Great Plains was a band from

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

active during the 1980s. Its vocalist and songwriter,

Ron House Ron House is an American punk rock singer and songwriter from Columbus, Ohio, Columbus, Ohio. He was the frontman of the bands Great Plains (Ohio band), Great Plains and Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments. He is known for his high-pitched, nasal sin ...

, went on to found the much more successful band Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments.

History

Great Plains was founded in 1981. Its first release was 1982's ''The Mark, Don & Mel'' EP, which contained eight tracks. In 1984, they released their full-length debut, ''Born in a Barn'', on Homestead Records. They released another full-length, ''Naked At The Buy Sell & Trade'', in 1986, followed by their third such album, ''Sum Things Up'', in 1987. In 1989, the band released a compilation album, ''Colorized!'', on the

Demon Records Demon Music Group (DMG) is a record company owned by BBC Studios that is mainly concerned with back-catalogue rights and re-issuing recordings as compilations on physical media (CDs and vinyl) via supermarkets and specialist stores. History DM ...

offshoot Diabolo Records. In 2000, a compilation album of 50 of the band's songs from their entire career, entitled ''Length of Growth, 1981-1989'', was released on the Old 3C label.

Reception

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

awarded two of Great Plains' studio albums B+ grades, and the other (Sum Things Up) an A−. Len Righi described ''Sum Things Up'' as "an oddball combination of punk, pop, psychedelia, folk and garage rock" and said that the band's records had improved consistently in quality over their history.

Discography

Studio albums

*''Born in a Barn'' (Homestead) 1984 *''Naked at the Buy, Sell and Trade'' (Homestead) 1985 *''Sum Things Up'' (Homestead) 1987

EPs

*''The Mark, Don & Mel E.P.'' (New Age) 1983

Compilation albums

*''Colorized!'' (Diabolo, 1989) *''Length of Growth 1981-89'' (Old 3C) 2001

References

{{Authority control Musical groups from Columbus, Ohio Musical groups established in 1981 Musical groups disestablished in 1989 Homestead Records artists 1981 establishments in Ohio 1989 disestablishments in Ohio