3. Fall '98-CD Release
The new fall semester brought change to Mr. McFeely. Of the four horn players, only Lalida chose to continue her education at UAF, while Frank, Chuck, and Karl took off on their own various adventures. Also, the band had to relocate its practices to Gage and Dave's corner room in Nerland since they were no longer allowed to play in the Honors House. This posed some problems since the band had to deal with quiethours and complaints from hall residents about the noise. This noise stemmed primarily from Dave's new "real" drum kit, which he promptly decorated with checkered contact paper for reasons unknown.
Yes, despite some fan disapproval, the Turbo 2000 was packed away for most of the year. Soon into the fall semester, the band was lucky enough acquire another bari sax player, one Jacob Cambell. So with the smaller horn section, Mr. McFeely continued on its way to making musical magic. The band also made use of the love child of Buddy Holly and fellow Nerland resident Chad Burnett, who fronts the band formerly called Isabella Haller in Juneau, Alaska. He played bass on the songs Grab a Crowbar and Two Cups which allowed H.B. to play second guitar parts. The band played two big shows in fall of 1997: the Nerland show (which featured the debut of the David Hasselhoff Song,) and a show in Hess Rec Center. Early on in the semester, H.B. and Gage did a nooner at the Wood Center, and then H.B., Gage, Dave and Joe did one later on. Mr. McFeely finally got some press coverage when they did a live performance at KSUA, had an interview on J.R. Wilcox's radio show, and had a full page article printed in UAF's newspaper, the Sun Star. In the first weekend of school after the Christmas break, Mr. McFeely opened for the great Anchorage ska band Nervous Rex, who were impressed with the opening band's play. The Baked Alaska section of the band played at the Fairbanks Folk Festival in February, where Dave resurrected the Turbo 2000 for one more show. Recently, the band has added the following members to its cast: Brad Weber (tenor sax, bass), Liz Landmesser (trumpet), and our good ol' returning trombonist, Karl Eklund.
In early April, Mr. McFeely approached local musicians, Pat Fitzgerald and Robin Dale Ford, of 10th Planet Studios about recording a full length album before the end of the semester. Pat and Robin were all for it and their enthusiasm and dedication showed as they put in some long hours with the band during the recording sessions. The project moved right along and the 17 songs (sans horns and vocals) were recorded in a record 14 hours the first weekend. The band then took another weekend to add all the horn parts, vocals, and various other tracks to the mix. Overall, the album was finished in under 30 hours of studio time, and was quickly sent of to Disc Makers for mastering and manufacturing. The album concept, design, and all the artwork was done primarily by Gage, Brad, and Dave. H.B. brainstormed the title, "We Have the Bomb," rejecting the previous title, "Wadlow." The album contains the majority of Mr. McFeely's cumulative work plus some hidden contributions from fellow friends and UAF students. Mr. McFeely gave a preview of the album during their KSUA show on May 4th. During the show they also performed the alternate version of the David Hasselhoff Song, and the wacked-out Grab a Crowbar amongst other material.
On May 15th, 1998, Mr. McFeely finally recieved their much anticipated debut album "We Have the Bomb." The band ordered 1,000 of them, and only hoped that Fairbanks and mainstream U.S.A. was ready. They played another show shortly after school ended at the Blue Loon's Outdoor Concert which featured the band with a top 40 hit, Huffamoose, and local bands Gangly Moose, the Overflow, and Feirce Orange Love. Mr. McFeely put on an extraordinary show, made lots of new fans, and created a general state of happiness in the crowd. "Mr. McFeely put on the best show of all the bands there!" claimed the lunatic who just might be McFeely's biggest fan, Brandon Seifert.
©Mr. McFeely 2000