PHOTO GALLERY - BANDS AND ARTISTS

MO-DELS - Steve Owens - guitar,voc / Keith Owens - bass,voc / Kurt Otto - keyboards / Steve (GO-GO) Hart - drums. Mike Lowell writes: This was a popular local dance band around the SA area during the mid 80's (81'-87'). The song list consisted of familiar but simplistic rock tunes. Nothing fancy, just good dance tunes. They had a respectable following and were always booked enabling the guys to make a living at what they did. Keith played bass in this band even though I had always thought that he was the superior guitarist over brother Steve. However, Steve was aggressive while Keith was shy. All in all, an enjoyable band.

The Mo-Dels late 1980's Keith Owens bass, Mike ODowd everything, Steve Owens guitar, Mark Weber drums, Bill Denham lifetime friend

(Contributed by Kurt Otto) Kurt writes: "Correction please-Mo-Dels-drummer= Hans Ricomini not GOGO ....... if you wanna get technical, and I think under the circumstances I WOULD, there were two great drummers (and dear friends) while I was playing with the Dels, Hans Ricomini and Billy Carey. They are both presently deceased, and it breaks my fuckin' heart, so I guess you need to get the "Otto" era of the Mo-Dels filled in right. I would appreciate it. It HURTS really bad to lose such close friends so young (especially drummers). The last time I saw either of them, they were sitting in this room, in the same chair!."

(Contributed by Monica Pape Cox) Monica writes: "One note I would like to add--not unlike the additional note that Kurt Otto made regarding the Mo-Dels. Billy Carey played drums for the Kids for at least two years! John Keating mentions the Broadway theater gig, the regular gigs at the Teen Canteen.... Billy was the drummer during that entire period... right up until they left for California....yet no mention of his name! Like Kurt, I am very saddened by Billy's untimely death, I think he should be remembered." Mike Lowell adds: John Keating recently modified his KIDS article to include info about Billy (see The Kids listing).

(Contributed by Scott Christian-Berg) SCB writes: "Love your site. It took me back to my younger days in SA. I spent a good deal of time with the Mo-Dels all through the 80's (as a fan) and wanted to point out a couple of people that weren't mentioned. Before Kurt Otto came along (who I also thought was very good), they had this guy named Dale Kitchenmaster who played keyboards for them. Dale was very talented and was one of the first guys in SA I knew who had a Prophet-5. They used to play a song that Steve Owens wrote called "Wear This," a great song that had a kind of Dexy's Midnight Runners-feel to it. Dale would use the bend on the Prophet to make it sound like a banjo.it was pretty amazing. The first drummer I saw with The Mo-Dels was John Wood, who was pretty good, especially considering the fact that when he started playing with the band he was like, 19 or something! He was later replaced for a very short period by Tommy Stephens, who played with Pablo's Grove previously. I'm pretty sure Hans Riccomini replaced him. Very, very sad to hear of Hans' passing-he was a very nice guy. There were also two more characters that people may remember from those days-Lew Coleman, who was the "manager" for the band for a while in those heady, early MTV days when everyone was going to make a video and make it big, and Steve Cureton, who used to run sound for those guys. I used to keep in touch with Steve, but I haven't talked to him in a long time. As you may know, there was another band in the mid-80's (Australian, I think) that was signed to a major label and was going to be launched in the US. Their name was "The Models." Keith was smart enough to have copyrighted the name "The Mo-Dels," so the story was that they got some kind of cash settlement to drop the use of the name. They later changed their name to "The Alamo-Dells," which I believe is the name they play under now. On the other hand, "The Models" never turned out to be a household name, so maybe they went back to the original name."

Mike Lowell adds: These days, the band is still alive and kicking keeping the crowds happy and dancing. They can be seen doing more upscale venues around the area such as weddings and other specials events.

Photos Contributed by Sam Kinsey and Neka