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Some of my Cleveland faves (that had some National success):

- Raspberries / Eric Carmen (but isn't that a given?)

- Michael Stanley Band

- The Dazz Band

- The O'Jays

- Joe Walsh / The James Gang

- The Dead Boys (OK, I've only heard "Sonic Reducer" and that's a great song)

- Chrissie Hynde & The Pretenders

- Marilyn Manson

Some Clevelands bands of the past that only had local success:

- Beau Coup

- Champion

- Love Affair

- The SignOffs

My fellow unsigned groups still out and working it today:

- The Subtones

- Ei8th Day

- Hybrid Factor (ok, it's my band so let me have my shameless plug LOL)

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Cozmik:

CRACK THE SKY!

Are you kiddin' me, man?!?!?

They are (and continue to be) one of my absolute, all-time favorite bands.

Their first two albums: "Crack the Sky," and "Animal Notes," as well as "White Music" are masterpieces.

Pick 'em up if you see 'em cheap -- your ears are in for a treat.

"K"

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Well, I have a few more current fave Chicago bands:

The Ponys

Assassins

The Redwalls

The Changes

Chin Up Chin Up

The Dirty Things

The Webb Brothers (yes, the sons of Jim Webb)

The Living Blue (actually, from Champaigne, IL)

....and soooooo many more great local bands playing out now. Chicago has a great local music scene right now.

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Seattle has quite a history, too, musically, with national artists...

The Ventures.....Nightcrawlers....Paul Revere and the Raiders.....Jimi Hendrix......Heart......

Pearl Jam....Nirvana.....Hole......Marilee Rush...

Babes in Toyland......Alice in Chains....Sir Mix-A Lot.......Soundgarden......Kenny G........

And some that are starting to get known;

Modest Mouse, MXPX, Late Tuesday, Smoosh, Ian Moore, Brandi Carlile

Plus an assortment of all kinds of music, from Hawaiian to Blues to Metal...

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I'm pretty sure Pearl Jam was from Seattle. I know that's where the band came to prominence. I'm not familiar enough with them to know where any of the individual members are from. Although Nugent lived in Chicago a year or two, he's from Detroit and that's where he came to prominence. Alice Cooper (Vincent something)was also born in Detroit but moved to Phoinix as a teenager which is where the band "Alice Cooper" was formed and where Vincent still lives.

From the Tulsa area:

Leon Russell

Dwight Twilley

JJ Cale

Jim Keltner

Steve Ripley (The Tractors)

Carl Radle

Jesse Ed Davis

Jamie Oldaker

David Gates

Elvin Bishop

Hanson

Phil Seymour

Ronnie Dunn

Wanda Jackson

Joe Diffie

Eldon Shamblin

GAP Band

Bob Wills (although from Texas, Wills made Tulsa his home in the '30s and is buried here. It was from Tulsa that he and the Texas Playboys rose to national prominence broadcasting from the Cains Ballroom)

Caroline's Spine

The Collins Kids

Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey

On the fringe:

Garth Brooks (born in Tulsa but grew up in Yukon, OK as a teen. He got his start in the college town of Stillwater, OK. He currently lives in the Tulsa suburbs.)

The All-American Rejects (from Stillwater)

Roy Clark has lived in Tulsa for decades. I've no idea where he's originally from.

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Merle Haggard is from Bakersfield, CA, like Buck Owens. His parents were from Oklahoma but moved to California during the depression before he was born. An "Okie" was actually a derogatory term from the '30s. It was used by Californians toward Oklahomans who migrated to California during the dustbowl in the Oklahoma panhandle (Opposite side of the state from Muskogee). Merle co-wrote "Okie..." with drummer/songwriter Roy Burris. I've no idea where he's from. The song was taken by many as a social attack of the hippie movement at the time but the truth was that it was supposed to be funny. Muskogee is less than 60 miles from Tulsa and I've been there many times and the lyrics of the song bear no actual resemblance to the town. I think the folks who live there are still kind of jazzed he put them on the map, though. An aside, I'm 1/4 Muskogee (Creek) Indian so I'm a Muskogee from Oklahoma.

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All this country music talk got me thinking and I'm embarrassed to say I forgot the greatest musician to come from the Tulsa area (Hanna, OK to be exact). My cousin Gary P. Nunn who has backed and written songs for Michael Murphy, Jerry Jeff Walker, Roseanne Cash just to name a few. You all know his biggest hit, "London Homesick Blues" even if you don't recognize the title. Just watch the opening to "Austin City Limits" sometime and you'll hear it. It has my favorite songwriting rhyme of all time ("Goner" and "Arizona"; you gotta love it). Believe it or not, in the state of Texas, Gary is treated like a freakin' Beatle!

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Keith Nivan

CRACK THE SKY!

Are you kiddin' me, man?!?!?

Nope! My favorite "progressive" band. "White Music" is my favorite from them. Any chance you're from Baltimore? For some reason they are mega-famous there, but (most of, if not all of) the members are from the Pittsburgh area. Guitarist Rik Witkowski is one of the main-stays of the Pittsburgh rock scene as a producer, player and organizer of numerous charity events with lots of Pittsburgh musicians. Rik has a studio near Weirton, WV.

Interesting tidbit, The B.E. Taylor group flirted with the national charts in the 80's with "Vitamin L" and "Karen". The B.E. Taylor Group played a kind of pop-rock and the line-up was basically Crack The Sky with singer B.E. Taylor replacing John Palumbo.

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I knew I was forgetting something, The Replacements....geez. I don't think John Denver was from here, but he used to play around town and married "Annie" who was from Minnesota. He never wrote about here though...West Virginia, Rocky Mountains...nope...no Twin Cities songs.

Oh, by the way...Lipps Inc. and if you ever heard of Gypsy from around '72 or so. The had a pretty cool song called Gypsy Queen that got some play. I think they were signed nationally.

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Coz: Re Crack the Sky, I'm not from Baltimore but I know they've always been and still are huge there. I met one of my best friends from college while I was blasting CTS and he stuck his head in my room and asked if I was from Baltimore; he was and loved CTS; we're still good pals.

And yes, Rik Witkowski is a marvelous guitarist; think "A Sea Epic" and especially "Mind Baby."

Anyone interested, drop me a line and I'll email you "Mind Baby" on mp3. It might get you hooked.

It'll be best that you have broadband to receive it efficiently.

"Keith"

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