For more than 40 years, Shoes has been celebrating the art of pop with its compact, melodic nuggets worthy of The Beatles, The Raspberries, or Big Star. Hailing from the town of Zion, Ill. on the banks of Lake Michigan, Shoes was formed by Gary Klebe and brothers John and Jeff Murphy, three kids united in their love of music. Between 1979 and 1982, Shoes - still going strong today, by the way - was signed to Elektra Records where they released three acclaimed albums. Cherry Red has recently turned the spotlight onto that period with Elektrafied: The Elektra Years 1979-1982. This 4-CD anthology features all of the band's recordings for the label including three full albums, corresponding demo versions of each album, and a disc of further demos and live tracks.  (It follows Cherry Red's 2018 Black Vinyl Shoes: Anthology rounding up the group's pre-Elektra recordings.)

In the era of punk and prog and disco, Shoes came as a breath of fresh air to many of rock's cognoscenti. Klebe and the Murphys had been playing together since 1973, recording D.I.Y.-style at home and pressing up limited edition records of their demos. Drummer Skip Meyer joined up in 1976. The independent release of their Black Vinyl Shoes led to a one-off deal with Bomp! Records, and soon the band was off and running. New Jersey indie Jem Records picked up the LP for wide release, and before long, Sire's Seymour Stein was taking an interest. But Stein's deal wasn't palatable to the bandmates. (The British arm of Sire did end up releasing Black Vinyl Shoes in the U.K., resulting from a deal with Jem - not with the band.) Greg Shaw of Bomp! also evinced an interest in continuing to work with the band, but nothing panned out. Undeterred, they kept recording. When Elektra promotion man Marty Schwartz heard Black Vinyl Shoes over the speakers at New York's famed Bleecker Bob's record store, he became determined to sign them. His boss, Ken Buttice, shared his enthusiasm. Even with a last-minute counter-offer from Capitol Records, the band signed with Elektra, beginning a three-year stint of happiness and heartbreak. Those years are chronicled on this new set.

After entertaining names from Keith Olsen to Kim Fowley, the band decided to team with producer Mike Stone, a protégé of Norman Smith and Roy Thomas Baker, on their Elektra debut. 1979's Present Tense, on CD 1 of this set, was the product of their rocky relationship. The producer chafed at the band's struggles to adapt from D.I.Y. to a professional studio and their inability to read music; the band disliked his strict sense of order. One lasting contribution of Stone's helped define the band's sound; he introduced them to multi-tracking, making for a lush, stacked sound. (David Wells' liner notes quote Jeff Murphy: "We'd thought we were a guitar band, but the label started to refer to us as a vocal band!") Present Tense revealed a tight, melodic rock band. They were accurately described as power pop but resisted the tag and especially the comparisons to The Knack. Even decades on, Present Tense holds up as an exemplar of the genre with its taut songwriting, driving rhythms, crunchy guitars, and strong harmonies. What Shoes didn't have, at least according to Elektra, was an obvious single; all of the album's twelve songs were of comparably high quality but one didn't stand out. The label released "Too Late" and "Tomorrow Night," but neither took off.

While Shoes never worked with Keith Olsen, they did hook up with another Fleetwood Mac producer for their sophomore set. 1981's Tongue Twister was helmed by Richard Dashut; the liner notes relay how the band immediately recoiled at his fastidiousness (no surprise considering his pedigree). But Dashut, like Olsen, resisted the temptation to add a keyboard or otherwise beef up the band's instrumentation. Instead, he brought a polished sheen to their basic, raw sound. Wells reveals that it took 630.25 hours of recording (!) and 143 hours of mixing (!!) to record Tongue Twister before Dashut disappeared to resume working with the Mac. Engineer Hernan Rojas gamely finished the LP with the band. All three writers focused a bit more on choruses and hooks the second time out, and Dashut brought out a fuller, crisper sound. But by and large, the album played like a continuation of the first. Elektra again couldn't see a clear single, and after pressing up "She Satisfies" b/w "The Things You Do" on 45, they pulled the release in favor of "She Satisfies" b/w "Karen" as a double A-side single. Perhaps the label was hedging its bets. "Karen" is a pretty, midtempo pop tune with '60s British Invasion overtones; "Still Satisfied" is a tough, rhythmic rocker. Perhaps resulting from this identity crisis, neither garnered much airplay.

Elektra was hesitant to shell out the cash for a third album, especially after a dispute with the band when they self-released a live EP. (That EP, Shoes on Ice, is included in full on the third disc of the box set.) The advent of MTV may have given Shoes a brief uptick in popularity - "Too Late" was the 24th video to be shown on the fledgling network - but it was label honcho Joe Smith who finally gave the go-ahead for 1982's Animation, later retitled Boomerang. Perhaps not willing to shell out for another accomplished producer, Elektra encouraged Shoes to produce the album themselves in Chicago. The resulting album doesn't quite stack up to its two predecessors despite typically strong songwriting that reflected on the band's own situation with their label ("Under the Gun," "Double Talk"), the U.S.' then-political climate ("Mayday"), and television's grip on culture ("The Tube"). In a major departure, "Tested Charms" even featured a synthesizer. Their melodic instincts were as sharp as ever on catchy tunes like the Beatle-esque "Too Soon." The first pressing of Boomerang included the "official" debut of Shoes on Ice, but not long after the LP's release, Elektra dropped the band.

Shoes' story has a happy ending, though. The three core members are still together, recording and performing; their last album to date, Ignition, was released in 2012. Elektrafied features full demo versions of each album, while the fourth disc has Shoes on Ice plus another 12 alternate demos. These make for fascinating comparative listening. The thick 32-page booklet has David Wells' thorough account of the group's history with quotes from the bandmates. No remastering credits are included. Elektrafied is a potent dose of new wave power-pop energy from a band that's long deserved to break beyond the "cult favorite" tag. It's available now at the links below!

Shoes, Elektrafied: The Elektra Years  1979-1982 (Cherry Red QCRCDBOX91, 2020) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Disc 1: Present Tense (1-12, released as Elektra 6E-244, 1979) and bonus tracks (13-24, from Double Exposure, Black Vinyl Records BV11979-2, 2007)

1. Tomorrow Night
2. Too Late
3. Hangin' Around With You
4. Your Very Eyes
5. In My Arms Again
6. Somebody Has What I Had
7. Now and Then
8. Every Girl
9. I Don't Miss You
10. Cruel You
11. Three Times: See Me/Say It/Listen
12. I Don't Wanna Hear It
13. Tomorrow Night (8-Track Home Demo)
14. Too Late (8-Track Home Demo)
15. Hangin' Around With You (8-Track Home Demo)
16. Your Very Eyes (8-Track Home Demo)
17. In My Arms Again (8-Track Home Demo)
18. Somebody Has What I Had (8-Track Home Demo)
19. Now and Then (8-Track Home Demo)
20. Every Girl (8-Track Home Demo)
21. I Don't Miss You (8-Track Home Demo)
22. Cruel You (8-Track Home Demo)
23. Three Times: See Me/Say It/Listen (8-Track Home Demo)
24. I Don't Wanna Hear It (8-Track Home Demo)

Disc 2: Tongue Twister (1-12, released as Elektra 6E-303, 1981) and bonus tracks (13-24, from Double Exposure, Black Vinyl Records BV11979-2, 2007)

1. Your Imagination
2. Burned Out Love
3. The Things You Do
4. Only In My Sleep
5. Karen
6. She Satisfies
7. Girls Of Today
8. Hopin' She's The One
9. When It Hits
10. Yes Or No
11. Found a Girl
12. Hate To Run
13. Time To Make It (8-Track Home Demo)
14. Burned Out Love (8-Track Home Demo)
15. The Things You Do (8-Track Home Demo)
16. Only In My Sleep (8-Track Home Demo)
17. Karen (8-Track Home Demo)
18. She Satisfies (8-Track Home Demo)
19. Girls Of Today (8-Track Home Demo)
20. Hopin' She's The One (8-Track Home Demo)
21. When It Hits (8-Track Home Demo)
22. Yes Or No (8-Track Home Demo)
23. Found a Girl (8-Track Home Demo)
24. Hate To Run (8-Track Home Demo)

Disc 3: Boomerang (1-12, released as Elektra 60146, 1982) and bonus tracks (13-24, previously unreleased)

1. In Her Shadow
2. Curiosity
3. Mayday
4. Too Soon
5. Double Talk
6. The Summer Rain
7. Under The Gun
8. The Tube
9. What Love Means
10. Bound To Be a Reason
11. Shake It Away
12. Tested Charms
13. In Her Shadow (8-Track Home Demo)
14. Curiosity (8-Track Home Demo)
15. Mayday (8-Track Home Demo)
16. Too Soon (8-Track Home Demo)
17. Double Talk (8-Track Home Demo)
18. The Summer Rain (8-Track Home Demo)
19. Under The Gun (8-Track Home Demo)
20. The Tube (8-Track Home Demo)
21. What Love Means (8-Track Home Demo)
22. Bound To Be a Reason (8-Track Home Demo)
23. Shake It Away (8-Track Home Demo)
24. Tested Charms (8-Track Home Demo)

Disc 4: Rarities

1. Jet Set (Manor Version)
2. Ever Again
3. Take You Away (Demo Version #1)
4. See Me (1st Demo)
5. Jet Set (Demo Version #1)
6. In Her Shadow (Demo Version #1)
7. A Voice Inside Me (Demo Version #1)
8. Take You Away (Demo Version #2)
9. Karen (Acoustic Demo)
10. Jet Set (Demo Version #2)
11. A Voice Inside Me (Demo Version #2)
12. I Wanna Give It To You
13. Too Late (Live @ Zion Ice Arena - 5/23/1981)
14. Hangin' Around With You (Live @ Zion Ice Arena - 5/23/1981)
15. Cruel You (Live @ Zion Ice Arena - 5/23/1981)
16. In My Arms Again (Live @ Zion Ice Arena - 5/23/1981)
17. She Satisfies (Live @ Zion Ice Arena - 5/23/1981)
18. Hate To Run (Live @ Zion Ice Arena - 5/23/1981)

Tracks 2 and 9 from expanded edition of Present Tense - Air Mail Recordings AIRCD-100 (JP), 2009
Tracks 10-11 from expanded edition of Tongue Twister - Air Mail Recordings AIRCD-101 (JP), 2009
Tracks 14-18 from Shoes On Ice - Elektra AS-11570, 1982