Old Kansas News Items

"I'm not *quite* dead." This may come as a surprise to those of you who have failed utterly to notice any updates on this site for the past (what is it?) 6 months+. Well, I'm not. And I'm ready to do some freshening up and attempt to keep up better with what's news in the world of Kansas. But I'm not sure - should I post here things that aren't really "news" any more (i.e., have happened since July 26, 2000, the date of the last update), but which might still be of interest? I get lots of visitors here who aren't on the mailing list, and who might not have seen the very latest. Or should I count it all as water under the bridge and just forge ahead? Comments?

02/01/2001 - New album ahead?

This has been mentioned before, but the self-styled "King Dan" points us to an interview with Rich Williams (made during a layover during last year's tour with Yes), in which he says that another new Kansas album is in the works, and will be recorded at Kerry's studio. Hear, hear!

02/01/2001 - Kansas in Germany!

Well, I don't know if a promoter was reading, or if tax laws have changed or what. But in spite of Rich's comments just last year in the interview above, Kansas will be touring in Germany. The newly-updated Kansasband.com site has pictures and tour dates.

07/22/2000 - Chat transcript

7/11/2000 - The new album is out!

Kansas is back in the studio recording a new album, which should be breathtaking. For the first time in over a decade, the band is working with Kerry Livgren on all-new material. And if that weren't enough, Smokin' Dave Hope is even making a guest appearance. CDNow reports a tentative July 11 release date (subject to change, of course).

Well, Kansas finally has an official web site - www.kansasband.com. Pictures, interviews, stories, tour dates, and merchandise from the band. Congrats to the guys, and to Christine! Now get over there and check it out!

12/29/1999 - Dave Hope's new book!

Keith Brooks, the semi-official PotSW Dave Hope ambassador, reports that Dave's new book, "Looking at Luke Through the Eyes of Hope", is available exclusively online at www.1stbooks.com. If the book link above doesn't take you directly there, go to the front page and do an author search for "Dave Hope" and you'll get there.

Rich and Gaye Williams have a condo for rent on Navarre Beach (on Florida's Emerald Coast, near Destin) that is rented out to vacationers through Abbott Resorts. Now, as an unpaid endorsement, let me just say that Destin is one of the Beautiful Places in the world, and is a regular vacation spot for me (not as regular as I'd like, but...). I've always stayed with Abbott Resorts, and they've always treated me very well. And this is a gorgeous condo, plus how cool is it to stay in Rich's guest house? :)

09/03/1999 - Vote in the Hard Rock poll!

Thanks for your support-We made it a double, put in some old demos, and in the studio conversation with Rick and Robby-Everything but the kitchen sink!!! Hope you enjoy it! Don't forget-the first 100 orders get it autographed!!!!

05/10/1999 - Band mailing put on hold!

05/10/1999 - Kansas on VH1

02/01/99 - Happy Birthday Rich!

For your convenience, I've added two links where you can search EBay for Kansas-related stuff. This is useful for finding hard-to-find stuff, including the now sadly out-of-print _Masque_ CD.

• Search EBay for Kansas CDs
• Search EBay for Kansas Vinyl
• Search EBay for all Kansas Stuff

Thanks to John Cooperider for the nifty search links.

1/25/99 - Petition to get Kansas on the R&R Hall of Fame Ballot

The HoF makes up a large ballot sometime in May or June, and then narrows it down to a list of 15 or so candidates for the final ballot, which is then sent out to 1000 or so official voters (DJ's, critics, and other such luminaries) around Aug/Sept. So we've got unti the end of March or so to really hope to have much effect on what happens.

It's far more effective if we do this right. Bev has volunteered to handle getting petitions delivered to the HoF by the end of March. Your job (should you choose to accept it) is to download the Petition (Microsoft Word6 format), print it out, and get people to sign it. Then send all the signatures you can collect, even if that is only your own, to Bev Martin (whose mailing address is included at the bottom of the document). Bev also spoke with Howard Kramer of the HoF, and he said that letters of support for the band should be sent to:

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation
Nomination Committee
1290 Avenue of the Americas
New York City, NY 10104

1/14/98 - New magazine poll

01/01/99 - Happy New Year, everyone! Here's hoping that this year brings us another new Kansas album and many happy tour dates!

12/30/98 - New Kerry Livgren/Numavox Records Homepage

12/12/98 - Kansas show Web-cast!

If you missed it, never fear! The show is available for re-viewing, along with an interview with the band. Check out the following links:

• Director's Cut
• Steve-Cam
• Audio only
• Band Interview (Robby and Phil)

11/11/98 - Another new Kerry pic!

11/08/98 - Cool new Kerry pic!

11/04/98 - KBFH Presents Streets!

10/21/98 - The Desperate Times fan mag has changed its format. Details on their web page.

10/17/98 - KBFH Presents Kansas!

The folks at King Biscuit (who brought us the King Biscuit Flour Hour) have finally released a CD of a show recorded in 1989 at the Tower Theater near Philly during the "In the Spirit of Things" tour. As always, our buddy Angelo has'em, or click here to buy it at CDNow (disclaimer - yeah, I get some goodies if enough people purchase by clicking on the CDNow link. If that bothers you, buy yours from Angelo, who is a great guy too. :) ).

09/11/98 - David needs our help!

David Ragsdale is looking to gather information on the number of people who have purchased David & Goliath. He's involved in a dispute with his former record company, and needs some documentation. If you bought a copy of David & Goliath (and if you didn't, you've really missed some fabulous music), email David at Raguski222@aol.com. Note that this address is a temporary one, setup just for this purpose, so don't get all offended if he's not answering all personal email sent to this account. Please do take a moment to send email to him if you bought the album, though. It would be a great help.

09/11/98 - Neal and Rich get ink!

Our own Neal Williams had an interview with Rich Williams for 20th Century Guitar Magazine in the August issue (the issue with Hendrix on the cover).

You can order back issues from the publisher for about $4.75. Ask for the August 98 issue. The address is:

20th Century Guitar
135 Oser Ave.
Hauppauge, NY 11788 USA

Congrats, Neal!

09/11/98 - You can listen to Freaks of Nature on the net!

Broadcast.com has a jukebox, and the best selection currently available is Freaks. Perfectly good reason to buy a faster modem, don't you think?

09/11/98 - Kansas' newest album, Always Never the Same, was partially recorded (i.e., the orchestra tracks) at the legendary Abbey Road with the London Symphony Orchestra). However, the band tracks were recorded right here in the good ol' USofA, including some work at Tree Sound Studios in the band's adopted hometown of Atlanta, GA.

Talk about an eclectic mix - in addition to Kansas' new album, they have done quite a bit of work for rap/hip-hop artists, as well as both R.E.M. (also recording a symphony album - copycats!) and Collective Soul. Check out the web page for some of the juicy tech details on their setup.

09/11/98 - Kansas web forum on Delphi

Mark Pennel (pennel@sound.net) has created a Message Board/Forum on Delphi.com for PotSWers. The forum is aptly titled, the People of the South Wind Message Forum. It includes various topical message boards, as well as a chat area. Highly recommended for those who can't stop surfing long enough to read their email. :) You have to log into Delphi, but it's free, so have fun!

8/06/98 - Kansas IRC Chats

OK, technically, this is not "new", but it's new on the site. There are relatively regular Kansas chats on Sunday nights at 9 Eastern time (GMT-4, I believe). People arrive anytime around 9 (and after). It's at irc.progrock.org, port #6667, and the channel is #kansas. If you like IRC, check it out. [For more info on IRC, please don't ask me - go to IRC Central or search Yahoo for more info.]

7/20/98 - More polls!

We're Kansas fans, but we vote like we're from Chicago. :) If you want to get involved in promoting the band, there are a couple of online polls you should visit. The Battle of the Bands Archives has a number of online polls, of which the Boston vs. Kansas one is of particular interest to us. Click here to skip all the rest and just cast a vote directly for the good guys. And if you refresh it a couple of times when the page comes up, that wouldn't hurt either. :)

Also, there is a Best Song of the Century site which could use some Kansas contributions.

6/09/98 - For those of you who might have been looking for a copy of Kerry Livgren's autobiographical _Seeds of Change_, the bad news is that it's been out of print for a while now. The good news is that there are still copies available from several places (mostly Christian bookstores). Christian Book Distributors is selling them for $0.95 each (plus $3.50 shipping, but still...). They had 600 copies left in March, and I have no idea how many they still have, so if you want one, go ahead and order it.

Disclaimer - I have no affiliation of any kind with CBD.

6/09/98 - Do your civic duty and vote! Jay Pearson is hosting two Kansas polls on his Sparks of the Tempest site. Check out the poll results to see if everyone's taste is as good as yours.

6/07/98 - A very sad note - Wally Gold (1928-1998), who did so much to get Kansas on the map, passed away today. Thanks forever to you, Wally, for the work you did to make this music available to the world. Rest in Peace.

2/23/98 - From the list - Kansas is putting finishing touches on their new album, recorded at the legendary Abbey Road with the London Symphony Orchestra). The new album features songs both old and new with symphony orchestration. The guys in the band seem very excited about it, and you just know that I am!

2/23/98 - The 1998 Tour Dates are starting to roll in! Don't miss a great show, and please do keep me informed of any new dates you see.

2/23/98 - Matthias Ratzka has sent me a reworked version of the The PotSW Lyrics Pages. The graphics are smaller, and the page now includes Kerry Livgren and AD lyrics. All the work and almost all the HTML here is courtesy of Matthias Ratzka (mailto:ratzka@studm.hrz.uni-siegen.de). If you have corrections or compliments, please send them directly to him.

I asked the Maestro himself if he or the band would mind if I put these up (not having a way to contact the band guys directly), and he said he didn't. However, and I want to make this clear, these are NOT for redistribution, and I ask you as a courtesy not to copy them elsewhere, simply because I asked permission, and I don't want them being put to inappropriate commercial use as a result of their appearance here.

12/08/97 - The Desperate Times Home Page has moved and is being redesigned! It's one of two newsletters for Kansas fans currently being published.

12/01/97 - Finally, Angelo's CD store now has a web site. Check it out at www.angeloscds.com. Angelo's remains a great source for hard-to-find (and not-hard-to-find) Kansas-related discs. Note that I have never listed a CD store on the web pages, but Angelo has so consistently stocked hard-to-find Kansas-related merchandise, and the things I hear about his service are so consistently glowing, that I'm making an exception.

11/97 - David Ragsdale's CD is finally out! David and Goliath is every bit as good as you've heard, and probably better. You can get a copy at Angelo's, and at other record stores with taste (if your favorite doesn't carry it, ask them to!)

New Kansas Chat URL

07/31/97 - The Audio Confessions fan magazine now has an email address. You can contact Steve McAtee, publisher, at audioconfessions@hotmail.com

Finally, I have opened up The PotSW Lyrics Pages. All the work and almost all the HTML here is courtesy of Matthias Ratzka (mailto:ratzka@studm.hrz.uni-siegen.de), who, to his credit, has patiently asked me to put these up for months. I asked the Maestro himself if he or the band would mind if I put these up (not having a way to contact the band guys directly), and he said he didn't. However, and I want to make this clear, these are NOT for redistribution, and I ask you as a courtesy not to copy them elsewhere, simply because I asked permission, and I don't want them being put to inappropriate commercial use as a result of their appearance here. Anyway, here they are!

07/08/97 - From the list - Pictures from the July 4 show at Blue Ash, OH are available at http://w3.one.net/~tandp/pics/July4/kansas

06/19/97 - From the list - Robby reports that the band is going back in the studio in September to record a new album with the London Symphony Orchestra), which, apart from being one of the world's finer orchestras, collaborates with lots of other artists and video productions. The new album will be mostly new versions of Kansas classics with symphony orchestration, but will also include a couple of new songs. The guys in the band seem very excited about it, and you just know that I am!

06/19/97 - Congratulations to Nick, the luckiest big-dog in the world! He's the new road manager for Kansas. Best of luck to the band AND to Nick on the current tour!

06/19/97 - The T-Shirts of the South Wind Project now has a design chosen, and are preparing to take orders SOON (but not quite yet, just hold on a little longer).

The Kansas 900 number has changed (several weeks ago, actually). The new number is 1-900-KANSAS-1 (1-900-526-7271). You can get info directly from the band, updated regularly, including tour info and recording plans. You can leave messages for the band as well. Note: This is a service of RSATelecom (RSATELE@aol.com), and I'm not affiliated with them in any way.

3/01/97 - From the PotSW mailing list:

There is an excellent 5 page interview with Phil Ehart in the March issue of the Music News Network Newsletter. The interview appears to have been conducted near the end of the Kansas/Styx tour last fall, so some of the information is a bit outdated, but Phil has a lot of interesting things to say about the state of the music industry today. He also talks about the planned symphony orchestra project/tour, relationships with former band members, both the Alan Parsons, and Styx tours, and plenty of other stuff. Check it out. - Steve Sly

1/24/97 - Robby's Back (all the way back)! Wow, what a week. Within days of learning the sad news of David's departure, just as some desperate fans were beginning to seriously consider a long drinking binge to drown their sorrows, in walks Robby! It's an incredibly turn of events, but Robby Steinhardt has officially rejoined Kansas, and the band has been rehearsing like mad in preparation for the upcoming Summer Tour! Welcome back, Robby! Man, it's been a long time.

Did somebody forget to close the door? Just on the heels of Greg Robert's departure (see below), violinist David Ragsdale is taking his magic bow and moving on to pursue a solo career. I have to say that I get misty-eyed thinking that I won't get another chance to hear that violin solo with which he closes out "Dust In The Wind" any more in concert. But at least, unlike Greg, we'll get to spend some more time with his music. David's new album, _David and Goliath_, is due out this year. For more details on David's plans, check out the official David Ragsdale web page, Riding the Coat Tails of a Dream. Good luck, David! We'll be listening!

After 10 great years, Greg Robert has left Kansas to pursue a "Dad" career. Greg was a whole lot more to the band than just a great musician (nobody should be able to play AND sing that well). He will be sorely missed, and not just by the fans, but maybe now less by his family. He was gracious enough to write a goodbye letter to the mailing list. Thanks for the music, Greg!

This album is on the Intersound label, and may be harder to find than, say, the latest Stone Temple Pilots disc. However, if you have trouble finding it, you can order directly from Intersound:

USA: Intersound, Inc.           Canada: Intersound, Inc.
     PO Box 1724                        1 Select Avenue
     Roswell, GA  30077                 Scarborough, Ontario  M1V5J3

Email: comments@intersoundmusic.com
WWW: www.intersoundmusic.com

     (800) 945-3059
     (770) 664-9262
FAX: (770) 664-7316

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