Photo by Ray Rod courtesy of Rusty Olson
Steve Wahlen and Monkey Bar
Monkey Bar with Steve Wahlen in tank top.
“All-in or nothing at all,” is how Bobby Friedman recalls his longtime musical collaborator Steve Wahlen. Wahlen passed away recently after a long illness.
Wahlen’s resume includes a pair of albums in the early ‘80s with Einstein’s Riceboys. He would go on to write, sing, play drums and play percussion on recordings with Cherry Cake, Monkey Bar, D-Minus, Impact Test and Boy Dirt Car, among others. The list of bands and projects Wahlen was involved with is long and includes Figgy Figgy, Life and Death Troubadours, Voot Warnings/Fresh Sounds, Peder Hedman Quartet and Fuckface. Wahlen’s participation in the annual Trash Fest celebrations included the groups Steven Christ Superstar, Van Whalen and Kneel Young.
Steve Wahlen’s collaborators
In 1990 Monkey Bar recorded an album that was finally released four years ago. Recalling the band, Friedman said Wahlen delivered his lyrics like there was a clock ticking inside his head, just waiting get out. Wahlen’s songwriting collaborators, Friedman (keyboards and saxophone) and Tim Taylor (guitar) remembered the ease at which Wahlen would open his notebooks as they played some music.
“I can remember having the chords for ‘Sick on the Porch’ written. Steve heard them and started writing lyrics and a melody without a hitch. He was done in the time it took to play through it three times. That’s ridiculous,” observed Friedman.
Monkey Bar drummer Rusty Olson was impressed with Wahlen’s writing process of keeping notebooks organized by mood—he was quick on his feet and always writing. Olson also recalled being blown away his first time seeing Wahlen when Cherry Cake played the Odd Rock Café. For an encore Wahlen sang Janis Joplin’s “Mercedes Benz” a capella. “He was fearless,” Olson recalls.
Cherry Cake’s “Mrs. Wilson” was a standout track on the 1989 Badger A-Go-Go compilation of Milwaukee bands released by Atomic Records.
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Legacy
Following Wahlen’s passing, songwriter Carter Kuehn, posted “Too Bad,” an incredibly heartfelt song he wrote and recorded that was inspired by Wahlen.
Wahlen’s partner Stacy Vandenput, had been assisting with home recordings. She said Wahlen and Darren Brown (Boy Dirt Car) worked up to the end; the plan is for Brown to release a 7”.
And there still seems to be recordings and footage of Steve Wahlen’s many musical projects that could be released. Vandenput is working on an archive.
