LA PUNK HISTORY: This is a short Black Flag Documentary which largely focuses on the artwork side and how disruptive the band was before social media. This looks great and Henry Rollins really puts their impact in perspective. Includes interviews with Keith Morris, Chuck Ducowski, Henry Rollins, Raymond Pettibon (Buy an Original) and Flea. If you’re into flyer artwork get the excellent book ‘Fucked Up And Photocopied’ which has huge amounts of flyers from the time. This short film was Directed by Brian Ray Turcotte and Bo Bushnell.
Black Flag Art by Raymond Pettibon
Flea is in this documentary, because not only is he an amazing human being but also because he was in the punk scene way back in the 80’s before starting the Red Hot Chili Peppers with Anthony Keidis. He was in the los angeles band Fear for a while and in the film Suburbia directed by Penelope Spheeris who also directed Decline of Western Civilization. He’s been in a bunch of punk documentaries. Same for Duff McKagan. If you don’t know your music history he’s in quite a few others you’d be “wtf, why are they in this?” All those old punk bands and the various scenes around the country that they flowed through. Dave Grohl used to be quite the hardcore punk drummer too, long before joining Nirvana, as another example, he was in Scream I believe.
Hilarious experts from Paul Stanley from Kiss. If you’ve ever seen them or listened to their live bootlegs. The ranting between songs is a pure rocknroll lesson in itself. You bands should take this as a free rockschool class. From us to you. Enjoy the whole hour and nine minutes! Totally reminded me in our old band Aviso’Hara I have a distinct memory of listening to Kiss Bootlegs for part of the drive up to play the Bugjar in Rochester,NY. This took our stage banter to a whole other level.
Dead Heart Bloom – Check out this band’s latest tracks which were produced by Anthony Molina from Mercury Rev. For all of you music buffs who dig Swervedriver and shoegazer wash of sound. This is part of a 3 EP series. Kinda the way bands are doing it these days so there is not too much time between releases. Used to be years. Either way the group was formed by Boris Skalsky and guitarist Paul Wood from the ashes of their former band Phaser. Enjoy this great stuff.
DOWNLOAD: Broken Babylon MP3 by Dead Heart Bloom from So It Goes EP
Daddy Lion – Do you remember the 80’s when adding a keyboard to a song was a bold move and it was just new wave all of a sudden. This tune “No Solution But Resolution” has go some early APB feel to it but not as casio scary or mucking up the whole song with single notes. Accents. Decent little meandering melodies accompanied by hook guitar parts. Straight forward in the right ways. The whole EP is a bedroom thing that after some research has four dudes helping make the music now. We’re looking forward to the next stuff already. Get their whole record on the bandcamp.
RIYL: Bob Mould (Workbook), feelies, Lets Active, APB
The Duskwhales – Here’s some indie music from a band from Northern VA who have been doing their thing since 2010. A baby band in rock years. Check this tune out, it’s pretty good, in ode to all this inclement weather everybody is beginning to love so much.
As Elephants Are – If you like brit pop and the band We Are Scientists then these dudes shalt be your thing. Lots of 16th notes in the drumming department. “Hand Prints” is pretty radio friendly.
RIYL: British Sea Power, We Are Scientists,
The Student Teachers were a popular NYC band in the late ‘70s that never had an album but recorded a 45 single, a 4 track EP and 2 tracks for a compilation album. Those tracks along with a bonus cut have all come together for a 9 song CD entitled “An Invitation to…The Student Teachers 1978-80”. Their sound bridged the punk and new wave gap blending minimalist no wave and edgy garage elements into one entertaining teenage combo. It’s been 33 years since the Student Teachers parted ways but along the way they impacted many people lives including mine. They gave me a deeper music education and many coming of age lessons. Here’s where some of that all started.
Growing up I was exposed to so much music diversity on top 40 and progressive rock radio. The radio shaped the personalities of the kids in my Brooklyn neighborhood, Boro Park. There were hippie dead heads, metal kids and disco dancers. I was in between all of these sounds and found myself digging misfit styles that were pegged glam and/or punk rock. I was building my record collection and picked up many cool oddities at Outrageous Records located on the Hasidic Jewish shopping strip, 13th Avenue. Another record collecting buddy of mine, Vinny and I would hang out there and talk music with the clerk, Lori Reese who would inform us of new bootlegs, imports and singles she was bringing in of cooler bands like Roxy Music, Patti Smith, Sparks, Television, Sex Pistols and so many others. We created a bond as my music appetite was developing. It was because of her and reading about shows at CBGBs and Max’s Kansas City in Rock Scene that I ended up seeing countless bands at those clubs. It was an exciting time to be growing up in NYC as my teenage years and the music scene was formulating.
In early ’78 Lori informed us that she was in a band that was playing in the city and her new punk name was Z.B. Stripe. She and her friend Laura were fans and roadies for the art punk band The Erasers. They were a cool 4 piece that featured 3 women (and Richie Lure, Walter of the Heartbreakers brother) in the band sounding somewhat like Patti Smith fronting the Voidoids. Those Erasers shows were a big influence on the formation of the Student Teachers.
I missed the Teachers first few gigs including their debut date at some of the band members school, Friends Seminary. But I was fortunate enough to attend the band’s fourth gig as a guest of Lori’s since I drove her to and from the gig on April 23, 1978 when the Teachers opened for Teenage Jesus and the Jerks at CBGBs. The show was my first guest list spot at the club. Also on the list that night was Brian Eno who was there to see Lydia Lunch’s band as Eno would be recording them for the infamous “No New York” no wave collection for Antilles/Island Records. He did get to see the Student Teachers and seemed to enjoy their faithful cover of Roxy’s “Remake-Remodel”. I was beyond ecstatic that Eno was in the house and hounded him for an autograph along with some of the lyrics to his recent single, “Kings Lead Hat.”
After the show had ended I was standing in front of the club with the band as they attempted to hail taxis to different parts of Manhattan with their gear. I volunteered to drive them to their respective spaces and quickly became the band’s official roadie. I was so excited that my ’74 Ford Mustang was sideswiped by a taxi while driving around town. I wasn’t too concerned over the fender bender since this was such a momentous night for me!
2 of the band members came from the suburban Westchester community of Larchmont, front person David Scharff (known as JD Cruel) and guitarist Philip Shelley. The other 2 members Laura Davis and Bill Arning were Manhattan kids raised in the city. Their fans/friends either came from the Larchmont area or were city kids they hung around with. I found myself surrounded by a whole new set of obsessive music fans that were all so different from my Brooklyn friends. There was one Brooklyn-ite exception, Jody Robelo. She lived nearby me in Windsor Terrace and was also going to shows at CBs often. She and I became a roadie team for the band. As the band was getting popular quickly Jody moved onto be the band’s manager as I became the band’s driver and stage manager.
The gigs were coming rather frequently and I found myself setting up the band’s equipment (including an ironing board to hold up the keyboards) on various stages of the city’s burgeoning club scene. Besides CBs and Max’s I worked with the band on the stages of Hurrah, Tier 3, Tracks, The Mudd Club, Philly’s Hot Club, Boston’s Rat and the momentous gig at the Palladium opening for Iggy Pop and The Cramps on Halloween 1979.
As the band’s career was taking off we were approached by Jimmy Destri of Blondie to produce some recordings. Their debut vinyl was the 45 single “Channel 13” b/w “Christmas Weather” for Terry Ork’s legendary NY indie label Ork Records in late 1978. Jimmy followed that up in ’79 producing 2 tracks each for 5 newer NYC bands resulting in a compilation cleverly entitled 2×5 for Marty Thau’s Red Star Records. The songs “What I Cant Feel” and “Looks” were the 2 Teachers cuts on that album. “Looks” was later covered by Mike Doughty of Soul Coughing on his album “Skittish.” Oddly enough he hadn’t heard the song until many years later and was turned onto the song by a friend of his. He discovered the track on the 2×5 album many years after its release picking it up as a used copy in a South Jersey record shop.
The band eventually had a falling out with Jimmy and his girlfriend, our drummer Laura Davis. It resulted into a stressful period for the group with Laura leaving the band. Laura and Jimmy’s relationship spawned a couple of co-written tracks that appeared on Blondie albums. Their first collaboration “Slow Motion” appeared on “Eat to the Beat”. There’s a line in the song “the girl in the back was doing the quake, she got a bellyache she cant concentrate” was a reference to fan at a ST show while doing their rave up song about doing a dance called the quake.
The band was evolving at that time and had become a 6 piece before Laura left the band with the addition of Joe Katz (ex-Mumps/Klaus Nomi bassist) on guitar. Laura was replaced by Hayden Brasseur who played locally with the female band Die Hausfrau. We weren’t getting much interest from other labels to release another recording so our manager Jody fronted the money for some studio time. Around that period we were hanging out often with Glen Tilbrook from Squeeze since he expressed interest in producing the band and we were big fans of his band. That unfortunately never materialized. So we went into the studio with our engineer from our previous recordings Jay Burnett. At that time period I was going to the new school for a studio engineering course considering a career in record producing. After being around 2 years of Student Teacher gigs the band gave me a vote of confidence and suggested I produce their final recordings. I fiddled the knobs some at those sessions and listened closely to the 4 songs endlessly. The closing track for me is the song that should have been the band’s hit. “Past Tense” has a catchy chorus with rip roaring guitars and infectious keyboards. It’s appropriate that the song closes the 9 track album as this music and time period is all way way past tense.
The group disbanded in November 1980. The new me decade had arrived and our teenage years had ended. The second wave of NYC bands was over and post-punk had just begun. It was our graduation day.
Lots of 80’s all up in this 5 song EP by We Are Scientists new release Business Casual. First track “Dumb Luck” has a hair metal vibe. Cool use of guitar trills (action of pulling off and on your electric guitar strings) but then it kicks into the chorus and you want to jump. The next couple tracks “Return the Favour” and “Good Answer” are business as usual for these New Yorkers then they hit you with “Take My Breath Away” (Yes Top Gun). Now if you are trying to mix-up nostalgia mix this would be good track to throw in there. Our favorite cut is actually the demo of “Courage” on here. Great songs are just great in their most basic state. Either way. They are still a good pop guitar band even if the hair thing is not your thing.
I’m guest blogging for the review stalker while he’s away on vacation. My summer holiday has consisted of me sending my son off to sleep away camp which gave me the opportunity to see more rock shows since he was born 13 years ago! The season has offered the usual summer touring from bands from now and then with many noteworthy free shows all over the New York City area.
Many of the nights have been spent reliving several harmonious music memories seeing mostly older acts and hearing songs from my youth. Over a 6 week period I took in performances from The Zombies, She & Him, Camera Obscura, The Rascals, Leon Russell,Cheap Trick, B.B King, James Hunter Six, New Order, NRBQ, Bob Dylan, Wilco (w/ special guest Ian Hunter) and a tribute to Big Star. Combined these acts performed a myriad of unforgettable classic songs including “She’s Not There”, “Sunday Girl’, “People Got To Be Free”, “The Letter”, “September Gurls”, “Delta Lady”, “Surrender”, ‘Blue Monday”, “All The Young Dudes” and so many more.
The Letter from the Big Star Tribute in Central Park on June 30
The Dylan/Wilco show was billed as the AmericanaramA fest and went down on the Hoboken pier on July 26. That was appropriate since days later and blocks away, the home of American music Maxwell’s was closing their doors.
All The Young Dudes-Wilco w/ Ian Hunter, James Mastro, Warren Haynes & My Morning Jacket on Hoboken Pier on July 26
I was fortunate enough to have had the venue be a big part of my life throughout some of my formative years in the mid-‘80s where I attended more shows there during that period then any other rock club. I hadn’t had the chance to make it back throughout the month for the final shows so it was imperative that I venture back to Hoboken one last time for the closing festivities on July 31.
The celebration started off with a block party that had 11 street closed off with beer and food stands. Raucous party tunes blared throughout the street as various DJs from the club’s 30 plus years (Guy Ewald, Charles Charas, Gaylord Fields, Vince Brnicevic, Billy Miller, Georgia Hubley, Ira Kaplan) took turns spinning records while the crowd built up throughout the evening to pay their respects to the club. Hundreds of people were packed into the bar spilling onto the street. Both the Individuals and the Bongos were booked to close the back room. I was lucky enough to pick up tickets for the earlier set from the Individuals. The band was in fine form and had a blast playing as one of the final bands on the Maxwell’s stage. They brilliantly recreated the sound of the early ‘80s NYC rock club scene. I stood there and realized, this is the sound that’s categorized as post-punk. I flash backed to watching bands in that same room and other NYC area clubs in the ‘80s. I realized after seeing so many remarkable bands, hearing various legendary songs and reliving magical music moments over this summer season this tiny back room of a bar/restaurant was where so much of ’80s music was born influencing me and so many others.
It reminded me that there were so many punk and new wave spin-offs incubated and championed at Maxwell’s. Alt-country, grunge, power pop, roots rock, college rock, garage, paisley underground, shoe gazing and the most peculiar named genre, indie rock were all heralded there. That ubiquitous tag came from the countless acts that recorded for scores of independent record companies. Twin Tone, SST, Slash, Homestead, Enigma, Dolphin, Frontier, K Records, Ace of Hearts and Hoboken’s own Coyote and Bar/None were just some of the bigger players in the growing soon to be coined “alternative” music business.
Adding to the sounds and styles were cities and towns the labels and music originated from. Musicians arrived from all over the USA. They piled in vans and drove miles to play at the club. Some performed at Maxwell’s numerous times over several years. They traveled from Los Angeles, Portland, Minneapolis, Athens, Boston, Seattle, Chapel Hill and many other American regions. The list of acts I’d seen (or heard from the front bar!) is endless and in no particular order.
The Replacements, The dbs, Husker Du, X, Alex Chilton, Meat Puppets, Long Ryders, Pylon, Dreams So Real, Tommy Keene, Young Fresh Fellows, Redd Kross, Gun Club, The Three O Clock, Jason and the Scorchers, The Dream Syndicate. Dumptruck, Miracle Legion, Del Fuegos, EIEIO, Soul Asylum, The Chesterfield Kings, Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper, Game Theory, Let’s Active, The Neats, Ben Vaughn Combo, Leaving Trains, Guadalcanal Diary. The Minutemen, Rain Parade, Green on Red, The Wipers, Daniel Johnston, Camper Van Beethoven, The Bodeans, 10,000 Maniacs, Beat Happening, Rank and File, The Lyres, Dinosaur Jr, Galaxie 500, The Morrells, True Believers, Fetchin’ Bones, Big Black, Southern Culture On The Skids, House of Freaks, Naked Raygun, Salem 66, Big Dipper, The Dead Milkmen, The Dogmatics, Swimming Pool Qs, Drivin’ N Cryin’, Green River, The Flies, Pontiac Brothers, Giant Sand, Scruffy The Cat and many others.
Some bands traveled from overseas: Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians, The Go-Betweens, Hoodoo Gurus, The Lime Spiders, The Fall, The Mekons to name a few.
And then there were those from the NY/NJ metro area that kept the venue thriving as opening acts for many out of town bands or headlining the club and packing it with their family, friends and fans:
Sonic Youth, Yo La Tengo, The Feelies, Mofungo, Syd Straw, The Nightmares, The Raunch Hands, The Wygals, The Clintons, Pianosaurus, Laura Cantrell, The Scene is Now, Deep Six, The Last Round Up, World Famous Blue Jays, Beat Rodeo, Gutbank, The Vacant Lot, Fleshtones, Das Damen Del-Lords, Hugo Largo, The Raybeats, The Golden Palominos, Phantom Tollbooth, The A-Bones, Crazy Sunday, Chris Stamey Group, Soul Attack, The Ambivalent Brothers, House of Usher, Leap of Faith, Fish & Roses, Winter Hours were just some of the local names that kept the scene and spirit alive.
There isn’t one room in the NY metro area that could boast all of these accomplishments showcasing quality music with integrity for over three decades.
It was a space and a moment in time that will never be recreated. I feel lucky to have been there when both the club and I were coming of age. It’s bittersweet that Maxwell’s is gone but its legacy will continue to live on through the music and the influence it had on a vast group of music fans that sometimes fit into a small room with a legal capacity of 200 people.
I was a white suburban punk who discovered black radio. On our way to the City driving down 1 & 9 on the Pulaski skyway we would always manage to find this music fitting and tune into Kiss FM or BLS. Wherever DJ Red Alert was scratching records live on the spot we would stop on the dial. Probably where we first heard the Beastie Boys. This music got us in the mood for whatever else was to follow that evening. I didn’t even think of recording his set because every Friday night we would find him spinning the latest rap records that we would never hear anywhere else. So it’s very sad for me to hear that Kiss.FM are turning into a sports channel and will be merging with WBLS. After 30 years of serving a community Anyway, when ever I run into a recording from back in the day I grab it so here’s a few of what I have from Boogie Down Production and DJ Red Alert. This is the stuff that when The Clash rolled into the area you know they were listening too because it was just so edgy. It’s sad day for radio but thank god we have of these nuggets to give you an idea what the live experience was like.
At first listen Aggi Doom from Scotland reminded me of the B-52’s but it was killing me for days that they really remind me of the Bush Tetras with their minimal jungle sound. Regardless their sound is raw and the type of stuff you’ll want to keep playing over and over again. Comprised of Joan Sweeney (ex- Remember Remember, The Royal We) and Hillary Van Scoy (ex Divorce). Think Evens mashed with Throwing Muses or heck download the song here and buy the 7″ from Soft Power Records and be the cool kid on the block with foreign wax.
They were funky, dark and fun. Here’s a couple by the Bush Tetras. They had bouncy rhythms and dissonant guitar riffs in the vain of Talking Heads led by female singer Cynthia Sley and lead guitarist Pat Place as an output of the original No Wave movement. Very cool stuff.
Bobby Albert - Serving Hub City Rock from 1981-2012
Nobody knows the answer Why Bobby Albert Jr would one day wake-up on a cold January and decide The Court Tavern(124 Church St) would close it’s doors forever. Maybe he got an offer he could not refuse — but I doubt it. Maybe the burden of a looming $60 thousand dollar bar license was just too huge an amount of hard swet and pride he was not willing to cough up one more time. The hole was just to big so he folded his hand.
Once, after a infamous patron argument Bobby once put up a sign behind the stage and painted over a mural by E-Gun(RIP) that said “Cruel but Fair” that would yet stamp the attitude of his bar. Years later the mural was uncovered again to reveal all the past “floating chromosomes” on the wall. Even though the sign was ugly it was a statement that had been a part of the folklore and lure of the Court Tavern crowd – always in chaos but always intriqueing. This was one of many incidents you’d hear about from the dixie cup chain of hooligans and curmudgeons who congregated here to celebrate rock-n-roll and get the occasional cocktail. For the most part the bands were understood and respected as Artists, well at least most of the time. The point is that this was punk rock bar that embraced most of us –no matter how weird or misunderstood.
Plugspark Sanjay
The Final Fuck You MP3 by Boss Jim Getty’s from Tigrebeat Hit It Now MP3 by Plug Spark Sanjay from the IMF Compilation (1999) Damned MP3 by Nudeswirl (1993) Mr. Sad MP3 by True Love from i was accident (2003) Kicked My Dad MP3 by Buzzkill
His father Bobby Albert Senior first ok’d live music in the bar then in came the local rock bands like The Smithereens, Crossfire Choir and Opium Vala. There was also bands like A.O.D., The Blisters, PEDs and Bad Karma. Ok so you maybe you never heard of any except for one of these bands but the point is local bands used to draw just as much as any indie touring band. Matter fact the local bands these days are all pretty well known so sort of perplexing with so many high profile punk shows that the situation got to be too much. This was a place where turning up the volume was par for the course and sometimes the band just played for flies and that was part of the risk of bringing in outside bands or having locals who just forgot to tell their friends. Sure the club/bar has had it’s fair share of early performance by the likes of Flaming Lips, Buthole Surfers and Superchunk. The list of who’s who goes on and on so here we’ll post some of these lesser known bands. (so second post is coming) The truth is this past week I’ve been bumming pretty hard as are a few of my other friends. Literally stayed away from facebook to take a step back after I heard the news. Just in December the Mayor of New Brunswick celebrated the clubs 30th Anniversary in the local press. In my humble opinion culture has pretty much been erased out of New Brunswick in the past 20 years since it began rebuilding the city so its always been a sideways battle. Homogenized from the day J&J decided to move-in and every bit of cheap real-estate bought up by UMDNJ under eminent domain in some cases we lost other amazing clubs there like The Roxy and The Melody Bar where Matt Pinfield used to spin (even when he was famous). Like roaches the music will survive somehow but it won’t have a place to hang it’s hat or hoodie like the Court. Well at least until somebody sees an opportunity as the court is now officially for sale.
My friend and rat bastard Cliff mentioned on one of the Facebook threads that we were done with this culture. Which is true maybe it’s time for the next generation to make their own fucking thing but for me it’s like loosing a bridge to my youth. Which was maybe ill spent at times but damn was it fun burning through those brain cells and hearing for that matter. This we can all agree on. Maybe even selfishly at times booking my bands with bands I wanted to see and hear; trying to help build up a scene and knowing full well the mystique was a commodity that paid-off in spades or could fail miserably. But at the end of night we’d always hear these words last works.
“You Don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here”
Well at least until the next time. Lets hope somebody else picks up the torch for next generation of Sonic Youths and pulpit pues.
Now on to the music.
Download: The Diamond Church Street Choir MP3 by The Gaslight Anthem from American Slang. This is super poetic tribute song that Brian Fallon wrote which is about my comrade Andy Diamond who I guess up until a few days ago booked bands there. He had some serious shoes to fill with the likes of Tom Crowe, Eric Gundry (the Artist behind the murals RIP), Adam and Sluggo who’s tastes were broad giving a lot of bands a place to practice and show-off their craft.
15 minutes Prior to this photo Corey Parks from Nashville Pussy lit Eric on fire. Photo by me
About those fuckin’ bands
There were so many to mention that I’ve either seen there, played with or wish I’d seen. Here’s my List of memorable shows: Nudeswirl(2x), Buzzkill(12x), Monster Magnet, BarkMarket, Transilvia, Boss Jim gettys'(10x), Mule, Don Caballero, Nashville Pussy, 9lb Hammer, Bionic Rhoada(6x), Mad Daddies(3x), The Raging Lamos, Whirling Dervishes, Tiny Lights, Chris Harford and the band of Changes, Deadguy, Duochrome, Ween(5x), MoistBoyz(2x), False Fron(3x).. jesus this list will never end but it was a lot of rock and I’ll never forget mostly thanks to the intertubes. I will say the songs I’m post barely make a dent so we’ll have to do a follow-up post.
Adios Amigo MP3 by MoistBoyz from II Longhair MP3 by Monster Magnet from 25 – Tab El Camino MP3 by Ween from God Ween Satan The Oneness (1990) Gimme What I Need MP3 by Mars Needs Women from Sparking Ray Gun (1995)
Wish I’d seen these shows:
Pussy Galore, Flamming Lips, Nirvana, Mudhoney, Supersuckers, Butthole Surfers, Urge Overkill… there’s more.
North East rock was never so eloquently defined than by the alternative music vehicle known as Big Dipper. I meant this to be a follow-up post on the music from City Gardens Riot on the Dance Floor post but needless to say when a group makes a melodic dent like these guys did it’s worth one of my retro-posts because a lot of the submissions I’m getting just don’t rank. This is though one of those bands I trekked down to Trenton to see opening up I think for Robyn Hitchcock. Way back when my friend A.Rockman went to Lehigh, I used to go visit him weekend night’s he’d have a late night shift on 91.3 FM WLVR. This is where I first heard Dumbtruck which featured guys from Big Dipper too. This is the independent “college rock” I remember best. Spinning their first EP Boo Boo was a ear explosion of melody and rough guitars minus the delay pedal present in bands like Echo & The Bunnymen with the same sing-song sense. The follow-up Heavens delivered even more of the same jangle rock. Straight-up songs that fit nicely with The Smithereens, The Feelies and the more melodic tunes by Hüsker Dü on my mix tapes. While short lived in their 7 year history it was awesome to see them play on the Heavens tour as I remember them being one of the tallest bands in world who seemed almost cramped up against the low ceiling on the City Gardens stage. Check out their Anthology out now on Merge!
Bonus tracks: Celebrated Summer Strangers When We Meet MP3 by The Smithereens from Especially for you (1986) Stars Grow Colder MP3 by Dumptruck from Lemmings Travel To The Sea (2001) I need to burn something from Positively Dumbtruck which is the correct era unless somebody can swing that my way? On the Roof MP3 by The Feelies from the Good Earth (1986) The Killing Moon MP3 by Echo & The Bunnymen from Ocean Rain
City Gardens Riot on The Dance Floor film skate deck
As hard as we may try to write about new music the past keep coming up again and again like unwanted overgrown hair and reminds me just how truly awesome things were way back when the slang “that was so 10 minutes ago…” never crossed our minds because the landscape of haircuts were so diverse from band to band and scene to scene. We were constantly consuming so much great music at such a rate that personally I think you’d be a fool to stay affiliated to any one genre of music but lets just say punk and alternative music encompassed everything. Including the Skinheads, Skate punks, Ska fans, hardcore fans and metal kids all under one roof.
From about 1986 through 1995 or so I used to go to as many shows as I could at City Gardens in Trenton, NJ which was as dangerous as Newark. A couple times my friends and I showed up to a $5 show like Fugazi and it was just sold out with a line still wrapped around the 1,100 capacity cinder block club. This was pre-internet so the only way you’d ever know about a show in my area was by word of mouth or from a flyer. The best part was the diversity of bands that Randy Now used to book anywhere from The Ramones to Robyn Hitchcock to 24/7 Spyz. This club is where I stage dove for the first and the last time to Fishbone. I got kicked out of the club after falling on my back then paid my way back in again to see the rest of the show from the sidelines. Luckily it was raining and I convinced the door guy it was not sweat but I was just wet. I still think my back cricks from that fall but regardless it was so worth being part of historic venue and experience of really being in the mix at a live show.
There are a little under 5 days left to donate anywhere from $25 to as much as you want to become either a Crowd Surfer or attain Club Owner status over on Kickstarter page to help bring the story of City Gardens and Randy Now to the screen in the flick Riot On The Dance Floor. The more dough the better the soundtrack will be for this movie which; will help Director Steve Tozzi bring this film truly to life. Anyway, here’s some bands I can remember seeing and as I write I keep thinking of more bands I saw play there.
Some bands I saw at City Gardens: good clean fun MP3 by Descendents from I don’t want to grow up Knock It MP3 Fishbone from In Your Face (1986) I Just Want Some Skank | Beverly Hills MP3 by Circle Jerks from Group Sex The Godfather MP3 Dag Nasty from Wig-out at Denko’s (dischord) Turned Out MP3 The Rollins Band from Lifetime (1988) My Wife and My Dead Wife MP3 by Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians from Fegmania! (1985) Waiting Room MP3 Fugazi from 13 Songs Monkey Trick MP3 The Jesus Lizard from Goat Ocean Size MP3 by Jane’s Addiction from Nothing Shocking Hands All Over MP3 by Soundgarden from Louder Than Love We Care A Lot (Slash Version) | Epic MP3 by Faith No More from This is it These two songs pretty much almost demolished the building. I remembering back at the bar trying to get drink and then running right into the mosh-pit when they played Epic. Fun times.
There are bunch more bands of lesser status but none-the less of same level of importance so maybe I’ll do a follow-up post of tunes. I know I’m leaving out a few or at least ones I know I saw!
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