
> Corsages" after one of the better business signs in town.  The copyright
> date is 2000.
>
> The second is a CD credited to Gary Charlson alone, titled "One for the
> Girl."  The copyright date is 2003.
>
> I bought both.  They're technically CD-Rs, but they came with cover art in
> shrinkwrap.
>
> Both CDs are more in a coffeehouse style, not really power pop.  It's not
> folk, though.  The Charlson solo CD is melodic, spare soft pop, and the
> Wall/Charlson CD is mostly a little twangier (there's about a 50/50 split
> on songs and vocals).  I don't think they're too bad, but they're not
> really my thing.  But bigger fans of Charlson and those into softer pop
> might be more interested.
>
> So:
>
> 1. If anyone has some info to pass on about Gary Charlson's older work, or
> just wants to reminisce, I'd like to read it.  Like I said, I don't know a
> whole lot about him.
>
> 2. If anyone's interested in getting either of these CDs, I can provide
> some more information.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Randy

-- Ronald Sanchez
Director Of A&R
Career Records
 www.CareerRecords.com

The Donovan's Brain Web Site
 www.Donovans-Brain.com