DaytonDailyNews.com

Musician Glen "Dole" Shaffer of Springfield has amassed a healthy discography over the years. Sadly, much of this output was released in the 1980s in limited runs on vinyl or cassette and has been out of print for years.

On the up side, Shaffer recently inked a deal with Las Vegas-based Retrospect Records to reissue forgotten musical gems by his former bands Scram, No Reason, The Press and Beards Ghetto.

"I got an e-mail in 2005 from this guy asking about Scram," Shaffer said recently. "He said he owned a record label and was searching the Web, heard the old songs and liked them. I was thrilled and excited, but I was more surprised than anything.

"You get these sites sending you e-mails wanting you to sign up, and the next thing you know you've got yourself into something you're paying for. I was leery so I did some searching and Retrospect is legit. Some of their bands are kind of well-known."

Retrospect Records was founded in 2003 with the mission of reviving lost hard rock albums. The label is home to little-known bands like Atomik Cocktail and Tainted Angel and better known bands like Mariah and Cleveland cult act The Electric Eels.

The first release in Shaffer's deal is the self-titled LP from AOR-hard rock band Scram, which was released on vinyl in 1980. The re-mastered CD version will be out in April. The second reissue, the self-titled 1984 offering from guitar-heavy pop-rockers No Reason, will be released this summer. The CDs from The Press and Beards Ghetto will be out later this year.

"Retrospect Records is bringing back the '80s and the '90s, more of the classic rock sound," Shaffer said. "We go through generation changes, and we've been through the grunge, the rap, the punk or whatever, but good old rock 'n' roll is something that always fills that gap."

Shaffer, a former studio instructor at the International College of Broadcasting, is also a producer. He re-mastered the reissues with Phil Mehaffey at Cyberteknics Creative Studio in Dayton, where he is finishing up the latest albums from local folk duo Frozen Feet and R&B artist Al Holbrook.

"I'm proud of what I've done," Shaffer said. "I'm not rich, but I'm content. I'm able to take care of myself, the phone is still ringing and people are coming to me, so that makes all the difference in the world."

More info: www.myspace.com/doleshaffer.

Rock Insider, by contributing writer Don Thrasher, appears weekly and gives a behind-the-scenes view of the Dayton music scene. Contact Thrasher by e-mail at donaldthrasher8@aol.com.