Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, November 5, 1993 TAG: 9311050032
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Kinda has a nice ring to it.
Dan Sloane thinks so, at least. Now he just hopes it can become enough of an alternative music rallying cry to fill the Northside High School auditorium tonight.
And if all goes well, in future nights as well.
Sloane's brainchild, the first Pop Music Stinks concert tonight will feature his progressive rock band, Seer, regional alternative favorites, The Grind, and the free-form jazz group, Random Acts of Sax.
A peculiar lineup for sure, but maybe it's time for something peculiar, something decidedly and proudly not Top-40, Sloane says. Yeah, Pop Music Stinks!
"It's pretty self-explanatory," he said.
What isn't so clear is how Sloane ended up carrying Roanoke's alternative music torch. At first glance, he doesn't exactly fit the profile.
There's his age: 39.
He's closer to the disco era than the grunge generation.
Then there's his bald head and his rather normal disposition. He seems more like a cab driver than a disaffected rocker. But don't let any of that fool you.
Sloane is as disgusted as anyone.
Just ask him about the current state of music in general - and the live music scene in particular: "Playing Top-40 is not creating anything, except traffic hazards at closing time."
Ask him about country: "Country music is just pop music with people using bad grammar." About music as big business: "What little bit of art was there has gone out the window."
Sloane has been there, too.
A Roanoke native, he worked on-and-off as a professional musician during his 20s in several lounge bands that traveled around the country.
He called it a mind-numbing experience. "You wind up in North Dakota or someplace in the middle of winter and it's 100 below zero and you're wearing a banana-colored tuxedo."
He also has tasted the other side.
In 1971, his garage band caused a stir at Northside High School's first student amateur competition. "We brought pieces of the ceiling down. We were kind of hippie musicians, into it, you know," he said. "It was loud and people went nuts."
Ironically, tonight will be the first time Sloane has performed at Northside since his high school days. He graduated in 1972.
In 1982, he enrolled in the music program at Roanoke College, finally ending his lounge act period. In 1985, he formed Seer with drummer Tom VanNortwick and bass player Rob Payne. Sloane plays guitar.
The band has recorded a tape at Southwest Recording Studio in Roanoke, where many of the region's alternative groups also record. He says he has noted a growth in the alternative music scene here in recent years, and he believes the timing is right for tonight's concert.
Originally, he wanted the concert at the Roanoke Civic Center auditorium, but Northside was a much cheaper option. He has advertised with handbills posted on strategically located telephone poles.
If the concert does well, Sloane hopes to promote more of them. He would like to hold some at the colleges in the region. He hopes they become part of his legacy.
Along with his music.
With Seer, Sloane hopes to someday interest the record labels, although he isn't counting on it. Nor is he willing to sell out to the pop music monster.
He also is writing what he called "a fusion opera." It follows the story of a singer and her boyfriend, a nurse and a National Guardsman as they struggle to survive after a nuclear war. Sloane called the plot pure miniseries melodrama.
"But the music's gonna be interesting."
His dream would be to see it on Broadway, like Pete Townshend's "Tommy." That really would be a legacy, he said. The father of the Broadway fusion opera.
And champion of the Pop Music Stinks! rallying cry.
Memo: ***CORRECTION***