Wow. When I think of The Mumps I really can remember that the audience was screaming, REALLY LOUD (puns aside) at all of the many shows I attended in Los Angeles and New York. I had known about Lance and Kristian from the time I was a teenager avidly following "An American Family" TV show in the 70's. I was really taken with the antics and travels to NYC and Europe that Lance and Kristian got up to and the underground scenes they fell into. They must have been a big influence on me as my life went in the exact same direction! ..

So when The Mumps came to play in Los Angeles, I was more than excited and me, and many a budding punker, were there to greet them with open arms and spindly legs. The band was so good and the shows were always fun. Girls and boys swooned at the East Coast cuteness like teenaged bobby soxers. The lyrics were smart and funny and we would recall and laugh at the lines and askew observations they sang about. I remember them playing with Van Halen at the Whiskey A Go Go on the Sunset Strip! How crazy is that to think about now? And I also remember when Brad (Dunning) was running a fan club and I was the lucky winner of one of the "bloody" shirts (covered in Hershey's chocolate) from the "Crocodile Tears" 7 inch cover. I wonder what happened to that?...

Anyways, times being what they were, a gaggle of us kids befriended the band and shared many parties and thrift shopping expeditions together. East Coast fans came out and met West Coast fans and vice versa. To this day I probably can't count the number of friends I met as a result of The Mumps. Maybe many have grown apart and don't see each other so often, but when we do bump into each other it is like no time has passed and we are quick to find out whom is still in touch with whom.

When I finally did become a musician (I was a late bloomer at 19 yrs.) I would eventually have the luck and honor of having Kristian in my band, Congo Norvell. So maybe The Mumps didn't make "the big time" like Blondie or Talking Heads, but to us fans , the impact of The Mumps could have not been any bigger......

Kid Congo Powers