Steve One and the Shades
Rock of the 80's, new wave, modern rock, 80's, classic, pop-rock, pop, rock, rock and roll, club band, concert act, live show, electric guitar, acoustic guitar,
1
top 50
10
songs
9.3K
plays
Once In A Lifetime Once In A Lifetime
Stay Away From Me Stay Away From Me
You Can Run You Can Run
Change My Mind Change My Mind
Turn And Walk Away Turn And Walk Away
Show all (10)
Steve One and the Shades, the quintessential 80's power-pop, rock band from the San Francisco Bay Area, disbanded in 1990. They released one 5-song E.P., produced by Scott Mathews, on cassette in 1987 and a 7-song vinyl album and cassette, produced by Dave Denny, in 1988. (Two of the songs were repeated, so there was no reason to include both versions of the same songs here.) These recordings were primarily to be used as demos to "shop" to the major labels, but after numerous requests from fans and media, they printed two limited runs of product...albums and tapes...and were distributed throughout northern California. The two pressings sold-out almost immediately. These songs were produced on an extremely tight budget with minimal overdubs. In fact, for the lead vocals, Steve was given only one take per song. And in rapid succession. All the vocals were cut in one quick 2 hour session.
These MP3's were copied from a CD which was a copy of the 18 year old, well-worn cassette tapes found in a box just last month...hiss, dropouts and all! (A search is on for the masters, but no one seems to know where they are, or what happpened to them.) As a live performance band, they headlined and opened literally hundreds of shows in northern California, sharing the stage with many of the decades' notable performers, including Huey Lewis and the News, Chris Isaak, Greg Kihn, Night Ranger, Ronnie Montrose, Eddie Money, Starship (KBC), and more. They received local radio airplay, great reviews and performed live on the radio, sometimes in a semi-acoustic format...long before the term "unplugged" was coined. Sadly, the lack of a real record deal and the "usual band stuff" broke them up around 1989-1990.Band/artist history
Steve One and the Shades was/were:
Steve "One" Waddington: lead vocals, rhythm guitar
Skip Reilley: backing vocals, bass
Terry Kincannon: backing vocals, lead guitar
Gary Craven: drums
Dave Hirsch: keyboards.
There were a few other very talented musicians who flowed through the band throughout the years, they are:
Joost Vonk: drums and amazing backing and lead vocals
Steve Robbins: keyboards and backing vocals (the 'Cheesy Farfissi")
Geoff Stich: lead guitar
Russ Golub: lead guitar, backing and lead vocals
Bill Costa: Lead guitar, backing vocals
Kurt Keown: lead giutar, backing vocals
Steve One and the Shades 1982-1990Have you performed in front of an audience?They played virtually every club with a stage throughout Northern California. San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa and Marin counties were the home base, but they played in just about every county north of Kern county. They played a very few times in Los Angeles, mostly showcases for major labels and a few regular club dates, just prior to disbanding. Steve One and the Shades "expired" in 1989-90.
Your musical influences
The usual suspects...the Beatles, the Stones, T-Rex, INXS, the Romantics, and the whole 80's "new wave" thing that was going on.What equipment do you use?
Steve One used a collection of vintage Gretsch, Vox and Fender guitars through a Roland Jazz Chorus amp and a Gallien Krueger Pre-amp with various Alesis rack mount effects and a Nady wireless set-up.
TK used a custom made Mighty-Mite Strat through a Mesa-Boogie stack and various foot-pedals.
Skip played a number of self-designed basses, usually through a Gallien Krueger amp and custom cabinets, with various pedals for effects.
Gary had an awesome yellow drum set, very expensive at the time. (Forgot the brand name)
Dave Hirsch played various hi-tech keyboards and workstations.Anything else?
These songs, and this "album", are posted here as a more-or-less archival history of a band that was actually pretty damn good back in the 80's.
Although their album never came close to illustrating what an awesome live show they were, it still serves as a document of a bunch of guys who were playing out 5 nights a week for years, hoping for that "break". Too bad they never had a major-label budget to really explore the studio or for promotion. Who knows what might have happened. By today's standards, the songs are pretty "poppy", but taken in context of their time, they were pop, yet rocking, dynamic and adventurous, with some dramatic touches and some cinematic influences. And this was their first and ONLY record! They should have been signed, because its a shame that these talented musicians never had the chance to really develop in the studio. (After all, the Beatles "Love Me Do" never even hinted at what THEY would become.)
But this is what was happening in the 80's. LOTS of great bands never got their due.
Los Angeles, CA
USA
ID
310205
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Comments (7)
Hey Skip (I remember nickname was bonef*** - LOL) and Steve. My brother Paul was your soundman for a while. I remember seeing you guys play at quite a few bars back then (not "Uncle Charley's" as stated here, but actually "Mountain Charley's Saloon" in Los Gatos). Oh those fun eighties when I was so young and you guys were SO HOT.
i was a bouncer at puma's/smokey mountain club in campbell in the mid 80s...they'd play every month or two, and were always awesome...have two autographed cassettes from them; wore out one of them in my pioneer deck in my 240z from constant playing....
Wow, this band sounds great!
I'm 23 and I go to the University of California Santa Barbara. I've had this cool "vintage" tshirt for a few years now. It's light blue and says "Steve One and the Shades". It's practically my favorite vintage shirt, mainly because of the mystery behind who this is (and no one else has a shirt like it). For the longest time, I've been trying to find out who these guys are and now it's nice to know!
This music needs to be on itunes. I bet they'd make a lot of money!
Hey - I did a couple of gigs with you guys in the 80s. Gary Craven even played in one of my bands before Steve One. Excellent drummer. Where is he now? Tell him hi from me.
Hi.. I checked out "Turn and Walk Away"...has great promise...Nice vocals...nice hook...melody...
Discovered you through someone else fav radio..station...
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