Spooner's early recordings were made with the aid of members from another midwestern power pop band called Shoes. Brothers John and Jeff Murphy and friend Gary Klebe settled on forming a band after they graduated from high school in Zion, Illinois. They taught themselves to play their own instruments over the course of a year where John picked up bass and Jeff and Gary both picked up the guitar. They formed Shoes and immediately set to recording music. Not yet capable enough to take the traditional route of playing covers on the local bar circuit but still impatient to lay down their own material, they taught themselves how to record and produce their own songs on a simple four-track system in their bedroom.
Shoes's first recording was the acetate 10" Heads or Tails of which only four copies were made in 1974. They followed it up quickly in 1975 with their first proper-length album One in Versailles which John and Jeff wrote and recorded with temporary drummer Barry Schumaker while Gary was studying abroad in Versailles. The album is clearly the work of young men working on their craft, but it's clear even so soon after starting to play music that Shoes already have a strong sense of songwriting. Their debt to The Beatles can't be overstated, but they still break out of the pop mold to experiment with various structures and different sonic styles. Even amidst the amateur quality of production and craft, they surprise with their musical sincerity.
Here is the discography surrounding Shoes's debut album:
Heads or Tails (1974 EP)
One in Versailles
"Do I Get So Shy" by Shoes
Pass the Headphones!!
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