The Original Sensational Showmen

The Original Sensational Showmen
National Guard Armory-Concordia - 1965

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

James Reardon


Reardon and Associates, a booking agency for midwest rock bands in the 60's operated out of the Dark Horse Inn in Hays, Kansas. Our band was just one of the many that got their start with Jim and his booking agency.



John Brown Mid Continent Productions
John Brown
Home Town: Lawrence KS





The next inductee into the Iowa Rock N Roll Hall of Fame goes into the Hall as the owner of a booking agency. Not just any boking agency, but without question the most successful rock and roll booking and promotional agency Mid America has ever seen. Mid Continent Productions of Lawrence, KS. The man behind all of this is its founder, John Brown.

John Brown started Mid Continent Productions in the mid 60's and built it into one of the most successful booking and management agencies of all time.

Brown helped form and in some respects create such groups as The Fabulous Flippers, The Roaring Red Dogs, The Blue Things, The Young Raiders, The Rising Suns and let's not forget, Spider & the Crabs.

There was not a ballroom, town hall, armory, high school or college in the state of Iowa that was not a client of Browns' Mid Continent Productions.

When it came to promoting rock groups, nobody was better than John Brown. Who would ever forget those inamous night time radio ads for all the Mid Continent bands on KOMA radio in Oklahoma City.

There was not a teen in Middle America who didn't tune in to KOMA at night to see what great bands were coming into Iowa, promoted by Brown and Mid Continent.

These ads helped turn Brown's Mid Continent Productions and his bands into household names as well as helped establish his agency as one of the most successful of all time.

Its with great pride the Iowa RocKNRoll Music associations Hall of Fame inducts its first booking agent and booking agency inductee, John Brown of Lawrence Ks., and Mid Continent Productions.