Jack Calmes

Jack Calmes (October 21, 1943 – January 5, 2015) was an American inventor, executive and musician.

In 1965, he co-founded Showco,[1] an influential and industry-revolutionizing concert sound and lighting service company. In 1984, Calmes founded Syncrolite,[1] considered one of the foremost entertainment/architectural light manufacturers in the world.

He also holds a pair of United States patents,[2][3] managed Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Freddie King and multi-platinum rock band Bloodrock, and in 1980, he founded the Forever Fabulous Chickenhawks Showband & All-Revue.

Early life

Calmes was born in Oklahoma City to parents Mary and Charles Calmes. Calmes' mother, Mary, was a piano player who also sang, instilling an early love of music in him. The family relocated to Clinton, OK, not long after he was born.

Calmes began his lifelong fascination with music at a young age, first playing Eddy Arnold songs on the ukulele, before graduating to guitar at the age of 15. The Calmes family moved to Dallas' Highland Park neighborhood when Calmes was nine, and he was soon performing professionally at the legendary Dallas Sportatorium.

Calmes attended Highland Park High School, where as a sophomore, he formed his first band, the Jades, in direct competition with classmates (and future rock legends) Steve Miller and Boz Scaggs. In 1961, Calmes, Miller and Scaggs joined forces to merge their two bands, and, according to Calmes, "played all the proms and got more money."[4]

Miller and Scaggs attended out-of-state colleges after high school graduation, and Calmes remained in Dallas, continuing to perform locally as he attended Southern Methodist University, beginning in 1962.[4] He studied engineering for two years before shifting his focus to the business school, which ultimately granted him his bachelor's degree in accounting.

Showco and Soul City

After Calmes graduated from Southern Methodist University in 1966, he joined forces with fellow Dallas resident Angus Wynne (and later, Jack Maxson and Rusty Brutsche) to create what would become one of the most innovative music-related companies in the industry: Showco.[5]

"Showco was officially incorporated in 1965, but we didn't start officing until 1966," Calmes said.[6]

Among Showco's early coups: a Texas-University of Oklahoma party at Dallas' Market Hall featuring Chuck Berry as the headliner; promoting other concerts by then-rising stars, such as Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin and the Doors, with Calmes citing a double bill of Ike and Tina Turner and the Righteous Brothers at a Dallas country club as "the biggest one."[5]

In 1967, Calmes added another element to his portfolio: club owner.

Along with Wynne, he opened Soul City on Greenville Avenue in Dallas, a 300-capacity space which featured an incredible line-up of talent: Stevie Wonder, Fats Domino, Chuck Berry, Little Richard,[7] Ike and Tina Turner and Jerry Lee Lewis are just some of the legendary names who performed at the nightclub, where Calmes could often be found, on stage, performing right along with the headliners.[8]

Calmes and Wynne sold their interest in Soul City in 1968.[5]

"We were using our own sound system – that's really what became Showco sound," according to Calmes. "[Bands] loved it – we were booked up, doing 200 shows a month."[9]

Showco was also responsible for booking the landmark Texas International Pop Festival in 1969, just two weeks after Woodstock.[5]

Although the Texas International Pop Festival was a rousing success, Calmes and Wynne couldn't sustain the financial burden of producing it (reportedly north of $100,000), and parted ways. Calmes would regroup and rededicate his efforts to building Showco in 1970.[5]

Showco's initial focus was sound systems, stemming from musicians' frustrations with sub-par live sound set-ups. As a gigging musician himself, Calmes understood the need for clear, efficient sound systems, and worked to provide them for a range of clients, including Led Zeppelin and Genesis.[6]

"Three Dog Night and Led Zeppelin and Steppenwolf were our first three accounts, and some Elvis Presley dates," Calmes said. "That was pretty good stuff."[6]

Showco, described as "the Cadillac of a developing industry"[6] and which at its peak was providing 10 touring lighting and sound packages at any one time to major acts on the road, was a continuation of Calmes's lifelong fascination with both music and technology. Some of the bands utilizing Showco's touring packages included Three Dog Night, the Carpenters, Bread, Rare Earth and the Kinks.[6][10]

"We built our own soundboards; we built everything ourselves," Calmes said of Showco. "There wasn't anything we bought from the outside … we were a technology company building products for the concert business, which was just coming on."[6]

Among the innovations Showco introduced to touring bands included automated lights that could easily change colors, as well as entire automated systems, controllable from one master switchboard.[6]

Showco, in addition to its Dallas-based offices (which would eventually encompass 40,000 square feet), also had locations in New York, Asia, Europe and South America. The business grossed $100,000 in its first year; $500,000 in its second. The management component of Showco likewise grew at similar speed, eventually expanding to include product marketing as well.[6][9]

"We were the first people to use lasers in a concert and trusses; we invented aluminum towers, pneumatic towers … all sorts of little tricks for putting a show in quickly," Calmes said.[6]

As Showco began to provide more comprehensive touring packages for artists, Calmes acquired diverse talents from around the world.

"I hired a designer from the London theater, a guy named Ian Knight,[11] and he was real smart, a Royal Shakespeare kind of guy," Calmes said. "He came over and went to work full-time, designing sets and stages for these tours."

Calmes resigned as president of Showco in 1980. What began as Showco was later spun off into Vari*Lite, so named in 1984.[12]

Showco was acquired by Clair Brothers in 2000, merged into the latter's touring division, which was renamed ClairShowco.[13] In 2008, the name was changed again to Clair, but with a tag line – "Global Service and Live Show Since 1966" – reflected its Showco roots.[13]

Syncrolite

After resigning from Showco, Calmes founded the Dallas-based Syncrolite [1] in 1984. Among the company's achievements include developing the first, fully automated DMX (digital multiplex)-controlled Xenon light system in 1989.

That system, however, resulted in a 1989 lawsuit from Vari*Lite, claiming Calmes infringed upon Vari*Lite's patents.[10]

Calmes countersued Vari*Lite, claiming his former business partners had misled him about the development of the Vari-Lite system when he left Showco in 1980 and thereby causing him to lose money when he sold his Showco stock.[10]

"Vari*Lite revolutionized the lighting business completely [with the] first moving lights that could change color," Calmes said. "When I left the company [in 1980], they didn't disclose they had invented Vari*Lite - I was gone all the time. I started Syncrolite and built a better light than they had. They sued me and I sued them back [and it] went on for five years."[10]

The case was resolved in favor of Vari*Lite.[10]

Syncrolite has provided systems for an array of high-profile events, including events such as the 2012 Olympics in London; the 75th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge; Super Bowl XLV and the 2014 NCAA Final Four at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas; the three-day March Madness Music Festival at Reunion Park in downtown Dallas; the Houston Rodeo; the 30th anniversary of Wrestlemania at the New Orleans Superdome and the Red Bull "Crashed Ice" event in Quebec City.[1]

Calmes remains president of Syncrolite, but has retired from day-to-day involvement with the company.

Other endeavors

Through a division of Showco, Calmes began managing musical artists in 1970. Among the acts he was responsible for included Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Freddie King (whom Calmes got signed to Leon Russell's Shelter Records[6]); Bloodrock and John Nitzinger, as well as Jim Rutledge, Green and Ali Braggs,[6] amassing what he says are "seven or eight gold records."

Calmes also produced a variety of film and live television projects, including a global satellite broadcast of the Who in 1982 (later released as the documentary The Who Rocks America) for 20th Century Fox and HBO, as well as the 1988 presidential debates for CSN. Calmes also co-produced the 1978 Rolling Stones concert film Some Girls: Live in Texas '78.[14]

In 1980, Calmes founded the 16-piece "soul-blues-R&B powerhouse" Forever Fabulous Chickenhawks Showband & All-Star Revue, in which he plays lead guitar.[15] Among its members include vocalist "Big" Luther Kent; tenor saxophonist Jon "White Trash" Smith; tenor saxophonist "Blue" Lou Marini; trumpeter Steve "Catfish" Howard; organist Tommy "Hunk of Funk" Young; pianist Andy "The Black Mouse" Michlin; drummer Allyn "Pigfoot" Robinson; trombonist John "Ox" Osborne; vocalist Rich "Soul Man" Kinney and bassist Jay "Bird" Griggs.[15] Between all of its members, the Chickenhawks have 10 Grammys, 14 gold and/or platinum albums and "possess a combined cumulative musical experience of over 250 years."[15]

The Chickenhawks have released five albums, including three live albums (2007's Louisiana Live, 2002's Live from the Gypsy Tea Room and 1999's Live) and two studio albums (1999's Chickenhawks and 2004's Deep in the Heart).[15]

Patents

Calmes currently holds two United States patents (numbers 8,596,824 [3] and 8,721,123[2])for a "method and apparatus for a scrollable modifier for a light fixture" and a "pattern generator for a light fixture," respectively.

The patents were both filed by Calmes as a representative of Syncrolite and granted in 2009. (The patents he held as part of Showco were sold when he left the company, as part of the corporation's intellectual property, although Calmes did keep a percentage of the patent.)

The abstract for the "pattern generator for a light fixture"[2] reads:

An apparatus includes a first flexible material that has a first area with a first texture that produces a first predetermined amount of diffusion of a beam of light, where the first texture produces at least some diffusion in the beam of light. The apparatus also includes a second flexible material attached to a first portion of the first area, where the second flexible material reduces the amount of diffusion of the beam of light produced by the first texture of the first portion of the first area. A light fixture includes a light fixture and the first flexible material coupled to a scrolling mechanism. The scrolling mechanism is operable to position a selected area of the first flexible material such that a beam of light from the light source passes through a first area of the first flexible material.

The abstract for the "method and apparatus for a scrollable modifier for a light fixture"[3] reads:

A light fixture includes a light source, a first flexible material coupled to a first scrolling mechanism, and a second flexible material coupled to a second scrolling mechanism. The first flexible material includes a first pattern generator and the first scrolling mechanism is operable to move the first pattern generator from a first position to a second position in a beam of light from the light source. The second flexible material includes a second pattern generator and the second scrolling mechanism is operable to move the second pattern generator to a third position in the beam of light. A changing pattern is produced in the beam of light.

Personal life

In 1967, Calmes married Dallas native Morgan Fairchild, to whom he would remain married for six years, before divorcing in 1973. Calmes married Lynn Lenau in 1975, before divorcing in 1989.[16] He wed his current wife, Susie Calmes (née Coniglio), in 1989. Susie was Calmes’ partner at Syncrolite and, for many years, she was the fashion director of regional boutique retailer Tootsies. Upon retirement, she became a Master Gardener and continues to help beautify the city of Dallas, where the couple resides. Following a long battle with cancer, Jack Calmes died at home at the age of 71.[17]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "About Us". syncrolite.com. Syncrolite. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 "United States Patent No. 8,721,123". patft.uspto.gov. United States Patent Office. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 "United States Patent No. 8,596,824". patft.uspto.gov. United States Patent Office. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  4. 1 2 Oedel, David (January 1980). "Sound Management". dmagazine.com. D Magazine. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Herold, Larry. "Angus Wynne, Blues Brother". austinnewsstory.com. Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Showco: An Empire Built with Flair to Show the World". books.google.com. Billboard. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  7. ↑ "Little Richard at Soul City, 1965". setlist.fm. Setlist.FM. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  8. ↑ Sherri Daye; Valerie Douglas. "Dallas City Limits". dmagazine.com. D Magazine. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  9. 1 2 Kirsch, Bob. "Texas Explodes Into Concert Mecca". books.google.com. Billboard. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 "Vari-Lite International, Inc.". answers.com. Answers.com. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  11. ↑ "Ian "Ig-Nite" Knight". led-zeppelin.org. Led-Zeppelin.org. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  12. ↑ Shropshire, Mike. "Light Moves". dmagazine.com. D Magazine. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  13. 1 2 "History". clairglobal.com. Clair Global. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  14. ↑ Wilonsky, Robert. "It Only Took 33 Years For Dallas Filmmakers to Get Due Credit for "Lost" Stones Concert Film". blogs.dallasobserver.com. Dallas Observer. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  15. 1 2 3 4 "The Band". chickenhawkshowband.com. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  16. ↑ Vognar, Chris. "Rolling Stones film rocks again for VideoFest". dallasnews.com. Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  17. ↑ http://livedesignonline.com/business-people-news/memoriam-jack-calmes-1943-2015
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