I want Approval. You want Approval. All God’s children want Approval.

Unfortunately, the road to Approval is never easy. True Approval, as we have now come to learn from Approval, is essentially found in "The Land of Dan’s". We, here at Steven, offer the curious case of Jon’t and Be King, Approval’s founding fathers, and their 12 year rowboat tour of Dan’s that is now captured on the Steven Records release, Cob 9.

It all started in 1987, when the Brothers King took their first musical vacation together to Dan's via Jont's 4-track and found that it was a great way to aurally document their trip. The "Approval Drum Major" greeted Jon't and Be at the river and said "I'm ready" , handing them their first pair of golden oars. Jon't and Be, happily accepting this gift, sang choruses of "I Wan't To Go To Dan's" and found that joining them on the trip would be their new "daughter" and bass player, 'Maphrokid - who you can hear gleefully singing at the very end of "Dan's".

As with any vacation or journey, you tend to meet many people along the way - and Jon't & Be's trip is no exception...

While in Dan's, soaking up the sites, they met many friends, some of whom they still keep in touch with, and some who they have since lost contact with. The first friend to Approval on their journey was Mr. Edgar J. Brippski, a youth group counselor who spends his time making futile yet valiant attempts at controlling his unruly children (such as Christopher and Reggie BenReggie). Mr. Brippski was very nice to Approval and left Jon't & Be with a warm, hearty meal in their stomachs. Their joy brought them to write a song in celebration of their new found "daughter" and bass player, 'Maphrokid, called "Red Wine Red Wine".

The rowboat excursion through Dan's brought them many other friends including...

• Richie Washington, a street preacher, who sings songs filled with advice and moral such as "What Would You Do If Somebody Called You A Name".
• Dunce Fallopian, a real rock and roller from New Jersey who sings an ode to his love in the form of "We Gotta Get Outta This Town", and also, along with his back-up singer Kiddie Coco, wrote an homage to his new friends Jon't and Be entitled "Jon't's Clothes Don't Fit Be".
• Mimi, a girl from Queens and her boyfriend Me.
• The Ceramic Dragon who has his own "theme song", and introduced Jon't and Be to a new game called "Wurn".
• Ms. David Duck who also has a song she likes to sing with Jon't and Be about how David Duck took all my money.
• Lee Oaskir who sits in LA sipping on his "Spritzer", thinking about his daughters that he is having trouble putting through college and memories of the smell of "Hickory Driftwood".
• Bone Rickey, a corporate beaurocrat who finds out about doing the right thing in a business situation from his assistant, Mark, in "You've Been Bad".

In order to hear the culmination of Jon't and Be's trip through Dan's - including the accident which fans thought was the end of Approval, leading into their re-birth at "The Tell You Later Party" - you will have to download the whole cd on the previous page. We, here at Steven, feel that Jon't & Be King's documentation of their 12 year trip through The Land of Dan's, Cob 9, is a masterpiece that can actually bring the listener to Dan's - and it is left up to the listener's mind to conjure up his/her own visions of Dan's and a true meaning of Approval. Cob 9 is best listened to with headphones.

"Don't stop believin'"