The Bare Facts Band

The Bare Facts Band started in LaPorte, Indiana, but played almost every weekend on the road, in Chicago and across the Midwest. All the members were born in the early 50’s and went to LaPorte High School. A mutual love of Motown, The British invasion, Country Music and horn bands brought them together in 1965, when they were all 15 or 16 years old. In fact, The Bare Facts pioneered the use of horns early on and are still remembered for their innovation.
The band formed as the short-lived Gloria & The Guys. The unofficial leader Steve Kirkman (lead vocals), Dan Topoloski (guitar), Kevin Shuter (keys), Bob Corsbie (drums) and Gloria Oaks (keys). In 1966 Topolski started The Bare Facts with Dave Curtis (keys,horns), Ron Shaw (guitar,horns), Jim Sipe (lead vocals), Bob Nebelung (drums) and Wes England (bass). Unusually for a high school band, The Facts wrote some of their own arrangements, regularly toured the Midwest, had a road manager and secured management in both Indianapolis and Chicago. At Windy City clubs they opened for local legends like the Cryan Shames, The New Colony Six, The American Breed and the Buckinghams, who ( they headlined overonce because they had a horn section and the Buckinghams did not).
The band also performed with such legends as Tommy James and The Shondells at Orchestra Hall, in Chicago, in 1968. The Bare Facts also played a whistle stop for Presidential Candidate Robert Kennedy a few short weeks before his assassination in Los Angeles.
The band recorded singles at the famous Universal Studios in Chicago, where legends like Frank Sinatra, and many others had recorded throughout their careers. Singles by the band received considerable airplay in the Chicagoland and regional markets on radio stations such as WLS radio. Singles included songs such as “ Instant Happiness”, released on Harvest Records and included on the 2000 “Teenage Shutdown: No Tease….”Garage Rock compilation.
In early 1970 a few members left to go off to college and new members Harold Staples (guitar), Frank VanSchoyck (bass) joined, along with the return of original Steve Kirkman (lead vocal).
In 2014, The Bare Facts were asked to reunite once more. Members of the most successful years of the band came together for a fantastic reunion sponsored by The Maple City Flashback organization. Then reunited again in 2016, performing 3 concerts, in two different cities in front of thousands of former fans and people who experienced their music for the first time. The band continue today, available for tours, concert events, corporate functions, fairs and festivals.
Recognized as a significant musical group, in the book “ The Secret History of Chicago Music, The Bare Facts continue on today, in 2017. - THe Chicago Reader Magazine