The Groove Agency Band in KC - The Next Chapter

The Agency then decided to change their name to "Groove Agency" on the suggestion of Adam Blue, another founding KC member, lead singer and keyboardist. The band stopped rehearsing at The Agency on Broadway and began rehearsing in Joey Dale's basement. They fired their female vocalist who was a poor singer at best anyway, and then tried to get the attention of some local KC booking agents. The first booking agent that they approached was the aging Gary Mack from Gary Mack Productions. This proved to be a failure as Gary was out of touch with the modern live music audiences and was stuck in the 50's, 60's, and 70's.  Most of the acts that he represented were corny and cheesy old tuxedo bands that played the same old songs over and over and stood lifeless on stage like they were about to croak. When Gary heard The Groove Agency demo, he was not very interested. As Adam Blue sat in Gary's tiny little office, Mack popped in a video tape of what he thought a "real band" should look and sound like. Gary put on the cheesiest, most horrific crappy KC band that Adam had ever seen - they were actually singing "Longer" by Dan Fogalberg! And it was even worse than that - it was a husband and wife singing to each other with this corny backdrop. Everyone in Kansas City still tells this story as it has become legendary. It was obvious from the start that The Groove Agency and Gary Mack were not on the same page. Still, Gary Mack made a few attempts to mold the band into what he wanted. Mack would bring over female vocalists to audition for the band including Karen Davis, who auditioned very poorly and couldn't sing any of the band's songs well. Mack then brought over Katrina, who although had a lot of energy, could not sing very well - although she would later improve greatly on her vocals and join the band Xplicit. After the band refused to accept any of the female vocalists that Gary Mack brought over, Mack decided not to book the band. It was at this time that The Groove Agency decided to march forward without a female vocalist and just become an all male band with Joey Dale and Adam Blue sharing lead vocal duties.

Disco Dick and The Mirror Balls and Simplexity Take Over

With it's last gasp of air, the crumbling United Entertainment booking agency took on a fresh new KC band called "Disco Dick and the Mirrorballs". This band suddenly jumped to the top of every nightclub's list of bands to book. With one of the best band names ever created, Disco Dick and the Mirrorballs quickly hurdled over The Groove Agency just as they were on their way to the top. Other bands like Simplexity were also in the mix for Kansas City's best band, and the three bands could be seen performing one right after another at the same nightclubs. Simplexity had their own night at The Levee, which was Wednesday night. The place would be packed to the rafters, but, as often happens in a somewhat urban environment, shots would ring out in the parking lot. This prompted The Levee to give The Groove Agency a shot at the steady Wednesday night spot. They had approached Disco Dick and the Mirrorballs several times to do weekday and weekend slots but they were charging more than The Levee wanted to pay for a band.

Let's Book Some Gigs!

After a rough two year start, with less than 4 shows booked, Adam Blue took over the booking duties for the band. Proving early on that Blue had a talent for booking bands (he is now the CEO of a National band booking agency), he started getting The Groove Agency's foot in the door in the Kansas City music scene. After courting a local small KC nightclub called The Levee for several months, The Groove Agency got a few chances to prove themselves serving as a substitute for the band Hothouse, who held the steady "house band" position at The Levee. The Groove Agency was fresh and had an energetic stage show thanks to Joey Dale and Adam Blue, who incorporated dance steps and brought energy to the stage. Soon Adam Blue brought in a trumpet player to round out the horn section and also brought in Funky Rex on the drums to add some much needed funk to the band's sound. The Groove Agency became powerful and a force to be heard in the Kansas City band scene, and soon other KC bands started to copy their style and come gather around at shows. As their popularity grew, Adam Blue stepped up to The Levee management and offered to be their permanent house band. After about 3 months, and the breakup of the band Hothouse, Adam Blue landed them the job. They would now be the headline band at The Levee every Friday and Saturday night beginning on January 1st, 2000.

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