BLUE ASH

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Wednesday, October 04, 2006

POP DETECTIVE
Case File # 6
Blue Ash
by Mark Hershberger

SEVENTIES CLASSIC GUITAR BAND BLUE ASH formed in 1969 when Frank Secich and Jim Kendzor were kicked out of high school because they refused to cut their hair. Already having had the idea to form the band, Frank and Jim used their ousting from school as an opportunity to practice daily. That is was months before their parents found out they had been booted out of school is our good fortune. By the time the school followed up on their suspension the band was well established. The original line up was Frank Secich(bass guitar, vocals), Jim Kendzor (lead vocals, guitar), Bill Yendrek (lead guitar) and David Evans (drummer). Their name came about after seeing a road sign outside of Cincinnati, Ohio pointing the way to a small town called Blue Ash. The name struck them as unusual so they made it their own. Lead guitarist, Bill Yendrek, quit the band within a year and was replaced by high school friend Bill Bartolin. by 1970, Blue Ash was busy playing clubs, dances, and "anyplace that would have them" between Pittsburgh and Cleveland.

From their first moments they churned out enormous amounts of original material and thoughts soon turned to demos and a record contract. Before they made it into the studio Bob Mack (of Bob Mack Productions, he discovered Tommy James) approached the band with a song he wanted them to record and offered to take them to Philadelphia'a Sigma Sound Studio. They agreed and cut "We'll Live Tomorrow", a tribute to Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix (tribute songs were big at the time). Only one vinyl single was pressed, the first Blue Ash single ever, and Frank Secich is still the proud owner of it today. While recording the song, Wilson Pickett stopped by to listen and commented "Not bad for white boys!" After this experience the band wanted to record their own music. They entered Peppermint Studios in Youngstown, Ohio and proceeded to record "tons of demos" which they shopped to various labels. They were eventually signed to Mercury Records through a great stroke of luck. Paul Nelson, a Mercury exec had an appointment with a man from Warren, Ohio who was pushing his own band's demo tape. During the meeting the man glanced down at a box of demos in Nelson's office, and commented on the top tape labeled Blue Ash. "I've seen that band band and they're incredible! They kick ass!" The man's endorsement prompted Nelson to play the tape and resulted in his signing Blue Ash.


Pictured below in 1973 are left to right: Frank Secich, Jim Kendzor, Bill Bartolin, Paul Nelson and David Evans
photo by Geoff Jones


In putting together the first album No More, No Less Nelson recommended their version of the Beatles"Anytime At All" be included and he also introduced the band to a demo of " Dusty Old Fairgrounds" by Bob Dylan. (Nelson and Dylan were old college pals) The then unreleased song was arranged for the band by Bill Bartolin and debuted on the album with Dylan's blessing. (Note: "Dusty Old Fairgrounds" appears onthe Sony/Rhino compilation I Shall be Unreleased.........The Songs Of Bob Dylan, making it the only Blue Ash appearance in the CD format.


No More, No Less ('73) spawned three singles."Abracadabra" b/w "Dusty Old Fairgrounds", "I RememberA Time" b/w "Plain To See" and "Anytime At All" b/w"She's So Nice." (Note: "She's So Nice" wasn't on the first album, it was a track recorded for the never-to-be-released second Mercury album). No More, No Less was not a major success, selling a total of19,500 copies of the 20,000 pressed. It sold well throughout the Blue Ash local area but did little regionally or nationally. Album sales were hurt by lack of advertising funds and distribution support from Mercury. It really was a simple case of being on a good label at a bad time. Mercury had four projects ready to go-new albums by Rod Stewart, Bachman,Turner, Overdrive, The New York Dolls and Blue Ash. Stewart was at the top of the funding list, followed closely by BTO. When it came down to choosing between The Dolls and Blue Ash for the remaining funds Mercury chose the New York market over the Youngstown, Ohio market, and logically speaking, who could blame them.Blue Ash received very little ad and distribution support and the album sales bore this out. The band continued to tour regionally ( opening for such acts as Bob Seger, Aerosmith, Ted Nugent and Raspberries) and to write. Soon they reentered Peppermint Studios to record a second album for Mercury. Mercury execs, however, were split on whether or not to proceed with another album. Although the vote was only four to three, the combination of slow record sales and the band's reluctance to play the NY club scene when Mercury pushed them to do so, spelled the end of their association with the label.


Around this time, original drummer David Evans quit the group and was replaced by one of Blue Ash's roadies, Jeff Rozniata. Jeff drummed for various bands in his early days including Mother Goose (which included Stiv Bators). The band also hooked up with Steve Friedman who began negotiating with PlayboyRecords for a new Blue Ash album (Front Page News would become one of the first rock and roll albums on Playboy). Because Rozniata was so new to the band, Playboy refused to pay for his transportation to the recording studio, opting to send only the three original members. Resultingly, Front Page News was recorded using session drummers. The first half of the album was recorded in Miami's Criteria Studios and the second half at Los Angeles's Village Recorders Studio. Frank, Jim, and Bill agree that Front Page News as originally written and recorded, was a very good rock record. The problems with the album occured after the band finished recording and turned the masters over to Playboy.


Unbeknownst to Blue Ash, Playboy attempted to make the band sound more like the Bee Gees" and brought in Mike Lewis (string and horn arrangements for K.C. and the Sunshine Band) to add horns, keyboards, and strings to the master. Just days prior to the scheduled release of the record band members received advance copies and were outraged at what Playboy had turned the record into. Bill Bartolin was so upset that he quit the band temporarily. Jim Kendzor had told then president of Playboy Records, Tommy Takioshi, that " if they released that version, he was not touring...it would make the band look stupid." Finally, Frank Secich blew a fuse and read the riot act to Takioshi. In the end, Playboy re-mixed the masters, toning down the embellishments added by Lewis, Though the record ended up sounding very different than Blue Ash intended, it was significantly better than the first re-mixed version from Playboy. Some songs including "The Boy Won't Listen" and "Rock andRoll Millionaire" turned out fairly well.

Front Page News was released in 1977 and the single"Look At You Now" did very well reaching #1 in some markets. In fact, the single did so well in Texas that Playboy Records was going to give the band $25,000 to tour the state. The album, overall, did much better than No More, No Less selling a total of 55,000 copies. Just before plans were solidified for the tour of Texas, Playboy international pulled the plug on Playboy Records leaving Blue Ash, once again, without a recording company or a deal. The band continued to tour regionally, added keyboard player Brian Wingrove and, in 1978, returned to Peppermint Studios to begin recording again. The tracks from these sessions, like those for the second Mercury album, remain unreleased to this day.


With disco still hanging on and the new wave/punk uprising gaining momentum, Blue Ash called it a career in 1979. It wasn't an actual band decision to pack it in, they just sort of slowly fizzled as the members started concentrating more on day jobs and less on music. After Blue Ash, Bill Bartolin left the business and works for General Motors. Jim Kendzor also left the music business and is a union carpenter. David Evans, the original drummer, works in real estate in Florida. Frank Secich continued playing and producing for a while ( he spent three years with the StivBators/Dead Boys band, a short stint with Club Wow-which included Jimmy Zero of the Dead Boys, and worked as a producer/songwriter/studio musician for power pop band The Infidels). Today, Frank makes his living in the insurance business.

Special thanks to Bill Bartolin, Jim Kendzor and Frank Secich of Blue Ash for their time and a huge thanks to subscriber Mike Orwell, honorary Pop Detective, for his assistance in locating the band!

Reprinted with permission
Copyright 1996, 1997 Audities and the author, all rights reserved

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Monday, October 02, 2006

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Sunday, October 01, 2006

BLUE ASH NEWS AND RELATED ITEMS Jim Kendzor and Frank Secich of Blue Ash in 1969.
photo by Maryann Hartmann
Frank Secich Interview On Russian Powerpop Site
http://powerpop.ru/interview/2006/frank_secich__eng.shtml

Blue Ash Official Website
http://www.BlueAshMusic.com

John Wicks And the Records have a new recording called "Live In Concert" includes free downloads and a "live" cover of Blue Ash's "Have You Seen Her?"
http://www.johnwicksandtherecords.com/news.htm

Power Pop Lovers "The Blog Gems 1978-1999" includes the Infidels' classic "Mad About That Girl" produced by Frank Secich of Blue Ash
http://powerpoplovers.blogspot.com/

Blue Ash Yahoo Group
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/BlueAsh/

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