Declaration of Independents: 30 Years Of Indie Rock
I’ve decided to relaunch my blog by commemorating the 30th anniversary of the release of Declaration of Independents, a compilation of independent label rock music that I co-executive produced with Steve Leeds, now of Sirius satellite radio. It was the only album on the label we co-owned, Ambition Records. Declaration was one of the first compilations of its type, fittingly released on July 4, 1980. We licensed 13 songs from small labels nationwide, by such artists as SVT (from San Francisco, with Jack Casady of Jefferson Airplane/Hot Tuna), Bubba Lou and the Highballs (also from San Francisco), Robin Lane and the Chartbusters (Boston); Kevin Dunn (Atlanta; with a highly original electronic version of Chuck Berry’s “Nadine”); Pylon (Athens, Ga.; their cut “Cool” was co-produced by the band and Dunn); The News (Rock Springs, Wy.), Luxury (Des Moines) and Ragnar Kvaran (Ann Arbor). There were also several cuts from Washington, D.C., area artists: Razz (with Tommy Keene), Tex Rubinowitz and the late Root Boy Slim; and two from Springfield, Mo., Jim Wunderle and D. Clinton (Donnie) Thompson, one of the most phenomenal roots-rock guitarists, then and now. It was distributed in the UK by Stiff Records, then at or near the height of its fame. The amazing cover art (you can get a basic idea of it from a 2008 Wilfully Obscure blog post) was by Steve Byram and David Gambale. The musician associated with the LP who arguably became most successful, Ben Vaughn, didn’t even play on it. He designed Ambition Records’ logo, in his other capacity at the time as a graphic designer. Steve Leeds, Ben and I remain friends, but I’ve lost touch with most of the artists, and would love to hear from them, if any see this post. And if you enjoyed the album, it would be great to hear from you.
Bruce’s Twitter Feed
July 7th, 2010 at 2:05 pm
Great to know! This album is going on my wishlist. I look forward to more music-related posts!
December 21st, 2010 at 9:37 pm
[...] David Greenberger, who also has done innovative work with the elderly. I knew David back in my music writing/selling days in the late seventies and early eighties, and then lost touch with him until becoming reconnected [...]
November 17th, 2011 at 11:25 am
[...] he comes across as passionate, articulate, genial and informed. Although I never met him during my music world days, I’ve known about him since the beginning of his music career in the early 1970s. I’m sure he [...]
December 22nd, 2011 at 12:25 pm
[...] he comes across as passionate, articulate, genial and informed. Although I never met him during my music world days, I’ve known about him since the beginning of his music career in the early 1970s. I’m sure he [...]
February 12th, 2012 at 7:46 pm
[...] known Donnie and Lou since the late ‘70s, when Steve Leeds and I were planning the compilation, Declaration of Independents, for our short-lived label, Ambition Records. The LP contained Donnie’s version of the [...]
November 29th, 2012 at 9:58 pm
Hello Bruce,
I just saw your blog about “Declaration of Independents”.I want to thank you for putting “The News” on the LP.I am still playing and recording . I just released an EP
called “The Sunburn EP.”I hope all is well with you and Steve.
Eddy Delbridge
November 30th, 2012 at 10:48 am
Thanks, Eddy; it is wonderful to hear from you. Really glad to hear about your new EP!