Rookie Phenom by The Touchdowns
Recorded at Red House Recording by Ed Rose in May and Sept, 1998
Thanx - Our parents, who ultimately make this possible. Ed Rose, for kicking ass and recording this project. Sam Platt, Red House Recording. The Lazer's Local Music Show. Neil Magnuson, Yancy Westgate, Danny Smith, Matt Spencer, Jimmy Strahle, Max Patterson, Skinemax, Music, Fire By Nite and The Trinity Broadcast Network (for the chuckles), The Corey Haim and Corey Feldman Duo, Dreyfuss, anyone who gives a shit about our band and helps promote us in any way. We love you.
The Touchdowns
Dillon Boren - Bass
Chris Porter - Guitar
Ryan Magnuson - Vocals & drums
Tracklist
| 1. | Lemon Station | 2:25 |
| 2. | Puppettalk | 2:06 |
| 3. | Teaparty in Hell | 1:58 |
| 4. | Fire in the Hole | 2:14 |
| 5. | Rocky 15 | 3:19 |
Credits
released October 20, 1998
Even though the world of Rock and Roll is ever-shrinking, stories of chance meetings between songwriters and musicians that changed the course of their personal histories are still a dime a dozen. I feel fortunate to have played enough music in my life to have a handful of them, myself - but meeting Ryan Magnuson was different.
First of all, it wasn’t a chance meeting. It was one of the many orchestrations, as I like to call it, of Red House Recording producer and engineer Ed Rose. After living in Lawrence, KS and being part of its storied music scene for 15 years - and being fortunate enough to work with Ed a handful of times before he retired from making records - I heard a lot of stories detailing different ways he had waved his proverbial magic wand over bands and made them better. In many cases, he created strong foundations for great careers. I’m sure you could write a whole book about Ed and his contributions to the quality of so much music of the Midwest.
Ed definitely had this effect on my first band, Podstar. We went in for our inaugural session the summer before our junior year of high school, and came out a completely different band. With his hilariously direct and dead-on critiquing of our musicianship and our songs, Ed changed our outlook of what kind of band we wanted to be in a quick flash. We came out of that session having completely scrapped 6 of the 9 songs we were planning to record, saying to ourselves, “Time to write some more songs!”
About a year later, as we were putting finishing touches on the first album, Ed told us about another band of kids he’d been working with that sounded “kind of like Nirvana, but with a singing drummer who is absolutely hilarious.” He also gushed about their use of a wooden platform during live shows on which their guitarist would stand during his solos.* Of course, we were immediately intrigued. I was especially interested after learning they were based in Iola, KS, which is a neighboring town to Chanute, where my mom was born and raised. Though I’d never been to Iola, it was a region I’d spent a lot of time in as a kid, so I had a feeling we’d hit it off.
Granted, being that we were a high school band who had been handed a deal with a local label thanks to our friendship with and musical similarities to our hometown heroes, Ultimate Fakebook, we were already spoiled by this time and pretty much thought we were better than everyone else - ESPECIALLY other high school bands. So when Ed called one day to tell us we should come up to the studio to meet the Touchdowns as they were recording their second EP, ROCK**, we were skeptical and even a little worried. What if we didn’t like their band? Would it be obvious to them? It was hard for us to hold that stuff in and be appropriate about it, sometimes. But, we knew we had to do it, because it was a suggestion from Ed.
To give a clear idea of how we felt going into Red House that day, it helps to understand what the early Podstar recording sessions were like. At first, none of our parents were comfortable letting us drive up to Lawrence alone to do anything - see shows, record, or even just hang out. For a good chunk of the first album’s sessions, we had parental chaperones around most of the time, so it wasn’t really a party vibe. When we walked in to meet the Touchdowns, I remember seeing Ed, guitarist Chris, and bassist Dillon listening in the control room with Ryan in the booth tracking vocals, and on the big leather couch along the back wall sat a huge tub of Bud Lights on ice. These kids were a year younger than us, and I remember thinking, what the fuck!? No parents hanging around?? AND they’re allowed to drink?!?
When Ed told Ryan we had arrived, through the mic I heard his speaking voice for the first time. I don’t remember exactly what he said, but it was probably something like, “Well I’ll be damned! Let me get in there real quick.” Even at 16, he had the voice of a 35 year old rodeo announcer - effortlessly deep and loud, and resonating as if constantly amplified through a goofy, sardonic grin. When he came into the control room, I realized the grin was not just metaphorical, nor was his contagiously goofy energy. He was dressed like a Kansas punk to a tee, down to his Tanka Ray*** shirt and his studded wristband, but he looked and acted like a southeast KS good-ol’-boy. We all instantly loved him, and immediately understood why Ed wanted all of us to meet.
I can’t thank Ed enough for that, for many reasons. He introduced us to someone who would become an essential musical partner to us in several ways: When JoJo and I joined the Touchdowns and made what is still one of my favorite albums, The Al Green Record; when Ryan became Podstar’s drummer and got us all the way to CBGB; when Ryan and I would make up silly songs and spontaneously record under a project called The Moon (maybe some of the worst stuff ever recorded, but some of the most fun I’ve ever had); when he was briefly the frontman for the earliest incarnation of the Dead Girls; when JoJo and Colby backed him in the all-too-brief Magno project; and finally, there have been talks about Colby and Aaron backing him in a Rocky IV soundtrack cover band called - you guessed it - Rocky 15.
But mostly, I have to thank Ed for introducing me to one of the best friends I’ve ever had, someone whose music and personality and humor and love for the absurd continues to inspire me on a daily basis. Without Magno, I don’t know if I’d be able to laugh at life as much as I do today - I feel like I’d probably get caught up in its bullshit a lot more, or just get stressed about things I shouldn’t be. Yeah, we all get like that in life, but we can only hope to have someone like that close by - physically or in spirit - who keeps those things in perspective for us. So lastly, I’d like to thank Ryan Magnuson for that and everything else - and for letting Seth and I release his stuff back into the world for new ears to hear. Love you, buddaye.
Cameron Hawk
Dumb Ghost Records
September 2024
Footnotes:
*It can be argued that Ultimate Fakebook stole this idea from the Touchdowns for their “rock box”, which became a well-loved staple of UFB shows since it would light up anytime someone stood on it - even fans who came up onstage to rock out. The band would probably say they stole it from Cheap Trick’s Rick Neilsen, but based on the timeline of things, I have to wonder.
**The 4 songs that made up the ROCK EP - “Cowboys”, “Drunk and Loaded”, “Dancin’ Tim”, and “Rap 1st Cut” - were all featured on the debut full-length, My Wonderful High School Life. “Cowboys” was the song Magno was tracking vocals for when we met the band at Red House, and even though he had known me all of 15 mins, he immediately asked me to sing backing vocals on the song, which I thought was super cool and welcoming. We also hung out as he tracked “Rap 1st Cut”, and it was one of the earliest indications of how hard Magno could make us laugh.
***Tanka Ray the KC-based punk band, not the famous brand of gin. The Touchdowns built much of their foundation and earned some stripes gigging around with Tanka Ray in the late 90’s. The two bands would regularly play together at an all-ages joint in Olathe, KS called Gee Coffee. Podstar later played there with both bands and I remember thinking, why don’t more places like this exist?
Even though the world of Rock and Roll is ever-shrinking, stories of chance meetings between songwriters and musicians that changed the course of their personal histories are still a dime a dozen. I feel fortunate to have played enough music in my life to have a handful of them, myself - but meeting Ryan Magnuson was different.
First of all, it wasn’t a chance meeting. It was one of the many orchestrations, as I like to call it, of Red House Recording producer and engineer Ed Rose. After living in Lawrence, KS and being part of its storied music scene for 15 years - and being fortunate enough to work with Ed a handful of times before he retired from making records - I heard a lot of stories detailing different ways he had waved his proverbial magic wand over bands and made them better. In many cases, he created strong foundations for great careers. I’m sure you could write a whole book about Ed and his contributions to the quality of so much music of the Midwest.
Ed definitely had this effect on my first band, Podstar. We went in for our inaugural session the summer before our junior year of high school, and came out a completely different band. With his hilariously direct and dead-on critiquing of our musicianship and our songs, Ed changed our outlook of what kind of band we wanted to be in a quick flash. We came out of that session having completely scrapped 6 of the 9 songs we were planning to record, saying to ourselves, “Time to write some more songs!”
About a year later, as we were putting finishing touches on the first album, Ed told us about another band of kids he’d been working with that sounded “kind of like Nirvana, but with a singing drummer who is absolutely hilarious.” He also gushed about their use of a wooden platform during live shows on which their guitarist would stand during his solos.* Of course, we were immediately intrigued. I was especially interested after learning they were based in Iola, KS, which is a neighboring town to Chanute, where my mom was born and raised. Though I’d never been to Iola, it was a region I’d spent a lot of time in as a kid, so I had a feeling we’d hit it off.
Granted, being that we were a high school band who had been handed a deal with a local label thanks to our friendship with and musical similarities to our hometown heroes, Ultimate Fakebook, we were already spoiled by this time and pretty much thought we were better than everyone else - ESPECIALLY other high school bands. So when Ed called one day to tell us we should come up to the studio to meet the Touchdowns as they were recording their second EP, ROCK**, we were skeptical and even a little worried. What if we didn’t like their band? Would it be obvious to them? It was hard for us to hold that stuff in and be appropriate about it, sometimes. But, we knew we had to do it, because it was a suggestion from Ed.
To give a clear idea of how we felt going into Red House that day, it helps to understand what the early Podstar recording sessions were like. At first, none of our parents were comfortable letting us drive up to Lawrence alone to do anything - see shows, record, or even just hang out. For a good chunk of the first album’s sessions, we had parental chaperones around most of the time, so it wasn’t really a party vibe. When we walked in to meet the Touchdowns, I remember seeing Ed, guitarist Chris, and bassist Dillon listening in the control room with Ryan in the booth tracking vocals, and on the big leather couch along the back wall sat a huge tub of Bud Lights on ice. These kids were a year younger than us, and I remember thinking, what the fuck!? No parents hanging around?? AND they’re allowed to drink?!?
When Ed told Ryan we had arrived, through the mic I heard his speaking voice for the first time. I don’t remember exactly what he said, but it was probably something like, “Well I’ll be damned! Let me get in there real quick.” Even at 16, he had the voice of a 35 year old rodeo announcer - effortlessly deep and loud, and resonating as if constantly amplified through a goofy, sardonic grin. When he came into the control room, I realized the grin was not just metaphorical, nor was his contagiously goofy energy. He was dressed like a Kansas punk to a tee, down to his Tanka Ray*** shirt and his studded wristband, but he looked and acted like a southeast KS good-ol’-boy. We all instantly loved him, and immediately understood why Ed wanted all of us to meet.
I can’t thank Ed enough for that, for many reasons. He introduced us to someone who would become an essential musical partner to us in several ways: When JoJo and I joined the Touchdowns and made what is still one of my favorite albums, The Al Green Record; when Ryan became Podstar’s drummer and got us all the way to CBGB; when Ryan and I would make up silly songs and spontaneously record under a project called The Moon (maybe some of the worst stuff ever recorded, but some of the most fun I’ve ever had); when he was briefly the frontman for the earliest incarnation of the Dead Girls; when JoJo and Colby backed him in the all-too-brief Magno project; and finally, there have been talks about Colby and Aaron backing him in a Rocky IV soundtrack cover band called - you guessed it - Rocky 15.
But mostly, I have to thank Ed for introducing me to one of the best friends I’ve ever had, someone whose music and personality and humor and love for the absurd continues to inspire me on a daily basis. Without Magno, I don’t know if I’d be able to laugh at life as much as I do today - I feel like I’d probably get caught up in its bullshit a lot more, or just get stressed about things I shouldn’t be. Yeah, we all get like that in life, but we can only hope to have someone like that close by - physically or in spirit - who keeps those things in perspective for us. So lastly, I’d like to thank Ryan Magnuson for that and everything else - and for letting Seth and I release his stuff back into the world for new ears to hear. Love you, buddaye.
Cameron Hawk
Dumb Ghost Records
September 2024
Footnotes:
*It can be argued that Ultimate Fakebook stole this idea from the Touchdowns for their “rock box”, which became a well-loved staple of UFB shows since it would light up anytime someone stood on it - even fans who came up onstage to rock out. The band would probably say they stole it from Cheap Trick’s Rick Neilsen, but based on the timeline of things, I have to wonder.
**The 4 songs that made up the ROCK EP - “Cowboys”, “Drunk and Loaded”, “Dancin’ Tim”, and “Rap 1st Cut” - were all featured on the debut full-length, My Wonderful High School Life. “Cowboys” was the song Magno was tracking vocals for when we met the band at Red House, and even though he had known me all of 15 mins, he immediately asked me to sing backing vocals on the song, which I thought was super cool and welcoming. We also hung out as he tracked “Rap 1st Cut”, and it was one of the earliest indications of how hard Magno could make us laugh.
***Tanka Ray the KC-based punk band, not the famous brand of gin. The Touchdowns built much of their foundation and earned some stripes gigging around with Tanka Ray in the late 90’s. The two bands would regularly play together at an all-ages joint in Olathe, KS called Gee Coffee. Podstar later played there with both bands and I remember thinking, why don’t more places like this exist?
