Shoes - Shoes Best

On the way to work today I was listening to a podcast of Fresh Air and pop music critic Ken Tucker was giving a review of the new Shoes record Ignition. First of all I was amazed to hear the band Shoes were still around, never mind releasing a new record.  In 1979, Shoes Present Tense was one of my favorite records. It's strange now to think that this power pop bad (think Big Star) somehow snuck into my record collection amongst the punk and new wave records that were more popular at the time.

The band was formed in 1974 in Illinois by two brothers and a couple of friends.  There are three bands they are often compared to, but I would say they were way cooler than Cheap Trick, not as formulaic as The Knack and not as "new wave" showy as The Cars. They released three great records in a row: Black Vinyl Shoes in 1977, 1979's Present Tense and Tongue Twister in 1980, then I never heard from them again. Turns out they released three more records in the 1980's and another two in the 1990's. I am sad that I missed out on them, but it was not for lack of effort. I have looked them up a few times on the music guides and checked the used record shops to no avail. Now that they have a new record out, there suddenly seems to be a lot of info on the band.

If you want to check them out there are a few options on iTunes. You can buy Present Tense and Tongue Twister as a combined record for $9.99 or better yet buy SHOES Best, 22 "greatest hits" for the same price. If you like what you hear you can fast forward 20 years and buy the new record Ignition. It's interesting to see where a group of middle aged guys goes when your way too old to sing about teenage angst.