“Gene Simmons said we were his new favorite band. He wanted us to do a record – and to do things we didn’t want to”: Gary Klebe on Shoes’ near miss with the Kiss star, inspiring Butch Vig into production, and how his band got with Hamer

Gary Klebe.

It’s hard to know why some bands don’t hit big, even when they have all the goods, like great songs and fantastic singers and players. Back in 1979, Shoes were one of those next-big-things after their indie release Black Vinyl Shoes generated positive industry buzz. It resulted in their signing with major label Elektra, and an album, Present Tense, stuffed full of winning and melodic power pop classics produced by Mike Stone (Queen, Journey).

Maybe they were caught up in The Knack backlash – who knows? But singer/guitarist Gary Klebe, along with partners Jeff and John Murphy on additional vocals, guitar, and bass, put out two more equally good albums before rejoining the indie ranks.