In the early part of the millennium, I was in a great band called The Sucker M.C. Jive Turkeys. We played turbo-charged new wave in matching baseball shirts and were frequently told we were the most exciting live band in Portland.

Strangely enough, what did SMCJT in was that people liked it too much. We were gigging every weekend in Portland and getting a decent following, which interfered with our keyboard player’s other band, Point Juncture Washington, which she had just started.

As we were recording an album, she quit to pursue PJWA full-time and things sort of fell apart from there. The album wasn’t finished yet, but I recorded the rest of the tracks on my own. Some of the tracks are actually me playing everything but bass and keys. The final product sounded great. It was loud and fast, but the keys and quirky songs made it stand apart from other bands that were around at the time.

Only problem was that without a band to push CDs, there wasn’t anything to do with the finished album other than play it for a few of my friends. But luckily, the internet has changed things enough that the album can finally be put out there for anyone who’d like a crack at it.

And thanks to my pal Dustin and his label, Tingle Finger Records, it’s now available online for streaming and purchase.

There is a sad side-note. In the time since the album was recorded, the band’s guitarist, Daniel Medders overdosed and died. He was a talented musician and a dear friend to those who knew him. So though it may be corny to say so: Don’t do heroin. Ever. There has yet to be a person that it worked out well for.