My Favorite Shows

It’s been almost thirty years since the Rain Parade played Scorgies. That was an incredible night, of course. Absolute Grey was the opener, and Mark Theobald was behind the mixing board. The band at the gig featured Matt Piucci, Steven Roback, John Thoman, Will Glenn & Eddie Kalwa. I had the opportunity to catch up with Matt, Steven & John at their reunion gig in Atlanta at the Earl on January 19th, 2103.  They were reuniting that night as part of a fund raiser for Bobby Sutliff (of Windbreakers fame) who had been in a horrible car accident in June of 2012.

Read the rest of this entry »

Don Scorgie was fortunate to have to have a great sound system in the club, and one of the best guys at the mixing board was Alan Paprocki, AKA the legendary Pee Wee (an oxymoronic nickname ‘cuz he was sooo tall). Pee Wee mixed for Personal Effects, Delroy Rebop, the Press Tones, New Math and other national acts. . Fortunately for us, he also ran a line out to a tape deck and made some killer tapes. I’ve been tasked with digitizing the Delroy Rebop & New Math tapes. So, without further delay, here’s a smidgen of New Math live on 3-25-1983:

New Math, Die Trying:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

New Math 3-25-83 Scorgies

From the lens of Dan Pusateri, enjoy!

Really enjoyed the show.  Left without getting your #.  You know us unemployed have to work together.

Don’t let the hair fool you I’m old enough.

Lou the Italian

First off, let me just say thanks to everyone involved with the Scorgies Reunion. I am sure my fellow Press Tones feel the same way (although some have trouble typing). Peter had our set planned out pretty good, clocking in at around 42 minutes, which would have allowed us a brief encore. For whatever reason, we ran long, and got yanked off the stage (set times were pretty rigid, and I’m not complaining, just letting you know), before we got the chance to do another number. So for your listening pleasure, here’s a live cut from when we played Abilene over the summer. It’s a song we usually finished the night with, called “Go Insane.” Back in the old days, Peter would take the solos, and at the end of the song, just leave his guitar in front of his amp until it started feeding back and annoying people. And then he’d wait some more before unplugging it. Flash forward, and now I do the lead work, and on this occasion, I started bending the strings pretty far, and so Peter started doing whale noises through the mic. It was a hoot.

Anyway, you paid for it, so here’s the song. . .

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Scott Weichman aka B.B. Lummox during soundcheck at the German House.

Somehow I wound up with a back stage pass for the Scorgie’s Reunion show at the German House in Rochester, NY. I took a few photos and had good time. It was really great to see everyone.

Personal Effects super fan Ed Richter shot some great footage from stage side during the Personal Effects set. Great Pics, Ed!

Peggy Fournier

Ok, all right…  I’ll admit it. Like every other damn guy at Scorgies I had a crush on Peggy Fournier. I had seen the Hi-Techs live many times and oh my god there was Peggy.

One of my best friends from the late 1970’s-1980’s was Bob Martin; we were Beatles collectors and then it happened. The Hi-Tech’s changed their name to PERSONAL EFFECTS. I thought I was in. I asked Bob what the deal was with Peggy. he said “forget it, MAN! Our drummer is her man!” OH, LOL!

Paul Dodd

Well anyway, Personal Effects went on to produce the greatest local music of all time. Yes, they were the tightest, they had the best instruments and yes! They were the best.! I guess this makes me a Personal Effects Fan Boy.

I love you Peggy, Paul, Bernie and of course my close friend Bob Martin.

More photos from the show after the jump:

Read the rest of this entry »

Just like in the old days, the infamous Scorgies videographers were in full force at the reunion. While Russ Lunn was shooting hi-def in the balcony, Ed Richter was taping from the stage and from the floor. Ed sent me this yesterday but, alas, I was too tired to post it.

Ed Richter and Peggi Fournier

Well kids it happened. Oh My God. NEW MATH Live. PERSONAL EFFECTS Live, THE PRESS TONES Live. If you read this Blog and you missed the show you really missed a part of Rochester’s recent History. Forget Renaissance Square. Forget the new Paetec office Bldg. None of that matters! History was made last night at the German House when the greatest reunion of Rochester’s legendary Bar & Club Scorgies happened. 400 plus friends shared a beautiful experience! The Music we loved, the friends we loved we all there.

Some personal friends: The Beardsley Sisters, Bob Martin, Gary Trainer, Peggy & Paul of course. Even an old girlfriend Roxanne showed up. Dick Storms, Dwayne Sherwood, Rock & Roll Joel and a guy we called Mark Mead. The whole cast of the movie showed up. Never knew this guy (Mark Mead) but everyone always talked about him.

The Beardsley Sisters

Here’s the best part we shot a multiple camera video of it all. With the grace of the gods it will be available soon. Special thanks to Russ Lunn for the master shots of the show. What Can I say? If you were alive and at Scorgies in 1982 and you were at the show last night you would understand my feelings.

ED RICHTER 11-22-08

(More photos after the jump)

Read the rest of this entry »

Tonight we played the Scorgies Reunion, along with New Math and The Press Tones. And it was a blast. All three of us played our asses off. The Press Tones played first and just absolutely rocked the house. Jeff Laben of the Cliches got up and did Riverview Restaurant with them and it was just like being at Scorgies again. The Press Tones were in great form – tight, exciting and showcasing their songwriting prowess.

New Math was up next. They opened with We Walk Among You (at least that’s the way I remember it), and I was dumbstruck. The band sounded great musically, but when the vocals started I really had to look twice to see if it was Kevin Patrick singing. I mean, I knew it wasn’t, but the fellow that was up there REALLY channeled Kevin’s vocal sound, style, delivery and tenor. Scary, almost. But before New Math, The Targets, with Sue Metro, did a couple of songs. Lots of fun. I’ll confess that they were a time before I became part of the Scorgies scene, but is it ever too late to become a fan?

We (Personal Effects) hit the stage pretty close to 10. First of all, it felt just as relaxed and natural as it always did when we played. I don’t know what it is about this band, but I’ve never felt nervous playing with them – just excited and joyous. And tonight, that seemed to come through. We played one of the best sets we’ve ever played and it didn’t matter that it was 20 years later.

The one really cool thing is that, for me, it brought closure to a time that sort of never came to a proper end, but lets it remain timeless. Tonight, it was great to have the last gig we never had. Great to run into long-not-seen old friends. Great to still be able to rip it up and pull off a great set. Tonight it was clear – we are just a rock and roll band who really loves playing music together. Sure, we may play again as Personal Effects. But if we don’t, we just closed the perfect door.

Thanks to the entire community for the opportunity to do this – with special kudos to Tom Kohn, The Press Tones, New Math, the other members of Personal Effects (past and present), Duane Sherwood, Stan Merrill and everyone who came together to pull this off tonight.

- Bob

PS: I just wanna give a special thanks to Ken Frank who is the bass player in Personal Effects (and Margaret Explosion). He REALLY brings great bottom to both bands and we could not have done it without Ken.

Photos by Nicholas Gerber

I went to Scorgie’s on my birthday in 1985; a friend had recommended that I check out this new group in town, The Colorblind James Experience….he described them as “a bit different” and that I would enjoy the fact that they used vibes; since I was (and still am) a Tuned Percussion player, that was a big plus.

We arrived a bit early, and found out that there was an opening group called STARSHIP BEER! I thought, “Yeah, what a far-out name” but just how far out this group was I just did not know at the time; their set started out quiet enough, but grew in intensity, and their assault was unrelenting!! Imagine elements of Pere Ubu co-mingling with The Sun Ra Arkestra, creating this throbbing maelstrom of sound and you might get just a hint at how unruly it was….most people just left the room and escaped upstairs, but I and a few other brave listeners STAYED and revelled in the sonic din that was emanating from downstairs; as the set progressed, members of Colorblind James joined in on the rumblings, then after what seemed a small eternity (which in reality was about 45 minutes in total) the “Sonic Ritual” stopped.

After a suitable break, the Colorblind James Experience came out and knocked my socks off for the first time, the first of the many many times they would do so…….later on, I found out that Starship Beer ACTUALLY HAD A RECORD, and it was called “Nut Music As Free As The Squirrels!”  Needless to say, the title does not disappoint! But groups like them & Rochester’s own HEALTH AND BEAUTY would inspire me to go from merely mucking about at home and seek out other like-minded music nuts to work with (they know who they are); years later, Phil Marshall kindly supplied me with a tape of Starship Beer’s set from that very first show….it was intriguing to hear it again, but it kinda paled in comparison with Actually Being There!

Just a few years back the prestigious ATAVISTIC RECORDS re-issued the Starship Beer album as part of their “Unheard Music” series!

Was it Just another night of Music at Scorgie’s?   I DON’T THINK SO!!!!!

Mike Rae

p.s. hey Phil it’d be great to hear that CBJE show again someday!!

The Raunchettes

Smell the band—live the legend was their motto, the legendary four who emerged from a long shadow cast by the Antoinettes to become Upstate’s best-known girl punk band. Fueled by Salvatore’s pizza and cheap beer, they got cheered on so many late nights at Schatzee’s after they had their debut at Scorgies on a night when the Antoinettes were no-shows. (Although they had already played one gig in Cortlandt, that didn’t count.) Sonic produced by Stiv Bators, who broke lead singer Betsy’s heart for the final time after he was tragically hit by a car in Paris, their best-known hit remains Slaughter the Pig. Along with Original Sin, Girls in the Garage, a thrashed-out version of My Boyfriend’s Back plus a dozen original songs, their double-header with Personal Effects at Scorgies seemed kind of unlikely, even for us—their biggest groupies. But if to my pathetic teenage mind PE’s Bring Out the Jazz versus Betsy’s He’s a Rebel seemed an odd contrast, it was really no different than hearing 10,000 Maniacs on the same bill as the Violent Femmes. The excitement of seeing the Raunchettes repeatedly work their magic at Scorgies—the same place we worthless 15-year-olds (with fake IDs depicting us as age 22) caught the legendary Cramps, Fear, and finally Suicidal Tendencies (“punkers slamming” in the next day’s Times-Union)—was totally unforgettable. They threw stuff. They spit. They yelled. The audience was largely irrelevant to them; abuse only made them stronger as they’d already become used to every kind of loser harrassing them. Their first Scorgies show was a victory, the penultimate triumph over Backstreets and all the other rotten venues they would play from Albany to Buffalo. Joan Raunchette moved away to Boston and Janice Raunchette split, but somehow new members GiGi and Geolyn didn’t match the karmic power of an Irondequoit native. Regardless of whether you had the cassette bootlegs, the Bomp! The Raunchettes EP or Dave Anderson’s Jargon Records The Raunchettes Scrapbook LP, the Raunchettes had an amazing raw power. We groupies caught up with Betsy a few years later in Van Nuys, California, but it didn’t seem the same. You can take the punk chick out of Rochester, but the L.A. fish pond proved too elusive. Even to this day I proudly own a smelly, faded Raunchettes t-shirt with a safety pin through Betsy’s face, still convinced they will be rediscovered by Maximum Rock-n-Roll and a new generation of worthless teenage punks.

It was mid 1981, I think. Pee Wee, an old friend and former bandmate as well as the soundman for New Math, called and asked if I’d be interested in trying out for a band. The band was called Personal Effects. I said sure, I’d love to.

I went to try out with them and thought it went pretty well. The songs were cool, with chord changes I’d never thought of before. In general, things were an exercise in ‘less is more’ – using a minimalist approach to tell the slices of life that the songs expressed. I was called back many times before the end of the year and kept hoping that I was in the running, as I very much loved the material and the people. In December, I had a party during which Paul and Peggi told me that we had a gig lined up at Scorgies on January 23rd (this would be ‘82). I said, “so, does this mean I am in the band?” They had a good laugh… they’d forgotten to tell me that I’d been in the band since, pretty much, the second time I ‘tried out.’

Read the rest of this entry »

Scorgies Reunion Poster by Bob Martin

The reunion is less than a week away and already we have three posters for the show. The latest is from Bob Martin and is to the left.

Bob, Simon Ribas, Pete Presstone, Gary Trainer, Del Rivers and meself will be guests on Whole Lotta Shakin with DJ Mike Murray. WLS is broadcast every Sunday between 3-7 PM on 89.7 WITR FM. Our segment will be between 5-6 pm tomorrow and we will talking about the show. If you are out of the area you can stream the whole show (with iTunes or Media Player) through the internet;   the link to the show is: http://streaming.witr.rit.edu:8000/live.m3u

A note about tickets: while they are not being sold through Ticketmaster (hey, no egregious service charges), they are available at the Bop Shop ( Village Gate Square, 274 North Goodman Street ph. 585-271-3354) or at Abilene (153 Liberty Pole Way  ph. 585-232-3230).

This just in (From Abilene’s website):

Note: for of out-of-town friends who need to purchase tickets in advance; please call the Bop Shop at 585-217-3354 and the Bop Shop staff will help with your ticket purchases.

Also, If anyone out there doesn’t want to worry about driving, Jim Havalack of Quality Transportation can arrange anything from a Sedan to a Limo to take you and your freinds to the Scorgies Reunion in safety and comfort. Call 585-455-8294, mention Scorgies, and you’ll get a special rate!

One of the Scorgies artifacts I came across recently was a cassette of The Royals – Live At Scorgies which was actually recorded live but with applause dubbed in! It was intended for booking the band into other bars, but with the credence of having played at Scorgies. I think my friend Jon Pirincci (of Musical Messages Agency) dubbed the tapes. I actually met the guys from the Royals literally by accident at a tent festival show that featured Roy Orbison (prior to The Traveling Wilburys). We had to wait a long time for Roy because he was “warming up his voice.” Years later I found out about his secret cocaine habit;  perhaps that could have been the reason for the long wait.

I’m not sure if I first met George “Michael” Schnell and Mick Hargreaves of the Royals at a Red Wings game or an N.R.B.Q. concert (either before or after). Regardless, we became fast friends with common musical tastes. They used to have a partyin’ apartment right across from Wegmans near East Avenue that was always filled with pot smoke, music, and bed sheets hanging over the attic ceiling (like a harem den!). They were transplants from NYC and had common friendship with the Tension guys;  guitarist Mike Pappert (from Fairport) and Swing Set drummer Dave Martin (Liebowitz), who I believe was also from NYC.

George Schnell was a meticulous guitar player who eventually opened the Studio At The Village Gate recording studio. He’s known for recording bluesman Chris Beard and was briefly a Country Music DJ; and still spins  at Jeremiah’s Tavern on Monroe Avenue. Mick Hargreaves used to videotape bands for local cable TV then moved to NYC with The Diljoys and formed the Tonebenders with guitarist Doug “Davies” Cox. He later became a member of the Grip Weeds and is presently a solo artist.  By the way, one former  Royals member, drummer Joe Minotti, is currently in  Joe Hendrick & The Mudflaps.

George told me that he envisioned the Royals as a cross between 10 CC and Dave Edmunds. Eventually, as all bands seem to do, the Royals came to an end (much like Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe’s band Rockpile). George Schnell continued on with variations of the Royals; but by then it was pretty much a party house band providing studio support for his original songs.

The. tape Live at Scorgies had covers of Dave Edmunds’ Dear Dad, Nick Lowe’s I Knew The Bride, the Beatles One After 909 & Honey Don’t and Elvis Presley’s Little Sister. The originals were Get Me Out Of The Red and Let’s Jag. Get Me Out Of The Red was played extensively on local radio stations. The Royals came close to releasing a 45 single (or album) of Are You A Dancer?” b/w I’m Falling that was produced by Jeff Tyzik (yes, it’s the same big band RPO leader!). Upon listening it’s apparent that the Royals, like many other bands, could have been on the cusp of having a hit record. And like the other Scorgie’s bands – maybe they could reunite eventually for a night or two – this time for real!

Hello fellow Rochester rockers. I just found out about this site…thanks Stan…wow, I haven’t heard some of these names in years. It’s great to see my fellow bandmates from The Now (Larry and Steve) being remembered. If I wasn’t down here in Auckland, I’d definitely be there for the reunion.  Have a drink (or two) for me.

Cheers,

Marty Duda

Johnny Thunders at Scorgies - Photo by J. Laben

I remember The Heartbreakers show at Scorgies.

Richard Hell and Walter Luhr had dropped out for that one.

I really wanted the Bowery Boys to open one of the 2 shows but we were’nt part of the clique that had started and were more or less getting squeezed out of the scene we helped create.                                         Egomania was’nt my thing so I layed low. Most of the new people made me sick, they weren’t even musicians, but scenesters with instruments.

It’s funny though because the poster says “featuring Walter Luhr”. I don’t remember him being there.

I hung with them in the dressing room before the show and on the way to the stage, I asked Johnny to play “Can’t put your arms around a memory”  in the set. He did and dedicated it to Walter.

I remember hearing Johnny saying “This ones for Walltah”

As I recall, it was Johnny, Luigi, Big Tony, and Jerry Nolan.

They arrived early evening and I helped Jerry and Johnny score some naughty stuff and we spent about 20 minutes at my bands practice place.

While waiting for the man we jammed on some blues, Afterwards, Jerry said Johnny wants to know if I want to join there band. It was wierd because Johnny was standing there looking at me like  Jerry was his interpreter. I politely declined and explained I had a band already (and wasn’t into that naughty stuff that kills people). It was exciting hanging with them but the thought of joining a band of junkies was a real turnoff for me. I was battling depression and barely clinging on to life as it was. I was never into getting famous at all, but I sure like it when we made some bread playing rock and roll.

The landlord liked getting his rent as well.

Johnny gave me a, DON’T YOU KNOW WHO WE ARE, YOU STUPID ASS ? kind of look.

I didn’t care. I hung out with them again in the dressing room later that night but few words were exchanged. The contract had them going on about midnight and they rolled in at about 5 after One.  Scorgie was really pissed but they played a very hot set. There is a tape floating around somewhere of that show. I think Big Tony (bass) came into the upstairs dressing room first, followed by Luigi (2nd guitar).        I was freaked out by Luigi because he came in, sat down, put his feet on the coffe table, pulled out a switchblade and started cleaning his fingernails.

I thought to myself, maan, these New York dudes are pretty tough.

I recalled this to Luigi and he laughed, it is but a vague memory to him now but he remembers giving the knife to Angella Bowie as a gift.

(I remember my ex drummer Scott coming in the dressing room too and remarking on how he should have stayed on drums or something of that nature. He had jumped the Bowery ship to sing for the Prestones, and he was perfect for that band so it all worked out fine.)

So Jerry, Johnny, and Big Tony are dead now, and I have been playing a few shows with Luigi lately here in New York.  We live near each other in Alphabet City.

My latest band (The Bowery Boys) has played a few shows with Walter Luhr’s band The Waldo’s.            Walter is a very smooth rocker and a cool guy. He still plays songs by Johnny Blunders.                              (as he so endearingly refers to him)

I prefer to see musicians grow old gracefully rather than die too young, leaving so much left undone.

I hung with Johnny briefly about a month before he died, when he came to Rochester to play at Jazzberries and record with the Chesterfields. I gave him the mini statue of liberty pin off my leather jacket and he immediately put it on his leather jacket. He looked very empty in his eyes and I was sad for him when I left. He signed some albums for my girl (at the time) Diane. He spelled it DIE an.    I still have the albums.       Johnny died about 4 or 5 weeks later. I was shocked but not suprised.

The set he played at Jazzberries was stellar. A focused, mature, fairly sober Johnny Thunders and a great sax player (who also is passed on). There is a video circulating.

POP CULTURE IS A KILLER SOMETIMES.                                                                                                                 Children beware.                                                                                                                                                            Peace                                                                                                                                                                      {:->

While I wasn’t a ‘regular-regular’ at Scorgies the way Simon Ribas, Jason Brown, or Andrea Kohler were, I sure did hit the club on opportune nights.  Besides the Ramones show, which blew me away, my best memories from my days at Scorgies were easily the nights that Cleveland’s I-Tal played down under Andrews Street.

I-Tal sounded and felt a lot more like a reggae band right off the boat from Kingston, or Montego Bay, rather than an indigenous band from the ‘Mistake by the Lake.’  I-Tal had a groovin’ guitar player, killer roots rock rythems, and reliable percussion.  Many a night I closed my eyes on the dance floor, and let their hypnotic music wash over me.

I recall one time I-Tal played Rochester, but not Scorgies.  I went to Bulls Head Plaza, to a basement club, and grooved all night.  Does anyone recall the name of that club?

Look forward to seeing some of the old crew on Friday, 11/21/08.  Thanks.

Chris Wilmot, Co-Publisher, smugtownbeacon.com

New Math, Live on Channel 13’s Morning Break

At the height of their popularity, New Math were asked to play live on the WOKR-13 weekday show, Morning Break.  A  typical AM TV show for housewives, with some news, community calendar, maybe a cooking segment  & usually some kind of live remote from somewhere around town.  I have no clue who thought that the average housewife or retiree would want to see New Math, or how the appearance was even set up.  I just remember being told it was gonna be live from Scorgies, and I had to be there by 8AM to set up for a 10:15 broadcast.  I made arrangements to go into work late & had the guys in the AV club at Sutherland High set up the video machine to record it for me.

I remember internal chatter going back & forth on what 2 songs they should play, with one idea being to re-write the lyrics to “The Pipes of Pan”, changing it into “The Pots and Pans”.  They settled on “American Survival” first, and then “They Walk Among You” after the short interview.  

We decided to use a chemical fog machine without telling the shows producers, so I got that set up & hidden under the drum riser before the TV crew showed up.   As the drum & bass breakdown in the middle of the song arrived, I hit the fog switch & let it flow to the point of overload.  The cameraman had to retreat from his closeup of Roy, to a long shot from the middle of the dancefloor, as he couldnt see anything in the dense cloud.  This was a one camera shoot so he did all the moves live, & did a pretty good job. The fog gag turned out to be an even swap, deception-wise, as the TV crew didnt tell me that they were gonna process the video feed with the ’strobing’ feature of their video time base corrector, back at the station, during the instrumental sections of the song. 

After American Survival ended the TV reporter introduced them as “New Wave”, and Kevin had to correct her “No, its New Math”.  This was followed by a lame interview, as she asked them why they wore such strange clothes (as the clip will show, they werent wearing anything strange).  Then after the band played “They Walk Among You”, they took phone calls from the housewives.  Equally lame.  I remember one housewife saying “I’d rather listen to a love song.” and Kevin saying “Well, then you should do that.”  I have that all on tape somewhere buried deep, but it’s probably better left buried.  I just kept a copy of the performance stuff accessible.

So here’s American Survival.  I thought it came off great, and the video recording of it stands the test of time. The bands soundman Pee-Wee did a mix with grit, that must have woken them up at the senior home. Worth turning up loud thru the stereo.  It showcases the band at their best, playing at the best place to see them, Scorgies.  To me, its a perfect snapshot of what it they were like back in the day. In addition, it shows how far ahead of its time Gary’s song was.  Take a listen to the lyrics and then apply them to todays headlines of economic collapse.  Even tho it was written about the Reagan 80s, its spot on 20+ years later. 

Duane

If you click on the link you can see the clip in Hi-Res. (I would let either version load fully before playing).
New Math: American Survival, Live

Personal Effects opened for John Cale at Scorgies on Nov. 6, 1984 – the re-election day of Ronald Reagan for his second term as President. It was great that we got to open for him as I was/am a huge fan. He was in a state from the get go and held the entire place spellbound during “Heartbreak Hotel.” He had a bunch of TVs set up on the stage with the election coverage coming in (or was it static?)  and he was ranting “4 More Years! 4 More Years! 4 More Years!” as it became clear that that’s what we were in for with 49 of the 50 states voting him back in (Minnesota went for Walter Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro – 24 years ago the Democratic party had a woman for VP on the ticket. It’s only taken that long for the Republicans to catch up.) It was really depressing news but John Cale brought us with him into another dimension that night that kept us suspended in his musical reality before the political unreality sank in the next morning. It was, for me, the most memorable, fantastic show I experienced at Scorgies.

Listen to Heartbreak Hotel at Scorgies 11.6.84 (Recorded by Duane and Bob)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Probably My Favorite Show – Marianne Faithfull, October 1, 1983

When Marianne Faithfull played the sold out 500 capacity packed basement of Scorgies in the fall of 1983, it was during a tour for the album “A Childs Adventure”. Don Scorgie was looking forward to the show based on his memories of her from the 1960’s when she was Mick Jaggers girlfriend. He probably expected something closer to a socialite fashion model than the chain smoking junkie dressed in thrift store cast-offs that showed up.

They were literally thrift store cast-offs, as Marianne had gotten on the tour bus in Manhattan the night before without a stitch of clothing beyond what was on her back. She had spent part of the afternoon prowling the downtown Rochester thrift stores looking for things to wear.

The rest of the tour had been booked into small & mid-sized theaters, and this was the only club date. As a result, Marianne was really nervous as the show started. She was making her way towards the stage from the back of the club, during the intro to Broken English, when she suddenly ran into the Mens Room to hide. In the recording below, Don Scorgie can be clearly heard yelling “Marianne… We’re over here!”

Once on stage however the jitters soon left and she delivered a tight & intense set, rolling around on the stagefloor, knocking over drinks in complete abandon. She played a handful of songs from her new album plus faves like Guilt, and Lucy Jordan. She delivered a great version of John Lennon’s Working Class Hero, and ended it all with a fiery version of Why’d Ya Do It?.

After the show, out on the tour bus, she held court with the few fans lucky enough to get aboard. She had 2 joints and a cigarette in-between the fingers of one hand, taking turns smoking off them. I got my “Sister Morphine” single sleeve autographed. She had never seen it before.

Years later, Kevin Patrick became her A&R rep at Island so he & I got to know her pretty well. At one point Kevin said, “You know Marianne, I met you first in Rochester when you played a little club there called Scorgies. Do you remember that?”

Marianne thought for a moment & then, rather wide eyed, answered “Noooo…”

Check out the first 2 songs of the show: Broken English & Times Sq

Duane

Marianne Faithfull Live at Scorgies

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Tom Kohn's shot of Marianne at Scorgies

Two of My Favorite Shows – The Cramps – Summer 1980, & Summer 1981

(above – stage plot & set list from Summer 1980 show)

The Cramps played Scorgies twice. In the summer of 1980 after their first album Songs the Lord Taught Us came out, and a year or so later for their 2nd album, Psychedelic Jungle.

Several weeks before the 1st show, their fuzz-lead guitarist Bryan Gregory had backed a truck up, loaded all the equipment into it, and disappeared into the night to join a cult in San Francisco. I think it was a long time before they saw him again.

They replaced their equipment and recruited a woman guitarist for the tour named Julian Griensnatch. The Scorgies show was her second gig in the band. The set list is reproduced here, along with the stage plot for their equipment. You’ll notice that the name of the lead guitarist is left blank, she probably wasnt hired yet when they drew it out.

New Math opened the show. Once the Cramps hit the stage, they lived up to all the rumors that had preceded them. Wild & furious, they played songs from the album as well as their Gravest Hits EP & indie singles.

At one point I yelled out a request, “Surfin Bird…!!”

“Surfin Bird??!” Lux immediately shouted back, “I’ll show you a Surfin Bird!!” and with that he pulled out his dick & swung it around for a second before tucking it back into his stretch pants. Pretty much shut me up from requesting anything else that nite.

Don Scorgie had just recently hung a new suspended ceiling in the whole club. Onstage however, the new ceiling was within striking distance of anyone raising their hands above their head. Lux punched straight up into the air once, and his fist went straight thru the ceiling, breaking a tile. That was all the invitation Lux needed & he began slowly pulling sections of it down by its thin metal frame while he sang.

Don stood at the side of the stage turning red with anger. He began punching the brick back wall of the club with his bare hands. The Cramps ended their show & Don bounded up onto the stage with fists clenched, daring anyone to applaud. Then he started punching the Cramps tom tom drums, trying to put his fists thru them. There was no encore.

Shortly after, Don removed the section of the suspended ceiling over the stage, which made it easier to hide the front stage lights.

That nite, Kevin & Gary from New Math invited the Cramps back to the house they had apts in on Merriman St. True to the Cramps legend, a bat flew into the apt while they were there. Lux caught it & humanely released it out the kitchen window. True story.

Eric Nelson got in touch after reading this, & emailed me the following great pic from the show. He reminded me that Lux had smashed 2 beer bottles together, shattering them & cutting himself on the chest. I remembered it immediately, and even recalled asking Ivy after the show if Lux was alright, with her replying “oh, he does that stuff all the time…” Thanks Eric.

Eric Nelson

++++++++++++

The second show, a year later in 1981, was another crazy event. I think the way it happened was Danny had originally booked the Cramps into some bar restaurant out in Henrietta that was starting to have bands. Something happened at the last minute and that place cancelled. Danny moved the show to Scorgies (I think he was also booking Scorgies at the time). Don wasnt very happy about The Cramps coming back to his club. The Cliches opened that show.

Having met them the year earlier, Kevin & I went down to Scorgies in the afternoon to see them soundcheck. They had arrived & their equipment was set up but the band was nowhere to be found. We stood in front of the club trying to decide what to do when the funniest site emerged. The Cramps had been up the hill & over on St Paul, so they were walking back to the club. During the Psychedelic Jungle tour, Lux wore his jet black hair combed & sprayed straight up like a voodoo god from a 1930s horror movie. It stood up over a foot above his scalp. The first thing we saw, looking up the hill from Scorgies, was Lux’s hair bopping up & down as they crossed St Paul. Everything else was out of view. We stared at it for a few seconds as the rest of Lux & the band appeared.

Their new guitarist was Kid Congo Powers, and he was sick. Not only in the Cramps sicko-rockabilly way, but intestinally as well. The stage was covered with fake cobwebs, burning votive candles, and deep green & blue light. There were skulls sprinkled around the drum kit. The brightest thing on the stage, tho, was Kid Congos bottle of Pepto-Bismal which was glowing bright pink as it sat on his amp. He was swigging it all nite.

The show was great, with that heavy druggy “Sit right down and make yourself uncomfortable” swamp vibe. Lux’s hair standing straight up & Kids hair standing straight out. Both effects courtesy of the case of industrial beauty parlor spray I saw in the dressing room. Big cans, like spray paint, totally toxic looking with a generic gray label. Ivy said they found them in a beauty supply wholesale place in the south.

They opened with Don’t Eat Stuff off the Sidewalk, and played most of Psychedelic Jungle, including The Natives are Restless, which they never play anymore. They did Drug Train, & a lot of earlier stuff.

That second show was also not without incident. Someone stole the bands new digital guitar tuner, and then their next day transportation plans to Ohio (the next gig) evaporated, leaving the band stranded in Rochester. Kevin let them use his credit card to rent a car and I took them shopping at a 1950s interior furnishings store I knew down by Bulls Head. That day cemented what became a long term friendship that resulted in Kevin signing The Cramps to his Medicine Label at Warner Records, when I worked there with him in the early 90s. We made the album Flamejob with them.

If anyone has great pix from this show, email one to me at info@click2vu.com & I’ll post it here.

Duane

One of My Favorite Shows – The Gun Club August 8, 1984

I saw them twice at Scorgies, once in April of 1982, and again in 1984. The first show was a few months before the release of the Miami album, and the set was peppered with songs from it. There is a tape of that show that is still floating around on the internet somewhere and it’s great. Raw & fast, with a live sound as piercing as the Miami album would be. New Math opened that show.

But the favorite Gun Club show I saw was in 1984, when The Las Vegas Story came out. It’s still one of my all time favorite albums. A bunch of us in the New Math crowd were nuts about them by then so we were all excited when they rolled into town. Kid Congo was back in the band, fresh from his stint in The Cramps, the already legendary Pauline Morrison was on bass, and this time around Jeffrey Lee Pierce played an old dented boy scout bugle looking trumpet kinda thing, really beat up & bent. In reading the history of the Gun Club, this brief “trumpet period” is considered a really special time to have seen them. Jeffrey would dedicate solos to dead jazz trumpeters, and then launch into blowing the horn in a style that could be politely called primitive. He didn’t play it for many shows. He told us he’d just gotten it the day before, but who knows what he considered to be ‘the day before’. Congo complained that Jeffrey played that thing in the car all the way from Niagara Falls.

Kevin recorded the show on his little mono tape recorder, and its the only show he ever recorded. Heres a chunk of it from the middle of the set. This might be a big one to load but worth the price of a cable modem. Also worth it to make sure you can play it thru something with some power. It starts with a trumpet solo dedicated to Fats Navarro, then launches into a blistering version of Preachin’ Blues, & followed by Calling Up Thunder.

I asked Kevin why New Math didnt open the Las Vegas Story show & he said “After seeing how good they were the first time, I wasn’t gonna make that mistake twice.” He & Congo ate a whole chocolate cream pie after the show.

If anyone has good pix of the show, email them to me & I’ll post ‘em info@click2vu.com

Duane

Gun Club Live at Scorgies

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

One of My Favorite Shows – Mutabaruka, May 25 1983

Jamaican dub poet, Mutabaruka, came to Rochester in support of his first album,”Check It”. His band was a collection of crack JA session players led by noted drummer Benbow Creary.

His style was a bit confrontational, lecturing the chattering audience between songs on subjects like apartheid & slavery, but as the sound clip will show, it was the real deal roots-wise. Paul reminded me that he entered the club & walked up onto the stage barefoot.

Personal Effects opened the show and Mutabaruka’s keyboard player borrowed Peggi’s keyboard. The track offered here is a killer version of “Angolan Invasion”.

Scorgies was a great sounding room for reggae as the clip will show. Its a pity more of the Jamaican acts passing by to Toronto didn’t get in there.

If anyone has good pix of the show, email them to me & I’ll post ‘em info@click2vu.com

Duane

Mutabaruka Live at Scorgies

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

One of My Favorite Shows – THE RAMONES – May 9, 1985

The place was oversold & packed tight, you couldnt squeeze another drop of sweat into the room. One of those shows that, if there’d been a fire everyone would have been a goner. Hot as hell inside, and once they went on the whole place just exploded into moshing & surfing under massive blasts of Red White & Blue light.

It was the Too Tough to Die Tour, which was considered a comeback album of theirs in the 80s. They had just played town a few months earlier, opening for Billy Idol at the War Memorial. Richie was drumming then, and thats a part of their career that gets overlooked. For my money he was the closest thing to Tommy.

They played like a fury and the body to body compression was so severe that it kept jamming my Walkman recorder. Only 3 songs survived on tape & I’m presenting 2 of them here: Blitzkrieg Bop and Rock & Roll Radio

If you want to get a sense of how crowded it was, compare the audience here with the other clips. Unbelievable.

If anyone has pix from this show, email them to me & I’ll post ‘em. info@click2vu.com

Duane

RAMONES Live at Scorgies

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

One of My Favorite Shows – Willie ‘Loco’ Alexander & the Confessions, February 1982

It was chilly February of 1982 when Willie Loco & the Confessions heated up the Scorgies basement. A full house of fans who knew many of his songs, thanks in part to the repeated airplay of his catalog by Roger McCall & Kevin Patrick on the late nite ‘CMF show – Import Export.

Loco & his Boom Boom Band had played the area once before, opening for Elvis Costello in Brockport a few years earlier. Yet audience appreciation for him was so high that he received a standing ovation as he entered the club & made his way thru to the back stairs up to the dressing room.

The Confessions featured Loco’s former bandmate from his early days in The Lost, Walter Powers. It was good raucous show, loud but poorly lit (don’t blame me, I was shooting the video).

The youtube clip posted here is from the beginning of the show, the tail end of “Bebop a Lula” into “Home Is” With its great lyric “home is where the heart is, home is where the soft is”.

This messy tape should remind everyone why its so much better to record in todays digital age.

Duane

Willie Loco Alexander and Peggi Fournier from Personal Effects - Photo by Paul Dodd