ROUGH DIAMONDS: GONN: But Not Forgotten

GONN | Blackout Of Gretely | (Voxx) 1985 | Recently, Iowa has been discovered by collectors to have been an overlooked treasure trove of garage recordings. Records by more than a hundred local bands have been found, and although most of the better-known discs originate in the northern part of the state, adjacent to Minnesota’s teeming scene, a prime exception is GONN ‘s “Blackout Of Gretely”, arguably the very best punk record ever made in the state of Iowa.

GONN were based in Keokuk, so far removed from Spirit Lake, Ft. Dodge, Sioux City, etc., that the bands of those cities were unknown. Keokuk was more closely connected to southern Illinois bands like Suburban 9-5, Freddie Tieken & The Rockers, and labels like IT and Golden Voice.

Since “Blackout Of Gretely” appeared on the Chosen Few compilation, there’s been great curiosity about the band who recorded it. We were fortunate enough to make contact with Craig Moore, a leading member of GONN, who is still playing in bands and also runs a collectors record store in Peoria, Illinois. This album is the result of that meeting, and it contains all the surviving tracks by the band.

GONN were one of those bratty punk bands who grew their hair too long, drove around town in a hearse, and considered themselves anarchist rebels. Few bands anywhere in the country can claim to have outdid such GONN antics as setting up a huge Nazi flag behind the stage at a church gig. They released two singles , and recorded a third, unreleased until, plus line-in-the-studio recordings of some of their favourites . . . Kinks, Standells, Love, Byrds and the Chocolate Watch Band songs

While never intended for release as an album, this material holds up well, and is a very good reflection of what you could expect to hear from many of the better punk bands of the mid-sixties.

SEPTEMBER, 1967: We went back to Quincy and recorded “Come With Me (To The Stars )”, a Garrett/Moore composition, and “You’re Lookin’ Fine” by the Kinks. By this time we had discovered things like pot, speed, LSD, etc., and in the spirit of the times we coyly used “Merry Jaine Records” as our label, giving it the I.T. Records number IT-2316.
(Craig Moore August, 1984)