ERIC BACHER
Mike Stax (vocals) evidently first formed the Loons with Eric Bacher (guitar, organ) – who was lead guitarist for the Tell-Tale Hearts from 1983 to 1986 – and John Chilson (drums) of the Hoods, plus Andy Rasmussen (bass guitar); or at least, that is the earliest line-up that I have been able to find on-line.
All or nearly all of the songs by the Loons are written by the bandmembers, with Mike Stax and Eric Bacher shown as the songwriters on most of their early material, and all bandmembers or the band as a whole credited more recently. Mike Stax’s encyclopedic knowledge of garage rock, psychedelic rock, raw R&B, freakbeat, Nederbeat, and the many other varied forms of 1960’s rock music provides a solid foundation for the band’s host of moods on their songs. Refreshingly, all of the bandmembers in the Loons are professional musicians, not youngsters who are still finding their way (not that there is anything wrong with that).
(June 2017)
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Mike Stax joined with Ray Brandes, Bill Calhoun and David Klowden of the Mystery Machine in creating the Tell-Tale Hearts, along with Eric Bacher who had been in a band called Freddie and the Soup Bowls. Their first gig was in September 1983 at a yard party; Gravedigger V made their debut at the same event, though they were known as the Shamen at that time. The Tell-Tale Hearts seemed to hit San Diego at just the right time and quickly became a fixture in several local clubs, serving as the house band for Studio 517 for a time.
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In April 1986, Eric Bacher left the Tell-Tale Hearts and was replaced by another ex-Crawdaddy, Peter Miesner. After 3½ years, the band was having difficulty keeping it going: “Musically, the band had stuck in a rut for some time. The new songs that were being written did not sound like ‘Tell-Tale Hearts songs’, and we each had difficulty adjusting to and accommodating the changes that were taking place as our individual tastes expanded. . . . And Mike [Stax] put it best to a San Diego Union reporter: ‘We had painted ourselves into a corner musically.’”
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In the mid-1990’s, Mike Stax and Eric Bacher of the Tell-Tale Hearts formed the core of and did most of the early songwriting for the Loons, who was the UARB last time.
(September 2017)
