John & Jim Cooper - Chance / The Cooper Sonics
We (John and Jim Cooper), were born on July 5, 1955, and raised in Pueblo, Colorado, native to Southeastern Colorado. We began our musical journey at a very young age. On Thursday nights, our dad would take us down to the basement, get out his Spanish guitar, and play and sing songs to us. Songs like Red river Valley and Deep Elum Blues were some of the first songs that we heard him sing. He taught us those tunes, and we still play them at many of our performances. We grew up as part of the “baby-boomer” generation, and our formative years were centered around the 1950’s and 1960’s. We were a typical middle class family. Our Mom passed away when we were 5 years old, but we had an awesome upbringing by our Dad, and our maternal grandmother, Mary Krout, who provided a very supportive and nurturing childhood for us.
Music was always a fascination for us, and we enjoyed listening to the radio, and playing 78, 45, and 33 1/3 rpm vinyls on our portable record player. Prior to starting our first band, a typical weekend for us would be trying to get our homework finished early, so that we could enjoy activities with our family and friends, including skiing trips with our Dad, riding bicycles, playing neighborhood football and basketball with our friends, going camping, and listening to lots of music. During out high school years, Friday and Saturday nights would be spent watching music programs, such as the Midnight Special, and Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert. Our interests besides music included attending high school sporting events, bowling, going to a local Drive-In Movie theater, riding motorcycles, and lots of other fun kid’s activities. Our first live concert experience was attending a Monkees show at the Colorado State Fair, in the late 1960’s. We had our first “live” musical experience in the 5th grade, when we were allowed to join a “cardboard guitar” band with some of our classmates.
We performed a version of the song “Sweet Pea” by Tommy Roe, and from that moment on, we were welcomed into the “cool crowd” of our grade school. That was kind of a turning point in our lives, and we knew then and there that we wanted to be pop guitar players and singers. We would go to many more concerts in the ensuing years, mainly at the Colorado State Fairgrounds, located here in Pueblo, Colorado, and saw lots and lots of top-notch professional bands and musicians perform there. Artists such as Three Dog Night, Charley Pride, Kenny Rogers and the First Edition, Lobo, Seals and Crofts, Eddie Rabbit, Captain and Tennille, 38 Special, Jefferson Starship, Air Supply, Willie Nelson, Garth Brooks, Mac Davis, Roy Clark, Glen Campbell, and many more. Groups such asThe Beatles, The Eagles, The Beach Boys, Herman’s Hermits, The Monkees, The Rolling Stones, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, and REO Speedwagon, were among our biggest influences in those early days, and listening to their great songs inspired us and instilled in us a strong desire to “be like them,” and one day bring our own music to the world.
We met bandmate Jeff Glaubensklee while attending Pitts Junior High School in our hometown of Pueblo, Colorado. We shared the same interests, and immediately became close friends. Jeff was a percussionist in the school band, while we were part of the trumpet section. At that time we were also learning to play guitar, and we would often get together in Jeff’s basement to jam some current rock and pop tunes. Jeff’s dad, Roy, worked for the same company as our dad, Bert, and our families soon became close. We loved Jeff’s unique style of drumming, which meshed well with our guitar work. Our personalities were similar, which contributed to the “chemistry” between us. It wasn’t until high school that we met our bass player and good friend, Karl Harvey. We did not musically connect with Karl, however, until we had graduated from South High School and were attending Southern Colorado State College. A mutual friend, Charles Carlino (who also picked and strummed with us) brought Karl to a party at our house one night. We began talking music, were impressed with Karl’s musical resume and personality, and decided to form a small band and play some music together! Karl was also a six-string guitar player. Too many guitarists and no bass player, so Karl graciously agreed to switch instruments and pick up the bass guitar.
We had practiced with Jeff for quite some time, and after we met Karl, we knew we had the nucleus of a band right there, and decided to form Chance. The chemistry was great, we all had a lot in common (attending the same schools, had the same friends, liked the same type of music, and enjoyed being around each other). We used to go out to local clubs and check out all the bands. A lot of our friends were out there, playing on stage, and having a blast. We thought that if they can do it, then so can we! Some of the clubs we used to frequent, that featured live entertainment were TJ’s Nightclub, St. George and the Dragon, the Holiday Inn, Jerry’s Lounge, Pinocchio’s, Circle of Thieves, The Chilton Inn, Bobby’s Cabaret, The Caravan, and others. After learning and rehearsing a few cover songs, we felt ready to test the waters and try and sit in for a band at a nightspot in Pueblo, Colorado. After a couple of drinks to calm the jitters, drummer Jeff approached the band then performing at Bobby’s Cabaret, and asked them if we could play a song. They were taking a break, so they graciously agreed to let us take the stage. One of their band members asked the name of our band so that they could introduce us.
We did not yet have a name for the band, and after an awkward few seconds, Jeff proclaimed that the name of our band was “Starfire.” None of us knew how he came up with that name. Jeff said that it just popped into his head, out of the blue, so we all agreed that we would be known as Starfire. Still quite nervous, we launched into one of our favorite songs, “Ridin’ The Storm Out” by REO Speedwagon. Quite stoked from making it through the song, we were ready to kick off another tune, when the house band decided that their break was over. We laughed about that later, saying that either they were afraid that we would upstage them, or that we sounded terrible, and they didn’t want to lose their crowd! After the thrill of our first live performance on a stage, we felt that we needed to learn a whole lot of songs, and get ready for our own first gig. Our primary place of rehearsal was in the basement of the Cooper house. That made for many long and loud nights for our Dad to put up with, as we honed our repertoire. He would have to crank up the TV upstairs to 11, in order to watch something and be able to hear the dialogue. Karl had a little room in the backyard of his parents house, which sported a pool table, and a stereo system. It was a combo practice room and party space, and we did plenty of both in that little hot spot. It got so hot in there, during the summer when we were practicing, that when we went outside to take a break in the 100degree+ heat, it felt like we were stepping into an air conditioner!
We know our parents had to put up with a lot from us, as we were rehearsing and partying. In 1977 all four band members and a guest flew to Hawaii for a brief vacation. We had a blast there, and managed a short sit-in performance at the King KameHameha Hotel on the big island. Afterwards, we all took a stroll on the beach, and Karl was inspired to write the lyrics to “Harbor Nights.” After returning home, we all got together in our basement rehearsal space and collaborated to develop the musical arrangement. That Hawaiian vacation also got the creative juices flowin’ for the creation of “Magic Eyes.” Jim was musically inspired to author most of the lyrics, and again, the whole group collaborated on the melody, chords and musical arrangement. We all enjoyed writing together, and each member always had free reign to contribute lyrical and musical content. As is always the case, compromise is needed, and was called upon frequently in the composition of these tunes. Both songs endured some creatively friendly differences of opinion! In the end, it all worked out. Our 45 RPM was a self-released record, and was recorded during a couple of sessions at American Recording Studio in Denver, Colorado, during the summer of 1978.
It was our first foray into a state-of-the-art recording studio, and we were blown away the minute we stepped into the facility. It felt like “we had arrived!” We recorded the music tracks to both songs live, and later overdubbed the vocals. We were impressed with the studio equipment, acoustics, drum booth and sound separation. Needless to say we were all feeling butterflies, but managed to get it all in just a couple of takes. Bruce, our engineer was very technically adept, knowledgeable, patient and friendly. He calmed us down and offered some great advice which we put to good use during the sessions . When we stepped into the control room for the playback, we were again blown away by the sound! It was like: “Is that really us and our songs, sounding so awesome and amazing, emanating from those JBL studio monitors?” There were endless high-fives among st us, and talks about hit potential! Even though we were “green” and “wet-behind-the-ears” in the studio, we savored every second of it! It took approximately 8 hours to complete the recording of both songs, from the set up time to the final mix and a few tape copies. American Studios had a 2-inch Ampex 16-track tape recorder, and we opted for the 8-track recording price.
We actually used 9 tracks, as the studio owner, Joe, offered to throw in that extra track at no extra charge. With reel-to-reel tape copy in hand, we approached a friend of ours (Rip Avina – program director of KDZA radio station in Pueblo), and he promised to play the songs on air, but first we had to become BMI affiliated songwriters and publishers, in order to comply with FCC rules and regulations at that time. He also said that we should get the songs on vinyl, as that was the medium used to broadcast music over-the-air in those days. After receiving the shipment of our pressed vinyl in the mail, we wasted no time in taking it to some local record stores to sell and promote our band. We played both songs at all of our performances, proudly proclaiming that “We wrote these songs!” That single was our foray into the world of writing and recording our original compositions. We had lofty goals of securing a record deal with a major label, as we now had our own 45 single – a feat that few Pueblo, Colorado artists had achieved at that time.
We decided to name our music publishing company Sheppard Music, Ltd., and upon doing some pre-internet research, we were dismayed to discover that the name “Starfire” was already taken by another band. After a long afternoon of trying to come up with a new band name, we chose the name “Chance,” which remained our name until 1983, when we renamed the band “Calculated Risk.” After completing all the paperwork in incorporating our publishing company, and affiliating ourselves with BMI, we now had fulfilled the requirements to get our songs on the radio. Rip was pleasantly surprised with all that we had accomplished in such a short period of time, and he arranged to have “Magic Eyes” featured on a weekly contest called “Battle of the new sounds.” Our record was pitted against a new song by Paul Davis, titled “Sweet Life,” which went on to become a national hit. We told just about everyone we knew to call KDZA and vote for our song, but unfortunately, it came up just short.
It was still a thrill for us though, as we had garnered our first radio play. In the ensuing days and weeks, KDZA played both sides of the record, and it was such a rush to wake up in the morning with the alarm clock starting our day with one of our songs. Another local radio station, Love 99, also started playing the songs, and some nightclub DJ’s would play the songs while we were in the club. It was so cool to be dancing with beautiful girls, telling them that we wrote the song that we were dancing too! After getting great response to our original music in Pueblo, in 1978, we all decided to make the big move to the big city of Los Angles, as that was the closest music mecca to us, where all the major record companies and music publishers were based out of. We spent the next several years back and forth to LA, playing and promoting our band, and finally made a commitment to settle there in 1982. We stayed together until 1989, and had so much fun recording, and performing in California, and we made a lot of connections with prominent music professionals, some of whom we are still in touch with today.
We (John and Jim Cooper) are still pursuing music to this day, writing, recording, and performing in Pueblo, and other cities in our home state of Colorado. We are presently known as “The CooperSonics,” and are still in touch with the other two members of Calculated Risk – Jeff Glaubensklee and Karl Harvey. There still remains a possibility of getting our original lineup back together one day! What we are most proud of when we reflect back on our early careers in music, is all the friends we made along the way, all the experiences we had together (good and bad), and most of all, the satisfaction of 4 young kids in a band, having a dream, and sticking together and doing all we could to try and make that dream come true. To us, we did “make it”, and it was all worthwhile, and more that we could have imagined. What a ride!!
Dakota Brown
