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Published: January 4th 2009
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Suggested Listening for this Entry: Let me attack this three ways. First, for historical context, listen to “The Cheater” by Bob Kuban and the In Men. Second, for a feel of the music heard at this show, find your city’s biggest name wedding/bar mitzvah band and sit through their versions of “We Are Family” and “Celebration". Third, I can’t leave you readers with a bad musical taste in your mouths, so give a listen to the CD
Rockin’ Eighty-Eights by St. Louis piano players Johnnie Johnson, Clayton Love and Jimmy Vaughn.
Suggested Food and Drink for this Entry: Since we’re back in the Anheuser-Busch fatherland, let’s go with a bottles of Bud Light. For grub, grab something off a hot dog cart in a park.
When I was in St. Louis the prior week, I had read in one of the alternative newspapers that St. Louis music “legend” Bob Kuban and his band were playing a free concert outside the Missouri History Museum in St. Louis’ Forest Park the night I returned to St. Louis from Memphis. Thinking this may be something cool, like seeing Chuck Brown or Bill Kirchen somewhere around D.C. , I decided I’d give it
More Dancing
There was a lot speculation among the crowd as to if that was a Depends under garment under the tutu. Needless to say, there was also a lot speculation as to what was under the Depends. a go.
I got out to Forest Park quite a while before the band was to start. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, but you tell if was going to get nippy after the sun went down. There were already several hundred people gathered by the time got to the stage area outside the museum and found the beer stand. After ordering a couple of beers, I wandered up toward the stage and found a spot to sit down.
Not too long after that, a guy from the group sitting next to me ask me if was from D.C. after seeing my Nationals cap. I told him I was and he told me recently had moved back to St. Louis from Leesburg and he introduced himself as Ron. I asked what the story was with the band and he just told me Bob Kuban had been around St. Louis “forever” and that I would enjoy the show.
As I continued talking to Ron and the group of co-workers that were with him, I noticed this person dressed in a funny looking dance outfit setting up a display and props on the sidewalk near us. I use
the word “person” because I’m not sure if it was a man or a woman. There was some talk among Ron’s group that the dancer was at most all the free concerts in Forest Park and, occasionally, the dancer appeared at other venues around town when there was a free outdoor concert. Now, I’ve seen some strange things at concerts around D.C., including a father and son tandem where the father looks a lot like George Mason and the son resembles Austin Powers. But, this dancer was something new on me.
After the MC thanked all the sponsors of the concert series and made some announcements, Bob Kuban and his band took the stage to a warm reception. As soon as the band broke into its first number, our dancing friend broke into the “Dance of Life”, or at least that’s what his/her sign called it.
Kuban’s band consisted of Kuban on drums, a guitarist, a keyboard player, a three piece horn section and three vocalists. The band had a big sounding bottom end considering they had no bass player and soon it was obvious they were a show band. A set of 50’s pop/rock standards was followed
Bob Kuban
Bob Kuban and the In Men had a Top 10 hit with the "The Cheater" in 1966. The song is available on several one hit wonder compilations. It's good to see his career has allowed him to continue to purchase ample hair care products. by a medley of hits from the 60’s. Then a medley of soul classics led into a K.C. & the Sunshine Band medley. If you know me or if you have read previous blog entries, you have figured out by now this type of concert is not my scene. But who would have thought such an unoriginal music performance would provide so much entertainment.
The Dance of Life went on continuously during the band’s first set. As scary and weird as the dancer was, watching the passer bys reactions to the Dance of Life was the real entertainment. A few kids that passed by decided to join in on the dancing, some in a mocking manner and some were trying to show off their own skills. As families passed by, most mothers tried to keep their children moving and from watching the dancer almost like they were trying to keep the children from seeing a gory traffic accident. Some women went out of their way to not come within twenty feet of the dancer, as if the dancer was a leper, while others covered their faces to keep from laughing. Most men just stared as they walked by. But,
no matter the reaction of the passer bys, the dancing continued as if the dancer was totally oblivious to his/her surroundings.
I talked with Ron and his group during the break between the band’s sets. One of Ron’s co-workers, Vanessa, told me she was in a local band which was similar to Kuban’s and they often were in competition with Kuban’s band for wedding and corporate party gigs. Vanessa also wondered about the lack of a bass player in the band. When the band began its second set, we walked up to the side of the stage to check out the set up. We watched the keyboard player and it was obvious he wasn’t playing the bass parts, so Vanessa and I both concluded the band was using prerecorded tracks. After we got back to our seats, Vanessa said “I knew their sound was too big”.
While walking back from the stage, I was able to take a better look at the crowd. By this time, there were at least a couple of thousand people at the concert. I walked back by the Dance of Life and tried to decide one last time if the dancer was a man or a woman, or something in between. That final up close look didn’t help and, to this day, I still don’t know.
When the band was about 45 minutes into their second set, I decided to head back to my hotel. It had been a long a day of driving up the Mississippi, exploring southern Illinois and watching the Dance of Life. (By the way, the cell phone video I shot of the Dance is included at the end of this entry.) I said goodbye to Ron and his crew and made my way out of Forest Park.
Once I got home, I did some research on Bob Kuban. I wanted to know how someone could go from having a top ten hit back in the day to playing a set list custom made for Murph and the MagicTones in 2008. A video profile from a local St. Louis TV station telling the story is included below.
This link was sent to me by some of the folks I met in St. Louis after I got home. Apparently, the Dance of Life is popular with some of the St. Louis area bands.
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Steve Hoover
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bass parts in Bob Kuban Band - Shedd is wrong on this one.
Hi - I am the keyboard player with the Bob Kuban Band - and I DO play ALL the bass parts - there are NO recorded tracks whatsoever. Just thought you'd like to know.