Baggi Spandex

From The Secret History of the Cedar Valley

Baggi Spandex

History

1990-1993 Formed out of a mutual crisis due to a lack of original (live)music in Cedar Rapids. We started playing together around 1990. We played Steb's, Gabe's Oasis, Randall's, Mad Dog's, Pete & Tillies, Carnaby Street, Big Dog's, Kurtz, Many other venues.

Our music was a mix of Punk/Country/Alternative.

A quote from an article by Tom Blanchard in CRAM Sept 1991 Issue 14: "Baggi Spandex is a no frills type of rock & roll that is sorely needed in todays world of "borrowed" samples, and prepackaged pop. This music dates back to the roots of rock with a new coarseness completely unique to the band."

"I really remember it was taco hell burritos that we were all living off of when I first got back to town in '90. One day I would run into Kurt eating at taco hell, and then the next day it would be Craig. We all had done stuff musically in high school but not as a unified "power trio." I was trying to write songs so I asked Kurt and Craig to be my bros in crime...Livin'la vida en ciudad Cedar Rapids is hard time...I wanted to name us Los Burritos Puerkos en Hecho but somehow we came up with Baggi after a hard night of swill at the dedwood (uggh!)"~Quentin

After graduating from UNI I got hitched and moved to Orlando Fl. I had no connections there, it was worse then living in Iowa. I had been sponsored by Ciba Geigy Pharms since age 15. I never knew if they were feeding me placeboes or what...I crashed and burned in hell fire mess and had to come crawling back to Ioway...I started to write a lot of songs and out of that got Kurt and Craig together to form Baggi... Q. Duarte

In Florida I was trying to make guitars out of solid maple. I didn't have a band saw so I basically chiseled out the bodies...I played my first gigs w/Baggi w/my flinstone telecaster. Eventually this guitar repairman engineer guy had the idea to mount the original pickups out of the resurection "SG" that I had smashed at Deans...(I didn't do it on purpose...disgust in my own performance caused me to throw it backstage and the headstock broke off, so I figured I might as well go for it, I had always been an admirer of Townsend and Hendryxian stage antics...)

So all the work I did w/Baggi was done on the frankenstein "SG." I'm sorry that Baggi or Bompop do not have digitized material to submit to "History" exhibit at this time... Q. Duarte-duarteqw@yahoo.com

Band Members

Quentin Duarte - Guitar, Vocals
Kurt Fredericks - Bass, Vocals
Craig Eells - Drums, Vocals

Discography

Recording at Catamount

Recorded a Demo at Catamount Studios in Cedar Falls with Tom Tatman.

We never finished mixing it.

Songs included: This Town/Big Dog/Satanic Shock Rock/Rock n Roll Dinosaur/Cashsmear/College Graduation/Cheap Fun/Don't Go To Jail/Jet Black/Kiss of Life/Wish on a Star

All songs written by Baggi Spandex

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