Perfect Sound Forever

Oh OK

Interviews by Jason Gross (July 2001)


'When you asked me to be interviewed, I just thought THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HAVING INTEREST IN ME!' Linda Hopper told me. I said something like 'Actually, I wanted to thank YOU for making great music that really meant something to me.' Such is life being a zine where you get to contact your heros.

Even though their entire recorded output consists of two EP's and a compilation cut in the early '80's, Oh OK weren't your average band from Athens, Georgia. Led and formed by singer Hopper and bassist Lynda Stipe (her brother is named Michael and he's with some other local band), the group were unique for the kiddy, sing-song nature of their first EP (Wow) and the more introspective, mature workings of their second/last release (Furthermore What) in the early '80's. Their supporters included local heros like Michael's band (can't remember the name...), Pylon and the B-52's. What made this group so intriguing is that sadly, they broke up just as they were getting off the ground, leading a fan to dream up all kind of scenarios of what could have happened. Obviously, there had been a lot going on with Lynda and Linda since the group was no more so it seemed imperative to find out what they've been working on since then. It turns out it was quite a lot, definitely worth chronicling here even though Linda went on to warn me 'I haven't done an interview in years so when you ask me these kind of questions, my mind just explodes!'

After being out of print for far too long, the Oh OK material is finally available to the public again, through the kind graces of the Collector's Choice label: Complete Oh OK is extactly what it say it is (including unreleased live material) put together by Lynda and Linda themselves (with a bit of help from yours truly and the fabulous Pat Thomas).

In the meantime, we should mention that Lynda's new group, Flash to Bang Time, is putting out a new release and looking for a label. The group can be contacted at flying13machine@yahoo.com. You'll also be happy to know that Linda too is working on a new material right now. Furthmore what, you'll be heart-warmed to hear that Lynda and Linda asked me to pass along their best wishes to each other.

Enormous thanks to Meredith at Chronic Town, Vanessa Briscoe-Hay and Darren Daugherty.


LINDA HOPPER INTERVIEW
LYNDA STIPE INTERVIEW

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