THE HEATS “Have An Idea”: AIR MAIL RECORDINGS, Japan, reissue via CHUCKIE-BOY RECORDS,1999. Original LP on ALBATROSS RECORDS, 1980.
”...One of the "50 essential U.S. power pop albums." -- Seattle Times, Nov. 1, 1998
“...Fit right into alternative rock today, and have the same catchy hooks you find in Harvey Danger or Everclear. -- THE ROCKET, Seattle, Sept.23,1998
In 1998, Chuckie-Boy Records released “Smoke”, a sterling start-to-finish collection of some of The HEATS’ best songs: tracks from their renowned LP “Have An Idea” as well as some treasures from the vaults that had never been released, like “Let’s All Smoke”. Remastered by Superhumanly talented Sound-Oracle STEVE TURNIDGE, the songs practically jump out of the speakers . Presented in an amazing pack of photos, articles, and a fresh essay from Seattle Times columnist ERIK LACITIS, “Smoke” was also released as an LP in 1999 by Italian label Backstreet Records.
While the original CD and LP are long sold out, copies pop up on Amazon from time to time.
Meet the HEATERS:
By Erik Lacitis, Seattle Times.
(From the liner notes of the CD “Smoke”/The HEATS (#CB1008).
Now I can’t even remember the name of the small tavern in which I first heard the Heats. Then, in early 1979, they were known as The Heaters, coming up with the name from sharing a space heater during December band practices in a basement. I thought they were the best Northwest band I had heard in a long, long time. If you’re old enough to remember, you know what the scene was like: Either Disco or bad imitations of Led Zep in the bars; and bland, formula rock on the radio. It drove me crazy. What had happened to rock and roll? I remembered Top-40 radio when a station like KJR-AM (before it went sports talk) would play a tune like “Psycho”, by The Sonics, the legendary Northwest band.
Into this dismal scene came The Heaters, a group of young guys in their early 20’s obviously influenced by the new-wave sound coming out of Britain, the stuff from Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds, Elvis Costello. They were a breath of fresh air. No posturing, just straight-ahead rock. They didn’t mind letting the audience know they were having fun on stage. Listening to the group became my weekend habit.
It was my wife, Malorie, who said that perhaps I should tell readers of my column in the Seattle Times about this band, if I was so enthused about them. And so, on Saturday, May 12, 1979, I wrote a column about The Heaters (more below).
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Above: video for THE HEATS “I Don’t Like Your Face”: Original 45 and LP “Have An Idea” on Albatross Records, 1980. On “Smoke” CD (#CB1008), Chuckie-Boy Records, 1998.
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That piece is being reprinted in these “Smoke” CD liner notes, a two-decades-old historical sampling. I don’t mind at all that years later my columns about The Heaters sometimes read a bit naïve. I’m proud to believe in the magic of rock and roll.
When I was interviewing the guys in The Heaters for that first column, I don’t think they realized how big a play that first piece would have in the paper. I didn’t, either. A huge photo that ran across the page accompanied the story—a layout editor’s decision.
In any case, on that Saturday, if you were a rock fan, and you happened to open the Seattle Times, you would have seen a huge spread about this band you had never heard of. That night, there was a line outside the Shire Pub in West Seattle of people wanting to hear the group, including a sizable contingent of the local rock community.
In subsequent columns, I chronicled the music career of the band. You can read excerpts from those pieces, too, including a final one about their break-up five years later.
The Heaters, The Heats, always had to live with the tag from an advertisement in which they participated. The ad was for Longacres Racetrack, also now gone, and featured the band, along with the phrase, “Soon to be famous”. In the often mean and petty world of the music business, that phrase was used against the band by those jealous of their local publicity.
No, they obviously didn’t become the next big thing. But all you have to do is listen to any of dozens of compilations albums out there in the shelves of Tower Records, those compilations of grunge bands, or Mersey groups, or surf music, or any of a number of genres. Listening to those compilations, you’ll hear genuine, original songs that should have been huge hits. Should have, could have. You can blame bad management, or being ahead of your time, or just plain bad luck. The odds are terrible against any band, no matter how talented.
The other day, I was listening to The Heats’ music, having dragged out an old record player. It was, and is, great stuff. In researching material for these liner notes, I also read the columns I wrote all those years ago.
Know what? I would write them again about the band. I still believe.
Erik Lacitis
Seattle Times Staff Columnist
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The HEATS/The HEATERS::
KEN DEANS—Drums/Vocals
KEITH LILLIE—Bass/Vocals
STEVE PEARSON—Guitar/Vocals
DON SHORT—Guitar/Vocals
RICK BOURGOIN – Drums/Vocals
WAYNE CLACK—Bass/Vocals
The Heat(er)s from Seattle, "In Your Town", which was shown briefly on MTV. Don Short, Steve Pearson, Wayne Clack, Rick Bourgoin.
Above: video for THE HEATS “In Your Town”: From “Smoke” CD (#CB1008), Chuckie-Boy Records, 1998. Originally on “Burnin’ Live” LP, Sushi Records,1982. Video from Kris Lilly/Digital Carousel.
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The HEATS on Social Media: Facebook
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And, 2 more great stories about the band:
First: From “No Depression’ Magazine, Feb.19, 2013:
"Could The Second Beatles Have Existed In Seattle In The Early 80's? (A Short Story About The Heats)”.
BY TIM M. OTTO
Sometime in the late 70's, Singer/Songwriter Steve Pearson met Don Short, another Singer/Songwriter in a suburb of Seattle. Ironically these to rock & roll heroes had a-lot in common. They both played excellent barking electric guitars, they both loved great pop songs by such groups as The Beatles & Rolling Stones, and, their voices melded together just like Lennon & McCartney. Not a bad combination at all.
Their biggest hit single was a clever short pop song written by Steve called: "I Don't Like Your Face." It received plenty of local air play on Seattle's now defunct KJET radio which I can personally attest was a great station full of fun and sardonic cuts. "I Don't Like Your Face" fit right in and sold over 15,000 copies on 45rpm discs. Remember this was before CD's and downloads, kids.
One of their biggest supporters back in the day was one Erik Lacitis of The Seattle Times. He seemed very empathetic about the band's causes if you read the liner notes today on: The Heats: "Smoke" on Chuckie-Boy Records. It is on CD and is a greatest hits collection of sorts of the bands containing 13 marvy cuts. Let me tell yuh, there is never a dull moment from The Heats. They had 2:50 seconds down to a fine art.
The main reason for the comparison to The Beatles in my opinion is the natural way that Steve & Don's voices melded together in harmony not unlike Lennon & McCartney. That's about the highest compliment I can pay a group. And it did not hurt that they both had such great pop sensibilities either. On drums was either Ken Deans or Rick Bourgoin. On bass was Keith Lilly or Wayne Clack depending on when you caught the band live. But Steve & Don were the real nucleus of The Heats just like Lennon & McCartney. It's absolutely uncanny how close these two guys voices were to each other. And they both shared a fabulous whinny nasal vocal that by today's standards would be considered almost condescending in a humorous kind of way. It's so refreshing to listen to this album/CD and even realize that a band like this existed at this time period in The Jet City (Seattle). Knowing what I know about the Northwest this group could have never made it as big as they were in Portland, Oregon just 200 miles away. No way did Portland have the pop vision or audience for a group like The Heats. Seattle deserves a-lot of credit for this.
Even Ann Wilson of Heart was a big fan of these Jet City boys and tried to get them signed to Geffen Records back in the day. Geffen stupidly passed on the band and there went the second Beatles down the pop toilet. Unfortunately for the most part in those days, labels were still loaded with disco and AOR rock. Not where The Heats were coming from at all.
Other cool cuts of note on the CD include: "Ordinary Girls", "Call Yourself A Man", "Night Shift", "In Your Town", "Have An Idea", "Remember Me" (bonus cut) & more. The engineering and production are all outstanding by any standards and if anything sound the opposite of dated!
Well, that's all for now on The Heats. If you saw them live when they existed...you were lucky. I'm only sorry that the second Beatles didn't stand more of a fair chance when they existed. We're not getting any younger!
Checkout the CD for yourself if you can find it on Chuckie-Boy Records online for sale. It's a bargain at any price!
Footnote: The Heats’ "In Your Town" was produced by Ann Wilson and was featured on MTV back in the day as a video.
Above: video for THE HEATS “Let’s All Smoke”: “Smoke” CD (#CB1008), Chuckie-Boy Records, 1998. Video from Fernando Vieira.
Next: A seriously in-depth talk with (some of) The HEATS, June 18, 2018, with the good beans at JIVE TIME Records, Seattle (click link below):
Smokin’.