Editor’s note: Former CityView Executive Editor Bill Horner III did most of his growing up in Kansas, and, as fate would have it, was also a fan of Kansas — the rock group which formed in Topeka, Kansas, in 1973. The band performs Dec. 5 at the Crown Theatre as one of the final stops on its 50th anniversary tour. Horner recently spoke with Ronnie Platt, Kansas’ lead singer, ahead of the group’s Fayetteville appearance. For tickets to Kansas’ show, go here.
Toward the end of my conversation with Kansas lead singer Ronnie Platt, our cell phone connection got squirrelly.
I’d asked Platt, who comes to Fayetteville on Dec. 5 with his bandmates as part of Kansas’ 50th anniversary tour, about Kansas’ Rock & Roll Hall of Fame snub.
“I’m sorry, what was that?” he asked.
“I was asking about the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame …” I repeated.
“Yeah, I’m sorry … who?”
I began asking a third time. But as the words formed in my mouth, I suddenly got it. There wasn’t a bad connection. The gag was Platt’s way of good-naturedly expressing residual bad blood and frustration because Kansas, which formed in 1973, never got rock ‘n’ roll’s highest honor — official induction into the Hall, located in Cleveland.
Platt, the band’s keyboardist, said the oversight “just short-circuits me.” He pointed to Kansas’ catalog of music, historical influence on other bands and musicians, and staying power as a live act as evidence of its worthiness.
“Isn’t the Hall of Fame supposed to be about musicians and bands that have inspired people?” he asked rhetorically. “Are you kidding me?”
‘Prog’ rockers
Part of the mystery, perhaps, is that Kansas’ music has never been easily categorized. In the mid and late 1970s, when the band was selling out arenas after the back-to-back multi-platinum albums “Leftoverture” (1976) and “Point of Know Return” (1977), its songs were primary classified as “prog rock” — progressive rock, in the same genre as those performed by legendary rock groups Genesis, Rush and Yes.
Genesis, Rush and Yes, incidentally — other purveyors of long, complex songs and the occasional thematic album, beginning in the late ‘60s — were inducted into the notoriously fickle Hall in 2010, 2013 and 2017, respectively. Eligible since 2000, Kansas hasn’t even been nominated.
To be sure, band longevity and rock immortality are different kettles of fish altogether. Kansas has the former down pat. The six original members got connected musically beginning in 1970 before becoming a band, disbanding, then re-forming and signing a record deal in 1973. The Fayetteville gig comes near the end of the final leg of that 50th anniversary observance. Given that the first tour leg kicked off in early June 2023, Platt drolly refers to this 23-city third leg as “the third anniversary of our 50th anniversary.”
“If that doesn’t sound ‘Spinal Tap,’ I don’t know what does,” Platt laughs.
But Kansas’ immortality argument has strong merit, too. The soaring “Carry on Wayward Son,” from the 1976 “Leftoverture” album, Kansas’ anthem-like first hit, remains a standard on classic rock radio. “Dust in the Wind,” released a year later, was famously born from primary songwriter Kerry Livgren’s guitar fingerpicking exercise. “Dust” also gets heavy radio airplay today, featuring original lead singer Steve Walsh’s emotive vocals, Livgren’s and Rich Williams’ acoustic guitars and Robby Steinhardt’s haunting electric violin.
“You look at ‘Dust in the Wind,’ as opposed to ‘Wayward Son,’” Platt explains. “You have two drastically different songs, but yet it’s the same band. And when you start to listen to the catalog of music of Kansas, it’s such a wide, wide variety of music and influencing styles. You know, there’s stuff that has a jazz feel, stuff that has a commercial rock feel … and then extremely progressive, and in some cases, easy listening … I think it’s that diversity that really has captured a lot of fans.”
I’m one of them. I have the band’s first 12 albums (there are 20 total, including five live collections) and have seen Kansas play live five times. When I was in elementary school, the band played a prom at a high school near where I lived, and five decades later my Kansas playlist on Spotify gets plenty of listens, particularly favorites like “Miracles Out of Nowhere.”
From the start, Kansas’ complex chord changes, tight musicianship and introspective lyrics — more about life than just silly love songs — set the band apart. Kansas hasn’t had a top-40 song since 1989, but its catalog and stellar live shows have created a rabid multi-generational fan base (and generated album sales of more than 30 million). A 2015 bio-documentary film, “Miracles Out of Nowhere,” is a compelling watch and includes testimonies from luminaries including country superstar Garth Brooks and Brian May of Queen, a band Kansas toured with, about the place the group deserves among rock’s pantheon.
Five of the band’s original members (Steinhardt died in 2021) survive. Of those five, just Williams and drummer Phil Ehart are still on the active tour roster, although Ehart has been temporarily sidelined while recovering from a serious heart attack. Livgren and bassist Dave Hope still make occasional guest appearances.
‘Not a spring chicken’
It was Walsh, who retired in 2014, that Platt replaced. Platt was a high school freshman in 1976 when he purchased “Leftoverture,” Kansas’ fourth studio album and first commercial breakthrough. He was awed by it — and Walsh’s vocals and his skill as a keyboardist. Platt already loved music; he trained and worked as a truck driver, but also sang and played in local groups in the Chicago area before joining the band Shooting Star in 2007. It had modest U.S. success and opened for Kansas on occasion, meaning Platt’s familiarity with Kansas’ music continued.
“It’s so funny to think that throughout the years, all of my cover bands at one point or another did Kansas songs,” he said. “It was really something I pushed because I was just so influenced by their music.”
Upon the announcement of Walsh’s retirement, Platt reached out; within two weeks, he was introduced as the new singer.
“I over-studied for the test, right?” he laughs. “Yeah, I knew all the music before I even went in for my first rehearsal.”
Still, it was a lot for Platt to wrap his mind around. He was 52 years old at the time — “not exactly a spring chicken,” he says — and hoped the job would last for two or three years. And there was a big difference between singing “Wayward Son” in a cover band and performing it on tour with the band that originally recorded it, not to mention having to learn complex keyboard arrangements for Kansas’ deeper cuts.
“When I joined the band, did I play keyboards? Yes, but was I so serious-minded about my keyboard playing? No,” he said. “So it’s amazing what you can do when your back’s up against the wall. You throw yourself into the deep end and learn how to swim fast.”
Dave Manion, a second keyboard player, joined Kansas at the same time to ensure live songs emulated the band’s recordings; he’s since been replaced by Tom Brislin, who’s played with Yes and performers such as Meat Loaf and Debbie Harry.
For Platt, the last decade has “gone by like the blink of an eye.” But there’s more to come; while the anniversary tour officially ends in Pittsburgh on Dec. 11, a new “classics” tour kicks off Jan. 23.
“I’m now 62, knocking on the door of 63, and I’m singing the stuff Steve recorded when he was 25,” he said. “And it becomes more and more demanding. But right now I’m thinking that I’m singing the best I’ve ever sung.”
Walking up to the microphone for the first song each night, Platt said he feels 20 years old again.
“But walking down to the dressing room after the show, my body reminds me that I’m 62,” he said. “You know, pass the Geritol.”
Fans at shows run the gamut in age. Platt said a group of young teenagers stood near the front of the stage at a recent concert enthusiastically singing along to “Wayward Son.”
“To see them getting into the music like that was a trip,” he said. “But for me, when we play ‘Wayward Son,’ I see everyone in the audience turn 20 years old again, right? That song has the power to make everyone forget about their troubles and their pain … It’s so much fun and so gratifying.”
And for this 50th anniversary tour, he describes a level of intensity from audiences that’s different for some reason.
“You just feel it from them,” Platt said. “There’s such a great appreciation for progressive music and for this band. It’s very flattering to see the people turn out in these numbers …You know, the musicianship is just off the charts, and you’ll walk out a Kansas fan after you see the show, even if you’re not familiar with the music.”
