Shoes (band)

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Shoes
Origin	Zion, Illinois, United States
Genre(s)	Rock Power pop
Years active	1974–current
Label(s)	Elektra, Black Vinyl
Website	Official site
Members
John Murphy Jeff Murphy Gary Klebe
Former members
Barry Shumaker Skip Meyer

Shoes is an American power pop band, formed in Zion, Illinois, in 1974 by brothers John and Jeff Murphy, and Gary Klebe and incorporated several different drummers over the years including Barry Shumaker, Skip Meyer, Ric Menck, John Richardson, and Jeff Hunter. Shoes' biggest hit was "Tomorrow Night" from the album Present Tense. The big radio hit in Chicago, their home town essentially, was "Too Late" in 1980 from the same album. Additional radio play included "She Satisfies" and "Karen" from 1981's Tongue Twister, "Curiosity" and "Mayday" from 1982's Boomerang, and "Feel The Way That I Do" from 1990's Stolen Wishes, which was also included in the movie 'Mannequinn II'.

When MTV went on the air on August 1, 1981, the channel aired four of Shoes' videos: "Too Late", "Tomorrow Night", "Cruel You" and "In My Arms Again", making Shoes one of the first bands to be shown on MTV. The band went on to do three more videos: "In Her Shadow" (1982), "When Push Comes To Shove"(1985) and "Feel The Way That I Do" (1991).

Shoes also formed their own record label, Black Vinyl Records, and owned and operated their own commercial recording studio (Short Order Recorder) from 1983 to 2004. Many artists recorded at the studio and some went on to sign major label recording contracts, including Local H and Material Issue.

In early 2007, the band is scheduled to release a double CD titled Double Exposure, which contains demos of their songs from the albums Present Tense and Tongue Twister. In the same time frame, Jeff Murphy published a book entitled, "Birth of A Band, The Record Deal and the Recording of Present Tense" which documents the band's inception, major label signing and subsequent recording of their first internationally distributed album, Present Tense. In January 2007 Jeff released a solo album titled Cantilever.

[edit] Discography

1975 "Heads Or Tails" (no label) EP N/A (private release)
1976 "One In Versailles" (no label) LP N/A (private release)
1976 "Bazooka" (no label) Cass N/A (private release)
1977 "Black Vinyl Shoes" Black Vinyl LP N/A
1978 "Black Vinyl Shoes" PVC LP N/A
1978 "Tomorrow Night" c/w "Okay" Bomp 7" Bomp116
1979 "Present Tense" Elektra LP, Cass. N/A
1980 "Tongue Twister" Elektra LP, Cass. N/A
1980 "Black Vinyl Shoes" Sire (England) LP N/A
1982 "Boomerang" Elektra LP, Cass. N/A
1982 "Shoes On Ice" Elektra EP N/A
1984 "Silhouette" New Rose (France) LP, Cass. N/A
1984 "Silhouette" Demon (England) LP, Cass. N/A
1984 "Silhouette" Line (Germany) LP, Cass. N/A
1987 "Shoes Best" Black Vinyl (BV19787) EP N/A
1988 "Present Tense/Tongue Twister" Black Vinyl (BV19888) CD, Cass. Double CD - Available
1989 "Stolen Wishes" Black Vinyl (BV10189) CD - Available
1989 "Everyday Is A Holly Day" ("Words Of Love") New Rose (France) CD N/A
1990 "Everyday Is A Holly Day" ("Words Of Love") Emergo (EMD9465) CD N/A
1989 "Stolen Wishes" New Rose (France) LP N/A
1990 "Boomerang/Shoes On Ice" Black Vinyl (BV18190) CD - Available
1991 "Silhouette" Black Vinyl (BV15191) CD, Cass. Includes 2 bonus tracks - Available
1991 "Yuletunes" ("This Christmas") Black Vinyl (BV12591) CD - Available
1991 "Stolen Wishes" JVC (Japan) CD N/A
1992 "Black Vinyl Shoes" Black Vinyl Shoes (BV10092) CD - Available
1993 "Yellow Pills Volume One" ("I Miss You") Big Deal (9003) CD compilation - Available
1994 "Yellow Pills Volume Two" ("Thing Of The Past") Big Deal (9006) CD compilation Available
1994 "Propeller" Black Vinyl (BV10294) CD - Available
1995 "Tore A Hole" Black Vinyl (BV10395) CD Single w/3 bonus tracks - Available
1995 "Fret Buzz" Black Vinyl (BV10495) CD - Available
1997 "As-Is" Black Vinyl (BV10596) Double CD Limited Edition - Available
2007 "Cantilever" Black Vinyl (BV10101) (Jeff Murphy solo CD) - Available
2007 "Double Exposure" Black Vinyl (BV11979) 30-song, Double CD set - Available