I’ve been a fan since, I think, the first time I heard KC’s “Lizard.” I was 14, and man, was I hooked. All my allowances went to buying their stuff the next ten years.
I saw them in concert in St. Pete, Florida at the Bayfront center shortly after (IIRC, they were the HEADLINE act, but Peter Frampton and Bob Seeger played before them), then a few years later for Larks Tongues in Aspic - same venue - friend of mine took some interesting B&W photos we later developed in his darkroom and mailed off to David Cross.
We had Cross’ mailng address because after the show, he was in the lobby trying to figure out how to get the right change into a cigarette machine - so we ponied up the right coinage for him - and told him about the pictures.
A year or two later, same friend and I saw them for RED at the Lakeland civic center where, after a sound check, me with my head leaning hard upon a backstage door to listen, Bill Bruford comes out the door and knocks me on my butt. Chip and I thought it was the funniest thing in the world, Bill was all kinds of apologetic, went off with his crew. During the show, front row, I climbed up to the stage and tossed a freaking coconut to John Wetton.
”JOHN!” He turned, looked down at me, I tossed the coconut, he backed away as if I’d tossed a bomb.
Written on the sanded surface were the words “To the #1 band in the world,” with our names.
Between sets, he picked it up and tossed it off to a roadie and they played on.
Next time I say them was in San Diego, SDSU right after Midnight Oil. Three of a Perfect Pair.
I’ve played some of KC’s lighter stuff - I talk to the wind - for my wife, whose tastes run from Paul Simon, S&G, to Renaissance, Joni Mitchell, folk, little else, and she was impressed, but not a fan.
‘bout ten years ago, I tortured my son - then 15 and a drummer - with several hours of KC’s best on a 12 hour road trip, interspersed with YES, RUSH, several others, but he knows KC’s stuff, Bruford’s playing still stumps him at times but he can do everything Travis Barker ever did by rote and then some.
I recently bought the entire set of Steven Wilson’s Robert Fripp-approved 180gm remixes and transferred them onto SM900 tape on a refurbed Revox B77 2-track deck for future play and look forward to more.
Somewhere, somewhere in my “stuff” I have four negatives from that photo shoot in St. Pete in - 1972? - I’ll turn ‘em up someday and digitize them for future reminiscences.
If I had to recommend ONE album to start with? I couldn’t.
Giles, Giles and Fripp if you can find it, McDonald and Giles (again, if you can find a copy somewhere), then the first album. Take it slowly, roll it around in your mind like a finely aged wine, appreciate the legs, the colour, the scents of rare herbs, spices - some common, some only found in master chef’s kitchens - then taste it with your ears, your heart, let it seep into your soul, appreciate the master blending of efforts of the vintner, the rich soil’s contributions to the full-bodied vintage, and don’t miss the fine, refined, finish that has yet to end, and pour yourself another track, sit back and relax.
It’s taken 55+ years to get this far, it’ll last far into this century if not the next.
NB
