Coming to you from the studios at the Illinois Rock and Roll Museum on Route 66. It's the Rock and Roll Chicago podcast Hey everybody, it's Ray the roadie and this is a very very funky feeling Hollywood Mike a funky It's not because I didn't shower though. No.

Okay. I mean it is this cold November evening. Yeah, it's 90 degrees out Yeah, that's right.

Now it is. It's terrible. Hey, did you hear about the about the cicada mites? Oh, I heard about them Yeah, biting people.

Yeah, my son's got like 12 of them all over his chest. Wow Look at a thing. Oh, man, I got it.

It's in the hell out of me right now. Is it really? Yeah, it's making me want to dance and jiggle around and do a whole bit listen to some Donna summer music and stuff Yeah, really? Oh, yeah. Oh, no.

I think we got somebody that can help us with that who I don't know Who's these guys? I don't know. There's 35 people in there To bring 35, I don't know They're all screaming So who we got in the studio joining us tonight is uptown rhythm uptown rhythm how you guys doing How's it going everybody? Good. So, you know, we're gonna do we're gonna we're gonna do a test We're gonna have them go through like romper room and introduce themselves and what they do in the band Okay, the whole bit.

Let's see if we have some listeners who can remember by the end of the show. Okay All right. Why don't we start right here with this guy on my left? Are you doing uh, my name is Jeff and I'm the guitarist.

All right guitar and that's it. Sounds good. That's it It's all you need.

Yeah, that's what I think John Ramone's junior drummer drummer. I'm a hugo or kizu bass player. All right John Ramone is senior I'm playing Congress right now musical director and Semi manager.

All right He's put said he's playing Congress right now I didn't hear anything they said he's got a semi he doesn't get a semi Wow In something totally different to Pauly Shore. Remember? Dexter Oblina ice. I'm the singer.

I play synthesizer and I play guitar. All right Hi, my name is Maria Evan and I sing. All right.

Hi, and I'm Katie Randall and I also sing Yes, and hi and I'm oh, I'm so no go ahead. Yeah, I forgot it I just got into the whole thing. Don't you play the glockenspiel? Not anymore.

No, no I couldn't find a band. I want to glockenspiel. Do you guys have a glockenspiel in your band? No, say no, but nobody else We're gonna you know, what's gonna happen one of these days is we're gonna get like a band come in from Sweden and say well Our singer was born in Chicago.

Yeah, and we all play the glockenspiel. We are an all glockenspiel band. Yeah Yeah, so who started this shindig who put this whole band together? That would be me.

All right, junior junior. That's junior So so go all the way back to the year tell us the whole story the mic is on you well Uptown rhythm the band's been an idea in the head for a few years It really came together once the previous band Hugo bass player and I Kind of faded out and we started bringing moving forward. We got decks come in and Jeff came in with decks We what you're was all Maria what you're was actually November of 23 November 23.

Okay, so so not too long ago. Yeah We kind of thinking about it during Kovat. I'm assuming and I was probably a little before Kovat Okay, then an idea just to create a really fun party dance band, right? You know stuff that everyone recognizes everyone enjoys listening all the good class stuff Now what you do when you were younger that caused you to put together a band like this Grew up with my father senior.

All right. Well, we hope so First pair of sticks I got from him is before I was able to walk Toy drum and got my first drum set It's like seven or eight Right, and I got a big boy drum set and my early teens Let me guess did you get the little Jeffrey drum set from Toys R Us I had it too It was it looked it looked like it looked like a giraffe. Yeah, every drummer in Chicagoland starts on the toys are his drum set So senior what were you doing did did you make you live in doing this or you just kind of messing around in music I've been around since Let's see, this would be 60 years 60 years six years.

I've been my first pains. I was six years ago Okay played at st. Fidelis Carnival by Humboldt Park, but when the service shortly afterwards, okay then I Came back from the service.

I played with several bands even a Spanish band for a while for actually two Spanish bands for a couple years and Then I kind of started my own band called uptown fever Free publicity. They're not around anymore. Mm-hmm and That went as far as it did but back in those days it was how much beer can I drink and how many chicks? Can I talk to okay, and I got kind of tired of that since I've been married all this time.

Yeah, so Started another bank are retroactive and people wanted to Really have some good music and play better and that's been around for fit since 92 91 you know, I gotta say there. I gotta say that I don't know if I would have traded in better music for chicks and beer I gotta honestly say, you know, the chicks and beer sounds pretty appealing to me You know, I can I can hear good music by turning on the radio But no god bless you that you guys are keeping that a lot It was it was really a way of life and I worked all you know work full-time You know different jobs and we used to Work all day and then I'd play five nights a week Yeah, we hit all the casinos all you know, a lot of weddings a lot of corporate stuff Oh, is this like 70s 70s 80s? Yes. Yeah.

Yes when disco was alive and well Wow Were you like were you at Comiskey Park? No, no, no, I was not there. Steve doll is not a friend of mine. Thank you very much I do I do have a friend that was there actually it was It was fun, yeah, it was fun and it kept me off the streets and in the bars, right, right Well, that's good.

That's good. So but it was a long time coming and I Wanted my sons to play something else besides drums, but right he picked up drums. My youngest son picks up play drums so was one of the guitar and Keyboard going so we could have our own family band, but that didn't work out now Did you have your dad join the band right away? Did you just kind of put the band together and then say hey pops Why don't you come over and hang with us? Well, I kind of asked him to come over and hey, come over and hang with us and Just started getting ideas from him Arrangements and going through we record our rehearsals, right just to fine-tune find areas of improvement make some changes and Next thing, you know, I just said, you know, come on board and be you know full-time with us Here's some congas.

You might as well play these while you're staying Pretty much what it came down to it. Yeah, why not? You know, somebody's got to drive the van Actually brought a congo over one time he's playing around I got it sitting at the house. Let me bring it, right? He's just started tapping around during a rehearsal and we all kind of said oh, yeah, that's awesome Edge, right? Oh Gotta have a cowbell.

Oh, yeah Yeah, absolutely gotta have a cow and tambourine, yeah, yeah, so who's the next up and the whistle and it is very Very important it is. Yeah, but no glasses. It's that Donna Summer song, isn't it? There's a and you got to have that whistle in there.

Yeah. Yeah, but no glockenspiel. We got to find something with a glock Well, I'll keep looking.

Yeah, I bet you you can add glockenspiel to almost any disco song anything. Oh, yeah, you could yeah Yeah, so who's the next phone call then? Did you build from those from the the bass the bass up or who was your next phone call after? He decided to do this. Well, I mean Hugo's been with me since 97 So we've been playing together for all this time and various bands But after Dex we gave Dex a call Dex showed up From there.

He brought in Jeff because we were looking for a lead guitar player Jeff the person who's not here. No this Jeff This is this is the Jeff this is the Jeff okay, and then Maria had responded to An invite that I had gave sent her for an audition for vocalist Okay, and then she came on and then Maria brought Katie on board and We just went ahead and went forward from there, right? And then we also have our keyboard player Rob Davis who unfortunately couldn't make it today But you know, we're here thinking of them, okay, okay. All right.

I think it Maria not originally from Chicago You can hear my accent just a little what accents what accent? Yeah, I'm from Slovakia. Okay. All right I kind of I was gonna kind of guess that yeah, so what brought you to Chicago what brought me? I brought I came here when I was 18.

Okay, so I couldn't get to a school. I wanted to pursue Pharmacy, okay, so I came here and my brothers were already here, too Powered right so you actually so you have you have your degree in pharmacy then? Yes. Yeah, where'd you go to school? Midwestern University Midwestern University.

Yeah. Well, they've I'm a lab consultant. They've been my client for years.

I know the university very well. Yeah Yeah, so and so when was it that you joined the band? Oh, I joined the band maybe last year in April Mm-hmm. Yeah, more like me may 23.

Okay starting to get everything going. We're doing a transition at that time from Rock steady into uptown rhythm. Gotcha.

Okay, and were you were you a singer in Slovakia? Mmm, not in Slovakia, but when I came here, okay, my brothers they had been there Hawaii When I was I was about five years old, they were like nine years older than me So they had no band practices every night in our basement. Okay, then my dad who was a Conductor and his music teacher. Oh, wow.

Okay, my mom was singing. So we always have music in our house, right? Yeah, excellent. And you're and you're your vocal counterpart.

Yes, Katie. Yes. Hi She's a singer she doesn't have to speak very much.

No, she's high is perfect. We get the point now How did it all start for you? Well Maria and I work together. Okay.

I'm also a pharmacist. All right See that's the reason why two pharmacists see that and I also went to Midwestern University There you go. There you go.

Now. I understand it completely. I know how to pick them.

Yeah, I understand it completely I got my prescription pad right over here little Prozac and red wine. I see how we're doing this now That's the reason why we're playing on this disco stuff. They're all loopy, you know, they're on the roofies You know kids in the roofies and everything.

We have all the drugs. Yeah No, no, nothing illegal, no, no, okay, I was gonna say I mean because people are gonna hear this so yeah Yeah, nothing illegal. No, we do nothing wrong, right? No, but Maria and I were talking and she was indicating that you know She's in this new band and they were looking for a new singer and I said, well if you need any help You know, I'm happy to kind of you know help out We were going through some you know Big changes at work and I said we needed to wait just a just a minute But then I finally came to one of the rehearsals and then that was that that was in what November Yeah, yeah in November 23.

Yeah, so, you know, it's It's kind of a an oddity a little bit when we talk to people when they say we wanted to be in this fun party Band very few people are playing the music that you're playing People are playing more than 90s and early 2000s when you know nowadays when people are thinking of dance music they're thinking of Bruno Mars and you know, and Kesha and all these other people that I'm not crazy about but We actually do a Kesha song, okay. Yeah. Yeah, I sing I sing one we do a Kesha solo version of timber Okay.

Oh, no kidding. Really? Yeah. Yeah, that's a fun.

That's a fun one. Okay. Yeah And Bruno Mars we do as well Uptown funk, of course, that's that's the one right? Do that I think that's a rule We do flowers so we try to do some Okay Little bit all this.

Okay. Yeah, the most of the videos that I saw you guys online I saw a lot of Donna summer and Some Tina Turner the their version of Roland or what's a proud Mary and stuff. Yeah.

Yeah. Excellent. Excellent I'll tell you what before we go on any further.

I think what we should do is since we've gone around the table Let's do this, let's do a quick sound check. Let's have Jeff warm up the old guitar strings nephew. All right, and We'll have them form a song in the studio.

How's that sound? Sounds good to me. Yeah, we'll be right back You're listening to the rock and roll Chicago podcast. Hey everybody It's Ray the roadie and this is Hollywood Mike of the rock and roll Chicago podcast If you've been joining our weekly program, we have great news for you Just tune in to road to rock radio on Mondays at 7 p.m Central time and you can hear a rebroadcast of one of our past episodes Then again on Thursdays at 7 p.m You can hear our most current episode brought to you by the Illinois rock and roll museum on route 66 So go to road to rock org scroll down and click on radio station That'll bring you to the road to rock radio a station committed entirely to the great music from, Illinois From Chicago blues born on Maxwell Street to today's rock and roll and everything in between 24-7 all music with its roots in, Illinois And live in the studio everybody we have Uptown Rhythm You spend my nights out in a bar Liquor was the only love I had But you rescued me reaching for the bottom And brought me back from being Far gone You're I've looked for love in all the same old places Found the bottom of the bottle's always dry But when you poured out your heart I wouldn't waste it Cause there's nothing like your love to get me high You're as smooth as tenderness to escape You're as sweet as strawberry wine You're as warm as a glass of brandy And honey, I stay stoned on your love all the time Something told me it was over When I saw you and that girl talking Something deep down in my soul said cry girl When I saw you and that girl walking by I would rather, I would rather go blind, boy Than to see you walk away from me, child So you see, I love you so much That I don't want to watch you leave me, baby Most of all, I just don't, I just don't want to be free I was just, I was just, I was just sitting and thinking Of your kiss and your warm embrace, yeah When the reflection in the glass that I held to my lips now, baby, yeah Revealed the tears that were on my face, ooh And baby, baby, baby, I'd rather go blind, boy Than to see you walk away, walk away from me, yeah And baby, baby, baby, I'd rather go blind, boy Than to see you walk away from me, oh You're as smooth as tennis to a skid You're as sweet as chocolate and wine You're as smooth as tennis to a skid You're as sweet as chocolate and wine You're as warm as a glass of brandy And honey, I stay strong on your love all the time You're as smooth as tennis to a skid Tennis to a skid Tennis to a skid You're as smooth as tennis to a skid Tennis to a skid Now do you guys perform it like that live? No.

Oh, you mean a cappella? Yeah, you do? You do it with all the breaks and stuff and you end it with the a cappella at the end and the whole bit? Oh, yeah. Oh, nice. Okay.

Oh, cool. All right. Because many people do that and mash those two songs together, but nobody really does the whole a cappella thing.

So that's a nice little switch or a touch. Mike's favorite song. Yeah, it's my favorite song.

Mm-hmm. Which one? Huh? Which one? He's being sarcastic. I've played that song so many times that if I ever have to play it again, it will be too soon.

We should have only a second one. In fact, I would rather fall off of a building and catch my eyelid on a rusty nail on the way down than play that song one more time. Not necessarily, but I definitely splat when I hit the sidewalk.

Land in a pile of cicada mites. Land in a pile of cicada mites. Those things suck.

You should see my son's chest. He looks like a pink leopard. What was he rolling around in the lawn? No.

We put in that sand, that gravel fire pit I told you about. We were just in the trees. I got a lot of trees on my property.

Okay. I said, it's these little bugs that eat the cicada eggs, and then they fly all over the place and the wind catches them and they land on you. You go inside the house and they're all in your clothes, and you don't want them in your bed.

You'll survive. I know, but they itch. I'm sitting here right now and I want to itch, and they said, don't.

Don't itch. Nope. Yeah.

Don't itch. Don't scratch it. Don't scratch it.

Anyways, we got to get back to this. Yeah. We got to get back to this.

Yeah. So, who is your business manager? That would be myself and senior. Okay.

Yeah. You guys are all doing that stuff. So, you guys are out looking for your own gigs and everything? You're booking yourself? You're not working with any booking agents or anybody? Not right now.

No. Where's home base for you guys? I thought I saw. I mean, is there a specific venue or a bar? Not in particular.

Right now, the main place we've been playing at is the Lockport Moose Lodge. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. I've played there. I know those guys very well.

Yeah. They suckered me into being a member one time I was playing there before I even knew it. Yeah.

Oh, then you can get in. Yeah. Before I even knew it.

You know, they came over and they said, hey, all right, we're going to make Mike a member. And they took up a collection and paid my dues for me that night and gave me a card. It was great.

Wow. Wow. Yeah.

Interesting. Did you get your antlers? No. I didn't get antlers or anything.

But I did. But I gave an acceptance speech and I said, thank you. Okay.

Spader, spader, and the wool. No. Oh, God.

We're going downhill fast. Yeah, we are. Yeah, we are.

Yeah. So, there's another place that I saw a lot of videos, like an Italian restaurant or an Italian place you guys play. Just recently at Valazio's.

Okay. So, that was our first time there. Great crowd.

Great staff. Yeah. So.

And where's that located? Roselle. Roselle. Really? That's where I grew up.

That's where I grew up. Where'd you go to high school? So did I. Where? Well, I actually went to three different high schools. Lake Park Lancers, right? Yeah.

I mean, I went to three different high schools, but I graduated from Lake Park High School. Yeah. Okay.

Now, where'd you live in Roselle? Actually, I lived in Bloomingdale. Sorry. Oh, were you really? Yeah.

On the other side? You were south of Lake Street? Actually, yeah. Okay. On the other side.

On the other side. I was on the old side of Bloomingdale. Okay.

I know right where that is. Yeah. Yeah.

You know where Coach Light Skating Rink is? Oh, yeah. Totally. We used to go there.

I lived four houses away from Coach Light. Oh, that's amazing. But I have a feeling that it was like a decade before you were there.

So I mean. I don't know about that. What year did you graduate? Oh, what year did you graduate? No, what year did you graduate? Well, how old do you think I am? Join us next week when we find out what year Mike graduated and came.

We'll find out where each of them has lived since living in Roselle and Bloomingdale. Not Bloomingdale. Bloomingdale.

I'm sorry. But there's a reason for that, actually. No, I graduated in 1988.

Oh, no. I was after. I was 99.

Yeah. See, I told you. And I said a decade, didn't I? See, these youngsters always questioning us.

And you know where else? And we've talked about it on the program before. I could walk to Roselle Music, which is the little town of Roselle on Irving Park, a world-famous music store. Because back when Poplar Creek Music Theater was over there in Hoffman Estates, anytime anybody needed something, they'd go to this Roselle Music Store.

And that was kind of the start of everything for me. I took organ lessons. My mother wanted me to play organ in church, and I took them at Roselle Music.

And yeah, so that was a cool place. And it's still there. Somebody still owns it.

But yeah, it was a pretty cool thing. Yeah. Yeah.

So somebody define success from 2024 for me. What happened to you guys this year that you guys loved and said we want to duplicate that in 2025? Just the way we've all grown together. It seems like each rehearsal, each job we do, we just walk out of there just having more fun, enjoying each other's company, enjoying the crowds and the venues.

And that's half the battle right there. I think you guys are older musicians, and you tend to look for that more now than when you were younger. Oh, yes.

Yes. Yeah. So other than Mr. Senior over there, has anybody else here imparted some words of wisdom to a younger generation and encouraged them to play music? No.

Nope. We hate kids. No, no.

I figured the odds were good. There's 90 of them in the studio. But no.

My husband had a guitar, and he doesn't play guitar, but he had a guitar, and I gave it to one of my good friends. I gave it to her son. So your husband would stop playing it? He can't play it.

He doesn't know how. He tried. He tried.

Bless his heart. He tried. He tried.

Bless his heart. She threw that in there. Bless his heart.

Yeah. I mean, she said bless his heart, but I heard that son of a bitch just a little bit. Either learn that goddamn guitar or I'm getting rid of it.

Yeah. But no. In actuality, he's a music critic.

He's a writer and photographer. So he knows a thing or two about... He's a music critic. Yes, he is.

Really? So does he write for anybody? Well, he has his own website that he writes for, which is chicagoconcertreviews.com. Okay. But he's also freelance for lots of different national and local publications. Okay.

Wow. Excellent. Excellent.

That's interesting. Well, that's good. So what do you guys got planned for? Let's see.

We've got the end of November. December. Got December.

Heck, we might as well start talking about 2025. You guys got anything on the calendar that you'd like people to know about? Well, we do have a gig coming up this Saturday, August 10th. We also have something in October, Lockport Moose Lodge.

Okay. We're playing in September over at Montrose Saloon. We're doing a set there.

I'm having deja vu because we were at that show. We were. Yeah.

Remember, this is November 24th. As of now, nothing for November, December. They were fantastic shows.

They rocked out totally at those shows. It was great. Nothing for November, December as of yet.

Okay. Gotcha. Gotcha.

All right. So what's the favorite type of music for the band? Because, I mean, we just did Tennessee Whiskey, but if I look at all the videos online, I'm seeing Donna Summer and stuff like that. Yeah, right.

We do a lot of stuff like that. Yeah. All this dance stuff that everybody, you know, a lot of the disco stuff.

Right. Because you as the bass player has got to get bored to death of playing Tennessee Whiskey and stuff like that. Yeah.

You want to thump it and pop it, right? I do love to play, but yeah. And that's what I, yeah. Right.

I love doing that. So who's kind of the person that chooses all the music? We all do, right? We all kind of do. Yeah.

Everyone has an input as far as what we want to play. A lot of it is geared toward the vocals. Right.

What they're comfortable singing and we try to stay in that route. So, but everyone has input as far as what we're going to play and, you know, go from there. Right.

When you're not listening to the music that you're trying to learn for the band, what kind of stuff is everybody listening to? Do you all have different influences? Yeah, I know. I listen to classic rock, Bon Jovi, Motley Crue, Poison. I'm even starting to listen to some country now.

Okay. I mean, I can hear the Motley Crue and the bad girls. I mean, you know, our singers, what do you got, what do you guys listen to? I like to listen to soul music or maybe R&B and play like Alicia Keys, Jazztone.

I like some pop, Whitney Houston. It's my favorite. Okay.

I literally listen to almost everything. And because we're going to lots of shows too, I get exposed to a lot of different things that I don't know about and I learn about, and sometimes I like it and sometimes I don't. But right now I really love Lainey Wilson and Carrie Underwood.

I'm playing both of those a lot right now. Well, the Carrie Underwood doesn't surprise me, but her peak career was maybe 10 years ago or a little bit older. Are you just starting to get into her or have you listened to her all the time? Carrie? Yeah.

More recently, actually. I've seen her a bunch, but just more recently. And it's kind of funny.

I really like her Storytellers album. That's my favorite one. Oh, yeah.

Yeah. And that's an older one. Right.

Yeah. I totally get that too because I was younger and when Nirvana first came out, I didn't get it. And now that I'm older, I absolutely love them.

And I'm sitting around going, geez, I wish Kurt didn't blow his brains out because I'd like to hear them come out with a new album because it's not the Foo Fighters. You can listen to Dave Grohl, but it's not the same. Maybe AI.

You know, I don't know. I feel like I'm selling my soul if I did that, you know, you know, for the same way, you know, kind of like for the same the same way I feel about, you know, using backing tracks, you know, a lot when you play in a band, it's like, OK, you know, it's not really fair. Right.

Right. Right. When I saw that one, the first times I started seeing that.

Yeah. How can they do that? How can they. Why do you want to stand up there with a guitar and you're not going to play seven thousand dollars a night? Yeah.

That's why. That's why. Yeah.

I mean, some of those some of those bands that do that and do that well are making that much. Yeah. It's crazy, isn't it? Yeah.

Yeah. You know, yeah. You think it should be the other way around, but no, it isn't.

But people love to hear their music the way they want to hear it. And that's exactly what it is. It doesn't matter.

So. So what's your next selection? What are you guys going to play for us next? I will survive. I guess.

Yeah. A little Gloria Gaynor. Acoustically.

Yeah. Yeah. That's the way to do it.

I think we should. We're going to take a break and we're going to get all set up again and we're going to listen to some Gloria Gaynor. We'll be right back.

You're listening to the Rock and Roll Chicago podcast. I'm Christy from Crime Cave podcast. I've had a huge interest in true crime since my days of watching marathons of snapped back in the mid 90s.

I needed an outlet to talk about the cases that have haunted me for a very long time. With each episode under 20 minutes, I shine a light on some of the most bizarre cases in the last 50 years. Join me in the Crime Cave.

Hi, I'm Rick Anthony. I'd like to thank my radio brothers, Ray, the roadie and Hollywood Mike for allowing me to tell you about my podcast. The someone you should know podcast.

We spotlight musicians, authors and interesting people. And we like to say we're making a difference one artist at a time. The podcast is heard twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays.

And you can check it out on your favorite streaming platforms and on the web at someone you should know podcast dot com. That's the someone you should know podcast with me, Rick Anthony, making a difference one artist at a time. And for the second time tonight with Gloria Gaynor, not not half Gaynor, but Gloria Gaynor.

Gloria Gaynor's here. Gloria Gaynor. Yeah.

Oh, song. Song. Okay.

Yeah. At first I was afraid. I was petrified.

But then I spent so many nights thinking how you did me wrong. And I grew strong. And I learned how to get along.

And so you're back from out space. I just walked in to find here what that sad look upon your face. I should change that stupid box.

I should have made you leave the key. If I'd have known for just one second you'd be back to bother me. Go on now, go.

Walk out the door. Just turn around now. Won't you go on and try to hurt me with goodbye? Do you think I'd crumble? Do you think I'd lay down and die? Oh no, not I. I will survive.

Oh, as long as I know how to love, I know I'll stay alive. I've got all my life to live. I will survive.

Hey. With all the strength I had not to fall apart. Just trying hard to mend the pieces of my broken heart.

And I spent oh so many nights just feeling sorry for myself. I used to cry. But now I hold my head high and you see me.

Got that chained up little purse and still in love with you. And so you felt like dropping in and just expect me to be free. Now I'm saving all my loving for someone who's loving me.

Go on now, go. Walk out the door. Just turn around now.

Cause you're not welcome anymore. Weren't you the one who tried to break me with goodbye? Do you think I'd crumble? Do you think I'd lay down and die? Oh no, not I. I will survive. Oh, as long as I know how to love, I know I'll stay alive.

I've got all my life to live. I've got all my love to give. Very nice.

All right, there you go. Very nice. An acoustic rendition of I Will Survive.

I don't think I've ever heard that before. No, I was. Surprise.

I should have worn my leisure suit tonight. Yeah, no kidding. No kidding.

No, but you know, just admit it. I mean, everybody loves that music. They do.

You know, I would like to go back to that era and be older than I was at the time. Because I was a young kid. To find out what pissed everybody off about disco.

I don't exactly know what it was. What was it, senior? What pissed everybody off about disco? I have no idea, but it was damn good music. Well, you know, even bands like Kiss decided, well, we better keep up with the times.

And Kiss recorded an album that's known as the Disco Kiss. Everybody says they hate, but when you start playing it, everybody's on the floor. Or they're shaking their head or they're clapping their hands.

Or they're doing something like that. That kind of music. Right.

Who the heck knows? It looked like you had something to say. No? How are they? Fingers. Something like that.

Okay. Well, I'll tell you what. How can people find you? They can look us up on Facebook right now.

We're in the process of creating our Facebook, I mean, web page. Okay. Website.

Do you have that website? Not yet. Okay. You don't have it yet.

Do you have a name? You don't have an HTML? Uptown Rhythm Chicago. Uptown Rhythm Chicago. Okay.

.com or .org? It'll be .com. It'll be .com. Okay. UptownRhythm.com. And you're on Facebook? We're currently on Facebook, yes. Any other social media sites or platforms? Not at the moment.

Like I said, we've really started pushing since November of 23. So we've been really trying to get out there and just get the exposure, play in as many venues that's willing to have us and invite us over. Right.

So when we got an invite from you guys, it was like, oh, this is great. Right. Right.

Well, good. I'm glad you guys came out. It really is great.

It is. It's fantastic. It really is.

I see that myself. Yeah. And for booking, they can contact you through Facebook, leave you a message or something like that? Yes.

Our contact information is on our Facebook page. They can message us directly or just give me a call directly. All right.

Well, sounds good. I think that about wraps it up, everybody. I think it's time we say thanks for coming in.

I think so. Yeah. All right.

Did we maybe want to do one more song to take us out? Yeah. And for our third and final time tonight, we have Uptown Rhythm. Hope you enjoyed them.

Here you have it. Uptown Rhythm. Just give me a minute.

I'm still living in the moment of him saying it was great for us to get in contact. How great we are. I feel all warm and fuzzy.

Well, I think he was a little on something. They have two pharmacists in there. I don't know.

No, he wasn't. He was fine. and he was a fine gentleman.

You know, the more you drink, the more you take, the better we're gonna sound, you know, I guess. No, that's Johnny B. Oh, that's true, that's true, that's true. No, that was a compliment that he said.

It was great to be here, it was good. That's right, right, and it was nice to have them. I mean, like you said, this is the disco era and stuff.

Nobody plays that anymore, but they're right. People do get up and dance. People will sit there and say, yeah, I like that music.

They do. Back then, they'd say, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope. I do admit, when I was doing my research on them and looking on the internet and saw the videos of the songs that they did, I was like, oh, okay, this is kind of cool, because you don't hear people doing the Donna Summer and the Ike and Tina Turner and Glory Gaynor, and they did all kinds of really cool, just like disco era stuff.

Yep. Hey, it works. I think that's gonna be the next big thing coming back is the bands doing disco.

I mean, we got through the little yacht rock phase where there's a lot of yacht rock bands. I think disco might be coming back little by little. You're gonna start seeing more bands popping up.

Yeah, right, right. And these guys do it, not cutting down anybody in any way whatsoever, but these guys do it, and they're not like the costume bands. They're not like the tribute band where they're trying to look the part and wearing the wigs and the whole bit, which is fun, and it's great, and I've seen those shows, and it's a lot of fun going to those shows and the whole bit.

I mean, they kind of treat the music very differently. They all dress the way they would normally dress, and they're serious about the music. Exactly.

Yeah, and they're having a good time doing it. So I'd recommend you go out and see these guys. Check out their Facebook page and soon-to-be website.

See where they're playing. And as usual, thanks for listening to the Rock and Roll Chicago podcast where we bring you another exciting episode every Tuesday. See you next week.

The Rock and Roll Chicago podcast is edited by Paul Martin, theme song courtesy of MNR Rush. The Rock and Roll Chicago podcast does not own the rights to any of the music heard on the show. The music is used to promote the guests that are featured.

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