Among the musical artifacts that I've collected from my youth, growing up in the suburbs of Cleveland, I am proud to own a copy of this great compilation of local bands.
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| Cover art by David Helton |
The front cover art by David Helton featured the WMMS buzzard tending bar, while names of the bands appearing on the record were written as labels on some of the bottles. The back cover featured details about almost everything you would ever want to know about the songs and artists who made them.
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| click the photo to enlarge |
Pride of Cleveland (BR-101-3) was the third release on the new (at the time) and short lived Buzzard Record & Filmworks label. Released in 1980, the LP was a 10-track compilation of Cleveland bands, most of whom were active in the local bar scene at the time. It represented an interesting and fairly well rounded mix of the Cleveland music scene by the end of the 70s.
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| From the lower left corner of the back of the record sleeve |
The album itself was compiled to benefit the WMMS Music Scholarship Program at Cleveland State University, and anyone who was listening to the station at the time will recognize many of the names credited above. I remember being so excited to see this label on a record, believing that the Cleveland startup would one day blossom into a major label. Unfortunately, it never did, but I still think those Buzzard labels are cool!
Some closer details about the songs on each side.
(You should be able to click on any photo here to enlarge it.)
It's not clear when the CD reissue of this was released, but it was likely in the late 80s when CDs started to completely overtake vinyl. The single card insert of the CD was simply the front and back of the original LP, shrunken down to CD size. The back of the CD indicated the addition of a "bonus track" from The Euclid Beach Band. Also worth noting is that the Love Affair track, "Mama Sez" was replaced with Wild Giraffes' "Burning Love" at track #9. If anyone knows any more detail about the story of this reissue, please post a comment below!
As far as I know, this CD was considered the fourth and final release on Buzzard Record & Filmworks, now a subsidiary of Esquire Records, who apparently decided not to continue with the Buzzard name.
