In Memory of Steve Gore, 1958-2009

We are sad to report that Steve Gore died unexpectedly on March 14, 2009.  The Rascal Reporters co-founder and mainstay suffered an accidental injury in the basement of his home in Oak Park, Michigan.  Steve was only 51 years old.  In addition to his extraordinary musical talents, Steve was a wonderfully kind man, and a dear friend to all who were lucky enough to have known him.  

Life for Steve was not always easy.  He struggled with a variety of mental health and substance abuse issues for much of his adulthood.  In the face of his everyday problems, Steve persisted in creating great art in the form of the Rascal Reporters' legacy.  Complex and full of surprises, the Rascal Reporters' music was often beautiful and dizzying in the same song.  

Steve recently completed the seventh full-length Rascal Reporters album, The Mind Boggles.  It is in his honor that we here at Hebbardesque Records, the label imprint invented by Steve and his longtime friend and band mate Steve Kretzmer, will donate all our proceeds from sales of The Mind Boggles and our SNOCAP Store to two charities:

Common Ground of Oakland County, Michigan helps adults and teens who struggle with mental health problems and other day-to-day difficulties.  Learn more about them at commongroundhelps.org.

Nuci's Space in Athens, Georgia is a community resource geared specifically toward helping musicians maintain mental and physical well-being.  For more information on their programs, visit nuci.org.

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The Mind Boggles, the seventh full-length release by Michigan's Rascal Reporters is OUT NOW! Click the STORE tab above for links to your favorite digital retailer! 

For the full liner notes, here's The Mind Boggles home page with audioclips and cover artwork! 

AND don't forget you can now purchase some of the prolific Steve Gore's Rascal Reporters tunes from our new Snocap site!  This is a special opportunity to buy recent selections from the impossibly-rare CD EPs The Prison Reform Activist Album,  All We Need Is Love, and Born Under A Bad Star, all from 2008 alone!

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Be sure to click "Become A Fan" so you can listen to the ultra-rarities on our free jukebox:

"Sugar and Salt,"   "The Jar"  and  "The Beauty of This Earth" from the All We Need Is Love sessions, "In The Church"  and  "Sonata In Blue"  from Born Under A Bad Star,  plus  "Shout,"   "Another Nutty 'Life and Death' Thing,"   "The Unfirm Foundation,"   "So Spleen as Dharma"  and  "Number Nine X-Ray Man!"

Plus five more unreleased songs from the vaults:  "Step Up,"   "Cocaine,"   "Together At Once,"  "Beaver Pie Variations (excerpt)"  and  a live version of  "One Foot In The Diner" from 1976 PLUS the radio interview that went along with it!

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Based in suburban Detroit, the Rascal Reporters have been making music for over 30 years now.... Progressive Rock, Avant-Garde Pop, Sound Collage, Experimental, Rock in Opposition, Sentimental Tear Jerkers, Quirky Folk Tunes for Casio, Elevator Music from Hell, whatever.... This Michigan duo of Steve Kretzmer (keyboards, percussion, vocals, guitars) and Steve Gore (keyboards, percussion, vocals, guitars) has confused audiences and smudged the lines between genres over the course of one 7" single and 6 studio albums.  Recently, the band completed work on their seventh: The Mind Boggles, due for Fall 2008 digital-only release (watch this space for details!).  In the meantime, Steve Gore has completed not one, not two, but three all-new Rascal Reporters items: Born Under A Bad Star,  All We Need Is Love, and The Prison Reform Activist  Album, all in very limited release. Several tunes from these brand new limited-edition discs are now available for sale digitally at the Rascal Reporters Snocap Store (see above).

During their long "career," the Rascal Reporters' music has drawn numerous comparisons to the likes of Frank Zappa, Henry Cow, Hatfield & The North, The Residents, Gentle Giant, The Muffins and other artists who have carved out unique, slightly misshapen footholds in the landscape of Popular Music over the last several decades.  The Reporters themselves have rubbed elbows with many innovators in the form of musical collaborations: Nick Didkovsky, Guy Segers, Dave Newhouse, Dave Kerman, James Grigsby, Tim Hodgkinson, and Fred Frith are some notable examples.  The guest roster for their new albumThe Mind Boggles  is a diverse group that includes Mark Harris (Hamster Theatre, Thinking Plague), Michael Sahl (Judy Collins), and Bob Shirley. 

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CREDITS - RASCAL REPORTERS MUSIC PLAYER -

1) "The Jazz Caspers" (Gore/Shirley) - featuring Bob Shirley, bass guitar.  from the 2008 digital album The Mind Boggles .

2) "Sugar and Salt" (Gore/Newhouse) - featuring Dave Newhouse, alto saxophone. released on the limited-edition  2008 CD All We Need Is Love.

3) "Sent Flying" (Kretzmer) - originally released on the 1980 cassette/reel-to-reel Freaks Obscure.

4) "Moonstruck" (Kretzmer)

5) "The Chalky Substance Variations" (Gore)

  tracks 4 & 5 originally released on the 1988 LP Happy Accidents.

  tracks 3, 4 & 5 from the 1996 CD re-issue of Happy Accidents.

6) "In The Church" (Gore) - from the limited-edition 2008 CD Born Under A Bad Star.

7) "Step Up" (Gore/Kretzmer) - unreleased track from 1975.

8) "Scuttlegeiss" (Kretzmer/Gore) - from the  2008 digital album The Mind Boggles .

9) "Elements" (Gore)

10) "Without Passion or Peace" (Kretzmer)

11) "Bones Chorale" (Kretzmer)

  tracks 9, 10 & 11 from the 2005 CD Ridin' On A Bummer 20th Anniversary Edition, originally released on the 1984 LP

Ridin' On A Bummer. 

12) "Shout" (Kretzmer) - featuring Marie McClinchey & Cindi Solnikowski, backing vocals.  originally released on

  Tape Number Two: A Private Studio Compilation in 1985.

13) "Another Nutty 'Life and Death' Thing" (Gore) - featuring Mary Richards, violin & Bobbi Benson, upright bass. 

  tracks 12 & 13  from the 1989 LP Studio Animals Tape Number Four: The Album.

14) "After the Fun" (Kretzmer/Meshew) 

15) "Trousers 3" (Gore)

  tracks 14 & 15 originally released on the 1980 cassette/reel-to-reel We're God .

16) "King Sultan" (Kretzmer)

17) "532-7632" (Gore)

  tracks 14-17  from the 1997 CD re-issue of

We're God

18) "Cocaine" (Gore/Kretzmer) - unreleased track from 1975.

19) "Together At Once" (Kretzmer) - featuring Rick Barenholtz - bass.  unreleased track from 1976.

20) "The Unfirm Foundation" (Gore) - unfinished track from 1977/1997,

    released on the 1998 limited-edition CD Holly's Biaural Curiosity.

21) "Rat on the Ledge" (Gore)

22) "Capital 'I'" (Gore)

23) "Jennifer's Eel" (Kretzmer)

24) "Soot Dance" (Kretzmer)

  tracks 21-24 from the 1995 CD Purple Entrapment, originally released on cassette in 1990.

25) "Fresh Leather and Poultry Mix" (Kretzmer)

26) "Steve Kretzmer" (Gore)

27) "Prisms" (Kretzmer)

28) "Sarahbella" (Gore) - featuring Dave Newhouse, saxophone. 

  tracks 25-28 from the 2001 CD The Foul-Tempered Clavier

29) "So Spleen as Dharma" (Gore) - website-only track from 2000.

30) "Beaver Pie Variations (excerpt)" (Gore/Kretzmer) - unreleased track from 1976.

31) "Number Nine X-Ray Man" (Gore) - from the limited-edition 2004 CD EP  Black Boot Heel Crush.

32) "Sonata In Blue" (Gore) - from the limited-edition 2008 CD Born Under A Bad Star.

33) "WOPR Interview Excerpts" - featuring (in order of appearance)  Vic Coleman (host), Rick Barenholtz, Steve

  Kretzmer, Steve Gore.  unreleased recording of FM broadcast from 1976.

34) "One Foot In The Diner" (Gore) - featuring Rick Barenholtz - bass, Steve Gore - guitar, Steve Kretzmer -

  organ.  unreleased live concert recording from 4/14/76, Oak Park High School (Michigan).

35) "The Jar" (Gore)

36) "The Beauty of This Earth" (Gore)

 tracks 35 & 36 from the limited-edition 2008 CD All We Need Is Love.

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                                           Rascal Reporters Discography:
"My Name" b/w "Ricky And His Dad" single CANCELLED! 1978

Freaks Obscure  - cassette/reel + booklet (Hebbardesque Records) 1980

We're God  - cassette/reel + booklet (Hebbardesque Records) 1980

"Guns For Jerry's Kids" b/w "Beatrice" - 7" picture sleeve single + insert (Hebbardesque Records) 1981

Ridin' On A Bummer  - LP + insert (Hebbardesque Records) 1984

Happy Accidents  - LP (Hebbardesque Records) 1988

Purple Entrapment  - CD (Wafer Face Records) 1995

Happy Accidents  - CD (ZNR Records) 1996

We're God  - CD (Wafer Face Records) 1997

The Foul-Tempered Clavier  - CD (Pleasant Green Records) 2001

Ridin' On A Bummer 20th Anniversary Edition  - CD (Hebbardesque Records) 2005

The Mind Boggles - mp3 (Hebbardesque Records) 2008

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Here's a Rascal Reporters record review by Steve Hegde:
 

Happy Accidents [1988] is filled with some very addicting melodies and rhythms.  The complex music (mostly RIO, and symphonic prog in nature) focuses on the interplay between keyboards (which range from cool-analog to cheesy-organ) , and everything from flute to guitar.  Both epics are built in the cut-and-paste style so many musical ideas are linked together to form a much larger body of work.  The thing that really struck me about  Happy Accidents is that the music changes every measure.  There is little to no repetition, but the melodic development is so intelligent, and witty, that it boggles the mind how anyone could have come up with music this perfect.  If you are a fan of Zappa, U Totem, 5uu's, Ennio Morricone, and similar then you will end up loving this music.