Granmax - Marine Corps veteran Chaz Nikias embraces resurgence of hard rock band’s popularity5/12/2024 ![]() As a Marine Corps veteran wounded in combat during the Vietnam War, Chaz Nikias did not have an early foundation that might incline him toward a career in rock and roll music. After returning to the states following his discharge, he eventually returned to the Kansas City area and began performing with local bands. The crescendo of his music experience arrived when he was discovered by a local concert promoter and connected with a band that had only a brief career but has recently enjoyed a resurgence in popularity in countries such as Italy and Greece. “I was only 20 years old when I got out of the Marine Corps and when I came back home to Overland Park (Kansas), I worked a lot of different jobs just trying to find my space,” Nikias recalled. “When I was younger, I had sung in a Greek Orthodox Church and that was the beginning of my interest in vocals,” he added. Nikias united with several musicians from Kansas City—including Bill Guffey who later played keyboards in Shooting Star and Dan Smith who performed with Riverrock—and formed a band. They spent some time together performing at private parties and other small events with Nikias on bass guitar and vocals. As the years passed, Nikias went on to sing vocals in several other area bands. “Somewhere along the line, I formed a band called Bullseye,” he recalled. “We rehearsed for two months and got a job opening for Shooting Star at an outdoor concert and Chris Fritz was in the audience. Ron West, who later formed the band Missouri, introduced me to Chris Fritz. He then told me to come by his office and see him the following Monday.” Chris Fritz had established himself as a concert promoter in the Kansas City region and, in 1974, had helped coordinate the Ozark Music Festival in Sedalia. Then, in 1976, he established the Pacific Records label (later renamed Panama Records), on which he released the debut album by the hard rock band Granmax. Nikias recalled, “Chris Fritz had come up with the name Granmax. The band had released their first album ‘Ninth Alive’ and was a trio made up of Tim McCorkle on bass guitar and vocals, his brother Louis McCorkle on drums and Steve Meyers on lead guitar and vocals.” He continued, “But Fritz said the band was looking for a lead vocalist and said I’d be a good fit. He handed me a cassette tape with some songs they needed lyrics and additional melodies for, and then explained they were out on the road performing and that I had eight days to come up with the material. I told him I’d have it done in five days.” Returning to the solitude of his apartment, Nikias penned songs such as “Prince of the Southern Ice,” “Mistress of Eternity,” “Dream Woman,” “Daughter of Hell,” and “It’s Worth the Wait.” Several days later, he met with the band at a studio to try out the songs. They determined Nikias was a good fit for Granmax quickly went to work recording the band’s second album, “Kiss Heaven Goodbye,” released in 1978. “We rehearsed at an auditorium and put our show together,” Nikias said. “One of things that was popular about Granmax was the laser show we had at our concerts.” Granmax began climbing the ladder of music popularity and opened for major acts like Nazareth, REO Speedwagon, Rush, Ted Nugent, and Eddie Money. Nikias explained that he put every ounce of his energy into the band and their performances. Like many bands, Granmax later underwent personnel changes that included Joe Callahan performing at several shows. When the Rolling Stones were preparing to appear at Arrowhead Stadium in 1979, Chris Fritz was able to contact the mobile recording studio that was coming to town to tape the show. Fritz contracted the mobile studio to record several songs during a performance by Granmax at the Lawrence Opera House in Lawrence, Kansas. The band was also showcasing for three record companies that night as well. “There were several new songs we performed at the show that were supposed to go onto our third album,” Nikias explained. “But Granmax split up in 1980 over money, sex, drugs and rock and roll, and that third album never happened.” Nikias later moved to the West Coast and continued to write songs and perform as a vocalist throughout the next several years. He performed several shows in Las Vegas backed by the original Drifters band and eventually settled in Arizona, where he has played at casinos, small venues and Farrah Fawcett’s memorial service. Recently, the Kansas City area native was contacted by a large record company in Greece, a country where Granmax is still wildly popular. They are looking to have a package of Granmax music released in the coming months that includes their original two albums from the late 1970s and other previously unreleased tracks. “I had the original tapes from our live show at the Lawerence Opera House and the company, Cult Metal Classics, has remastered them along with our other two albums,” he said. He added, “It’s fantastic that after all these years, the Granmax legacy is being revisited. It’s kind of a rebirth,” Nikias emphasized, “and now we have a new generation of fans who will be able to hear songs they’ve never heard before.” Jeremy P. Ämick is the author of “Movin’ On,” biography of the rock band Missouri.
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AuthorJeremy P. Ämick is an award-winning author and historian and dedicated to preserving music, military and local histories. Archives
June 2024
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