BB AND THE GUNS

1981 spazz records

AINT SLEEPIN WITH ME

2942

1982 spazz music

STEP BY STEP

I DON'T KNOW I DON'T CARE

Here are the only 2 releases from the Dekalb IL. powerpop group BB and the Guns. After recently discovering these guys I had to know more so I tracked down founding member Ken Goodman and racked his brain about the band.

Band members were:

Rick Mosher- Guitar/vocals

Betsy Buenzow- Vocals

Ken Goodman- Keyboards

Rich Bell- Bass

Dave Briggs- Drums

How did you guys meet?

We all met in 1980 in the dorms of Northern Illinois Univ. We were all 18 years old. We put ads in the local paper for a drummer and bass player. Doug Davis answered our ad for a drummer. He was a frat boy, but we liked him because he had a great drum kit, a Cadillac Eldorado, and a rehearsal space in his frat house. All we had to do was play one or two parties per semester. And all the boys loved BB. Our first bass player, Rich Bell, was an older fellow who was kind of strange. He didn't talk much. We made him get a new wave haircut. He giggled a lot when he got stoned. We were all getting into punk and new wave. I was just getting out of REO, Journey, Styx, and Pure Prairie League. We started listening to Clash, Blondie, Sex Pistols, Gen X, OMD, Elvis Costello, Benatar, U2, and Josie Cotton. We were kind of outsiders in Dekalb IL, but there was a small group of artists and musicians that liked the same music, so it was kind of exciting and fun time.

Was it tough playing this sort of stuff in Dekalb IL?

It wasn't too hard being in a punk pand in Dekalb. There was even a bar in town that had "New Wave Night", where we all gathered every Wed night. We were mini-celebrities actually. All our bar gigs would get packed and the local radio stations played our singles quite a bit. We wore make-up to class and wore punk clothes. We didn't take ourselves too seriously. BB actually was going to NIU on a track scholarship.

who wrote the songs, and were there any other records on Spazz??

Rick and myself wrote all the songs and we did other punk/new wave covers. Spazz was my first label. Our two singles are the only releases. After Spazz, I started Pravda Records in 1984, which is still my full time job today. There is a small batch of BB songs unreleased that I have on a normal bias cassette.

Did you guys ever tour or play with any bigger touring bands?

We once opened for the Ramones at Haymakers in the Chicago suburbs. One guy stood right in front of me our entire set and was giving me the finger the whole time! I loved it! We also played with The Producers once and other regional bands I can't remember.

what became of the members of the group?

BB still lives near Dekalb IL and has 3 kids. She still sings and we're still in touch. I still play in a band with Rick called The New Duncan Imperials. We have been together 20 years and have toured the world and released many cds. Rich Bell, Doug Davis, Greg Balk, and Dave Briggs(former members) all disappeared into civilian life and have never re-surfaced as far as we know......