The Keys | Interview | “We had some combination of power pop, garage rock, and even a folk mix thrown in”

The Keys was a fantastic power pop band that released an album back in 1988 titled  ‘Grand Opening’.

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Bob Koenig is known as a singer/songwriter for Abandon Here (1983-1986), The Keys (1988-1994), “The Jim-Bob’s” to his solo work (‘Backroad Pond,’ ‘Prose and Icons,’ ‘Abbey Lane,’ ‘11501’) and as a ChromeOrange artist with “Koenig’s Road.”

“I had an interest in music and records from very early on”

Would you like to tell us a bit about your background? Where did you grow up and what were some of the early influences for you?

Bob Koenig: I grew up in the Suburban town of Mineola, New York. I was an only child of George and Evelyn Koenig. At first, we lived in a two-family house where my grandparents lived next door. Most of my early music memories were my grandparents wheeling out a portable TV and watching Lawrence Welk! I also saw Ed Sullivan; I had a Topo Gigio puppet (Topo was this mouse puppet that would talk to Sullivan). I enjoyed comic books at an early age; they helped me to read. I also had an interest in pets. I had a turtle by age 4, turns out I still have turtles to this day! When relatives came over, they’d often gather around the piano to sing old favorites. My father would play the local country and western station; my dad loved Johnny Cash and Hank Williams! Dad took me to my very first concert in 1969, which was Johnny Cash at Madison Square Garden!!

When did you pick your first instrument and was there a certain moment in your life when you knew you wanted to become a musician?

In the first grade, I was given a recorder to take lessons with. By the second grade, they moved me up to a clarinet. At church I was in the young choir. By the fourth grade, I was in the school choir. Seems I wanted to sing rather than play an instrument. Yet, my uncle Walter became a big influence. He had several bands he performed with locally, as well as playing several instruments. I believe I was ten when he bought me my first guitar! I didn’t take the guitar seriously until a couple friends started jamming together on weekends here and there. They needed a guitarist; so I started lessons at a local music shop, Marino Music. As I met more and more friends in music, the more I took an interest in it. Of course, in the early days, I had no idea I’d have an interest, or a want to play music in front of anyone! I was a bit of a loner and too nervous to perform in front of an audience. So, the more others seemed interested in doing music, the more serious I became.

Tell us where did the kids hangout back in the early days? What clubs did you go to and what are some of the gigs that you saw?

As a “kid” in the 1970’s and 1980’s, it was hard to get into places without proof of ID. However, I did see quite a number of shows at a popular Roslyn, NY club, My Father’s Place. I even had the opportunity to meet a lot of acts backstage. By the mid-1980’s I was a freelance writer for a local music paper, called Good Times. By having this title, I was then given a proper entrance to meet a lot of people. During my time as a writer, I met Ginger Baker (Cream), R.E.M., John Phillips (The Mamas & the Papas), Flo and Eddie (The Turtles), The Bangles, and Ramones (whom I got to befriend and see dozens of times). I also was very happy to meet at various functions The Monkees, Pete Seeger, and The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.

What kind of records and fanzines would you be listening and reading?

I had an interest in music and records from very early on. I was age six when I saw ‘Yellow Submarine’ in the movie theater, when it first came out. In the first grade at school, I would bring the album in to play to the class! My teacher and I made a large yellow sub drawing on cardboard, which I and three other boys held and sang the song during a school musical (likely my very first performance), something I wish I had a picture or some evidence to prove it true. I still own my original record, though! I loved Saturday morning cartoons. The early 70’s shows featured a lot of music I just loved. The Archies; I had their albums. The Jackson 5, I liked them, too. The Banana Splits and other “bubblegum” music that was a love of mine. Funny fact is, a lot of that music also had a “psychedelic” feel to it. In high school, I read Lillian Roxxon’s Rock Encyclopedia from the library from front to back. I tried to memorize anything that would interest me. I began collecting records of various 1960’s bands, which all became my favorite! I bought a collection of vintage teen magazines of the 60’s which further showed me things to look up; I was hooked! I was hunting down any psychedelic and garage band music I could find, from Nuggets and Pebbles compilations and more. Syd Barrett became a hero of mine! Power pop and punk were also my favorite musical styles. The Raspberries, Ramones, Big Star and the Buzzcocks were incredible, stuff no one at my school was interested in. It’s funny; I have a deep love for a certain blend of rock music, yet I always kept a spot for country music and folk. It was a great day when I met Don Williams!

What were some of the early bands you were part of, before forming The Keys?

Some of the bands prior were formed with friends getting together. The Labels were my first band in the late 70’s with friends playing in a rehearsal attic! Another band (Max Smart and The Controllers) was a band of friends who would play for their friends’ parties, and so on.

Interference formed as we all attended the same music school for lessons. Turns out it was a good thing as we all came together later on as The Keys! Abandon Here was the first “professional” band I was in, as we recorded and played gigs. We formed sometime in 1983, but disbanded in 1986.

Can you elaborate on the formation of The Keys?

After Abandon Here broke up in 1986, drummer Ken Schaefer and I wished to continue on. I thought of using the name from a college project I had in an advertising class. We made up a radio ad using a song I wrote for a “fake” product named ‘Doggiefresh mouthwash’! The band name was The Kees as I was referring to the spelling from “The Monkees” but I didn’t think anyone would “get it” so it was better off I just use the regular spelling. Ken and I had two songs in the can recorded during the Abandon Here time, and we thought we’d record four more songs to make an “EP.” We didn’t form a band right away, but we invited musician friends to help aid us in the studio. Hiring Tiki Studios and Mark Gaide as the engineer, I became the guy who wrote and sang the songs, and Ken would produce the product! So, we finished the ‘Grand Opening’ LP, and put it out as just the two of us. We really wanted some kind of product out there, so we did that first, and worried about assembling the band later! As luck would have it, during our many auditions, I met up with Steve Glavas, who had been the bassist for Interference.

He said he was interested and came back to work with Ken and I. One of our auditions brought lead guitarist Bob Hardy, who had only moved to Long Island from Texas a couple weeks before! Then, in a short amount of time, we were notified to be guests on the television show, Dance Party, USA, on the USA network. This show was kind of similar in fashion to Dick Clark’s American Bandstand. Anyway, we were on a stage and were to lip sync to our song, ‘Deanna’.

The whole thing was very surreal, as I was to sing along to the recorded track, which I could barely hear over the studio audience! But, it gave us national attention when it aired in December 1988! The Keys then started to record some new music as a band, but Steve Glavas dropped out. Our next auditions brought John LoPiccolo to the band as bassist. This kind of set our lineup for several years. In 1990, we worked with Chris Andersen, who was an engineer on all of Todd Rundgren’s albums. We stayed at the recording studio in the Woodstock, NY area for a week, and came back later to mix. This led to our cassette only release, ‘Changes’. I then became friendly with a Florida based comic book company, AC Comics. Their most popular comic was an all-female superheroine group, Femforce.

At the time, consideration was there for producing a film on the comic. So, in my talks with them, I suggested the Keys could do a song for the movie! Later I thought about how to promote the music even more, and suggested they add the song as a flexi disc insert in one of their comic books. Thus, Issue #50 of Femforce contained the Keys flexidisc of ‘Femforce Theme (Something Special)’.

I tried writing a new song for the venture, but somehow changing the words to a song off ‘Grand Opening’ worked well. I flew to Florida to appear at some comic book shows to sign copies of the comic book! AC Comics later drew the Keys in an issue of Femforce Up Close. After that, we recorded for a tribute CD to The Beat. Bob Hardy moved back to Texas in 1993, and we had a new lead guitarist, Russ Alonso. But by then the music scene was changing, and the band was losing ground. In 1994, I left the band, and Ken and John started their own.

“We had some combination of power pop, garage rock, and even a folk mix thrown in”

In 1988 you self-released your debut album. Tell us about the tracks on the ‘Grand Opening’?

Well, in 1986, Abandon Here broke up, and Ken and I still were itching to have a recording available. We had two of my songs, ‘It Doesn’t Bother Me At All’ and ‘Deanna’ already recorded. So, it was back to the studios, having some of our friends as guest musicians. ‘Poison Pen,’ ‘Angry Man,’ and ‘Something Special’ were completed with our friends. Ken and I recorded ‘When It Rains It Pours’ as just the two of us. Was the album cohesive? Well, my songwriting tastes vary, so we had some combination of power pop, garage rock, and even a folk/country mix thrown in. Nice to note that the album cover was reproduced for the ‘Grand Reopening’ CD by Zero Hour Records in 2018. Our 1990 recordings came out as a cassette (Keywhole Records was the name of our incorporated record company) including the songs produced by Chris Andersen.

Chris picked the songs from our demos of what to record, and he democratically picked one song from each of us that we had written, plus a cover. The cassette ended up with the Mark Gaide produced ‘Change Of Seasons’ (Koenig) that we not only appeared in a video for a local Long Island TV show (it’s on YouTube to see!) but some critics labelled it as the best song of the 90’s that wasn’t known! Chris’ recordings with us were ‘See Cybill Cry’ (Koenig), ‘Trouble Love’ (Hardy), ‘House That Love Built’ (Schaefer), and ‘Words For You’ (LoPiccolo). Our cover was ‘O My Soul’ (Chilton) from the great, great band, Big Star. I think these tracks solidified our sound as a band, too.

Did you play a lot of gigs? Name a few more important ones for you.

We did. In 1990, we gained interest in having a manager, and Lincoln Wong worked on getting us gigs. We became like a semi house band at Kenny’s Castaways in Greenwich Village, NYC. Prior to The Keys, The Smithereens were well known from that club. We also played at the Rock And Roll Café and the legendary Café Wha? Which was so cool to get to perform at. Most of our gigs were on local Long Island. We played at Hofstra University, and were regulars at the Right Track Inn.

Due to Lincoln’s influence (he was this tall Asian man who wore almost all black. He had an influential way to get what he wanted; he even scared the other bands who would play the same nights we did…one even asked if he could manage them). We got gigs at the Dublin Pub, a spot known for major “cover” bands. We were primarily an original band, but started with some covers just to garner some interest. (Some of our covers are also included on the ‘Grand Reopening’ CD). Lincoln was also solidifying some plans for us to be an opening act for a major music act, but sadly, never came to fruition.

As the information is a bit scarce, tell us about your solo albums?

I actually went on to record quite a few projects. During the time of The Keys, I had an “itch” to record some of my own country songs. It was basically a side project, a novelty for me to see how it would turn out. I got Mark Gaide to produce, and we both felt it was quite a good project. Robert Koenig’s ‘Backroad Pond’ (cassette) ‘Keywhole’ (Key 2) issued in 1992, I just self-distributed it myself. ‘Metaphysical Cowboy’ had me going through all the spiritual readings I journey through, even today. ‘Roads’ featured an ‘Eternal OM’ so it wasn’t your standard country music! However, on ‘Can’t Get You Off My Mind’ I had the pleasure to have my father, George Koenig, and my uncle, Walter Koenig, sing background vocals! I also invited two friends, Steve Weber and Jeff Strell to play on this album. George Petersen, who was producer of The Keys’ ‘Angry Man’ and the ‘Femforce Theme’ had his own record company, Catspaw Records. He issued quite a few jazz CD’s and was successful with it. Though he initially wanted to sign The Keys to the label, he “ended up” with me! 

‘Prose & Icons’ (Catspaw Records CPD 801) was finished and issued in 1996. I compiled a bunch of new and older songs that just didn’t work on any other project, and brought them here. George Harrison’s ‘Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)’ I covered here, which gets some airplay. George picked ‘Fragile’ by Sting, to cover. Gathering some friends as the backup band, Dave Fuller (from Abandon Here), Erich Stollberger, and Mitch Axelrod made the band. I also had my wife, Jessica Koenig, sing with me on the cover track ‘Tighter, Tighter’.

After that, I left the recording world behind for a bit, playing live. Personally, I started joining some local Historical Societies bent on preserving the history of their towns. I was also getting into folk music, both old and new. The town I grew up in, Mineola, New York was soon to have a centennial. I found out they were to have this pageant, and wanted school children to sing a song about Mineola. So, I volunteered my time on it! However, the idea of this pageant faded, so I recorded two songs about Mineola, myself, with Mark and Susan Gaide, also signing with their production house, Chromeorange Music. We issued an EP CD, ‘I Love Mineola,’ in 2006. I reissued this later in 2018 as ‘11501,’ with additional live versions. Being that my recordings honoring local towns seemed to garner interest, my family had moved to Levittown, NY in 2003. The township is well known as being one of the first suburban towns established, building 17,447 homes in the matter of 4 years. On the way to their 60th anniversary, I began recording songs to make a CD. ‘Abbey Lane’ was released in 2007, including 8 songs about Levittown, plus two tracks from ‘Backroad Pond,’ and ‘Two’ unreleased tracks from years ago.

This was well received by the community, selling at several places, reviewed in the Levittown Tribune. It also garnered interest in the New York Times with an article titled ‘Odes to Suburbia’ and I also got to appear on Local New 12 with noted reporter Chauncey Howell. What was fun in creating this music was I had the opportunity to play and record many instruments I was itching to play (banjo, mandolin, dulcimer, autoharp, harmonicas, the recorder, and 12 string guitar) that I hadn’t used that much before. In 2017 I was excited by the fact that Keys’ old music was available again, thanks to Zero Hour Records in Australia! The CD was expanded to 20 tracks, making for a nice overview of all our material. I understand it is still available today. Thanks to Rob Leonard at WHPC Radio, he had a Keys reunion on his Radio show! I was there live, while Ken and John called in. A memorable show!

In 2022 came the 75th Anniversary of Levittown, and I recorded one new track, ‘Happy Anniversary, Levittown.’ Mark Gaide remastered the older tracks from ‘Abbey Lane’ and with the new track issued on CD, ‘Hey Levittown’. Here we are in 2023, and The Keys will be getting a mention in AC Comics’ Femforce for their issues #199 and #200!!!

Where else did you play?

The Long Island music scene is fraught with cover material and tribute bands. After The Keys broke up, and having recorded ‘Prose & Icons,’ I hooked up with guitarist Jim Veltri and we played at various coffee houses and colleges as the “Jim-Bob’s.” Once my music for the local communities came out, I was playing solo at libraries, schools, even some local fairs! I was a contributing artist for a John Lennon Birthday Tribute at Five Towns College for several years. I had a starring gig for the Huntington Folk Society once, as well. Today I’ve been playing for services at a couple local churches.

Are there any unreleased recordings that you would like to see being released in the near future?

As a songwriter and recording artist for ChromeOrange Music, I developed a new country band, Koenig’s Road. We have many songs finished that are available to listen to on streaming services, but yet to find a home on an LP or CD. The industry doesn’t seem to be as kind on these formats anymore; streaming seems the new way. However, one did leak out, on a tribute CD for Bobby Sutliff named ‘Skrang: Sounds like Bobby Sutliff’. We recorded his song ‘Ghost Town’.

Otherwise, only a small amount of material, other than demos, is fully finished. There was talk of a song for a cartoon, and then even recording a Christmas album, but nothing is solid on that yet. A local band of friends had a band, The House Pets, that used to cover my song ‘It Doesn’t Bother Me At All’. I wish it was recorded by them. Their guitarist, Evan Shore, now fronts a popular band Muck and the Mires. I’d given him a couple songs to record, and hope he does someday.

You mentioned that you’re a friend of Alan Munson?

I’m very happy for him that he has gained new notoriety for his music; he’s a great songwriter and arranger/guitarist. He’s itching for me to play my 12 string more often! We first crossed paths at a Nitty Gritty Dirt Band concert! I was a friend of that band, and Alan was with Kathy Mattea’s group. We keep in touch via the internet, and he’s due for another release very soon!

What can you tell us about Peter Grudzien and your work with him?

Peter Grudzien was “discovered” in getting mentioned in the Incredibly Strange Music books as an “outsider” musician. Hearing his unique songs with country and psychedelic mix, adding gay overtones in his lyrics, he was definitely a first!

Getting his address from record collector Paul Major, I first hooked up with Peter to interview him. It was later on I asked if he would record with me. Visiting his home in Astoria, Queens, I found he had already set up a recording for what we wanted to cover, which was Malvina Reynold’s ‘Little Boxes,’ only my cover had new lyrics pertaining to Levittown. Peter and I sang together, and I dubbed in some banjo and mandolin, otherwise it was all Peter’s doing, until producer Mark Gaide added some finishing touches. Sad to say that Peter has passed on, but a documentary was made about him. The Unicorn from co-directors Isabelle Dupuis and Tim Geraghty. A film I got to see and even speak about my association with Peter with the moviegoers. In the film, Peter even plays a small snippet of our song together!

What currently occupies your life?

I recently resigned with my record label and publisher, New York-based ChromeOrange Music, which is releasing a 4-song EP/mini album from your Koenig’s Road project. We are in discussion to collaborate on a Christmas album, which will feature a mix of new, original Christmas songs and traditional favorites.

I’ve been teaming with a friend in England, Wayne Adderley, hoping someday I could officially record with him. I’m also known for the vast collections and pop culture I have. There’s videos on YouTube on my cereal box collection!! Also one on my Beatles and Monkees collection. When the time is right, I’ve joined in with some musicians who play outdoor shows for the Port Washington Library, which is always fun. I also study the religions of the world. I have a couple online degrees from seminaries, and I’ve even given sermons for Parkway Church. I’ve played guitar for many church services.

Thank you for taking your time. Last word is yours.

If interested in my music or my upcoming events, please write to ChromeOrange Music at info@chromeorangemusic.com.

Klemen Breznikar

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Headline photo: The Keys

Bob Koenig Official Website / Facebook