Mpls Music History
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mplsmusichistory.bsky.social
Mpls Music History
@mplsmusichistory.bsky.social
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The people, places, and sounds of music in Minneapolis, generally prior to 2000.
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Dang! 👎
November 25, 2025 at 10:50 PM
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The Phones (continued)
On May 25, 1989, the group played what would become its legendary farewell, hometown show. On the last song of the night, Cerise was determined to leave it all on the stage. He climbed up on a bass amp about four feet off the ground and jumped, but when he landed, he broke right through the stage and fell 13 feet to the concert floor of the orchestra pit below. "I went right through it like it was paper," he said. He doesn't remember landing, just being strapped to a back board and carried out by paramedics. "I was very lucky not to land on one of the music stands. I could have been impaled," he said. He was treated at nearby St. Luke's Hospital (what is now Sanford Broadway Medical Center) and released that night. The doctors gave him the go-ahead to perform the group's final shows the next week in Minneapolis, which he did. But months later, he was still having complications breathing. The Phones have a star painted on the legendary rock club First Avenue in Minneapolis. Contributed "It took me a long time to get over that," he said. Cerise switched gears after the breakup, moving from music to marketing, but the band got back together a decade later to record the album "Echo Return" and performed occasionally since then. At Friday's show he'll play the music he wrote for "Echo Return" as well as some earlier Phones and Stickman tunes and some choice covers. "Everybody loves the Phones when they reunite. There's so much buzz," said Dan Altenbernd, who is promoting the show. "They were the band. It was like a holiday when they came to town. It was a major event." Altenbernd hosts the Full Frontal Nerdity podcast and will record an episode with Cerise on stage before the singer starts his set, opening it up to questions from the audience. The two will talk about Cerise's experience in bands as well as his main job now, running Switchel Fizz, a non-alcoholic microbiotic canned beverage, something he learned how to make growing up from his mom. He used it when he was on tour to help his voice. "It literally kept me alive in my rock 'n roll days," he said. He runs the company with his wife, Gio Antell Cerise. In 2023, when the Julia Childs Gala came to Minneapolis to honor Sean Sherman and his Indigenous restaurant Owamni, Cerise was asked to create a signature cocktail with Switchel Fizz, which is featured in the establishment. Cerise got to rub shoulders with celebrity chefs like Andrew Zimmern at the event. Switching gears back to his music for this show, Cerise went back to the songs he wrote years ago to rearrange them for his first ever solo set and to fit his voice. "It's been fun," he said. "This is a full-circle moment for me to come back. This is my new side hustle." If you go What: Jeff cerise When: 7 p.m., Friday Where: The Aquarium Info: $15 in advance, $20 at the door. tickets.holdmyticket.com.
November 25, 2025 at 4:37 PM
mplsmusichistory.bsky.social
The Phones (continued)
"I dropped out of college and hit the road full time. I never looked back," Cerise said. "We didn't even have a home those first two years of the Phones. We just stayed in hotel rooms. We were consumed with music non-stop." The band relocated to Minneapolis where there were more clubs to play, but also hit the road throughout the Midwest, going into Canada and down to Texas and then out to New York. The Phones released its debut album, "Changing Mind" in 1983 and followed that with "Blind Impulse" in 1984, which received a rave review in the New York Times and a cover story in the Minneapolis weekly publication City Pages. In addition to singing, Cerise started playing percussion, saxophone and rhythm guitar. "We were riding high for a while," the singer said. "We opened for all kinds of cool bands like The Psychedelic Furs, Iggy Pop and The Romantics at Concordia College. It was a really fun time in the mid-8os for us." A highlight for him was a July 4 at Soo Pass Ranch in Detroit Lakes when The Phones were playing as the fireworks went off. By 1986 Brantseg was no longer in the band, but the other four carried on with the EP "Stick Man." "The title fit our paired down, very raw, bare-bones sound," Cerise coid Photo of Stick Man. Stick Man in 1989 included (left to right) Jeff Cerise, Paul Herstein, Jim Riley and Brad Mattson Contributed / Sheryl Marquardt / Taves left later that year, prompting Riley to move to lead guitar, Cerise to play rhythm guitar with Paul Herstein joining on bass. With the new lineup and sound, the group changed its name to Stick Man. While other Twin Cities indie rock acts like The Replacements, Soul Asylum, The Suburbs and more were getting interest from major labels, the call never came for the Phones or Stick Man. In 1989, the group decided to pack it in with a grand farewell tour of their favorite cities, including a penultimate stop at the Fargo Theatre. "That was our swan song," Cerise said. Oddly enough, three days after deciding to break up, band members got their first royalty check for the song "Crawl, Walk, Run," which had been in regular rotation on what was then the Fargo-Moorhead rock station Q-98.
November 25, 2025 at 4:37 PM
mplsmusichistory.bsky.social
The Phones (continued)
FARGO - When Jeff Cerise comes home for Thanksgiving, he's bringing his guitar. The former frontman for The Phones and Stickman will play a solo acoustic show Friday night at the Aquarium. The show is a homecoming in a number of ways. A native of Moorhead and a 1978 graduate from Moorhead High School, Cer first stepped on a stage here; in 1989, it was at the Fargo Theatre where his showmanship nearly cost him his life. Cerise grew up in sports as he and his three brothers all played hockey. "Go Spuds," he said last week from his home in Minneapolis. He still follows his alma mater, attending last Friday's championship football game, and he was there when the Spuds boys hockey team won the state championship earlier this year. "We were right up against the glass. It was great," he said. In a way, sports led him to music. Recovering from hip surgery, he started jamming with friends as the singer. In 1976 he formed the classic rock cover band Flint with drummer Brad Mattson and others. They started out playing a few local gigs, but soon found more opportunities on the road, touring when school allowed. Jeff Cerise is the founder of Switchel Fizz, a canned microbiotic beverage That year, while attending what is now Minnesota State Universi of Moorhead, the two met bassist Jim Riley, guitarists Rick Taves and Steve Brantseg and founded The Phones. Things took off in a hurry. Gigs started getting booked and they never stopped. Photo of the Phones. The Phones in 1983 included (left to right) Eick Taves, Jeff Cerise, Jim Riley, Brad Mattson and Steve Brantseg Contributed / Robert Whitman
November 25, 2025 at 4:37 PM
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www.twintonedigital.com/commandos
Gallery 1 — Twin/Tone Records
www.twintonedigital.com
November 24, 2025 at 11:45 PM
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Twin Cities Reader piece about the “final” shows by the Commandos, November 17, 1978.
In this region, anyway, the (Suicide) Commandos were asking whether or not we were men long before anyone else even considered it a question. Nov. 24 at the Longhorn is their last performance together. Those close to the band attribute the split to a number of things, all having to do with creative and business matters as opposed to personal conflicts. Rumors of their individual plans vary. The fourth Comman-do, Mark Goldstein, has joined Nip and Tuck as a keyboardist and songwriter. A long-time fan summed it up the best: "Any band in this area playing an innovative type of rock 'n' roll owes something to the Commandos." They will be sorely missed by a whole lot of people. It wasn't just rock 'n' roll.
November 24, 2025 at 11:45 PM
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Longhorn shows, including recording of live Commandos record.. Twin Cities Reader, November 17, 1978.
Longhorn, 14 S. 5th St., (612) 333-8000 11/16-17: Nikki Corvette and The Convertibles 11/18: Flint 11/20: Eddie Henderson, jazz 11/21: Willie Alexander and The Boom Boom Band 11/22-24: Commandos 11/25-26: Flamingo 11/27: Jazz 11/28: Suburbs 11/30: Yipes 12/3: Pat Matheny
November 24, 2025 at 11:45 PM
mplsmusichistory.bsky.social
Ad from the Twin Cities Reader on November 24, 1978.
the Longhorn off the mall ROCK AT THE LONGHORN Nov. 22-23-24 The COMMANDOS Commit SUICAUG The last three appearances of The Commandos. We ore going to miss this truly great band. De sure to see them. Nov. 25-27 FLAMINGO Nov. 30-Dec. 2 YIPES Wisconsin's donation to Living Rock X-MAS SPECIAL ½ Price Drinks 9-10 p.m. 14 South 5th Street 333-8000 Minneapolis
November 24, 2025 at 11:45 PM
mplsmusichistory.bsky.social
I haven’t been able to find it. It must be documented somewhere!
November 23, 2025 at 2:43 PM
mplsmusichistory.bsky.social
streettheorist.bsky.social Della @streettheorist.bsky.social · 3d
Last night's tribute to Lead Belly at the Cedar marked the 77th anniversary of his 1948 Minneapolis house show. It was a magical night full of stories about Lead Belly's influence on the American folk tradition, esp here in MN. A highlight for me was Pop Wagner and Mikkel Beckman's take on this song
When I Was A Cowboy
YouTube video by Leadbelly - Topic
youtu.be
November 22, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Reposted by Mpls Music History
timfool61two.bsky.social
Jellybean just played an open jam night in St Paul this past week. He's a fairly decent guitarist. (sarcasm)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtWh...
* 11/18/2025 * Greatest Jam On Earth @ The Blues Saloon * Jellybean Johnson Here!!! MUST SEE THIS!
YouTube video by Blues Saloon
www.youtube.com
November 22, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Reposted by Mpls Music History
chrissteller.bsky.social
Gift article: Jon Bream article from four years ago on Jellybean Johnson, who moved to Minneapolis from Chicago at age 13, was The Time's drummer (among many other things). #RIP

www.startribune.com/at-64-minnes...
www.startribune.com
November 22, 2025 at 2:22 PM
mplsmusichistory.bsky.social
MPR interview about Lead Belly’s Minneapolis performance.
Folk and blues legend Lead Belly’s Minneapolis private party
Folk and blues singer Huddie Ledbetter performed a short concert at a friend’s Minneapolis home in 1948. Instead of being lost in music history, someone decided to record it.
www.mprnews.org
November 21, 2025 at 2:41 PM