Reggae came to Kansas in 1977, when Pat's Blue Riddim Band was put together by veteran Lawrence and Kansas City musicians, several of whom had played together in the Kansas City band Rhythm Function. As drummer Steve "Duck" McLane recalls, "It was a hot summer and we were drinking a lot of beer, especially Pabst.  The name just sort of fell into place." After a couple of years, the name was shortened to Blue Riddim Band to get away from the reference to beer.

Back in 1972 Steve McLane (congas) and Jack Blackett (tenor sax) had played together in a jazz band called Advertisement For A Dream.  That group also included Joe Ruddick on piano, Arny Young on drums and John Nichols on bass.

For a long time, the Blue Riddim Band lived together in an old stone house east of Lawrence for a long time. Most of the members of the band had been close friends since high school.  The communal lifestyle kept the band together and was economical.

The early crowds were small for the band’s gigs, but as the word spread about the group’s energy onstage.  As the crowds grew, the Blue Riddim Band won a spot opening for Bob Marley Hoch at Auditorium in Lawrence the night of December 6, 1979.

Several record labels were soon interested in the Blue Riddim Band, and the group eventually signed with Chicago's Flying Fish Records.  The tight, funky band's music was more than just reggae, having a heavy dose of R&B and ska in the mix.  The band was eventually popular from coast to coast, with UB40 among the bands to credit them as an influence. 

Longtime members included McLane (drums, bass, percussion & vocals), Andy Myers (bass & trombone), Scott Korchak (trumpet & lead vocals), Pat Pearce (keyboards, percussion & vocals), Bob Zohn (guitar, drums & lead vocals), Jack Blackett (saxophone), and Howard Yukon (guitar, percussion & vocals).  Among others who also played in the band were David Lawrence (repeater drum), Steve Prince (guitar, bass & vocals), Joe Miquelon (keyboards, saxophone), Jimmy Becker (harmonica & percussion), Noel Sims (percussion), Ken Sutchar (keyboards) and Gary Nelson (keyboards & guitar).

Steve Wilson, manager of Kief's Records & Stereo in Lawrence, told the Lawrence Journal-World in 1984 that the Blue Riddim Band's Restless Spirit on Flying Fish in late 1981 had been the largest selling album by a local band in Kief's history--selling over 400 copies. He said their independent follow-up single and EP were, however, financially unsuccessful.

The Blue Riddim Band in 1986 became the first all-white band nominated for a Grammy in the reggae category.  They lost the Grammy to Jimmy Cliff, who won for his "Cliff Hanger" album.  Other nominees were Burning Spear, Judy Mowatt and the Melody Makers featuring Ziggy Marley. 

The Blue Riddim Band was nominated for Alive In Jamaica, which was recorded at Jamaica's Sunsplash festival in 1982 and put out by Flying Fish in 1985. The band had gone on stage shortly before 6 a.m. the last day of the festival, greeted by a sleepy crowd of 16,000 who didn't expect much from the Midwesterners, but they got a performance that earned the Blue Riddim Band a tie for the festival's best band honors. 

"The people there weren't sure what to expect," said Howard Yukon.  "They had never seen a bunch of white boys from Kansas play the true reggae music before."      

The Blue Riddim Band split up in 1986, following their Grammy nomination. "It all boiled down to management," Joe Miquelon said years later.  "It just did not work out."  Some of the members were soon playing together again in the Strategic Dance Initiative or in New Riddim.  After New Riddim, Scott Korchack had a group in Kansas City called the Scotty Riddim Band in the mid-90s.