Music & Comedy
McLuhan and Esmerelda’s Boys
Esmerelda’s Boys (acid & political folk): 8:00PM
McLuhan (Prog Rock originals & high intensity Jazz/brass-oriented covers): 9PM
After re-releasing their landmark 1972 album Anomaly on vinyl in 2024 (pressed by Smashed Plastic and overseen by musician and engineer Ellis Clark), Chicago’s McLuhan inked a deal with Think Like A Key Music, a boutique record label committed to the CD revival, to officially release Anomaly on compact disc for the first time. The CD was released in July of 2025 and contains exclusive photos, expansive liner notes, and more.
Named after media theorist and philosopher Marshall McLuhan, Chicago-based progressive rock band McLuhan began its musical journey as a mixed-media group and was the brainchild of David Wright, who composed most of the music and wrote the lyrics on their lone album Anomaly, which was released by the iconic label Brunswick Records in 1972.
McLuhan formed after meeting as students at the University of Illinois-Chicago in the late 1960s and their early gigs, including a residency at The Wise Fools Pub, incorporated mixed-media footage to complement the band’s use of offbeat instrumentation, sound effects, and free jazz/fusion/orchestral arrangements. McLuhan’s initial line-up included Paul Cohn on flute, clarinet, and tenor sax, Neal Rosner on bass and vocals, both Michael Linn and John Mahoney on percussion, Dennis Phillips on guitar and vocals, Tom Laney on keyboards, and Wright on trumpet and vocals. Based on the their growing local popularity and the strength of their live performances at Wise Fools, McLuhan caught the attention of producer and A&R man Carl Davis, who signed the band to Brunswick, then known mostly as an R&B and Soul label, in an attempt to court white listeners with a “crossover” act with some mainstream appeal. McLuhan’s aptly titled album for Brunswick, Anomaly, certainly stood out from the label’s other signings at the time but failed to generate much in the way of sales as the band was unable to tour or play larger hometown venues to promote the release. Now coveted by record collectors and fringe music enthusiasts, Anomaly has gained a cult following and the band has since been featured in the Chicago Reader, Prog Archives, It’s Psychedelic Baby, and a slew of underground music blogs.
Current band leader Neal Rosner, who also has a flourishing solo career, has been keeping McLuhan an active concern by booking shows in and around Chicago and has spearheaded the release of the new singles “King Bizzzarro,” “The Biker in the Park,” and “High School.”
