Crazy 8's

by James Bonisteel

If you ever think of bands from the eighties that you remember hearing on the radio and that bring back memories everytime you hear one of their songs, the Crazy 8's is one of those bands. They are also one of those bands I said I would see sometime, but never got around to it. Well if you haven't done it, then it's too late. They are forever broken up. I, on the other hand, was fortunate enough to actually see them finally. It ended up being their last show. They chose Salt Lake City for their last show because, in their own words, this city has been one of the few cities that have actually supported them throughout their career. The Crazy 8's will always be remembered for songs like "Touchy Situation" and of course, the song that made them known throughout this world, "Johnny Q."

RAD: Why did you choose Salt Lake to be the last show for the Crazy 8's?
Crazy 8's: Because Salt Lake has been one of our greatest stops. Everyone here has always supported us, we have always done really well here.
RAD: I have noticed that you visit here a lot. How long has the band been around?
Crazy 8's: We have been around for thirteen years.
RAD: I have noticed in the past, that you always seem to have a lot of people in the band. Usually how many people do you have in it?
Crazy 8's: Well, we have had as many as eleven, but we are now down to seven. So we're lean and mean now.
RAD: Why, after all these years, have you decided to break up the band?
Crazy 8's: Well, we have been working real hard and long at it and we have never ever got a good record deal, so we're going to go explore some other music.
RAD: You are on Red Rum Records out of Oregon. One of the songs you do that I like the most is the song "Touchy Situation," a song you do not ever seem to hear anymore.
Crazy 8's: Fortunately it was on the CMJ charts for a while, but all good things must pass. We're looking forward to the future.
RAD: So what are the members of the band setting off to do after all this?
Crazy 8's: Well, a couple of them are going to join other bands. Todd's going to get married and the guys will do their regular jobs, like teaching and so forth and so on.
RAD: I know that the biggest song you had was "Johnny Q." That's the song I think that gets played more than anything else you have done. What inspired that song to be written?
Crazy 8's: Todd will tell you all about that.
RAD: I was talking to Sam about your song "Johnny Q." Who wrote that song?
Crazy 8's: Our trombonist Tim Tubb.
RAD: Where did he get the idea for that?
Crazy 8's: I don't know. We were going to school back then, and we were really politically active back then. We still are. All of our albums have that kind of tone to it, like activision and trying to get people motivated.
RAD: Considering this is going to be your last show, is there anything you would like to say to the people that have supported you all these years?
Crazy 8's: I would let them know I appreciate all the support. We have had great luck all over the country thanks to all the college stations and commercial free community stations that played our records, and all the people who gave us gigs, all the people that came and saw us play and helped us do this for so long. It's been great.
RAD: Where does this band originate from?
Crazy 8's: Yeah, we met at a college town in Oregon called Corvallis and just sort of played some gatherings and some dances, and just kind of broke into some clubs. And then went up and down I-5 and branched out from there. Our first record with "Johnny Q" really hit on the college alternative stations and I can say that it is definitely our most popular song.
RAD: Has the band in general done alright money-wise, or has it been on the lower budget side?
Crazy 8's: We're definitely on the lower income bracket.
RAD: So obviously everyone in the band has other jobs besides this right?
Crazy 8's: You're right. Like me, I work for Union Base sportswear in the advertising department. I just got that job and I'm getting married next month. I have been living in seattle for the last year, mainly just to move on and I think that it's good that we're stopping now because the band is playing well, we still like each other, and we're still getting a good response. We have done quite a lot and i'm proud of what we've done. We want to thank anybody that has ever helped us. We appreciate it.
RAD: Well we appreciate bands like you that give us great music take care.

That was it the band is gone forever it was great to see one of their shows before it all ended, by the way for all of that did not have the chance to see the show they recorded the whole thing and rumor has it that they might be releasing that for their farewell album.

Lets just leave this with something Todd said to me "the past has been fun but we have to let it go and look forward to the future", on that note bye!