View source for Get Smart! (band)

{{Short description|American post-punk band}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Musicians -->
| name                = Get Smart!
| image               = Get Smart! 2021.jpg
| caption             = Get Smart! live in 2021
| landscape           = yes
| origin              = [[Lawrence, Kansas]]<br>[[Chicago]], Illinois
| genre               = [[Post-punk]], [[Punk rock]], [[alternative rock]], [[New wave music|new wave]]
| years_active        = 1980–1990, 2020-present
| label               = [[Fresh Sounds Records|Fresh Sounds]], Fever, [[Restless Records|Restless]], [[Enigma Records|Enigma]], Syntax, Capitol Punishment
| associated_acts     = [[Dolly Varden (band)|Dolly Varden]], [[Nora O'Connor|Nora O'Connor Band]], the Honeybees, Cryin' Out Loud
| website             = {{homepage|getsmartmusic.com}}
| current_members     = Marcus Koch<br>Lisa Wertman Crowe<br>Frank Loose
| past_members        = [[Ric Menck]]<br>Jay Sebastian<br>Bob Lara
}}
'''Get Smart!''' is a three-piece [[post-punk]] [[band (music)|band]] formed in [[Lawrence, Kansas]], in 1980 consisting of Marcus Koch, Lisa Wertman Crowe and Frank Loose. The band released 2 studio albums along with some singles and EPs over a 10-year career.  The band re-united in 2020.

==Career==
The band formed while at [[University of Kansas]] in 1980 and, along with bands like [[the Embarrassment]], and the [[The Micronotz|Mortal Micronotz]], they were prominent in the [[alternative rock|alternative music]] scene in Lawrence.<ref name="idk1"/><ref name="udk2 nam"/><ref name=spin/><ref name=rs/> They released their first record in 1981, which was a [[flexi disc]] released with "Talk Talk" magazine.  This was followed by a self-released 4-track EP called ''Words Move''.  They had 5 songs on the four band [[Split album|split]] cassette, released by [[Fresh Sounds Records]], called ''[[Fresh Sounds From Middle America (vol 1)]]'' (the four bands being Get Smart!, the Embarrassment, the Yard Apes and the Mortal Micronotz).  In 1982 they relocated to [[Chicago, Illinois]].<ref name="ljw1"/> The group were signed by [[Colin Camerer]] to his Fever Records label (an independent label in [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]]) and released their first album, ''[[Action Reaction]]'' in 1984.  Their second album, ''[[Swimming with Sharks (Get Smart! album)|Swimming with Sharks]]'', was released in 1986 on [[Enigma Records]]' "[[Restless Records]]" imprint.

The band received considerable coverage in Nebraska's ''Capitol Punishment'' fanzine.<ref name=cp/>

==Line-Up Changes==
In 1987 Bob Lara, from the band Reaction, was added as a second guitarist.  Shortly afterwards, Frank Loose left the band.  He was originally replaced in 1988 by Ric Menck. Menck only stayed with the band for a short time.  He was replaced by Jay Sebastian (aka "Redd Klaats").  Sebastian left the band after about a year, at which they continued as an acoustic trio until they disbanded in 1990.<ref name=kot/>

==After Get Smart!==
*Lisa Wertman continued performing with Bob Lara as "The Lisa and Bob Show" for about a year.  Then she joined the band [[Dolly Varden (band)|Dolly Varden]] as a founding member.<ref name=varden/>  Later she would perform with the [[Nora O'Connor|Nora O'Connor Band]], the Honeybees and Jeanie B and the Jelly Beans, and now plays in Damaged Gods, a [[Gang of Four (band)|Gang of Four]] tribute.
*Marcus Koch moved back to Lawrence and currently plays in the country band "Cryin' Out Loud".<ref name=col/>
*Bob Lara has played in many local Chicago bands and has participated in several re-unions of his old band "Reaction".
*Ric Menck went on to form [[Velvet Crush]]
*Jay Sebastian went on to form the "Twang Bang" duo.

==Reunion==
On February 5, 2020, the band announced via its Facebook page that they would be reuniting, with the original line-up, for a 40th anniversary show, to take place at the Bottleneck in Lawrence, KS on November 7, 2020.<ref name=reunion/> The band's first concert was on October 31, 1980.<ref name="sledbag"/><ref name="the Pitch"/> The reunion concern was postponed because of the [[COVID-19 pandemic]] and took place on November 6, 2021.<ref name="capitol"/><ref name=bridge909/>

==Band members==
* Marcus Koch – guitar, lead vocals (1980–1990, 2020)
* Lisa Wertman Crowe – bass, lead vocals (1980–1990, 2020)
* Frank Loose – drums, lead vocals (1980–1987, 2020)

'''Past members'''<br/>
* Ric Menck – drums (1988)
* Jay Sebastian (aka "Redd Klaats") – drums (1988–1989)
* Bob Lara – guitar, vocals (1988–1990)

==Discography==
[[File:Getsmart.jpg|thumb|right|Frank Loose, Lisa Wertman Crowe and Marcus Koch circa 1980, Lawrence, KS]]
===Singles and EPs===
* "[[Numbers and Colours]]" / "Ankle Deep In Mud" (1981 flexi, Fresh Sounds) (with "Talk Talk" magazine, 1981-05-13)<ref name="sledbag"/>
* ''[[Words Move]]'' (4 song EP, Syntax, 1981-12-08)<ref name="sledbag" />
* ''[[Fresh Sounds from Middle America (vol 1)]]'' ([[split album|split]]/cassette, Fresh Sounds, 1981-12-12)<ref name="sledbag" />
* "Back Into The Future" / "World Without End" (1985 live, Fever/Enigma)
* "Gold To Rust" (1987 45, Enigma Europe)
* "Oh Yeah No" (6 song EP, Capitol Punishment, 2020-11-17)<ref name="capitol"/>

===Albums===
* ''Get Smart!'' (1981, 11 song demo tape)
* ''[[Action Reaction]]'' (1984, 12 song LP, Fever/Enigma)
* ''[[Swimming with Sharks (Get Smart! album)|Swimming with Sharks]]'' (1986, 10 song LP, Restless/Enigma)

===Compilation appearances===
* Inspiration Series No.&nbsp;1 (German cassette) – included "On And On" (different version)
* [[Sub Pop]] No.&nbsp;5 – included "Eat, Sleep A Go-Go" (from the "Words Move" EP)
* Sub Pop No.&nbsp;7 – included "Black Mirror" (different version)
* [[Enigma Variations (album)|Enigma Variations]] – included "Just For The Moment" (from ''[[Action Reaction]]'')
* [[Restless Variations]] – included "Back Into The Future" (from ''[[Swimming with Sharks (Get Smart! album)|Swimming with Sharks]]'')
* Heat From The Wind Chill Factory&nbsp;— included "What It Is We Fear" (acoustic version)

==Reception==
* "one of the few seriously innovative bands in the Lawrence-Kansas City-Topeka area" (Blake Gumprecht; University Daily Kansan; Dec 15, 1980)<ref name=idk1/>
* "original, simple, clean material and an energized, tight performance" (Karen Barber; KLZR 106; June 20, 1981) <ref name=klzr/>
* "their music has a beat and a fundamentally aggressive quality that is extremely satisfying" (John Korst; Jet Lag; Feb 1983) <ref name=jet/>
* "This is what happened to Midwestern bar bands when they heard the [[Sex Pistols]].  Lots of beat and jangle; it's raw and rocking" (Barbara Nellis; [[Playboy]]; March 1985) <ref name=playboy/>
* "the band has a truly impressive knack for three-piece writing and arranging. Their new LP, ''Swimming With Sharks'', is full of tense, carefully crafted miniatures that meld unvarnished noise with unexpected pretty vocal harmonies" (Renaldo Migaldi; [[Chicago Reader]]; 1986) <ref name=reader/>
* "Dense minimalist rock featuring choppy guitars, a tight rhythmic thrust, and passionate, often eerie vocals, with stream-of-consciousness lyrics" (Jeff Silberman; Rock It; Fall 1986) <ref name="rock it"/>
* "Get Smart! has emerged as one of Chicago's most respected (and nationally renowned) underground bands" (Moira McCormick; Illinois Entertainer; September 1986) <ref name=ie/>
* "Warm pop melodicism competes with punky bluntness and jagged noise tendencies" (Ira Robbins; [[Trouser Press]]; 1986) <ref name=tp/>
* ''Swimming With Sharks'' blends "aggressive dance-punk a la [[Gang of Four (band)|Gang of Four]] and [[Pylon (band)|Pylon]] with classique-moderne action reminiscent of [[X (American band)|X]] and [[The Embarrassment]]" (Joseph Neff, The Vinyl District, Oct 5, 2021)<ref name=neff/>

==References==
{{reflist|refs  = 
<ref name="idk1">{{Cite news
| first        = Blake
| last         = Gumprecht
| title        = Get Smart! tells audiences to wise up
| newspaper    = The University Daily Kansan
| date         = 1980-12-15
| quote        = They are Get Smart!, only three months old but one of the few seriously innovative bands in the Lawrence-Kansas City-Topeka area
| pages        = 6}}</ref>
<ref name="udk2 nam">{{Cite news
| first        = Catherine
| last         = Behan
| title        = Get Smart! a leader&nbsp;— New Wave rides high in placid Lawrence
| newspaper    = The University Daily Kansan
| pages        = front page
| date         = 1982-02-15}}</ref>
<ref name=spin>{{Cite news
| first        = Mike
| last         = Mills
| authorlink   = Mike Mills
| title        = Our Town
| newspaper    = [[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]
| url          = https://books.google.com/books?id=ImJFcBcCvUoC&dq=spin+%22get+smart%22&pg=PA23
| date         = July 1985
| quote        = If the Embarrassment from Lawrence, Kansas, had become a huge national hit, people would have gone, "God, there's Get Smart!, and The Mortal Micronotz&nbsp;— LOOK AT ALL THOSE BANDS!  What is it about Lawrence, Kansas, that produces these bands?"
| pages        = 23}}</ref>
<ref name=rs>{{Cite news
| first        = David
| last         = Fricke
| authorlink   = David Fricke
| title        = The Underground Empire
| date         = 1986-12-19
| newspaper    = [[Rolling Stone]]
| url          = http://www.rockabilly.net/wikiscans/rs-12-18-1986.shtml
| archive-date = 2011-07-18
| archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20110718144030/http://www.rockabilly.net/wikiscans/rs-12-18-1986.shtml
| quote        = Lawrence, Kansas, has been a hotbed of alternative music for several years, thanks principally to the indefatigable Bill Rich, who runs the hardy, little Fresh Sounds label there.  As far back as 1981, Rich was issuing the first pressings by the Lawrence bands Get Smart! and the Embarrassment, both of whom went on to underground-cult fame.
| pages        = 116–122}}</ref>
<ref name="ljw1">{{Cite news
| first        = Chuck
| last         = Twardy
| title        = Get Smart! getting smarter in Chicago
| newspaper    = [[Lawrence Journal-World]]
| pages        = 3D
| url          = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Y5kyAAAAIBAJ&pg=4078,3315910&dq=&hl=en
| date         = 1982-10-17}}</ref>
<ref name=cp>{{Cite book
| first        = Jim
| last         = Jones
| title        = The Complete Capitol Punishment
| publisher    = CP Publishing
| date         = 2009-07-17
| location     = Nebraska
| pages        = 2, 8, 110–113, 142, 150, 215–217, 265
| url          = http://capitolpunishmentzine.com/
| isbn         = 978-0-9638594-3-3
| url-status   = dead
| archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20091214085804/http://www.capitolpunishmentzine.com/
| archive-date = 2009-12-14}}</ref>
<ref name="sledbag">{{cite web
| first        = Frank
| last         = Loose
| title        = Get Smart! timeline
| date         = 2003-09-28
| url          = http://sledbag.com/splooft/getsmart/gs_what01.html
| access-date  = 2017-08-29}}</ref>
<ref name=klzr>{{Cite news
| first        = Karen
| last         = Barber
| title        = Get Smart!
| newspaper    = KLZR 106 Music Guide
| location     = Lawrence, KS
| date         = 1981-06-20}}</ref>
<ref name=jet>{{Cite news
| first        = John
| last         = Korst
| title        = Get Smart! - no dummies
| newspaper    = Jet Lag Magazine
| location     = St. Louis
| date         = February 1983}}</ref>
<ref name=playboy>{{Cite news
| first        = Barbara
| last         = Nellis
| title        = Get Smart! Action Reaction review
| newspaper    = [[Playboy]]
| pages        = 20
| date         = March 1985}}</ref>
<ref name=reader>{{Cite news
| first        = Renaldo
| last         = Migaldi
| title        = Critic's Choice - Get Smart!
| newspaper    = [[Chicago Reader]]
| date         = 1986-05-23}}</ref>
<ref name="rock it">{{Cite news
| first        = Jeff
| last         = Silberman
| title        = Swimming With Sharks review
| newspaper    = Rock It Publications
| location     = Hollywood, CA
| pages        = 16
| date         = Fall 1986}}</ref>
<ref name=ie>{{Cite news
| first        = Moira
| last         = McCormick
| title        = Swimming With Sharks review
| newspaper    = Illinois Entertainer
| date         = September 1986}}</ref>
<ref name=tp>{{Cite news
| first        = Ira
| last         = Robbins
| title        = Get Smart!
| newspaper    = [[Trouser Press]]
| year         = 1986
| url          = http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=get_smart
| access-date  = 2020-01-21}}</ref>
<ref name=col>{{Cite news
| title        = Cryin' Out Loud
| url          = http://www.cryinoutloud.net/
| access-date  = 2017-08-29
| archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20130729230653/http://www.cryinoutloud.net/
| archive-date = 2013-07-29
| url-status   = dead}}</ref>
<ref name=varden>{{Cite news
| first        = Eric
| last         = Puls
| title        = Dolly Varden Hooks Listeners
| newspaper    = [[Chicago Sun-Times]]
| date         = 1994-04-22
| url          = https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/24382739.html?dids=24382739:24382739&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Mar+26%2C+1993&author=David+Rothschild.&pub=Chicago+Tribune+%28pre-1997+Fulltext%29&desc=Road-ready+Stump+the+Host+gets+a+new+bass+player&pqatl=google
| archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20110629001509/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/24382739.html?dids=24382739:24382739&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Mar+26,+1993&author=David+Rothschild.&pub=Chicago+Tribune+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&desc=Road-ready+Stump+the+Host+gets+a+new+bass+player&pqatl=google
| url-status   = dead
| archive-date = June 29, 2011
| quote        = Our bass player quit and when we auditioned Lisa (Wertman, ex-Get Smart!), we felt a chemistry. The three of us began playing quite a bit and it was obvious that we needed to start a new outfit. Stump had become standardized and somewhat boring. Now joined by drummer Matt Thobe and guitarist/keyboardist Mark Balletto, Dolly Varden rocks harder and leaner than the ambling Stump the Host.
| access-date  = 2011-02-14}}</ref>
<ref name=reunion>{{cite web
| author       = Get Smart!
| title        = Save the Date!
| date         = 2020-02-05
| website      = Facebook
| url          = https://www.facebook.com/GetSmartBand/posts/10157896962955883
| quote        = SAVE THE DATE! November 7, 2020 Get Smart! will play our 40th Anniversary show with special guests at The Bottleneck in Lawrence, Kansas! Stay tuned for more details. We can't wait to see you!
| access-date  = 2020-02-18}}</ref>
<ref name="the Pitch">{{cite web
| first        = Nick
| last         = Spacek
| title        = 40 Years in a Band is an Act of Rebellion
| date         = July 2020
| website      = [[The Pitch (newspaper)|The Pitch]]
| pages        = 18–19
| url          = https://issuu.com/thepitchkc/docs/pitch_0720_web
| access-date  = 2020-07-03}}</ref>
<ref name="capitol">{{cite web
| first        = Jim
| last         = Jones
| title        = GET SMART! Interview. Part I, Reunion
| date         = 2020-11-19
| website      = Capitol Punishment Fanzine
| url          = https://www.facebook.com/groups/51864766595/permalink/10157982929801596/
| archive-url  = https://archive.today/20201121005329/https://www.facebook.com/groups/51864766595/permalink/10157982929801596/
| archive-date = 2020-11-21
| access-date  = 2020-11-20}}</ref>
<ref name="kot">{{cite web
| first        = Greg
| last         = Kot
| authorlink   = Greg Kot
| title        = 'GRAFFITI BRIDGE'
| date         = 1990-08-23
| website      = [[Chicago Tribune]]
| url          = https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1990-08-23-9003110667-story.html
| access-date  = 2021-04-24}}</ref>
<ref name="neff">{{cite web
| first        = Joseph
| last         = Neff
| title        = Graded on a Curve: Get Smart!, "Oh Yeah No" EP
| date         = 2021-10-05
| website      = The Vinyl District
| url          = https://www.thevinyldistrict.com/storefront/2021/10/graded-on-a-curve-get-smart-oh-yeah-no-ep/
| access-date  = 2021-10-05}}</ref>
<ref name=bridge909>{{cite web
| first        = Sarah
| last         = Bradshaw
| title        = Bridge Interview: Get Smart - 40th Anniversary Show
| date         = 2021-11-03
| website      = The Bridge
| url          = https://bridge909.org/news/bridge-interview-get-smart
| access-date  = 2021-11-23}}</ref>
}}

==External links==
*{{homepage|getsmartmusic.com}}
*{{Discogs artist |Get Smart!|Get Smart!}}
*{{Allmusic | class = artist | id = p23851| label  = Get Smart!}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Get Smart!}}
[[Category:American post-punk music groups]]
[[Category:Alternative rock groups from Chicago]]
[[Category:Alternative rock groups from Kansas]]
[[Category:Musical groups established in 1980]]
[[Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1990]]
[[Category:American new wave musical groups]]
[[Category:Fresh Sounds Records artists]]
[[Category:Restless Records artists]]
[[Category:Enigma Records artists]]