...and the Rockamatics...

I know, this is getting old...the famous or more recognizable name associated with a Chicago rock band, but this band was my favorite of my club-hopping days in the big city.

Actually, it was "Mike" Jordan and the Rockamatics. He was a big Cubs fan, having something to do with the recording of "Go Cubs Go" by Steve Goodman, that still plays at the ballpark today after victories...

The story is that back in the day John Prine was performing around the city of Chicago with a backing band, comprised of John Burns on guitar, Angie Varias on drums, Bob Hoban on piano, and Tom "Pickles" Piekarski on bass. When Prine decided to leave for Nashville, the backing band stayed together, adding rhythm guitarist and vocalist Mike Jordan, a folk rock player originally (I believe) from Missouri, to the mix. This lineup played for a few years around the circuit as The Famous Potatos.

Eventually the band broke up, and Jordan took a splinter of the band and called it The Rockamatics. Piekarski was part of it, and I want to say that Hoban was the original keyboardist. Varias may have still played drums, too...not sure...but Burns left and was replaced by "Screamin'" John Siegle. I was usually a little buzzed when I was seeing them and some of those memories are fuzzy.

This lineup released a 45 rpm record with SHAKIN' UP THE NEIGHBORHOOD on the A side and RED LIPSTICK on the B side. The latter is one of my favorites of their material.

Later, Siegle, Hoban and Varias (If he was ever the drummer) were replaced. I don't recall the drummer's name, but the new lead guitarist was Randy Lee, and the new keyboardist was Buddah Slim, of B.B. Spin and currently playing with various bands, maybe even Dick Holliday and the Bamboo Gang when they do reunions. Buddah is my idol as a keyboard player. Man, could he rock!

This lineup released a 5 song cassette ("5 songs for 5 bucks and we throw in the tape for free!") containing the following songs: TELL ME I'M DREAMING, DEPEND ON ME, CAN'T HAVE YOU, ASK HER TO DANCE, and WHEN LITTLE RICHARD GETS MARRIED (I'M GETTIN' MARRIED TOO). We covered DEPEND ON ME (a blues-y song with clever lyrics) and LITTLE RICHARD (a blazing rock and roll tune with a killer piano solo) in several bands I've been in to date. No one ever knows either tune, but LITTLE RICHARD *never* fails to fill the dance floor.

The band eventually stopped performing after Jordan collapsed on stage and was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease. (Not a good thing when you drank as much as that guy did...I shared a few drinks before shows with him. He was a beer and a shot guy...at least three or four before the show started, at least that's how it was the nights I was drinking with him.) I gather in retrospect that Buddah and Jordan didn't get along well, and there were no reunions.

Jordan could periodically be seen rocking the Berwyn nightclub Fitzgeralds (THE best live music club I've ever frequented...google it and check out some of the acts they still have there...) with Famous Potatoes reunions.

John Siegle, the original guitarist for the Rockamatics, ended up in the Insiders as one of their lead singers and lead guitarists.

Tom "Pickles" Piekarski ended up in the Bad Examples, with Ralph Covert as front man. Ralph now does the acclaimed children's music act called "Ralph's World".

Tragically, Mike Jordan died in an auto accident in Missouri, after recording a cassette called INDIAN SUMMER. I wish I had the cassette but I don't.

Some names and albums to google if you're interested:

B.B. Spin
"Try To Beat The Heat"
John Prine
"Storm Windows"
Dick Holliday and the Bamboo Gang
Bad Examples (where Pickles ended up playing bass guitar)
The Famous Potatoes
Fitzgeralds' Nightclub Berwyn
John Siegle
Insiders

I love the old Chicago music scene...