Music history lost forever

An irreplaceable stockpile of the state’s musical history went up in flames with Friday’s apartment fire.

“Since the Hall of Fame doesn’t have a brick-and-mortar location, everything was at my place,” said Bill Lee, president of the Kansas Music Hall of Fame. “I’ve long felt that I had the largest collection of Kansas music and memorabilia. I never met anybody who had more, anyway. And it’s all gone.”

Lee, a 25-year radio veteran and author of “Kansas Rockers – The First Generation,” had lived for six years at Boardwalk Apartments, in the 500 block of Fireside Drive.

“I work nights, so I wasn’t there when it happened,” he said. “I heard about it and figured there wasn’t much I could do until I got off work anyway. I got there and discovered it was a total loss.”

Lee claims he’d accumulated around 2,000 albums from Kansas and Kansas City bands, about 4,000 singles and several hundred CDs and tapes. He also had rare live recordings from the late 1950s to the present.

Bill Lee's extensive collection of Kansas music and related memorabilia, plus most of the documents and information on the Kansas Music Hall of Fame were destroyed in Friday's fire at the Boardwalk Apartments.

“Over the years I just managed to grab onto all the things I could,” the 58-year-old said. “Former booking agents, for example, who were cleaning out their basements and attics would give me what they had. So I had old flyers and photos.”

Of all the items lost, he admits an 8X10 glossy autographed by the four Blue Things is what he will miss the most.

“One of the members died in ’93, so he’s not going to be signing any more pictures,” Lee said. “Life goes on. It was just stuff. I’ve lost the important people in my life this year to cancer and other things. I miss them a whole lot more than I miss stuff.”

Last January marked the inaugural Kansas Music Hall of Fame induction. Music artists The Blue Things, Brewer & Shipley, Chesmann/Chesmann Square, Mike Finnigan, The Fabulous Flippers, Kansas, The Red Dogs, Rodney and the Blazers and Big Joe Turner were honored with a ceremony at Liberty Hall, 642 Mass.

The organization had just sent out a news release last week discussing the potential 2006 nominees.

“We’ll keep going. Voting is under way right now for next year’s inductees. We’re going to have a ceremony at Liberty Hall in the spring,” Lee said.

“As far as my contributions go, it means going back to square one. I need to start scouring garage sales and flea markets again and see what I can find.”

Those wanting to contribute items to the Kansas Hall of Fame can contact Lee through his Web site at www.ksmusichalloffame.org.