Twin/Tone Records

Safety Last

Rusty Jones       Jim Tollefsrud      Lianne Smith       Gary Louris

Rusty Jones Jim Tollefsrud Lianne Smith Gary Louris

 Safety Last are a four-piece band with a simple, traditional approach to their music, blending elements of country, western swing, pop, and rock-n-roll. Although all hail from Minneapolis, the band had its beginnings in Albuquerque, New Mexico in the fall of 1978, where bassist Rusty Jones and guitarist Tim Mauseth teamed up with a local drummer to form the first Safety Last. They played off and on, sometimes with nothing more than home stereo for a P.A.

Rusty and Tim returned to Minneapolis in the winter of 1979, and recruited old friend Jim Tollefsrud (formerly of NNB) to play drums. The band rehearsed through the spring, and debuted on July 4th, 1980. That fall brought a fourth member, Sprague Hollander on second guitar. The new lineup continued to play around town, and in mid-198l entered the studio to record their first record.

The release, however, was held up due to the departure of Tim and Sprague, who decided to form a new band. In August, longtime fan Gary Louris joined on lead guitar and soon Lianne Smith was added on vocals and rhythm guitar. Now that there was a solid band, Safety Last's self-titled 6-song l2-inch EP was released in May 1982.

The band began playing out-of-town more, touring Mid-America and the Southwest, stopping only to record their debut album, entitled Struck By Love, released September 22, 1983.

- from a 1983 Twin/Tone bio


released: May 7, 1982
Twin/Tone Records - TTR 8124
(mini-album 12" 45 RPM)

Safety Last
Safety Last

  • Rusty Jones - Bass, Vocals

  • Tim Mauseth - Guitar, Vocals

  • Sprague Hollander - Guitar

  • Jim Tollefsrud - Drums

produced by Paul Stark and Safety Last
recorded by Paul Stark
at Blackberry Way, Minneapolis, MN


released: September 12, 1983
Twin/Tone Records - TTR 8334
(vinyl)

Safety Last
Struck By Love

  • Rusty Jones

  • Gary Louris

  • Lianne Smith

  • Jimmy T

Produced by Paul Stark and Safety Last
Basics and mixing by Paul Stark with the Stark/Mudge Mobile Unit
Overdubs with Steve Fjelstad at Blackberry Way
Mastered by Howie Weinberg at Masterdisk


During the first week of September 1981, Twin/Tone took the mobile recording unit and rented a bunch of video gear and recorded 15 bands live (five nights) at the 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis... This video is from the show on September 4th.


 3 degrees of separation for Safety Last comprise 184 bands: Band To Band