Bonnie Koloc (born in Waterloo, Iowa) is an American folk singer / songwriter, actress, and artist who was considered one of the three main Illinois-based folk singers in the 1970s, along with Steve Goodman and John Prine. Bonnie Koloc was signed to independent label Ovation Records in Chicago, which may account for the fact that her records only sold modestly, as Ovation’s independent distribution system was not very potent at the time. I remember meeting Ovation’s head Dick Shorey, right about the time Bonnie’s You’re Gonna Love Yourself In The Morning was getting a lot of airplay in Chicago, ‘73 –‘74 or so on WCFL Radio I believe. I was pitching some of my own songs to Shorey. He was very gracious and took time to listen to them and speak with me. When the subject of Bonnie came up, he confided in me, that Ovation really hadn’t figured out just how best to showcase Bonnie’s beautiful, high and sometimes delicate singing. Her recordings, though lovely, didn’t seem to capture all the magic of her live performances. In the case of You’re Gonna Love Yourself In The Morning, Ovation recorded Bonnie singing it several times, with various arrangements while attempting to capture her true essence with varying degrees of success. The version on this Desperate album is reminiscent of her Earl of Old Town days, but the one I heard on radio (a copy of which Dick gave me) was exactly 2:00 minutes long and a little more “folkie” than the one on Desperate. In other words, probably more what most thought of as “Bonnie” (although the more I read about Bonnie I’m not sure she thought of herself as a folk singer). Radio also played a 2:15 version.
Regarding the songs I was pitching – Dick told me that since they were basically country, I should contact the head of his Nashville office, Brien Fisher, and that Brien was working on a new father / daughter duo called The Kendalls. Three years later The Kendalls hit pay-dirt with Heaven’s Just A Sin Away (Grammy and CMA awards). Though I did not take Dick’s advice about going to Nashville right then (I moved to California instead), ironically, years later I would with Brien co-produce Jeannie Kendall (after the death of her father and singing partner, Royce) on a number of albums, three songs of which are on this Desperate album.
In the 1980s, after the death of her long-time boyfriend, Bonnie pursued a career as an actress. I’m not sure the two events were related – probably just time for Bonnie the actor to make an appearance. She performed in plays such as Joseph Papp's Broadway production of The Human Comedy, but by the late ‘80s, she focused on her art studies. She has resumed her musical career and continues to tour bars and clubs, and has a new album entitled Here To Sing. When I told an old Chicago friend of mine that I was including two Bonnie Koloc songs on the Desperate album he said he’d be willing to buy the album for the Bonnie Koloc songs alone. Obviously, she still has fans out there.
