Secret Stash Records is helping to distribute the album, Haze: When We Were Kids
In 1974 Minneapolis R&B outfit, Haze, released their debut self-titled album. The lead single, “I Do Love My Lady” became a regional smash hit reaching number 38 on the Billboard R&B Chart in early ‘75. It’s been hailed by local music critics as one of the best of a long list of lost and forgotten pre-Prince Minneapolis R&B hits. Later that year, frustrated with the poor distribution of their LP by ASI Records, they traveled to L.A. where they scraped together some money and funded the recording of 6 songs in the RCA studio. On their way out of the building, they were stopped by a man claiming to be an A&R rep who was interested in their sound. He took them out to lunch to talk business. Eventually he excused himself from the table to use the restroom. After he was gone for ten minutes, the band realized he had snuck out the back door through the kitchen and taken their master tapes with him. To date there has been no indication of the recordings ever surfacing. Later that year the band was offered a recording contract with Factors, Etc. and moved to Delaware to record a new album. There was a dispute with the owner of the label, the band was sent home and all the members went their separate ways. The album was never completed.
In mid 2007 a radio DJ from Mankato, MN purchased a massive stack of LPs from a private seller in Minneapolis. Included in that stack was a white label test pressing that she dubbed, “The Mystery Record.” After years of relentless work and investigating, she discovered that it was in fact the first Haze LP. She had never heard of the band before and was hard pressed to find a single living soul who could give her any information about them. Her search for the band created a massive local buzz and decades after they had all moved on to different careers, the band was thrown back in the spotlight. Local print publications and radio programs went nuts for the story. Word has spread about these forgotten heroes of funk and now music fanatics everywhere want the first Haze LP and it’s almost impossible to find. Used copies regularly sell for over $200 on ebay to buyers around the globe.
“When We Were Kids” is the same album as their self titled debut with a new name and artwork. This CD reissue is the first installment of the group’s reintroduction to the world of music retail. They have a completed unreleased lost album circa ’76 that will be reissued soon as well. Vinyl pressings of both albums will be released later this year.