Power-pop progenitors? O.G. DIYers? The last college-rock survivors? No label adequately captures the four-decade journey of Zion, Ill.’s Shoes, who have released their first new studio material in 17 years. Perhaps the most astonishing thing about Shoes is that this ethic and attitude prevails despite a collection of music-biz bumps and bruises that could rival Charlie Brown in terms of sheer career futility. In some ways, they’re the Forrest Gumps of rock. Shoes essentially presaged punk’s DIY movement by recording its first, early-’70s albums in the living room before garnering enough critical acclaim to merit a major-label contract. Shoes will be guest editing magnentmagazine.com all week. Read our new feature on the band.
Klebe: This old postcard brings back fond memories of the time I spent on this Lake Michigan beach in my hometown of Zion, Ill. You may be wondering, “What the heck are those structures right next to the beach in the background?” Well, those happen to be the twin reactors of the Zion Nuclear Power Station. Apparently, they thought that having the plant really close to people was a good idea. The reactors actually heated the water just a tad, so nobody was complaining.
When construction of the plant was first proposed back in the ’60s, the city council was simply giddy. To a small town with a population of 16,000 and very little industry, the taxes paid by the plant were quite significant. It immediately became Zion’s number one source of tax revenue, by a huge margin.
It worked out pretty good for me, too. One summer during my college years I was employed by the contractor that built the plant. I spent every day pouring concrete for the walls of the reactors. The days were long, but the money was great. Years later, I began feeling uneasy about that plant went I found out at a class reunion that a few boneheads in my class were running the place. “You mean you guys are at the controls?” I asked. “Oh, hell yeah!” they replied.
The plant was shut down a few years ago. The power company that owned it must have felt bad about leaving because in the end they generously left behind 2,226 spent nuclear fuel rods. I can only assume that the city council was quite moved by the sentimental gesture. Maybe they believed that someday the power company would come back to use up all those rods and everything would be hunky dory again. Call me a skeptic, but something tells me that they ain’t comin’ back.
To the best of my knowledge, it has never been proven that the radiation leakage of nuke plant was responsible for a single case of cancer in Zion. Ironically, when the plant was shut down, a new mega-tax source for the city quickly emerged. The Cancer Treatment Center of America has now taken the lead as Zion’s number-one source of tax revenue.
Video after the jump.
