Scream Loud!!! The Fenton Story
Scream Loud!!! The Fenton Story is a garage rock compilation consisting of songs released by Fenton Records in Grand Rapids, Michigan and the assorted vanity labels that it had pressed and distributed for various regional acts, primarily from western Michigan in the 1960s, and is available on identical LP and CD formats.* The set focuses on basic upbeat and rocking material, but includes a couple of odd and more eclectic expetions. Fenton's founder was musician and entrepreneur Dave Kalmbach, who intended the label to be a place where un-established groups could have a place to record on either the Fenton label itself or on their own vanity labels, which were usually given special custom names chosen by the bands and their management, often under the arrangement that the bands would pay themselves for most of the recording and pressing costs, but receive a certain share in royalties. Commenting on how these recordings more-or-less function as aural snapshots taken from the bygone scrapbook of a more innocent time, Stephen Thomas Earlewine commented:They preserve a whole gaggle of bands that were bashing out three chords for the love of the music with little hope of hitting the big time. As such, the double-disc/triple-LP set Scream Loud!! The Fenton Story -- a collection of these rare, collector-cherished 45s assembled by those very same collectors -- almost functions as a piece of regional folk art, capturing bands from Grand Rapids, Holland, Lansing, Muskegon, and elsewhere in western Michigan and thereby offering a specific portrait of a place, or perhaps more specifically a time.*
Scream Loud!!! The Fenton Story
Tonto and the Renegades were an American garage rock band from Grand Ledge, Michigan who were active between 1964 and 1969. They were formed by students from Grand Ledge High School and their name derived from the nickname of their bass player, Gary Richey, who because of his Native American heritage was referred to as "Tonto" by his friends at school. The group had several hits in the Southern Michigan region in 1966 and 1967. By the late 1960s group was being courted by major record labels, when the prospect of the Vietnam War draft caused two members to leave the band, resulting in the group's breakup. The intervening years have witnessed a revival of interest in the band's music amongst garage rock enthusiasts. Tonto and the Renegades are now best known for their song "Little Boy Blue", which is today regarded as a garage rock classic. In 2012 Tonto and The Renegades were inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends online Hall of Fame.
Tonto and the Renegades