Des Moines, Iowa, alternative magazine on a person who has run an alternative music stations since the 70s

This is an edited version of an article from the alternative magazine, CityView, on Ron Sorenson, who has been involved with different alternative music stations since the 70s.

Des Moines Forgotten: The Early Days of KFMG

By Kristian Day

The numbers on the dial changed, but Ron Sorenson’s commitment to the station and the Des Moines community remained consistent through the years.

Ron Sorenson had no interest in a radio career. He loved music. He listened to it on the radio. He even played in a folk band called The Castlegate Singers while in high school. But Sorenson says working at a radio station never crossed his mind.

Bill Plymat was a friend of Sorenson’s who had a late-night folk music show on what was at the time a classical music station on 94.9 FM KFMG, located at Fourth and Keo inside the Brown Hotel. Plymat’s parents owned the station, and he took a liking to Sorenson’s folk group and even recorded a few of their performances. In 1968, Plymat went off to college and Sorenson took over the folk music radio program, “The Late Folks,” on KFMG. Sorenson received his first taste of radio on 94.9 FM (now KGGO) hosting “Candlelight and Silver,” which was dinner music from 5-7 p.m., and then he would cover “The Late Folks” from 10 p.m. to midnight...

A young Ron Sorenson behind the mic at the first 94.9 FM KFMG that was located at the Brown Hotel on Fourth and Keo. Photo provided by Ron Sorenson

As folk music of the 1960s faded out, progressives like Bob Dylan were plugging in and making rock and roll. Sorenson started what was one of the first progressive rock radio programs in Des Moines on 94.9 FM KFMG, called “The Roc Show.” Regular artists included The Doors, Frank Zappa and The Byrds.

Plymat’s parents sold the station to a group of doctors who thought that owning a classical radio station would be a great idea. During this time, Sorenson said, “We staged a coup and sold the idea to the doctors that we could make money playing progressive rock and roll.

“We had pretty decent numbers back in those days, but we really didn’t care much about them,” Sorenson said. “Making money wasn’t the priority for us, although I’m sure it was for the people who owned the station. We just wanted to play music and make radio.”

The station owners sold KFMG to a larger corporate entity, Stoner Broadcasting. FM radio wasn’t as popular in those early days, as AM radio was still king for music, news, sports and agriculture. Sorenson and his team of DJs and producers banded together and decided to walk away when the corporate owners attempted to change KFMG into a Billboard Top 10 station.

“That was not what KFMG was about,” Sorenson said. He and most of his team resigned on air.

This led to a new and even more unique project — a cable radio called KBLE 90.7 FM TV4. Sorenson installed the cable radio station in the top floor of his house, and it ran from 1975 through 1992. This was the era of early cable television, and radio was included in this advance in technology. For an additional $1 premium, subscribers could receive additional cable-based radio stations. The station would not only play on the FM dial but also in the background audio for the “want ads” and program guide channels. Much like the current incarnation of KFMG, all the producers and DJs were volunteers. They would walk through the front door of Sorenson’s house and up the stairs to produce their shows.

KBLE 90.7 FM stayed on the air until the 1990s version of KFMG started broadcasting. Before there was Lazer 103.3 FM, there was KFMG 103.3 FM. That version of KFMG happened because the FCC allocated a new license to Des Moines, and 18 entities applied for the license, including Sorenson (whose corporation was known as Intergalactic Communications). The license was eventually awarded to Richard Eichner.

During this process, Sorenson reunited with a former KFMG announcer who was living in Chicago and had parents who were real estate developers in the suburbs. KDMG 103.3 FM’s license came up for sale, and the two of them were able to purchase the license. KFMG was reborn as a 100,000-watt station that could be heard for miles. It was the beginning of the era of Adult Album Alternative stations (AAA), a kinder, gentler form of rock and roll. In 1996, much like the previous incarnation of KFMG, the station was sold to another large corporation, Saga Communications, and became what we now know as Lazer 103.3 FM.

The low-power, nonprofit community radio station era of KFMG that is now broadcasting at 98.9 FM started in 2007...

Even with all the musical and cultural shifts in this market, Sorenson was the one thing that stayed consistent for KFMG. One of his favorite moments in radio history that demonstrates the dedication that KFMG has had for the community was from the flood of 1993 when the station’s DJs and producers had to park on Court Avenue and ride a canoe to the studios that were a block south. A short transcript of the broadcast tells the story and the mood.

Mark Vos: “The water is rising, very high at the KFMG studios. We are under siege! How high is the water, Ron?”

Ron Sorenson: “Oh, I think we are looking 18 or 20 inches at the last measurement, and it continues to go up.”

Mark Vos: “Ladies and gentlemen, there are radio stations all over the land, all across this great country of ours who are broadcasting this evening from a nice, comfortable, dry, warm, completely operational, air conditioned, with more than one working light bulb studios. However, the three of us are locked in at 108 Third St. downtown Court Avenue, and water is lapping at the shores of Lake KFMG…” ♦

Kristian Day is a filmmaker, musician and writer based in Des Moines. He hosts the syndicated Iowa Basement Tapes radio program on 98.9FM KFMG.

Read the complete article here.

Labels: 70s, 80s, alternative radio stations, community radio stations, Des Moines, Iowa, Iowa alternative scene, KBLE, KFMG, nonprofit radio stations, radio stations, research, Ron Sorenson

Des Moines, Iowa, alternative magazine's article on a late 70s/early 80s alternative paper

This is an edited version of an article from the alternative magazine, CityView, on the late 70s/early 80s alternative newspaper, The Daily Planet/The Planet.

Des Moines Forgotten: The Daily Planet

By Kristian Day

On the morning of Wednesday, June 29, 1977, residents of Des Moines woke up and began to carry out their regular morning habits: They got out of bed, opened their living room curtains to observe the rising sun, and drank their pre-timed brewed Folgers.

Some of those who left their homes to search for the morning edition of The Des Moines Register were greeted by not one but two papers that morning: The familiar one had two headlines “President says more kids OK” and “Birds and the bees cause home trouble in W.D.M.” It was black and white and known as “the newspaper Iowa depends on.”

Left to right: Peter Lewis, Gary Gildner, Ron Briggs (sales manager), Rick Strode (art director), Rick Vint (business manager), Jon Bowermaster and Larry Vint (in front)

The other was different. It had big bright colors and a headline that read, “Chasing the ghosts of flight at Kitty Hawk” by Jon Bowermaster. The paper was called The Daily Planet, and not only did it grab the readers’ eyes with a little hippie magic, it was also… free.

The Daily Planet was started by Drake University students Jon Bowermaster and Larry Vint. Gary Gildner, who was a professor at Drake at the time, was instrumental in helping these ambitious young men get the independent paper off the ground.

“They were a group of independent-minded people, and I admired them. Some of them were students, and some of them were part of that vague underground side of Des Moines… the scruffy types. It was a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of operation when it got started,” said Gildner, who is now 81 and an accomplished author and winner of many awards including the Iowa Poetry Prize. He mentored these young men and passed story recommendations and new writers their way. He also contributed his own fiction in the early days of the publication...

The Daily Planet set up its offices above the building at 2304 University Ave. At the ground level was the famous Beggars Banquet sandwich joint, which also was a regular advertiser for the paper. Brad Harvey came into the fold a few years later.

“I was the Joe Biden of music reviewers,” Harvey said. “Mike Frisbie was the original music guy, and eventually when he decided he didn’t want to do it anymore, I took over.”

Frisbie, as some CITYVIEW readers might remember, was the floating host for Iowa Public Television’s Sci-Fi Friday Night (and later Sci-Fi Saturday Night) in the 1990s and early 2000s. He was also involved in the early days of KFMG and KBLE radio stations...

The April 22, 1982, edition of The Planet was the publication’s final issue. Life takes us into new directions, and everyone who was involved went on to new things.

Mark Walker (a staff member) went on to become a career journalist with publications including Rolling Stone magazine. Many people have asked where he is, but no one seems to know.

Drake University has made the entire run of The Daily Planet available for free through its digital archives, and I highly recommend taking the time to check them out: http://bit.ly/2HzHvyF.

Kristian Day is a filmmaker, musician and writer based in Des Moines. He hosts the syndicated Iowa Basement Tapes radio program on 98.9FM KFMG.

Read the complete article here.

Labels: 1977, 1982, 70s, 80s, alternative papers, Daily Planet (Des Moines), Des Moines, Iowa, Iowa alternative scene, Iowa punk scene, music reporters, Planet (newspaper), research

Des Moines, Iowa, alternative magazine on a bar that played punk shows in the 80s

This is an edited version of an article from the alternative magazine, CityView, on the bar, So's Your Mother, that played punk shows in the 80s.

Des Moines Forgotten: 2000 Forest Avenue

By Kristian Day

The original sign for So’s Your Mother that was hung on the corner at 2000 Forest Ave.

The second floor of 2000 Forest Ave. was once the home to two infamous music venues in Des Moines. The first was called So’s Your Mother. The bar opened its doors in the 1970s and was more of a hippie place but eventually transitioned to a punk bar in the 1980s. It was part of the old nightlife in Drake’s Dogtown neighborhood around Forest Avenue and Harding Road (which is now MLK).

Mark Heggen of Des Moines remembers the last show for the band A Testament of Youth on April 27, 1983: “The final gig of ATOY was somewhat infamous for the lead singer doffing his clothes as the set went on, until he was down to a jock strap. One of the Mother’s staff had had enough of him at that point and demanded ‘Put your goddamned clothes back on,’ but it was too late by then, and the farewell set ended with the singer still in the near-altogether.”...

A Testament Of Youth’s final performance at So’s Your Mother on April 27, 1993. Photo by Mark Hegge

(A Husker Du performance) was the center of a tragedy that has never been laid to rest, as it was where Diane Schofield was last seen in 1975. The case is still open today....

From the Husker Du Database

So’s Your Mother transitioned in 1989 into the Laughing Iguana, which was opened by local scene legend Jeff Wright (who went on to open Hairy Marys with John Limke). The venue was the center of a lot of great music with bands like Moveable Feast, House of Large Sizes, and even Smashing Pumpkins, which played the 300-person capacity venue in January of its opening year....

The Laughing Iguana closed its doors, and the building was eventually demolished around 2000.

To read the full article, go here.

Labels: 2000 Forest Ave, 80s, A Testament of Youth, ATOY, Des Moines, Flying Iguana, Husker Du, Iowa, Iowa alternative scene, Iowa punk scene, Iowa venues, Midwest venues, music venues, research, So's Your Mother

An alternative magazine's article of a Des Moines bar that played punk rock in the 90s and 00s

This is an edited version of an CityView article about Hairy Mary's, a music venue in Des Moines in the 90s  and 00s that played punk rock.

There was something about Mary’s

By Jared Curtis

Five years after its closing, the legend of Hairy Mary’s remains

The downtown area seemed barren in comparison to what it is today. Many buildings were used as storage, which is exactly why Jeff Wright and John Limke thought it would be the perfect area to open a new live music venue on Southwest 2nd Street (the current home of the High Life Lounge and el Bait Shop).

“We opened the original Hairy Mary’s in 1991 in an old empty warehouse,” said Wright, who owns Church of Choppers and along with Limke and Brad “Fatty” Smith also owns FTW Company, GT Lounge, Kung Fu Tap and Taco and Big Tomato Pizza.

The name was based on a local beauty that caught Wright’s eye...

The neighborhood was so desolate, some local officials didn’t even know Mary’s existed.

“I remember being outside, and we had been open for probably a year, and a police officer rolled up and asked about the bar,” Wright said. “I told him we had been open for a year, and the cop said, ‘This is my beat, and I didn’t even know you guys were here.’ It was a totally underground club, and we were a lot better known nationally than we were locally.”

Photo courtesy of The Iowa Underground Archives    

 

The building was a perfect location for the venue, but the former tenants left something not so desirable behind.

“They used to store hogs in there, and when we had big shows like the Smashing Pumpkins or Mudhoney, the wood would start to sweat, and you could smell the hogs,” Wright laughed. “I remember we probably had 800 people in there, and it was so hot and sweaty, steam was rising off the building. People actually called the fire department because they thought the building was on fire because there was so much steam rising from the body heat.”...

The club, considered the CBGB of Iowa — an iconic music venue in New York City where bands like The Ramones and Blondie got their starts — was so well known on the national level that the music magazine Alternative Press voted the bar Best Live Music Venue.

“Bands loved playing there because we liked to party. There were a lot of wild times down there,” Wright said. “We didn’t set out to open theme bars or throw bacon festivals; we did it for the love of music.”

Other bands that played the original location included Fugazi, Monster Magnet, Firehose, Clutch, X, Supersuckers, Ween, Dumpster Juice, House of Large Sizes and a relatively unknown Dave Matthews Band...

Although the parties were known to survive many challenges, the secret service shut one celebration down during the floods of ’93.

“The water was close, but for some freak reason, we had power, and the bar was dry, so we just moved the speakers outside and started partying,” Wright said. “Then the secret service came by in the row boats and told us to stop and turn the music off because Bill Clinton was going to be coming by as he toured the flood areas. The cops made us close everything down, but we just moved everything to [Mike] Clabaugh’s house.”...

The bar also had a strong following of regulars who came down regardless of who was playing. Kim Huch Hanson, who is married to Bobby but didn’t know him at the time, was one of those people.

“I hung out a lot and remember eating a lot of Pop Tarts there. I think you could get a package of Pop Tarts for like 50 cents. And you could get them hot or cold,” she laughed. “I remember the night before Lollapalooza. There weren’t a lot of people there, but it was so cool to see all of these bands that I was going to see the next day get up on stage and jam together.”...

“Those guys brought the party environment to Des Moines, and people are still talking about it,” Kim said. “Mary’s was the perfect storm, and I have lots of good memories. Bands heard it was a wild place and actually wanted to stop and play Des Moines. There have been other venues in Des Moines, but there will never be another place like Mary’s.”

All good things must come to an end, though, and after advancing the metro music scene in only a handful of years, Hairy Mary’s closed its doors in 1994.

“We were totally burned out,” Wright said. “Working 10 bands a week for years takes its toll. We sold it and moved on to our other ventures.”

But that wasn’t the end of Hairy Mary’s.

The second location

In early 1997, Shawn Crahan of Slipknot had taken over the Safari Club, located at 2307 University Ave. But as Slipknot began to attract more attention from record labels, the bar became a burden and Cranhan closed the Safari Club in late 1997, selling it to another owner.

“Shawn sold the bar to a kid who was running it into the ground, so Jeff approached me about joining up with him and John to reopen Mary’s,” Fatty said. “I was in the media/bar business at the time, but I loved live music so we decided to do it.”

The bar was remodeled from its previous incarnations and reopened in 1998.

“We gutted the place but still wanted to keep it punk rock,” Wright said. “I travel a lot, so when Fatty and I go out of town, we try and search out the Hairy Mary’s of the towns we’re in.”

To many, one of the most memorable aspects of the University Avenue location was the bathroom. When patrons talk about the bar, the bathrooms usually come up. But Wright says you can’t always judge a book by its cover.

“People always said the bathrooms were bad, but we kept them clean. Those bathrooms got bleached and scrubbed as much as any other bathroom,” Wright said. “It just had a graffiti look and feel to it.”...

“The scene revolved around the bar, which you don’t really see anymore. People were there every night, no matter who was playing,” said (David "Davo") Wilkins, owner of Axiom Body Piercing Studio at the Skin Kitchen... “The new Safari Club was being promoted by other people from out of town, but when Jeff, Fatty and John came back, they brought it back to the local, independent promoters.”

Wilkins believes a lot of the shows taking place wouldn’t have happened if the Mary’s crew wasn’t involved.

“All those guys were very supportive of me and the shows I was putting together,” he said...
“That was the beauty of the job, catching bands right as they were on the way up,” Fatty said. “I remember seeing At The Drive-In the first time they came through, and there were like five people there. The next time they stopped, we were well over capacity.”

Other bands that played at the new location included Queens of the Stone Age, Mastodon, L7, Biohazard, The Melvins, High on Fire, Linkin Park, Murder City Devils, Fu Manchu, Cursive, Fear, Earthride, William Elliott Whitmore, Exodus, Captured! By Robots, Hatebreed, King’s X, Misfits, Agent Orange, Slipknot and North of Grand...

A motocross event also brought back some fond memories for Fatty.

“There was a motocross event in town, and they all showed up and were driving dirt bikes in the bar,” he said. “One dude put his bike on top of the bar and caught the bar on fire, and people went nuts. It was a blast.”...

“The type of bands that played there were underground. Their motive wasn’t about being signed; it was more about touring and making it across the country,” said Ramirez, who is a co-owner of Bombay Bicycle Club. “It’s nothing like it is now, though. When I was booking the club, I was on the phone all day, aggressively calling people. There was no email or Facebook. It was calling people and promoting shows with flyers.”

Des Moines’ location in the middle of the country offered a unique experience for bands and fans a like.
“I remember seeing a lot of Bay Area bands play their first Midwest date at Mary’s, and the same goes for the east coast bands. Their furthest show west would be at Mary’s. They would be on a bill together, and a year later you’d see them touring together in another part of the country,” Ramirez said. “As much as people think of it as a live venue, it was the locals that kept that place alive. Just like any other bar, you need a great group of regulars, and Mary’s had that.”...

Local act The Vandon Arms even started a band so they could drink for free at Mary’s.

“We all lived together and would have drunken sing-a-longs. We thought we could put a group together and get free beer if we played Hairy Mary’s,” said guitarist Clint Meek...

“I have played in a lot of rock and roll bars, and Mary’s was by far the best venue,” Clabaugh said. “A lot of bars only had cover bands, but Mary’s was the first to say no cover bands, and they opened the door for a lot of local bands to get on stage. There was only one Hairy Mary’s, and there will never be another one like it.”

You can read the complete article here.

Labels: 90s, Des Moines, Hairy Mary's, Iowa, Iowa alternative scene, Iowa punk scene, Iowa venues, Midwest venues, music venues, research, venues

A post from a long time Des Moines punk rocker on reaching middle age

The following is an edited version of a post from Davo Wilkins' personal website...

Life as a Middle-Aged Punk Rocker

by David DaVo Wilkins 

"I don't climb mountains to prove I'm a man, I tear them down." - Unknown

Not sure who said that or when but it has be a motto for sorts for most of my life but increasingly when I've taken a close look at my current tearing down mountain progress and wonder if those days are behind me. I really wonder if there is a true difference between being established and having already left your mark on the world and being a wash up or a has been. Now don't think that this is some self pity or debasing exercise that I'm going through. I've done a lot and have been blessed with being in the right place at the right time more times than I'm even interested in counting and maybe more than anything that is why I even begin to question my relevancy in the first place. It's just more and more often, I find when I'm posed the question, "What is new?" I have less and less to report.

Now I have to bring up age, I'm 42 and in a little over a month will be 43. I have noticed that I volunteer this information much more than I should. In part because I'm proud that I have made it to this point and because people seem to always think I'm younger based almost completely on my clothing and interests. I still dress about the same as I did in 1988, 501s or shorts and band t-shirts. The only thing at really changes is maybe my foot ware. In the summer it's the old school tie up Vans or Steel Toed Shoes and in the winter it's Creepers or Steel Toed Shoes. Basically it's a style I developed which is part punk, part Skinhead but mostly gas station attendant. Now this style seems to float in and out of style much to my undying hatred because it usually means I have to pay more for something I buy because it was affordable and last forever...

 
For a majority of people that were involved in the punk scene it was a stage in their life. A passing fancy which outside of their musical tastes did not effect much else in their life. Which is fine, nothing is more punk than living the life on your own terms but for me, living life on my own terms meant having Punk as my culture. Now that might make me sound like a nut but Pop culture has been completely irrelevant to my life. My friends, my news, my art, my films, my profession, my life view. my politics etc.. came into my life in some minor or often major way because of this punk rock thing. The sub-culture exposed me to a great number of things that I wouldn't have found in pop culture because it simply wasn't hip. Sometimes years before it entered pop culture. So it's strange because so many times I was well ahead of the hip factor.

The thing with punk rock is that there is always a point where you have to wonder how long can you keep this up? I look back and realize that often I choose life paths basically because I was unwilling to give it up. At times this was a self destructive path. Not in the traditional way that most people think of as being self destructive. Sure I've drank enough to get the population of Des Moines drunk. No it was a discipline and unwillingness to give up freedoms either in dress or attitude... Also I guess in a lot of ways I can blame punk on my ethical ideals which has also limited my profit. I've been told more than a few times that I was too honest to be rich and the older I get the more I realize this is true...
I don't know but I think one of the biggest factors is that the people that I had all these great experiences in the past with and were my playmates and collaborators are increasingly less like to come out and play. I have to admit that I'm guilty of this too. All of our lives have changed, we all have kids now but I really wonder if it isn't a jaded case of be there and done that? Or is it simply that the present won't ever live up to the past. That time is long gone. Those times were a combination of the first time around but more than anything it was the combination of the people...

I guess the hardest part is getting off the couch and in fact going out. For years I went out 2 or 3 times a week because I was afraid that If didn't I'd miss something. The thing is that there was a time when I would have missed something and increasingly I've noticed most of the things I'm missing are worth missing. Maybe it's cause I'm the old guy at the club but that's nothing new when you consider I was in my mid 20s when I started promoting all ages shows...

Who knows what the future will bring or what new adventures it has in store for me but I know for sure that I'm who I am and that ain't changing any time soon. My son will continue to tell me to turn down the music and every time there is a band some where that just is on it, I'll wish I was there. I will always crave action, the wonders of conversation and walking through a crowd with a smile on my face because I'm in on something they don't really understand.

DaVo

You can read the full version here.

Labels: 80s, 80s punk, 90s, Davo Wilkins, Des Moines, Iowa, Iowa alternative scene, Iowa punk scene, Midwest, punk culture, punk ethics, punk scene, research

Interviews with a mid-80s Iowa alternative rock band

These are just some interviews with a mid- and late-80s Iowa alternative rock band that was quite popular, The Hollowmen. They give an idea of what the 80s central Iowa punk/alternative scene was like. I also included a couple of Hollowmen songs at the end.

Labels: 1984, 1985, 80s, alternative music, alternative scene, Des Moines, Hollowmen, Iowa, Iowa alternative scene, Iowa punk scene, music, music characters like, punk scene, research