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Mirrors


Lakewood, 1972-5,1986,2013-

When the Velvet Underground played multiple shows at LaCave in Cleveland, Lakewood teenager Jamie Klimek was always there, upfront, sometimes with a cassette recorder. When he returned to class at Lakewood High School, he found a few other student freaks, Craig Bell, and Micheal Weldon, and sometime around 1971-2, they decided to form a band.

Initially the band included Klimek on guitar, Bell on bass, Weldon on drums, and Clevelander Jim Crook (another LaCave parton) on guitar. The band, named Mirrors (not 'the' Mirrors, just Mirrors), had a unique collection of influences - along with the VU, they were fans of Syd Barrett and early Pink Floyd...and the Troggs.

The band didn't play out that much in the beginning, they mostly worked on their own songs. In 1972 Bell left to join the Army, and his place was taken by Paul Marotta, another Lakewood resident, until Jim Jones joined and Marotta moved to keyboards.

The band got a fairly steady gig at the Clockwork Orange on Payne Ave near Cleveland State. They started to make some studio recordings. Somewhere in 1973-4 Marotta moved to Columbus and the band played some gigs down there. They also did more recordings at Owl.

In 1974 Bell returned and Jones left. Mirrors were starting to get some local following, including notable names in the Cleveland proto-punk scene like Peter Laughner. Laughner recruited Bell away to join the remade Rocket From The Tombs, and Jim Jones returned to play bass.

Around 1975 Mirrors decided to call it a day. Klimek, Jones, and Marotta formed the Styrenes, while Michael Weldon found his way to New York City where he started the long lived and highly regarded Psychotronic Magazine. 

In 1986 Mirrors reunited to record an album, and in 2013-4 they reunited again (all members except for Weldon and the deceased Jim Jones) for some shows in Cleveland

The band only issued one 45, actually a year or so after they disbanded, on Hearthen. In recent years the unreleased recordings have been issued a couple different times, and they are amazing!

Discography

Shirley / She Smiled Wild - Hearthen 105, 1977