Updated: January 31, 2006
Wideminder (wīd mīnd er) -
Experimental rock band that existed from 1983-1986, based out of Houston, TX
and College Station, TX. The group
released 10 albums, recorded 100 songs, and played a handful of live shows in
the College Station area.
The History of Wideminder
BEGINNINGS
In the summer of 1982, the Houston-area
rock band Cyborg was at its height, terrorizing the
community with sonic mayhem. Two
members of the band - guitarist/singer Brett Needham and bassist Jeff Rouze -
began investigating the possibilities that lie within the world of the
multitrack recorder. The latter's
brother owned a Teac 4-track reel-to-reel recorder. The two began experimenting with sound
and loosely adopted the name Mad Scientists.
For a rehearsal in the backyard of drummer
Eric Strobel's house, the machine was brought and
connected to an amplifier. The song
For You, For Us was debuted, bringing a reaction of shock and
bewilderment to the birds and insects of the Harris County countryside. The group, with guitarist Pat Stallings,
continued to record and perform until the end of the summer, when Cyborg was powered off and deactivated.
WIDENING THE MIND
The Mad Scientists’ audio laboratory
was silent for a period of time.
Then in early fall 1983, Jeff realized that his brother and Brett both
lived in the same town. It would
therefore be possible to borrow the multitrack deck and continue the
experimental recordings.
In October 1983, the first weekend
recording session took place. The
multitrack recorder was borrowed and set up in a certain College Station
apartment. The tape containing For
You, For Us and basic tracks to other songs was loaded and configured for
additional instrumentation.
Over the course of the weekend, new songs were added to the Mad
Scientists’ catalog.
In November 1983, another weekend
recording project took place.
With Pat joining, the band was renamed Wideminder. The trio completed the debut cassette
album Wideminder, as well as Fourth-Dimensional
Music. In 1984, Soundtrack
to Life and Avant Garden were recorded.
As if by fate, the path of the last former
Cyborg, Mr. Strobel,
crossed with that of the Wideminderians. In January 1985, the four created fifth
album Surreal Estate.
Later in 1985, the group transitioned from
the studio to performing. A College
Station warehouse (half-filled with furniture and boxes) was rearranged, making
room for rehearsing. Also at this
time, singer Eddie Verasco and drummer Erik Anderson
joined the group. After
contributing the song I Could Say, Eddie left.
The rare, live Wideminder
shows took place around this time. The
group played at a College Station club, Dr. G’s, and the outdoor
amphitheater The Grove. In late
1985, keyboardist Jim Kohel joined the group. The results of this period of rehearsing
and recording are featured on the CD release Amplified.
CHAPTER 4
In late 1985 or early 1986 (the dusty
manuscript is faded), the group began new studio recordings using cassette
decks to mix with, due to the reel-to-reel multitrack recorder no longer being
available. The recording process
switched from weekend recordathons with all members
present, to occasional recording sessions with two or three members at a time
contributing pieces of the eventual song puzzles. The recording location also shifted to
the city of Houston.
The results of the new approach were first
heard on Uncivilization, the group's seventh
release. A few months later, Sinformation was released. Two more cassette albums followed, but
they are hard to find and are mostly lost in a sea of obscurity. The group dissolved in December 1986.
During the years 1987-2004, the band
members were involved with groups Metropolitan Driftwing,
The Bends, Vatican Commandos, Joint Chiefs, Shirk, and Cowboy Killers.
Remastering of the original Wideminder
tapes is taking place, with use of Pro-Tools. In addition to enhancing the sound
quality of the songs, it is possible that additional instruments may be
added. Several master tapes are damaged
and in need of repair, if possible.
Later recordings are being transferred to CD for archiving.
=======================================================================================================================
1. For You, For
Us
2. Wallowing /
Insanity
3. Peace
4.. Mixed Frippsters
5.
6. The Anger
Song / Drowning
7. Bouncing
Water
8. Real Life
9. The Mistake
10. The Crowded
Room
FOURTH-DIMENSIONAL
MUSIC (2)
11. Equal
Outcasts
12. Toystore Mind
13. Electronic
Cancer
14. Off the Top
of Our Heads
15. Bent
Signatures
16. Mental
Malnutrition
17. Cloud Rodeo
18. Alicia
19. Chopped
Music Sandwich - Part I
20. Pondering
Acclaims (Puppet Master Syndrome - Part I)
21. Both Sides
of the Coin
22. Eclipse
SOUNDTRACK
TO LIFE (3)
23. Glass
Hammers
24. R.E.M.
25.
Professional Beggar
26. Barking Spiders
Theme
27. P.T.L.M. -
Part 1
28. Decay
29. Laughing at
the Sun
30. Silent
Shock
31. Basic
Respect
32. Clone
Clowns of the Top 40
33. Cleleezan Falneornet
34. The Avant
Garden Welcome
35. Perimeter
36. Forgotten
Past Fragments
37. You Just
Started Something Worse
38. P.T.L.M. -
Part 2
39. From the
Mouths of Tubes
40. Indigestion
Recipe
41. Gravity
Burger
42. A Typical
Day
43. Chopped
Music Sandwich - Part 2
44. Walk On
Fire
45. Witch
Doctor
46. Music for
Aliens
47. Dred Mundaye
48. Real Deal
49. Dance Like
a Monkey
50. Earitation
51. Bending
People
52. The
Jackson's Financial Victory Tour
53. Dan Bob
54. After the
Funeral
55. Move the
Mountain
56. Confusion
57. More than a
Few
58. Twilight
Recital
59. Me and My Pteradactyl
60. Clockwork
61. Shocking
State
62. From Funk
to Foxtrots (The Lorda Godda?)
63. The
Observers
64. What's Your
Sign?
65. P.T.L.M. -
Part 3
66. Hey, Hey, Hey,
Hey (You Hear What I'm Saying?)
67. Inambience
68. Organic
Jazz
69. The Arrival
of the Supremely Acute Grandmother
70. Acupuncture
Freak
71. Abyssmal Profundity
72. Demented Telecommutants
73. Progression
74. Stumbling
In
75. Invisible
Colors
76. Weekend In
Peru
77. Machine
78. The Box
79. Chopped
Music Sandwich - Part 3
80. Endless
Constant Ambience
81. Righteous
Sentence - Part I *
82. Smoking the
Bear *
83. Camping in
the Weapon Jungle
84. P.T.L.M. -
Part 4 *
85. Flying Pedestrians
*
86. The Great
Forked Music Box *
87. Ten Billion
Tons *
88. Rappazappa *
89. I Could Say
*
90. Black Blues
*
91. Hymn 91 *
92. Too Deep to
Reach *
93. *
94.
Newscaster's Dreams
95. Rain on
Windows *
96. Welcome to
the 1980s *
97. Screams of
a Mime *
98. The Hoax
99. Chief and
the Restless Native Singers
100. Finale
AMPLIFIED
(11)
(song list to
be detailed)
*JR doesn't
have these
Recorded 1983-1986
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