From Timothy - March, 1981

A Review of the Dakota LP

by Larry Hillyard

DAKOTA (Columbia, 1980). Recorded at Le Studio, Montreal, Canada.

If ever the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area will be placed on the map of the rock music world, Dakota is the one band currently closed to doing just that. Jerry Hludzik, Bill Kelly, Bill McHale, Jeff Mitchell, and Tony Romano make up the group’s roster, with Hludzik and Kelly comprising the nucleus of the band. These are the two who have been known in this region for about ten years, mainly from their association with The Buoys and the hit single Timothy.

Shortly after Dakota was released, and without the aid of the record company making any kind of big media push, cities like Denver, Rochester, N.Y., the Long Island area, and of course cities in Northeastern Pennsylvania became familiar with the album by way of radio airplay. As of today, another two dozen or so cities and areas of the U.S. can be added to the list. In fact, the single Crazy Love made it to number two on a radio station’s playlist in St. Louis.

The cover picture was taken in Scranton at the Erie-Lackawanna train station by Jim Houghton, the same photographer responsible for the last three Billy Joel covers, the Blackfoot Strikes cover, and many others. Also, the album is produced by Danny Seraphine and David “Hawk” Wolinski; Danny from the group Chicago, and David from Rufus. Having that kind of experience behind the album is rather impressive.

Musically, there are nine songs total, with one being a ballad. The other eight are all up-tempo rock ’n’ roll tunes with story lines that are relatively easy to digest and relate to. Lady and Restless proved to be the strongest cuts overall, with If It Takes All Night being a local favorite.

For the members of Dakota, there would be more to look forward to after years of playing the nightclub circuit. As with any band, it is up to the public as to what level of success a band will reach. As Hludzik had said, “Anything can happen at any time.”

And, indeed, things did happen. Dakota landed the warm-up act position for the entire national 1980 Queen tour (with the exception of the Los Angeles dates.) By the middle of the tour, Queen lead guitarist Brian May had taken such an interest in the band that he began to make suggestions concerning small changes in their music flow. By the end of the tour, the two bands were family.

Anyone familiar with Dakota will surely want the group’s debut LP. For those who have not heard much of the band, the music on the disc is definitely worth owning. And for everyone into Dakota, a second album is on the way, hopefully to be released by summertime. With having had the opportunity to hear seventy percent of the music planned for this LP, let it be said that it can only strengthen and broaden the hold Dakota has on the rock music world.

Larry Hillyard, an area disc jockey, has worked for numerous radio stations, including, WLYC-WILQ (Williamsport), WMJQ (Rochester), WMAJ (State College), and WEZX (Scranton). He will be operating at KTYT (Tucson, AZ) in the near future.