In the early 1970’s, the small Midwestern town of Zion, Illinois still bore many of the markings of its founding as a religious enclave for a faith-healing evangelist and his followers: no liquor, no lottery tickets, no bikinis at the park on Lake Michigan. In this environment, if you wanted fun, you made it yourself. That included music.
And so Shoes was born. At first it was just a name: high school friends John Murphy and Gary Klebe decided that having a band would be cool, despite their complete lack of musical training or any instruments. They spent two years buying garage-sale guitars, learning whatever chords people would show them, and listening, listening, listening to the music they loved—the Beatles, Big Star, Bowie, the Move, Todd Rundgren, Nils Lofgren—trying to find their own voices.
In the summer of 1973, Jeff Murphy, John’s brother, borrowed the money and bought a four-track tape machine. As they recorded with Jeff, they realized that he was the third member of Shoes. The next summer, they made their first DIY record without ever having played in public.
The result was the entirely homemade 1974 release Heads or Tails. For the next several years, Jeff, John and Gary painstakingly taught themselves to play and write and sing and produce, all without external guidance, in basements and bedrooms and a converted garage. When Gary studied abroad for a year, John and Jeff made a record for him, One in Versailles, adding to their ranks drummer Barry Shumaker; when Gary returned the four punched out another full album in a matter of weeks titled Bazooka, but at the time it was shelved due to lack of funds.
At the end of 1975, John and Gary returned from college permanently. Shumaker left, and they tapped local drummer Skip Meyer to replace him. Shoes pushed forward, beginning the power pop classic Black Vinyl Shoes that fall, a record which showcased their signature sound: fuzzy electric and bright acoustic guitars, jangly melodies, melancholy lyrics, and shimmering harmonies.
When it was self-released in 1977, it received excellent press, including a glowing review in The Village Voice, and was eventually picked up for re-release by JEM/PVC Records. With increased distribution, Black Vinyl Shoes drew the attention of major labels, and Shoes signed with Elektra/Asylum in early 1979.
Their three Elektra records—Present Tense in 1979, Tongue Twister in 1981 and Boomerangin 1981—won Shoes an international following and solid critical respect. They worked with Mike Stone, who had produced Queen, and Richard Dashut, who had helmed both Fleetwood Mac’s massive best-seller Rumors and its experimental follow-up, Tusk. Shoes’ videos—“Too Late” and “Tomorrow Night” in particular—were prominently featured on early MTV. But Shoes had signed during the devastating Crash of ’79, and they struggled to break out during these years against the backdrop of an industry in free-fall. They were released from their Elektra contract in late 1982.
Determined to go on, Shoes built a small studio—Short Order Recorder—in a strip mall in nearby Winthrop Harbor, producing not only their own music Silhouette but also the work of other bands, including Chicago’s Material Issue. In 1986, they moved back to Zion, rebuilding Short Order Recorder into a small, respectable working studio with a national reputation. Shoes also expanded their label, Black Vinyl Records, releasing not only their own music, but that of like-minded artists and Short Order Recorder clients. It was a self-contained DIY operation gone professional.
Along the way, they compiled a collection with Shoes Best and re-released their back catalog on CD. At the same time, they recorded the zestful alternative pop masterpiece Stolen Wishes, and had the track“Feel the Way That I Do” picked up for inclusion in a Hollywood film, Mannequin 2. The record fit right in with the alt-pop revival of the early 1990’s, critic David Wild calling it “a great, unpretentious pop record.” Shoes toured the east and west coasts for the first time ever to support Stolen Wishes.
The business of the studio and label delayed 1994’s Propeller. 1997 saw the release of the limited-edition As Is, a two-disc collection of outtakes, alternate mixes, rarities and incuding for the first time on CD the rarely heard 1975 releases One in Versailles and Bazooka.
By the end of the millennium, digital musical production had rendered independent studios all but obsolete; file-sharing had the same effect on many independent labels. Shoes sold Short Order Recorder in 2004 and returned to their roots, recording at home.
In 2007, Jeff Murphy released the solo record Cantilever, a collection of eleven shimmering pop songs NPR’s Ken Tucker called “pretty glorious.” That summer, Shoes appeared at the Great Performers of Illinois concert series at Millennium Park in Chicago. 2009 saw the band’s first overseas shows, as they traveled to Japan to celebrate the release of a CD box set on Air Mail Records. Shoes’ 2008 recording of Cheap Trick’s “If You Want My Love,” originally intended for a charity tribute album, was pressed and released in Japan.
Through 2010, the band was busy with periodic reissues, movie soundtracks, and work on an in-depth band biography, Boys Don’t Lie: A History of Shoes(Pure Pop Press), a 500+ page behind-the-scenes look at Shoes’ musical career juxtaposed against the backdrop of the changing music industry.
At the end of 2010, work began on a new Shoes record, titled Ignition, their first in 17 years. Working with John Richardson, who has been their live drummer since 1994, Shoes found a new drive and purpose in these sessions. “I think that we’re playing with a renewed sense of purpose,” Jeff says. “It’s really been a joy to work on these songs and reminds us that, despite the fact that it takes a ton of work and worry, there really is no greater satisfaction for us than completing a new Shoes song. It has also helped to strengthen and reaffirm our friendships.”
The members of Shoes have continued to remain friends, and friends with their fans. While there hasn’t been any new music since Ignition, fans have been served with a number of retrospectives since then. Shoes themselves served up 35 Years – The Definitive Collection 1977-2012 (Black Vinyl); while the Numero Group has released their sophomore album that never was with 1975’s Bazooka that was tracked at home and shelved due to a lack of funds: and Pre-Tense: Demos 1978-1979, which is actually a vinyl release featuring some of the songs that appeared on the Double Exposure release with additional tracks from the same sessions.
And just last year, the British Cherry Red label issued a limited-edition, four disc, 90-track box set Elektrafied: The Elektra Years 1979-1982 which is described as, “a triptych of classic pop albums – Present Tense, Tongue Twister, and Boomerang – and a clutch of Wurlitzer-worthy seven-inch nuggets that should have catapulted them to fame, fortune and all manner of related excess. Sadly, however, they never quite made the leap from critics’ darlings to Top Thirty success, and the band were obliged to settle for enduring cult status as power pop avatars. But while rock-star level fame and fortune never quite came their way, Shoes do have the considerable consolation of knowing that their body of work has stood the test of time far better than many of their more commercially successful contemporaries. This anthology of the band’s recordings for Elektra, fleshed out with a swathe of pre-album demos, lost songs, alternative versions and live tracks dating from the same period, is a veritable smorgasbord of perfect pop from a time when Shoes were genuine contenders for rock’s glittering prizes.”
Shoes certainly have left us with an enduring mark of music with over 180 songs on 17 albums. You can check it all out at www.shoeswire.com. (Story compiled with the help from biography by Mary E. Donnelly on the Shoes website.)
Discography
1974 Heads or Tails (Shoes Records SCHUZ-0001)
1975 One in Versailles (Shoes 001)
1977 Black Vinyl Shoes (Black Vinyl S-51477)
1979 Present Tense (Elektra 6E-244)
1981 Tongue Twister (Electra 6E-303)
1982 Boomerang (Elektra 960146-1)
1984 Silhouette (Black Vinyl BV 151914)
1989 Stolen Wishes (Black Vinyl BV 10189-2)
1994 Propeller (Black Vinyl BV 10294-2)
1995 Fret Buzz (Black Vinyl BV 10495-2)
1996 As Is (Black Vinyl BV 10596-2) 2CD numbered ltd. edition
2007 Double Exposure (Black Vinyl BV 11979-2)
2012 Ignition (Black Vinyl BV 16112-2)
2012 Bazooka (Numero Group NJR-LP-002)
2012 35 Years – The Definitive Collection 1977-2012 (Black Vinyl)
2013 Pre-Tense: Demos 1978-1979 (Numero Group JR-004)
2020 Elektrafied: The Elektra Years 1979-1982 (Cherry Red ) UK only release