The Reason was formed by co-workers / writers at the office of the City Paper. Members consisted of Craig Gendler (lead guitar), Craig Hankin (guitar), J.D. Considine (bass), John Ebersberger (drums), and vocalist Tom Chalkley. The band played the new wave sounds of Elvis Costello, and Graham Parker, while also writing and performing their own material. They recorded a single in 1980 on Bawana 100 “Jackie” b/w “Stay in Line” / ”She Don’t Like Boys.”
The Reason could be seen at Chesters Place (JHU’s Levering Hall), Towson Oddfellows Hall, the ‘79 Hopkins Spring Fair, Rock Against Nukes Benefit on Sept 30, 1979 at Bread & Roses Coffeehouse, and many gigs at the Marble Bar where they opened for groups such as the Fabulous Thunderbirds…
Gendler was later replaced with Tom Boynton. Considine was replaced with Gabor Lutor. Hankin and Chalkley left the band in late 1980. New members were Susie Callahan (lead vocals), Jay Turner (bass), and Clayton Blick (keyboards). The Reason eventually folded in late 1981.
Considine became a columnist for The Baltimore Sun. Throughout the ‘80s-00s he became a highly acclaimed music critic writing for Rolling Stone, Guitar World, The Village Voice, and a host of other publications. He was a main contributor to the Rolling Stone Album Guide originally published in 1992. Boynton went on to play in Annapolis bands Johnny Money & the Impressionists (who released the 1994 CD “Overlooking Paradise”), Boys About Town, and the Remnants… Turner was later with the Angie Miller Band, The Remnants…
In 1982 Hankin and Chalkley came up with a novelty idea, a parody of Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band as Bruce Springstone sung like Springsteen in the style of the classic Flintstones cartoon. They recruited ex-Reason members Lutor (bass) and Ebersberger (drums), along with Tommy Keene (guitarist of the Razz), Ron Holloway (sax), and Suzy Shaw (organ). The single “Bedrock Rap / Meet the Flintstones” b/w “Take Me Out to The Ball Game” (Cold Cuts 902) was released on Jack Heyrman’s Clean Cuts Records. A 12” vinyl version was also released.
The record sold over 35,000 copies and was played on over 500 radio station nationwide before Hanna-Barbera objected to Ebersberger’s front cover parody drawing. The record cover depicted Springsteen’s “Born to Run” album featuring a “Flintstonian” Bruce embracing a black-hatted Tyrannosaurus sax.
The songs have subsequently been reissued on “Dr. Dimento’s Greatest Novelty Hits of the 1980s,” “Rerun Rock,” and “Baseball’s Greatest Hits.” The Springstone version of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” is included in the Guiness Book of World Records for setting the record of “Most Continuous Plays of a Song” (57,161). Ohio radio station WJMP repeated the song as an act of protest for the duration of the 1982 Major League Baseball strike.
Ron Holloway, a prominent D.C. area musician, also played with Root Boy Slim, Dizzy Gillespie, Osirus, Gil-Scott Heron, and many others. Suzy Shaw became a producer and founded SoBo Video Productions, Inc.
Ebersberger’s “Shades of Winter” television documentary on MPT won a Grammy Award in 2003.
1980 Bawana 100 Jackie b/w Stay in Line / She Don’t Like Boys
As Bruce Springstone:
1982 Cold Cuts 902 Bedrock Rap – Meet the Flintstones /Take Me Out to The Ball Game
1982(12”) Clean Cuts 1202 Bedrock Rap – Meet the Flintstones /Take Me Out to The Ball Game
