--Biography contributed by R. Reno--
edited by Jennifer
Mark Randal Jordan was born on March 18, 1965. I first met Randy in 1970 in Mrs. Taylor's kindergarten class. She was a hot looking redhead. Star Trek was the thing we were interested in at the time. Yes, RJ was a Trekkie, imagine that. We played on the playground on the monkey bars. Randy always had to be Kirk, I got stuck being Bones. Around 5th or 6th grade, another person would come into our lives; that person being Chris McCoy, more on him later. Randy even had the the Trek shirt, communicator, and gun.
RJ took band in 5th grade, all the way till he graduated in 1983. He played trumpet. Around 7th grade RJ got his first bass guitar, it was a natural finished Peavey T-40. This guitar had an embroidered rose on it, you know like pallbearers receive. He had it on the headstock. I never asked him, but I knew it was from (the funeral of our friend). Ken Sample was killed in a shooting. RJ took the loss pretty hard.
RJ's first band was called JAXX, then changed to TARGET. This was around 7th or 8th grade. These bands mainly jammed (GARAGE BANDS). Randy and Chris got together; RJ on bass, Chris on keyboards; and formed a band called CLOCKWISE with a dude named {last name}Wilson on drums and Brian Sullivan on Guitar. Brian had a cream colored Les Paul Studio and a Marshall half stack. He was 2 or three years older than us. Hell, we were impressed with his gear. RJ asked me to roadie for them and do light and sound. I said "hell yeah!"
| The 1st gig was at a bar in Greenfield, MO. Brian's guitar sound just blew me away when they did "Highway Star," by DEEP PURPLE. The drummer quit, and was replaced by T. J. Johnson from Mt.Vernon, MO. Then Brian quit to go to GIT, {school for guitar}and he was replaced by Art Kerwin (note* Jeff Graham replaced Brian before Art Kerwin - see his contribution below) from Springfield, MO. The band renamed itself FORCES. |  |
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They had a helluva regional following. This band played 2 BATTLE OF THE BANDS in one day and WON BOTH. One in Joplin, MO., at THE KING OF CLUBS and the other in Galena, KS. at SGT. PEPPERS. RJ won an award for "talented musician" at the latter. He won a jacket and some much needed gear. Jim McCoy, Chris' dad, needs to be thanked here. He went out on a limb for a YAMAHA P.A. Thanks Jim! The band opened up for Survivor (Eye of the Tiger fame). (They also) played at Lake of the Ozarks on a riverboat, and the HELLS ANGELS were having a run there and (had) charted the boat. We all thought we were going to die, but these guy's were cool to us all. They rocked the boat you might say.
During this time, the set list included "Hold the Line" by TOTO, "Heavy Metal" by S. HAGAR, " Just What I Needed" by THE CARS, "Never Been Any Reason" by HEAD EAST, and "Synchronicity 2" by THE POLICE. Then the band broke up. Chris went on to play in TEACHERS PET (note: *also played in the band called Thrust), T. J. went to Branson to play in the country music shows, and Art I don't know about. |
| RJ hooked up with Donnie Miller, from Coffeeville, KS. in DONNIE AND THE ROCK. This band had Bitchin' song(s) called "No Time for Running Away" and "The Devil Wears Lingerie." This band was managed by Chris Fritz and opened for THE KINKS tour. This band broke up.
Randy needed a ride to Kansas City, to Lance Romance's house. This became THE FRONT. "Sin" is my favorite tune off that album (Mine too, Ron!). While I think of this, OUR GRATITUDE needs to go out to the 2 coolest chicks in the world, ERMA LEE [mom], AND JUDY[sister] JORDAN. Erma Lee was cool, you could tell her anything, and we did; she would give advice. She wasn't all uptight like her peers [our parents....]. |
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Randy was a loyal, kind and gentle person that is sorely missed. The BAD COMPANY song "Shooting Star" comes to my mind. And in the words of QUEEN, (RJ's favorite band) "We Will Rock You"; and he most certainly did. In last respect, I would to say "Randy, I hope this does right by you, because Lord knows I'm no writer. So long friend."
Forces (I was with them in 1983) was a big growing situation for me, in all the best ways. Randy was not only a good bass player/songwriter but a hell of a front man too.
My first trip (ever) out of town with Forces was to some kind of paper mill town in southern Arkansas. It was a former disco with a formerly lighted dance floor. We played from 12-5 in the morning. Scary place. At one point, Randy asked the audience how many of them were related, I think we got some honest responses. We played "Gimme Three Steps" at least 3 times. The owner (who looked just like Conway Twitty to me) asked us back, we declined once we got home to Lamar (MO). We wanted to get out of there so friggin' bad that we left immediately after gettin' done on Sunday morning.
I've played with a lot of talented musicians in my 18 years in this biz we call show, but Randy's one of the few people I've played with who had true 'star' appeal. I last saw Randy in Joplin,MO (my hometown) in 1993 with his sister, Judy. He talked with pride of Bakers Pink and said that he'd finally gotten into the Beatles. He seemed happy.
He was a good guy who will be missed.
