As she finished flipping through the new arrivals, a short, plump woman in her 50s came in the front door of the store, lugging a crate full of used vinyl records. Once she dropped it off at the front counter, she turned around and went back out to her car. Ten crates and 15 minutes later, the woman was out of breath, leaning over the front counter looking at the employee behind the desk.
"Whatever you're willing to pay, I'll take it," she said.
The employee stood baffled, half-heartedly flipping through the selection with a blank look on his face. He looked up at the woman, uninterested.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but we can't use any of these," the man said.
The woman's face went red. "Well, I don't want these records. You can just have them."
"That's not our policy. I'm sorry," the employee said.
"Well, where's the closest dumpster?" the woman finally blurted. He pointed her to the SuperAmerica out the door.
Pierce stood in the background, watching the conversation unfold. She spotted a couple of good finds in the woman's crates, including the Concert for Bangladesh box set, something she didn't have in her collection of more than 4,000 records at home. When she heard the word "dumpster," she had to intervene. She knew she would be getting some junk, but the thought of the records being thrown away was too much for a collector to take.
Pierce walked over to the distraught woman as she picked up the first crate to lug back outside.
"Ma'am, I don't have a lot of money on me, but do you mind if I look through your records?" Pierce asked.
"You can just have them," the woman said, raising her voice and looking back at the Cheapo employee to be sure he heard her.
Pierce carried the crates back outside to her two-door Chevy Cavalier as the woman walked alongside her. As she stuffed three crates in the back seat, she asked the woman why she was getting rid of so many records.
The woman's friend had just passed away, and she was helping clean out her estate. She was exhausted, sweating in the July heat.
"Your friend's records will be loved and taken care of," Pierce promised. "I host a radio show in Mankato. Your friend's records will be played on my show."
Relieved to be free of the crates, the woman left Pierce to finish filling her car with the records. Pierce never got the woman's name, but she managed to hand her the $10 she had in her wallet.
Satisfied with her car full of unknown vinyl treasures, Pierce drove to her sister's home in White Bear Lake. She was spending the weekend in town with her family, and when she pulled into the driveway, they were busy getting their boat ready for an afternoon on the water.
Her younger sister, Carrie Carroll, expected Pierce to come to her house with a handful of vinyl finds. When she arrived with her car jam-packed, Carroll just rolled her eyes.
Pierce plopped down on a lawn chair in the garage and flipped through her almost-free collection.
"Oh my god! Look, it's Pink Floyd's first album!" Pierce squealed.
In the middle of the crate, Pierce came across a special find: a record without a band name or album title. Pierce loved picking up these mysteries during her hunts. The records were usually polka bands, church choirs, or a woman singing along to the radio, but the slim chance of finding a valuable lost recording made it worth a listen. The record had a simple label and "4-22-74" handwritten on the front.
She put the record aside, reminding herself to listen to it later.
One month later, Pierce remembered to bring the blank record with her to work. Settling into her radio studio at KMSU Mankato before taping her show in 2005, Pierce pulled the record from its paper sleeve, lowered the needle on the vinyl, and played the third song on side one.
The keyboard leads the song into an up-tempo guitar solo backed up by conga drums. The singers come in, harmonizing the first verse.
Every night I close my eyes/Waiting for the sun to rise/Waiting for the moment when I'm walking through the park with you/Waiting for the moment when I'm holding hands with you
This was no polka band or church choir. Pierce knew seconds into the first song that this was a band that took their craft seriously. The soulful harmonies and Latin-style guitars reminded Pierce of early Chicago and Santana. She thought it sounded like a West Coast soul band with black singers.
Pierce's radio co-host, Tim Lind, came in shortly after her first listen.
"Remember that blank record I got at Cheapo?" Pierce asked Lind. "You've got to hear this."
Pierce slipped the needle back onto the spinning vinyl. Lind expected a laughable high school band. When he heard the first harmony, he sat down to actually listen.
This is incredible. I am Peter and Paul Johnson's sister-in-law. I am married to their older brother John. We have not seen nor heard from them since they were in San Dimas, CA. back in the 70's when they spent Thanksgiving with us. We too went through the St. Paul, MN phone book but were not successsful. We had exausted every means available to try and locate them and the rest of the family, including trying to contact ASI. If there is any way you can communicate to them that we have been looking for them all this time. They know where we live and we are listed in the phone book. They can CALL or email us, whatever. This is truly an answer to prayer.
Donald Harris 01/16/2011 5:01:00 AM
I not only heard of the group Purple Haze (Later HAZE) from Minneapolis, I heard them live and knew some of the members of the band. They were a very popular group in the late 60s and early to mid 70s. I was in the band with an extremely talented vocalist from Minneapolis named Dorris Johnson, who was possibly related to the Johnsons in HAZE. She passed away in August, 2010 in Minneapolis. I believe other members of a group she was with (SHOWPUSHERS) would know more than I do about HAZE. I was with RHYTHM MACHINE (INDIANAPOLIS, IN) but am from Omaha, NE. prpro@hotmail.com is my email address.
Henry Hormann 02/04/2010 6:31:00 AM
Kudos to Emily Kaiser for the Haze article. It was a tremendous reading experience. Not only was it an amazing story to begin with, but Kaiser did a great job with the writing angle by setting it up with the intrigue of the Mankato DJ's search for the band, then going into the history of the band, and then with the payoff at the end of these two parties finding each other and how greatly it affected them.
I had never heard of Haze before reading the piece, and just got drawn into it as I began reading. I've heard some friends who aren't even big music fans say the same about the article. It's definitely one that I'll be clipping and saving to the "Cool Articles" folder I've kept at home for the last 20 years.
Sheila 02/03/2010 9:55:00 AM
I don't know where to begin. This was such an awesome discovery. Thanks to facebook, my dear high school friend Terry McGinley pointed it out to me. She said she had read it and thought of me as back when the band took out on the road with virtually no money, I was one of the ones who baked banana bread, choc chip cookies with peanut butter, and my mom's chili and sent it off to them. When they were getting gigs here in the Twin Cities, trust me very few and far between, I would stay up for hours along with Linda Biggins and sew costumes for the band. Oh my how this has touched me. Now I will toss and turn all night trying to think of the name of the clubs they played in...F Davids, the Flame, Derby Lanes and Jockey Lounger, then there was the club on east Robie on the West Side...the Corp on Marshall Ave....oh such memories.
Edvard mike wick 02/03/2010 8:20:00 AM
Sure look different since I last saw the group. Good slide show of the group. Yep mikeminnesota on You Tube is the person that took their photos when purple haze (Haze) where going from a local group to a national group. They where way ahead of Prince and a outstanding show band.
LaShelle aka chickie 01/30/2010 3:38:00 PM
Finally! An article about this great band. I nearly hit the floor when I saw the article. I was kid back in the 70's and always wanted to sing with my cousins the Johnson brothers and my uncle Janelle but I was too little.I played their album every day back then and still remember all their songs. Just wish Donie was here to see this. She would have enjoyed this. Donie would tell me stories about the band days and their adventures on the road and the antics in the band house. So good to see the band get the recognition they deserve. Truly pioneers in the Minneapolis sound!!!!!!!!!
Tim 01/30/2010 1:25:00 AM
Thanks for the great article, Emily. I'm the Shyboy Tim that's mentioned in the Mystery Record article. If any of you guys are interested in hearing the Haze story in their own words, our radio show produced two one hour interview shows featuring the story in their own words. It's an amazing story to hear told by the guys that lived it. You'll find the shows streaming at our show blog shufflefunction.blogspot.com. LONG LIVE HAZE!
Shyboy Tim
taconite 01/29/2010 4:35:00 AM
Loved this article, and the opportunity to hear Haze music! Thanks for the great story!
red kelly 01/29/2010 12:18:00 AM
Wow! Great story... One more example of the internet (and vinyl) bringing people closer together. Thanks!
Pamela Espeland 01/28/2010 10:26:00 PM
Terrific story. Thanks.
jessica 01/28/2010 6:39:00 PM
What a great story! Hope to hear more from Haze soon. Will be checking our record collection for these albums!
Emily Kaiser 01/27/2010 11:55:00 PM
Hugh,
Mystery Record was their 1974 album, titled Haze with "I Do Love My Lady." The "unreleased album" is the one you mentioned with the black and white cover. They never actually sold or officially released it. Had it pressed and sitting in manager's basement, so only copies that should be out there originally were given to friends of the band or somehow made it out from basement storage. Never was sold in stores.
That make any sense?
Emily
Hugh 01/27/2010 9:22:00 PM
Similar to the poster above, I've owned two albums by Haze. So, is this "lost" album the 1978 LP with the Black & White cover, or is the Century pressing actually a lost album recorded between the ASI LP, and the 1978 LP?
pedro 01/27/2010 6:44:00 PM
this is a great article, and a reminder of all the great and talented bands and musicians that have slipped through the cracks over the years, whether victims of poor management, wrong timing or just plain bad luck. and its great to find even more great music coming from our frigid state. good luck to haze, and props to the mankato djs who tracked them down.
gojohnnygo 01/27/2010 5:54:00 PM
Haze had two full-length LPs and three 7" 45RPM singles. I've had all five in my collection at one time or another. Great stuff.
There are about 15 R&B/ soul records from the Twin Cities spanning the years 1958-1977 (pre-Prince). Good luck finding them- some sell for thousands. I've got mp3s of them all thanks to friends, what a treat.
Now try to find all of the New Wave & Punk 45s from Minnesota 1976-1984. There are SEVENTY FIVE different records- some are fantastic.
There are also dozens of pre-Beatles Minnesota Rock n Roll 45s (Mike Waggoner & The Bops, Augie Garcia, etc). Most have been compiled onto vinyl LPs back in the 1980s called "Minnesota Rockabilly Rock Volumes 1-5".
Not to mention the HUNDREDS of great Minnesota Garage Band 45s from the 1960s. Besides the big hits like "Surfin' Bird" & "Liar Liar", you could spend hours just listening to great Minnesota-only 45s from the 60s.
Lynn 01/27/2010 10:56:00 AM
This is an awesome article. I hope to see Haze perform one day.
