History: What Jeff Remembers

Rich Rags next gig was at a venue called "Buffalo Roadhouse" in Tampa. Opening for ZENITH NADER, they gripped the crowd quickly. JD did not make the event, and from that point on, Rich Rags was a five member band. The roadhouse became one of the main performance venues for the Rags, as did another club on the Pinellas side of Tampa Bay in Clearwater called THE COURTROOM. This was home - and the RAGS had no problem filling the small nightclub, just a mile or two from the beaches white sand.

Above: Billy, Mark. Nancy, Jeff and Kacy - 1979 - Clw Beach, Fl

Rich Rags were touted as the founding fathers of original music in Tampa Bay, paving the way for new original acts to perform in the area. And for the next year or two, Rich Rags leaped & bounded to new heights, pretty well doing, and getting away with anything and everything they wanted, but a series of events would cause the Rags to eventually call it quits.
Some 'possession' charges made it impossible at times to tour outside the state of Florida. Just pot, but back then it was a big thing. Sheer tiredness, as the band struggled to gain its momentum, some of the players tried to hold down 9 to 5 jobs. This only got in the way when it was time to get out of town - still an issue.

Billy and Jeff didn't always see things in color either. They were however, great bandmates but outside of the music, there was not much 'hanging out'. Mark and Nancy eventually tied the knot. Jeff was smittin' for a while and tied up with punk-beauty Linda (one of the roadhouse floor girls). Kacy was, well... I'm not sure. He was always something though. Lee? Very excited about the band. Too much so at times, but his heart was in the right space. More on Lee later.

Rich Rags. Tampa's 'Punk-Wave Fusion' Rock band. Generally undefinable at the time. Today you would call the Rags "alternative". People seemed to like the band quite a bit. Some clubs gave Rich Rags the opportunity - the critics enjoyed their silly antics, but in the end, that wasn't enough. Kacy went on to persue other musical bounds including the incredible Tampa trio "Deloris Telescope".

We "replaced" Kacy with Lee on guitars in a desperate attempt to keep the band going, but we knew it was only a matter of time. We did however, put out the single "THE ORIGINAL", and there was a last ditch effort to put some songs on tape, so we did. (The rainbow tapes). Rich Cress was handed the unforgiving task of dealing with the lead guitar aspects during this recording session.

Rich Rags History (what Jeff remembers):
First assembled in Rockford, Illinois (pictured at bottom of page) where they were touted in local rags as "Cheap Trick's" replacement band. Jeff's reaction to that? "What bullshit! Trick just got a record deal with EPIC and the local entertainment papers just kept saying that we were the local "new" big club band! We were alright, but we weren't no Cheap Trick man! Trick is and has always been awesome. We were just an OK band that wound up getting some attention. Jack Douglas was their producer. He was also an enginner on The Pope Smokes Dope album, so back then, there was a small connection to ponder.

Above (L - R): Kacy, Nancy, JD

Bun E. and I mainly, became friends. We've carried that through the years but we don't get the chance to hang out. Tricks always working and Idon't live in Rockford. Rockford is a strange place to live. Like there was a crack in the World - when you fell in, you were in Rockford. After a couple of years there, I decided enough was enough - It was too cold for me there, so I made my way back down to sunny fun-filled downtown Clearwater, Florida. So there I was - walking through Peaches Records in Clearwater when John (JC) comes up to me and says "Hey Man, what are you doing back here?". Needless to say, we decided to discuss the possibility of getting something going which would include some of the people John was working with at the time. That day, JC introduced me to some musical mates of his, namely Mark Scott, Nancy Sebek and JD. Mark and Nancy were into mellow, easy going stuff, JD was into metal, I was into Rock, JC was into playing anything. Rich Rags version two was now beginning to unfold.

	I knew JD prior to leaving Florida years before. Funny how it all seems to fall in place at times. JD was ready to break away though and do things outside of music development, so it would be only a matter of time before JC and I would search out a new axe member - Enters Kacy. This shy kid from Iowa. What he introduced the band to was nothing short of amazing. His songs and ideas inspired the band to do unbelieveable things. We were now set. The lineup was Mark, Jeff, JC, Kacy, Nancy and... oh yeah... JD decided to stay a bit longer. Six members... three guitar men. We had no idea what was about to happen. Being a little aggressive... I coaxed the band into the studio to record the only 4 songs we had down... again!. We were young - broke - full of energy - broke - eager and broke. The Rags entered the studio, and in about 5 hours had four songs down on tape. The Rags produced it, and low and behold, here came DENTIST OFFICE MUSIC. Now... the band had to sell it! Things were smooth for a while. The disc was issued - we all sat together in a room, stamping each sleeve with a red rubber hand stamp which said "REJECTED". We packed them back up, and hit as many record stores as gas in our 1960's Plymouth's and VW's would take us to - putting them in on consignment - hoping to sell at least one. They sold. They sold out... and out again, and again.


				Now... it was time to play our first gig. New Years Eve 1978-1979. An outdoor gig, close to the waterway, I think in Dunedin, Florida. It was a chilly evening by Florida standards, and just as we finished playing the new record live - the Sheriffs Department came and shut us down. Maybe it was for the best. I don't think we had many more songs to play. The next step was for us to put together a catalog of original asskicking songs.
		Above (L - R): Chuck Ghrist & John Donniacuo (JD) - Summer of 1979
	In February 1979, we opened for CARNIGIE. A 20th Century Recording artists duo. The event was held at Lake Alice Field in Gainsville, FL. I don't remember much about the gig except that we had heat blowers on stage. It was 27 degrees F. We did have a catered trailor I recall. By the time we were done playing, the crowd thinned out from the cold. CARNIGIE played to a light Lake Alice Field crowd that night. It seemed by their response to us, that we would play Gainsville again. And we did. Outside of the Tampa Bay area, Gainsville was our next most popular place to perform. Records sold well there, and being a college town - we fit in just fine, We met lots of great musicians in Gainsville as well as building up quite a fan base there. Meanwhile, as we were beginning to pay our dues live, Kacy was beginning to churn out new songs like burgers at a drive-thru. And the band took a big bite - coming up with amazing arrangements to these tracks. It didn't take long to prepare for an assault on Tampa Bay - BIG TIME, but the band's lineup was about to change. Twice...
			JC (John Comerford), because of business dealings, had to leave the band after our first E.P. release "Dentist Office Music". He did however play with us at our New Years Eve gig, and planned to rejoin us upon his return to Tampa Bay. He was replaced by Chuck Ghrist - a friend of JD's. Chuck was an OK bass man, but being a drummer, I was anticipating the return of JC. The songs were coming quickly - the dimensions were changing dramatically, and I was missing my bass guy. John did come back to town, but he was not recieved with arms wide open. It seemed only two, maybe three of the members were willing to bear the learning curve to JC. After all... Chuck was there as these new songs were formulated.

					Above: Jeff's WAR MACHINE
This turn of events led to another member leaving the band as well. This time it was to be Jeff. The drummer... JD and Jeff at times, didn't look at things quite the same, and it came down to "Jeff stays or JD stays". It was settled. Jeff was going. The band thought replacing Jeff on the drums would be an easy task. Enter... Roger Monk. Roger spent a very short time with The Rags. Played a gig or two with them, but the Rags knew they needed someone more dynamic. Another personal change was on the horizen... While all this was happening, Jeff took an offer to play drums with some new band. Billy McConnell was the bass man here. Jeff and Billy got along well and together pushing bottom end big time. Jeff also met during this period, the girl who would become a bigger part of his life - Evelyn. (See Jeff's page for more details). Summer of 1979 was coming to a close, and in August of that month, Jeff got a call from Kacy, asking Jeff if he would consider coming back to play with the RAGS. When it all was said - and done, Jeff said yes. Two conditions applied though. One was that Jeff could bring bass man Billy McConnell into the lineup, and two... JD had to go. Kacy agreed to the first condition. The second would take some thought. Once Jeff, was in the lineup again, along with Billy - the band just took off. Jeff and Billy complimented what was already in development, and from this point on, there was no stopping RICH RAGS.


Above: Rich Rags at Tampa Theatre - some time in 1980
		Above: Mark, Billy, Kacy - The Courtroom, Clearwater, Florida - 1980


	Above: Nancy, Mark, Kacy, Jeff / Tampa, Florida, '79 - Left: Mark and Jeff / Studio 70, Tampa, Florida recording 80's and NYBC

Billy and Nancy was a song titled "Pinebox Hero". Based on an idea brought in by Kacy, all the members of the band got together one night (at Billy's apt), sat down, and worked on this song until it was finished. RICH RAGS 'swan song' was recorded using studio time they won at one of Tampa's Talent hunt shows.

Since the early 80's, Mark went on and formed "The Inmates", among other musical ventures, Lee went to "Deloris Telescope" for a while, and then to "Fair Warning". Eventually he left Florida and headed to Ct. Billy was off to Maryland - learned keyboards and stays invloved I'm told. JD headed into the Air Force, came back and was part of a Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute band hailing from Tampa Bay. JD came to an untimely death in 2004, shocking all of us. He will be missed dearly by all who knew him. When Regan became President, Jeff left the country and headed north to Canada where he 'worked on solo efforts, production work and music videos. He also pens the ever popular 'Applelog'. A book documenting the history and value of North American Apple Records and Beatles memorabilia.

There was something special about the Rags. I hope soon we will take some of those classic tunes and really do something with them. It's time.

In years thats followed the 1981 breakup - The Rags have recorded together, generally stayed in touch, and some are as close as family. One thing we can all say is that we were great - and it was a great part of our lives. One last note... We played our first gig on New a Years Eve. We played our last gig on a New Years Eve as well. Strange.

Above: Rich Rags... The Rockford lineup: Jeff, John, Ron, Don and Mike

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		Rich Rags History (what Jeff remembers): First assembled in Rockford, Illinois (pictured at bottom of page) where they were touted in local rags as "Cheap Trick's" replacement band. Jeff's reaction to that? "What bullshit! Trick just got a record deal with EPIC and the local entertainment papers just kept saying that we were the local "new" big club band! We were alright, but we weren't no Cheap Trick man! Trick is and has always been awesome. We were just an OK band that wound up getting some attention. Jack Douglas was their producer. He was also an enginner on The Pope Smokes Dope album, so back then, there was a small connection to ponder.
Above (L - R): Kacy, Nancy, JD