Tribute to an Unknown Band

Sometimes excellent talent gets lost in the downward spiral known as the Mid-west

 

Most people have never heard of Idle Chatter. Although this fact is very sad, there is a perfectly good reason for this. Idle Chatter never officially released an album and therefore never had any commercial success.

 

Idle Chatter came about in the early 1990’s in the basement of Nate Hoffman. The original lineup was Nate on drums, Robert Springsteen on guitar and vocals, Page Carter on guitar and my self on bass. This is probably a contributing factor to why Idle Chatter holds a place in my memory; this band was as important to me as the first time I touched the flesh of a woman or the day I graduated from Marine Corp boot camp. I can forever say that I was a member of Idle Chatter.

 

I was never a member of Idle Chatter.

 

I was a member in a basement band a bunch of friends started while I was in high school. I was never very good at the bass or guitar, and was kept around for friendship’s sake if nothing else. And while I collaborated on a few songs, as far as I can tell none of them ever made it onto “Hardly Poetic”, Idle Chatter’s only CD.

 

Idle Chatter was formed after I left for the military and Adrian Burroughs joined as lead guitarist and Page moved to the bass. Adrian brought something to the band that it needed. Call it whatever you want, the band was already overflowing with talent. Bob’s stage presence and unique voice, as well as his songwriting ability were awesome, and Nate Hoffman is, in my humble opinion, the best undiscovered drummer ever. What Adrian brought was the chemistry that I lacked.

 

I’m thinking about this because I came across my copy of “Hardly Poetic” last night and decided to bring it with me and give it a listen. What never struck me before is how great of an album Idle Chatter put out. My copy is one of only a few being that it was never officially released, but it is well recorded and the band is tight.

 

For the life of me I cannot remember the name’s to the first eleven songs, and while everyone is listenable, numbers 2, 3, and 5 are exceptionally good. Good enough, in fact, to go against any of the other 90’s grunge-era bands. For this reason I’m sure Idle Chatter would be looked over today with the ever changing and worsening music scene. I know that I may be biased, but I am trying to look at this from a critics perspective and I still see it as good.

 

Of all the songs on the album, track 12 is by far the standout. And I know the story behind this song. Bob sat in his bedroom after getting off the phone with Elaine Orris (who was one of the most beautiful people anyone could have had the privilege to know; R.I.P.) and he sat down with his mic’d guitar and a four track recorder and sang. “You Fell Asleep” is one of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard.

 

If you ever have a chance to listen to Idle Chatter’s “Hardly Poetic”, do so. Every day really good bands are looked over for one reason or another, for Idle Chatter I believe the only reason was because of their Iowa location. Hopefully with the popularity of digital music services, this won’t happen again.

 

 

Reviews

[Narnie]

I played tambourine for a band which sang... damn... I really can't remember. We were all stoned 99% of the time and used to busk to get beer money. We really were quite horrendous but I remember the music being very good and happy. Heheh. I wonder if they have posted their music on one of the open access sites? If so, then you should post this as a comment or try to contact one of the band members and get it to a music mag. If you extended the Elaine Orris story a little, it would be a killer. Hmmm.. now how about that. The long lost undiscovered now found column in Rolling Stone. I see it now...!

You write prose very well. My only one suggestion is to make sure there is only one and in a sentence wherever possible and make sure the objective of every paragraph is set before you write it. I cut my last piece by 750 words but it still says everything it needs to say? I'm not sure... I just know that it makes it a hell of a lot more marketable. Sheesh, I am really rambling tonight. I've decided to stop looking for new poets to review and stick to friend's work that I know I can appreciate. I'm afraid that means you all have to put up with me rambling :)