Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Mid-West Spotlight: The Cornerstones - You Rule Me



Day four of our Midwest spotlight takes us back to North Dakota. Grand Forks, right on the border of Minnesota and North Dakota to be precise. The band is The Cornerstones and their song, You Rule Me, was a major regional hit, making big waves over in Bismarck, North Dakota, and across the midwest.  The label, Metrobeat Records, was started by Trashmen member Tony Andreason and Mike Jann in 1966, with You Rule Me, the band's first of two singles on the label, getting its release sometime in early '67.

Those are the facts, while the song speaks for itself.  If its writer, lead singer Stephen Rood, had not been studying Joe Meek, and specifically The Honeycombs, prior to writing this, well, I'd be shocked. The production and vocal delivery scream Joe Meek, especially in the opening salvo. Once we get past the brilliance of that opener, we are guided through a series of tempo and rhythm changes - including a frenzied upbeat ska (polka?) section - that just make me wonder: 1. how this was ever conceived? 2. how a band could be convinced to get behind it? and 3. how the hell did they pull it off so brilliantly?  Listen to it in its full unadorned midwest greatness!

I'd appreciate any additional information out there. There's a highly regarded "Best of Metrobeat" featuring today's song put out by Sundazed in 1990 and I'm curious what its liner notes say about The Cornerstones.

See you on the Flipside!

15 comments:

  1. It's Polkska! This song is as bizarre as it is great. As you say...Very Joe Meek, Very Honeycombs. Between the Minniepaul publishing and the Trashmen ownership, Minneapolis seems logical. But like you, I found a source that puts them in Grand Forks, ND on the Minnesota border. Either way, they have enough of a connection to Minnesota (label, management, etc.) to call them a Minnesota band (as well as a North Dakota band). I wonder if they ever had a rumble with Minot, North Dakota's The Trenchmen.

    http://ontheflip-side.blogspot.com/2013/05/song-of-week-trenchmen-chains-on-my.html

    Great stuff, Jack. Thanks.

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  2. Always one of my favorite Metrobeat songs! According to the liners on Sundazed "The Best of Metrobeat" and the Tom Tourville book, "Minnesota Rocked," the Cornerstones were in fact from Grand Forks ND. David Anthony from Metrobeat struck a deal with the Cornerstones to issue and promote their first effort, which became the number one record in the Dakotas but couldn't make it in other states. The Cornerstones released one more single on Metrobeat "When Will My Day Come" b/w "It's Gonna Be That Way," the A side was also on the Sundazed comp.

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    1. Thanks for the info - I corrected accordingly above. Is there a picture of the band on the comp? Thanks for stopping by.

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    2. No pic on the Sundazed album, there is a very small pic of them in Tom Tourville's book, not a great photo by any stretch, printed with very low 65 line screen, so it looks like a newspaper ad.

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    3. Thanks for the great info GP66. Keep coming back and helping out. We love it!

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    4. Hello Jack-
      I owe this blog more "Comments" than I have posted. I love the search for Garage music more than I actually love most of the music. What I mean is that I end up skimming through a ton of songs until something really strikes me. This is one of those tunes for me. It's such a cool song. Great time changes and perfect length. I love the floaty little run on the keys around the 1:04 mark. And then there's some double-time rhythmic sound for the last 12 seconds or so.
      Thanks for all the tunes, especially this one.

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    5. Mike - Thanks for pointing out that playful keyboard work - I hadn't noticed it. You know, the song is so crammed full of exceptional ideas and craft that it always just pulls me in. So much so that I never noticed that it comes in well below the two minute mark. Hope to hear some more of your observations and to bring some more garage gems to your ears.

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    6. It is posted on you tube a couple times. First one has the incorrect label pictured. Has several comments.
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZ-TgOv__wk
      Second one is correct label.
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXJt_lRMI2U

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  3. I know Lanny B Aaker the lead guitarist who sang the flip side of that single. I played with Lanny in the early 70's in the Grand Forks regional area. He was the lead guitar player in my band "The Larry Morris Show" and a very influential member of the band. I can confirm Lanny and most if not all of the other "Conerstones" members were indeed from Grand Forks, ND.

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    1. Larry, thank you so much for your input. If you still have contact with Lanny Aker, I hope you will let him know about this blog post on his work.

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  4. I just found this blog.
    Watched this band as a kid growing up. Very popular locally, playing at high school dances, Mentor, MN's Maple Lake Pavilion dances. They have gotten several together for some very events, their class reunions, all city reunions and some special events back at the Pavilion.
    There were at least two different drummers, Dave Jeffreys and George Hayertz and two bass Players Mike Blackmun and Gary Koth.
    Lanny Aaker, lead guitar played with many different groups and bands and is still playing.
    Mike Blackmun was a bass player, still plays with a very popular local band The Downtown Horns.

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  5. I remember the Cornerstones singing a song on American Bandstand, where the lead singer, wearing very thick glasses, sang this popular song, # 1 in North Dakota for many weeks, and it was a very, very fast vocal. Does anyone remember it? I can't find it on u-tube. It was not, "You Rule Me," Contact me at Starshine2knight@yahoo.com

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  6. I remember seeing the Cornerstones on AB, if not "You Rule Me", might have been "It's Gonna Be That Way".
    FYI;
    Some of the members, Steve, Lanny, Fred and Dave played the Central High School 1966 class reunion this past weekend at the Hilton Garden Inn.

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