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Although
he doesn't play any instruments, John Charles Deagan (Jace), the
first person to buy a "Secret Beach" record, has a unique
connection to Chicago's rich music history. Nearly 100 years ago
his great-grandfather, J.C. Deagan, established an influential music
production factory in the city. As a result, to some music buffs,
the name J.C. Deagan is synonymous with musical perfection.
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The elder
Deagan's rise to fame is the story of hard work and determination.
As an ambitious clarinet player, he developed a strong interest
in the acoustics of instruments at a young age. Slowly he became
fascinated by the art of tuning and manufacturing as well. Moving
to Chicago at the turn of the century, he turned his love of instruments
into a business by establishing the J.C. Deagan Company of Chicago.
In a tall brick building at the corner of Ravenswood and Berteau,
just north of the Ravenswood and Irving Park neighborhoods, the
company manufactured modern xylophones marimbas, vibraphones and
cathedral chimes among other instruments.
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Countless
musicians in all musical genres - from jazz heavyweight Lionel
Hampton to alternative rockers Stereolab - have used Deagan
instruments.
Although still standing, the Deagan factory has been turned
into offices, as the family business was sold. But the name
remains rooted in Chicago history.
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Nearly 100
years after Deagan paved the way for his business in the Windy
City, his great-grandson Jace decided to launch his future on
his own terms. He joined the Marine Reserves to pay for his college
education at Northern Illinois University. He later received a
fellowship to attend Rutgers University in New Jersey and received
a master's degree in city planning. Like his great-grandfather,
Jace wanted to establish his career with passion and hard work.
Returning to the Chicago-area while he was studying at Rutgers,
Jace met up with Eric, one of his closest friends from high school.
Eric told Jace about Secret Beach, and once Jace heard the CD,
he knew he had to have a copy.
"I have a fondness for Eric's music," Jace says. "I
told Eric that I'd be honored if I could be the first person to
buy one."
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When
he first listened to "Secret Beach," the musical landscape
Eric created immediately transported Jace back to his high school
days. He remembered those lingering summer nights when he, Eric,
and some other friends, would drive to Secret Beach, a place that
they considered their own little world. Secret Beach was where they
could drink beer, talk about girls, light bonfires and safely fall
asleep to awaken to the sounds of Lake Michigan's waves crashing
against the cold sand the next morning. |
Secret Beach
represented their teenage rebellion -- a place where they could
escape suburbia for something more special and their very own. Jace
remembers walking through about 100 yards of forested hills to get
to Secret Beach. He could see the overhead lights in the dark masking
a yellow-blue tint around the beach.
"It was a neat place to go to," Jace recalls.
During their sophomore year of high school, Jace and Eric created
a comic book strip during their geometry class. For two years they
passed ideas back and forth. They even double-dated for the school's
homecoming dance one year, and they now laugh about the time Eric
accidentally drove over a dead armadillo on the way home from the
dance.
Jace, now married and a county planner living in Colorado, says
he usually listens to "Solos" during the summer. As Eric's
acoustic guitars murmur against the syncopated bass riffs, Jace
says he can remember those long walks to Secret Beach: the night,
the humid air, gently swaying trees and the surf.
"It brings back a sense of being there," he says. And
for those memories, Jace says, he'll always be able to pop in Eric's
CD and hear the sounds of Secret Beach -- even if he's a thousand
miles away. |
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Spotlight
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Join
Us
September 2006
A
Secret Beach
Summer Retreat
- in -
South
Park,
Colorado
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