The Leopards - I wonder if i'll ever see you again (Video)

Us (Kansas City)/1977
Dennis Pash, vocals, guitar, keyboards, percussion,harmonica.
Dennis Bouch, drums, percussion.
James Bordy, guitar, vocals.
Kevin Sanders, guitar, vocals.
Ross Inden, bass, percussion, vocals.
One of the album's most commercial efforts, 'I Wonder If I'll Ever See You Again' was a glistening slice of power-pop that should have provided the band with a major hit. The track was tapped as a single, but vanished without a trace.
I was at a party and a hardcore collector friend played this album without telling anyone who the band was. My immediate thought was Ray Davies and the Kinks, though I didn't have a clue what LP I was listening to. Most of the guests didn't care one way or the other, but being the anal fool that I am, imagine my surprise learning it was Kansas City's The Leopards ...
Skip forward a couple of weeks later when I had time to check out some reviews and information about the band. Turns out virtually every other article made the same Kinks comparison.
Showcasing the talents of Dennis Pash and Kevin Sanders and apparently initially a studio entity, The Leopards are simply a lost treasure. Released on their own Moon label (and sounding surprisingly good for a collection that was recorded in the basement of Dennis Pash's boyhood home), 1977's "Kansas City Slickers" found the pair managing to out-Kink Ray Davies and The Kinks. Mind you I'm not talking mid-1970s comeback Kinks, rather mid-1960s primetime Kinks! These guys managed to nail Ray Davies and company's magical mid-1960s sound without coming off like mindless clones. Their energy and enthusiasm for this material simply exploded across the album. Showcasing all original material (penned by Pash and Sanders), tracks like 'Mind of My Own', '57 Chevy' and 'Bugle Boy' were catchy, clever, and effortlessly evoked Davies at his creative best. For cryin' out loud they even managed to capture The Kinks' very English delivery including music hall influences ('It Must Be Love'). Don't believe it? Check out the opener 'Road To Jamaica' or 'Dancing in the Snow'. And they were from Kansas City to boot ... This is one of those albums where it's simply hard to pick a favorite performance, but if pushed into a corner I'd give the nod to 'Recess' or the pretty ballad 'I Wonder If I'll Ever See You Again'.