Dale Mincey (former guitarist of New Math) says, “This whole “Scorgiemania” phenomenon drove me to my basement to dig for forgotten memories.”

“Gary, Chris and I (Roy) are really excited about the prospect of playing the “old songs” again and are psyched about the show, seeing everybody and hearing some great music. We thought it would be a blast to redo an old New Math song with the benefit of what today’s technology can provide in terms of the ease and quality of recording so in typical D.I.Y. Scorgies fashion we re-recorded “Garden of Delight” with the singer/guitarist who will be joining us at the reunion show. The first New Math song in 25 years…..yipes. The tune with the full back story of how it came together is available to download for free at: http://www.myspace.com/newmathnow

It looks as though Mark will also be joining us on keys at the reunion show giving us 4/5ths of the final and longest lasting incarnation of the group………now if only we could talk Kevin into joining us………….”

The Degrads I Saw Bobby (Sobbing in the Lobby)`

You may remember us as the early ’80s punk-poppers fronted by a pseudo-Johnny Rottenish twerp in amateurishly-home-decorated pop art clothing (er, sorry, that was me).

Our self-released single, “I Saw Bobbie Sobbing in the Lobby,” got a nod from Trouser Press (“Quirky fun from upstate NY”) and, five years later, ended up as part of a novelty ping-pong game called Bobbie-Ball, available at Village Green and Archimage. Now, twenty years after Bobbie-Ball, it’s a collectible record. (I don’t know what happened to the ping-pong balls.)

The Degrads broke up in 1984, and by the end of that year no band members remained in the Rochester area. An Elwitt brother or two showed up later on in the Nutley Brass, the Silly Pillows, Sea Monkeys, (pre-Nada Surf NYC band) The Cost of Living, and other musical entities.

N.B. I have video, audio, and still images to share, but I’m not having any luck uploading them at the moment. For now, I offer you Degrads links on MySpace and YouTube.

Peter Presstone was, and still is, a prolific songwriter. I may be biased, having spent so much time with him. Of the few board tapes I have that have been converted to digital (big thanks to Dave Anderson at Saxon Recording, and an official Press Tone himself), the song count is close to 70. And this is probably over a 3 year stretch, give or take, and not all songs are on the tapes I have. In the bands that followed, namely, Pets & Small Children which became the Chinchillas, our song list tops out over 400, and that’s from roughly 1985 until today.

Yet it’s not only his ability to pen songs that get my admiration, but the ease at which he nails both melody and hooks. That’s one of the reasons I’ve hung with him for so long (well, that and I think he still owes me money). I’ll post some of the nicer stuff in a bit, but Peter also has a dark side. Songs like “It Must Be April,”  whose chorus goes, “Where is my mother, where is my father, they took them down to the burners,” talking about the Holocaust. Another song, which you’ll see below (if I code it correctly), was called “Rape,” and it was a rough and raucous song, which features some dissonant tri-tone guitar work at the end. The lead is also Peter, since he did most of the leads when I joined up, and his style is a kind of play from the gut approach that may not be polished, but nevertheless stands out.

Also, the dedication on this one, where Scott says “this goes out to Luke and Laura,” is not about Luke the DJ. Fans of General Hospital can fill you in on that story.

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That’s what Johnny Thunders said when he read the front cover of the kick drum the night we opened up for him. I can’t remember if it was before or after he blew up Peter’s amp, but he said it. I might have had a tape as proof, maybe I gave it to Peter, but I don’t know where it is.

As a preliminary post though, I thought I’d mention the speed of the band, one thing we were accused of a lot. There were some songs that went by real quick, and I figured I’d use what is on this site, and some stuff from board tapes I salvaged. If you check the video section, you’ll see New Math doing “They Walk Among You.” Not their fastest number, but it’s up there, and it clocks in at around 120 beats per minute (bpm). And if you check the first video by Personal Effects, “Darlin,” a more uptempo number, it whizzes by at around 155 bpm. If you check the song below called “Who Needs You” from a recording in the early 80’s, you’ll notice a much more brisk tempo, one that tops out just shy of 260 bpm. Not all songs were that fast, of course, and nothing will blaze by that quickly on November 21 at the German House, because we’re all older and bloated. And not to sound too much like Grandpa Simpson on the front porch yelling at neighborhood kids, but back in the day we were loud and fast, like rock and roll is supposed to be. More stories to come, of course, but I figured I’d get at least one post up before I’m pushing up daisies.

“Who Needs You” by The Press Tones 

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Due to a technical glitch, some posts that had been pending got lost in the shuffle. We apologize. This post was from Robert Slide. He ultimately added it as a comment but I’m putting it up here as a post. Other missing in action posts precede this one.

Before Scorgies, there were only Hair-Band and Biker clubs. I had recently come back from a trip to NYC, visiting friends who took me to the emerging punk scene in the Bowery. As soon as I returned to Rochester, I went to House of Guitars, bought a $99 Hondo bass and hooked up with my friend, Dale to play Stooges songs in his Bly Street basement. We stumbled on what would become New Math during an audition for “Guitarist ready to ride the New Wave”. At the time Kevin, who was just back from London (and calling himself New Math), Gary and Paul were playing under the name Erector Set. Dale tried out and was “hired”, Gary was switching between guitar and bass when Dale mentioned I had a bass; writing down Kevin and Gary’s phone numbers on a piece of paper from my car that had the lyrics to “Raw Power” sealed my position as bass player – which was really just an extension of Gary’s bass skills. Let me be clear about one thing – I am not a musician, I had only owed an instrument for about a month before playing our first gig as New Math in the basement of R.I.T. thanks, in part, to WCMF DJ, Suzanne King. The name Robert Slide came from my inability (without vocal prompting) to do a bass slide while trying to cover The Velvet Underground song “White Light – White Heat”. A lot of the rest has been addressed here on this blog and elsewhere. I never played with new math at Scorgies, but did play there with the band I was with after my stint with New Math: The Targets, but that, as they say, is another story…

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                                                                                                                                                                      {:->

Hey does anyone remember Del Roy Rebop? Or the all girl band the Antoinette’s? The Lead singer of the Antoinette’s- Meegan Voss has a band called the Verbs now. I believe they are based out of NYC.  I remember seeing both of those bands more than a few times at Scorgies. Also a Canadian band out of Hamilton- shoot I can’t remember their name- but they had a great song called “I’m Surfing On Heroin”. I think I actually have it on my IPod….Just can’t seem to remember their name right now…Must have been all the drugs…But I know I saw them at Scorgies as well! Great memories of those days at Scorgies. I only spent 3 years at Scorgies- early to mid 80’s, but it was every night for sure and I wonder how I did it…That time was probably the most significant time in my life that molded and shaped so much of how I look at the music world today…Great Memories! Thanks!

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

As mention else were on this site. I had a high school band called The Sonic Reducers. We parted ways with our singer and somehow we found ex-Presstones singer Jimmy Freeze! Jimmy re-named the band The Twisted Hearts and we practiced in the basement of my parents home in Brighton.  Jimmy shows up and sez we have a gig at Scorgies!!! It was opening for STIFF recording artists WIld Willy Barrett & John Otway.

We played the gig. As I remember there wasn’t a lot of people there but I really didn’t care. I was finally on the stage where I would see New Math, The Hi-techs, The Bowery Boys, Delroy Rebop and many more!!!

Please post your first Scorgies gig!!!

Brian Goodman

Did the CADS every play Scorgies? I think I remember seeing them there.

Brian

Recently, Beth, Mitch & Pat of the band, Absolute Grey, agreed to withstand a volley of endless emails and multiple, marathon phone interviews to dredge up the memories of those heady Ab Grey days. To get to the heart of the matter, the recollections of some of their friends & peers (Bob Martin, Stan the Man, Jim Huie, Chaz Lockwood, Barbara Manning, Steve Wynn, Luke Wood, Russ Tolman & more) have been mixed into the proceedings.

read & listen here:  www.earcandyarchive.com

Bill, Ed and Cliff

REMEMBERING SCORGIES
By Ed Richter

Wow. A Scorgies Reunion. What can I say? After all these years?

Is it true? Sure Is. I am best friends with Stan Merrell. He says it’s true.

I am best friends with Tom Kohn. He says it’s true. OK, I’ll be there.

What do I remember? I remember getting dressed up. Doing my hair and getting together a couple of girls and heading down to Andrews street.

The stories are in hundreds. Don Scorgie always made the biggest hamburgers in Rochester. He also had a knack for picking national bands about a week before they hit it big. He also gave many local bands their first chance to appear on stage.For some strange reason Don liked me. I got free hamburgers.

But best of all I became Scorgies House Videographer. Yep. I still have all the videos I shot. I shot Personal Effects, New Math, and the Press Tones,  The Chesterfield Kings and of course the Tinglers. At the time I shot the Press Tones they were calling themselves The Pistoleros. The song they were doing at the time was called “Pistol On My Hip“. I also shot the Waitresses, the Comateens (they did the Munsters Theme) and other national acts that appeared inthe Rochester area like the Divinyls, Billy Idol.

Cliff Owens on Guitar

As far as local bands went, one of my favorites was the Tinglers: featuring Bill Curchin as Lead Singer and Cliff Owen as Lead Guitarist. They were the center of the band, and both of them touched me later in my life in a special way.

After Scorgies, Cliff went to law school and was a Assistant District Attorney under Howard Relin. Now he is part of the team at Fiandach & Fiandach. He represented me on a recent legal affair I was involved in, and he’s a nice guy.

As for Bill Curchin,  yeah,  he touched my life recently. Sadly, he died in 2006. Bill how could you do this to us??? Bill was the real essence of cool. He taught me a few things about being cool. ”Just be cool and you stay cool”. Whacky statement I guess you had to know Bill. I miss the guy.

Bill Curchin on Vocals

Anyway I have tons of Videos and photographs I took at the time and will try as hard as I can to get them together for all of you to enjoy. I will write more soon.

I leave you with a few photos of The Tinglers and Myself.

Ed Richter 10/08

Luke Warm with Brian Goodman and Connie

Turn Me Up-T-Rex

The first time I met Luke I was at Scorgies about to take the stage in a band named The Party Dogs. He was working as a dj or something but all I knew was that he was bugging us, asking a lot of questions and hangin around. I didn’t know at the time he would prove to be our only fan that night and a much needed confident. The Party Dogs were not for the weak of heart or for the weak of mind. We were not a local band playing dress up on the weekends, or like most bands able to run back to the suburbs at the end of the night to the comfort of their Blondie posters, and rice cakes. As we hit the stage the sparse crowd of local snobs moved away like scared rabbits. Even the owner the big bad Scorgie himself took refuge among his constituents. Only Luke stood alone in the middle of the room screaming at the top of his lungs as we ended ” I Politician,” with kwami Joseph slamming down on his talking drums and R.U. Sirius screaming; “fuck off,” to the posers in the back. That was my first introduction to the man that would later lift me off the back of my drum seat with a guitar style that both destroyed and created its own universe. He was the Zen madman Ginsberg wrote about and ” The Tyger” Blake burned onto the page. That was 1980, our paths would meet again off and on through the next decade.

I never knew Luke’s real name. I had heard people refer to him as obnoxious Andy, but to me he was always Luke. Luke loved old blues guitarists like John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, and Howlin’ Wolf. He also loved Marc Bolan and could easily bridge the gap between these different artists. It was in the showmanship and the bravado they had in common. For a little over three years Luke stayed in his room and practiced guitar and in his own way conjured up a synthesis of styles based on what I call the primordial howl, or as I have written about before-The Big Fuck. Most of us fear the big fuck. We prefer the safer small fuck. Hendrix embraced this feeling, as did Cobain and a few others.

In 1990 or soon after, Luke and Chuck Irving had an idea for a band. They needed a drummer to fill out the roster of Chuck on bass, Luke on guitar, and Mark Marianetti (aka Thing) on vocals. My first response was your kidding, funny idea guys but no thanks. I was forty years old, fat, bloated and out of shape and had been through the local rock band thing too many times already, plus I was suffering from alcoholism and a huge drug problem. I wasn’t worried about Chuck I knew he could play and Thing was already a local legend but the last time I had seen Luke play he was terrible. But fate has a mind of her own and eventually Luke’s relentless persistence paid off.

I would acquiesce for the time being. I would show these guys what punk rock was all about and get a laugh-throw down some beers and a few lines and that would be it. We were in Pat Moschiano’s basement and at first it was terrible. I explained to them that I was a songwriter and an artist and maybe we should try and play a song. Luke was like a caged animal. He was sober at the time and had been sober for three years. Man he was pacing around chain smoking and fiddling with his guitar. He was also mumbling to himself and the whole time his guitar was making this hellish racket. I was listening to Chuck tell me how the song went and then I counted it off. From that opening beat I was in trouble. Luke’s guitar coiled around my neck and was choking me, while Chuck’s bass line was mocking me to play harder while throbbing this current of Hades through my skull. Thing was singing through an amp, but was so loud he sounded as if he was channeling God into the room. Later I would find out he was channeling God. My heart was going to blow I knew it. This was it I thought; these fucks are going to kill me. I kept pounding and Luke’s guitar kept climbing higher and higher and when he began playing the lead to The Hunger everything faded out. I was then suspended above my set, above the laws of earth. I was free! When the song ended I slumped over and grabbed my chest. Luke was so concerned and kind to this beat up old fuck and I was grateful. He looked at me with those huge eyes covered in sweat and mascara and said, ” Pat are you OK, do you need anything, man you look terrible.” And that was the genesis of SLT.

Fourteen years after the band broke up there is a new cd in the works. The cd is being produced at Saxon Recordings and is nearing completion. The songs have been selected from various recording sessions. This will be the first time people will be able to listen and experience the explosive nature of this definitive punk band at the height of their powers. There is also a new CD of songs in the works that will follow. Yes folks SLT lives! Luke can be one persistent spirit. Take a listen and judge for yourself the strange plane his guitar playing was framed from.

I never knew Andy Ogrodowski. Andy died on St Patrick’s Day 1995. Most people didn’t know him. They only thought they had seen him, or had a conversation with him, but I know that isn’t true. I know that isn’t true because most people are small fucks and it isn’t anyone’s fault. There is no one to blame, there never is. Big Fucks, Tygers, Lost Boys, White Niggers, Shadows-the name doesn’t matter, they all seek the high wire. Their love is not easy, so let it go…you never knew Luke. The only thing I do know is when he played we laughed like we were getting away with murder, cause we were. He would look at me lift up his guitar and say, “Ready!”

Ned Hoskin, Peggi Fournier, Paul Dodd and Martin Edic pictured on Hi-Techs postcard that came with Archive Records single, Boogaloo Rendezvous” b/w “Subscriptions”. Thanks to Stan for postcard image.

The Hi-Techs were different. Our lead instrument was a soprano sax. We loved the Contortions and James White, Bush Tetras, Kid Creole and James Brown. The Hi-Techs recorded “Pompeii” in 1979 in the basement of Robert Slide’s (Robert  played bass with me in New Math’s first line up) house. Duane Sherwood played synth swishes. Tom Kohn and Marty Duda released the song on their “From The City That Brought You Absolutely Nothing” compilation. Ned joined the band in 1980 and we played about twenty gigs at Scorgies before forming Personal Effects. Our first gig was opening for New Math. This was fitting as I had left New Math a few months before and we were all friends. Kevin Patrick called us at the last minute, as in the night of the show. Peggi and I were already in our pjs when he called. We used to practice a lot so we were ready. We wrote all of our material and our songs were fast. We could barely keep up with them. We had lots of songs and never did the same set twice.

Dick Storms asked us to record a single for his new Archive Records label. Dick had already put out Bahama Mama’s “Lonesome Cowboy” single. I played with New Math on “Die Trying” which Dwight Glodell recorded so we lined him up to produce the single. We did this at Craig Fennesy’s studio in the basement of his house in Hilton. We met Kevin Vicalvi there and he became our sound man and friend for life. “Boogaloo Rendezvous” b/w “Subscriptions (Are My Prescription)” became the second release on Archive Records. Bill Jones printed the cover at Asymmetrical Press on Smith Street. We started playing gigs in Buffalo with bands like the Stains, Paper Faces, The Vores, The Jumpers, and 10,000 Maniacs.

Peggi sang most songs and Ned Hoskin sang a few. Ned liked the Clash and the Boss so his songs had a sincere, working class hero vibe to them. Ned wrote the anthem, “Warren”, for Brian Horton and Blue Hand played it every time we saw them. Ned was a great rhythm guitar player and a big part of the Hi-Techs sound.

We recorded a second single for Archive called “Screamin’ You Head”. It was backed with “A Woman’s Revenge,” a funky number that was based on the Kiss and Darling photo novellas that we used to devour. You could buy them at Bertha’s on East Main near where we practiced. Bertha was too big to get up from behind the counter so she barked orders at another woman who just couldn’t move fast enough for Bertha. “Screamin’ You Head” got quite a bit of play in clubs in NYC. A Danceteria DJ named Iolo was instrumental in getting us club dates in New York and eventually our deal with Cachalot Records but by then we had morphed into Personal Effects.

One of the most interesting gigs Hi-Techs did was a live performance at Channel 31 in 1980 (before it went Fox) with Ozzy Osbourne. There was some other band on the bill too but I can’t remember who that might have been. It seems like Marty Duda had something to do with this date. They tried to record all three of us in one night and Ozzy went first. When we got there Ozzy’s roadies were all drunk. They had spent most of the night in the bar downstairs on the corner of Alexander and East. And they took forever to get their stuff taken down. We set up around three in the morning and played three songs – “Pompeii”, “Boogaloo Rendezvous” and “A Woman’s Revenge”. Here is a video of that performance. Channel 31 used the live audio in the first song and then they synced the footage of our second and third songs to the vinyl versions of those songs because they fucked up the sound. And they got Kathy Buckley to prance around as if she had anything to do with the band. That kind of bummed us out at the time.

Hi-Techs – “Pompeii,” “Screamin You Head” and “A Woman’s Revenge”

(From the Channel 31 show “After Hours,” recorded sometime in 1980-81)
To view this video in high quality, go to YouTube and select the “watch in high quality” link.

Robert Slide, first bass player for New Math, sent this photo and note on White Riot, Rochester, New York’s first live punk rock band. Greg Prevost (from the Chesterfield Kings) got there first on record with his Distorted Levels single.

Paul Armstrong – guitar, Mark Schwartz – keyboards, Kevin Patrick – vocals, Paul Dodd – drums, Gary Trainer – bass rehearsing in a basement in 1977

Surprisingly, I was able to find these shots of White Riot practicing in the basement of a house shared by Gary and Mark. The story behind how I got these is as follows:

I went to high school with Dale (NM) and the person he moved to Rochester with, Joanne. Both Joanne and I went to RIT (I was a year ahead of her) – during my second year there, I lived on the same floor as Paul Armstrong. We did a lot of music and partying together so I really got to know Paul. When White Riot played at RIT, Joanne saw them and got Paul’s practice address (Gary’s house) and set up a time to see them play – which is how I got these shots. Imagine my surprise when a month or so later, Dale asked me to take him to an audition, and it was White Riot (now playing under the name Erector Set) – Paul was tired of the commute from Syracuse and hence, Dale joined what was to become New Math.

Note: Paul Armstrong went on to play in a number of Syracuse bands. He played Scorgies with the Flash Cubes and New Math played many gigs in Syracuse with Paul’s bands. As Robert says, Dale Mincey took Paul’s place when the group changed its name to New Math. Mark Schwartz quit but rejoined New Math a few years later and stayed on when the band changed their name to Jet Black Berries. Kevin and Gary became the core of New Math, Gary switched to guitar and Robert Slide played bass in New Math. Paul Dodd left New Math and formed the Hi-Techs and Personal Effects.

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

From the Gary Trainer Archives comes this wry piece penned for the press kit of “Die Trying.” Link to .pdf of press kit here:

New Math CBS promo photo #1

Kevin Patrick writes:
“New Math is a band from Rochester NY, formed in fall 76, At that time, even Newsweek hadn’t yet distorted new wave into the contagious disease it was to be tagged for almost two years following. Yet, local bands playing original songs thru minimal equipment were seldom tolerated in the major metropolis, not to mention the smaller “burgs’ of America, And as radio fought to preserve the past -believe it – so did the club owners. Unfortunately, they were the ones with paychecks that literally allowed bands to survive day to day. It was real rough in the beginning, but then times changed. And somehow, New Math survived it all, finding they’d built up a healthy following around the New York state area in the process.

Founding members Kevin Patrick,, Gary Trainer and Dale Smeadley were eventually solidified by Bob McCarthy and Mark Schways and were accepting gigs anywhere; the circus, shopping mails, weddings, church socials and even a car wash grand opening. The usual ploy was claiming they were whatever type music was required for the occasion, and thereby shocking bystanders. In addition people began learning about their spicy pasts,’ Dale for instance, played the part of a child from Saturn on an early Star Trek feature Kevin solicited rock stars autographs thru the mail and just recently scored the final signature of Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich, Gary lost his job in the purchasing dept. of St. John’s Nursing home by ordering $1700.00 worth of guitars and amplifiers thru his office, and ‘butch’ Bobby has been arrested more than once for hustling pool game wagers in gay bars to make ends meet. The resulting recognition got the band some opening slots for national acts passing thru the area. Response was more than favorable, and the confidence gained thru work with bands such as John Cale, Ultravox, 999,, Damned, Willie Alexander and Eddie and The Hot Rods, gave New Math the ultimate chance to move the forefront of their local territory.

Always thinking about their financial situation, the band began asking audiences for contributions. Its been a great gimmick, backfiring only once at a gig with the Ramones. They, were becoming extremely annoyed as the opening band (NM), filed past for a second encore, and so, instructed their road crew to scarf up the change that some 1200 people had showered the band with – and ultimately refused to give it back at the end of the night. Yet, with their odd earnings, the band managed to record “Die Trying” and “Angela” in a 5 hour session at Christmas ‘78. After we did the recording we found we didn’t have any money to press it. Luckily, Reliable Records in London loved it, and put the thing out. The resulting press and radio play in the UK gamed attention from major labels, and the band has finally signed with CBS0 Sure we still think about money, but don’t worry as much8 We just finished some more songs – unrushed -in the studio and they are stellar.’ promises Dale.
The real thrust behind New Math is still the same guiding light that started them out in ‘76 – to make people dance and watch them have fun. They do it everytime – so catch them as soon as you can. Oh yeah, chant “New Math adds up” to yourself in your spare time as well!

SINGLE
CBS 7916 “DIE TRYING”                12.10.79

New Math in Recording Studio

The scene in Rochester needed to be recorded, pressed to vinyl and then distributed to the masses. Today’s post is an article from Rochester’s City Magazine profiling local entrepreneur Richard Storms and his label, Archive Records.

New Math - Older Women b/w Restless Kind

by Gregory Lewis

Hi-Techs - Boogaloo Rendezvous b/w Subscriptions (Are My Prescription)

One of the more fascinating aspects of the revival of creativity and energy in the rock music scene is the tremendous upsurge in recording activity that we are currently experiencing. In Rochester that activity centers on a newly formed record label, Archive Records, and on several local bands, including New Math, Bahama Mama, and the Hi-Techs.

Click here for article.

Sifting through the voluminous scans from John Pusateri’s archives, I see that there were quite a few venues that “experimented” with Punk and New Wave. Ultimately it took a club like Scorgies to make it as viable venue for non-mainstream music. By the time I moved to Rochester in 1981, most of the other clubs had reverted to the tried and true “traditional” mainstream acts. It didn’t help that there was little, if any, radio support for music outside of the realm of “Corporate Rock.”

New Math poster for Orange Monkey and the Electric Circus

Big Daddy/Orange Monkey

Orange Monkey/Electric Circus

My memories of the Orange Monkey are limited. It’s proximity to R.I.T made it a logical choice for a  venue. It also seemed to be the headquarters of the Little Trolls. The doors shut in the early eighties and then turned into the China Gate restaurant. The Electric Circus was located in the heart of the industrial part of Dewey Avenue and Big Daddy’s was at the corner of Lyell and Dewey,  near the old Tent City. That part of the city is still in decline after 30 years; the side streets are dotted with curbside memorials for the victims of street crime.

New Math and Hi-Techs at Gentlemen Jims

Another long-gone club… was this the club that later became Idols?

New Math at the Penny Arcade

The Penny Arcade has had some great shows in the past and  continues to persevere into the new Millennium. My post-Scorgies band Lotus STP had one disasterous gig there with the Fertility Rite Brothers in the late eighties. Fittingly enough, Clayton was working there at the time and saw fit to heckle us. Made us REALLY nostalgic for Scorgies!

The Parilament Lounge Fleshtones/Raybeats with Press Tones/Pistoleros

I found this flier for the Parliament Lounge in my collection… I believe Rock and Roll Joel and Jim Havalack tried to turn this Bowling Alley/Bar into a viable venue. Suffice to say the owner had other ideas in mind! More to come in a later post from Joel!

Cousin Al at Ruth and Irv's

Another one from my collection: Ruth and Irv’s Astrological Fish & Steak (everybody loved the name). unfortunately, they were destined to fail.  What was a plus for drinkers (all drink prices $1.50) was a minus for things like profits. This is the original paste-up for the gig flier. Cousin Al, Da Huh (feat. ex-Cappy Mike Houser) and the legendary Bulus. Note the reference to the Brian Bram Show. The Ruth and Irv’s site would later be the home for the original Idols.

Invisible Party @ Schatzees

Invisible Party w/ Bulus at Schatzees

Of course, I have to throw a MAJOR shout out to Schatzees, the club whose claim to fame was that they featured the “best bands in the world that would play for the door.” Schatzees would later morph into Richmonds, which carried on much in the same fashion.  It was not uncommon to stumble into Schatzees on a lazy Sunday  & catch Ten Thousand Maniacs and see Natalie Merchant whirling like a dervish

New math/Targets paste-up article

Somebody’s got to teach a class: “Building a Buzz 101″ (perhaps a night class at MCC) for aspiring Rock and Roll Stars. Note the recycling of clips from the Times Union, Freetime Magazine and the Democrat and Chronicle.

That’s it for today folks… I’ll add more to this post soon.

I guess, in a sense, we all found fulfillment of a sorts in a New Wave band; either by watching our local heroes at Scorgies or actually finding the nerve to get up on stage and make noise of our own.  John Pusateri sent me this article, along with a TON of scans documenting the early scene in the late Seventies. I’m posting this article first because Gary’s story is, in essence, everybody’s story.

HIGH SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL

By Sarah Kortum

Gary Trainer of New Math

In 1970, Gary Trainer (now bass guitar player and song writer for the popular, local new wave band New Math) found himself standing on the Pacific Coast highway, guitar in hand, hitching a ride up to San Francisco. One month earlier, he had graduated from East High School, wearing a peace symbol on his graduation gown.

Click here for article.

More from the Tom Kohn archives… today, I’m posting the “Scene” supplement to the “Music Wave of the Future” article. Note the picture of Geoff Wilson playing bass!

The authenticity of this article has been called into question by none other than Cheetah Chrome, who states that “the story is NOT true… the real news story that night was that Johnny Blitz was only able to play half the set (this was right after returning after his stabbing) and his drum tech finished for him. I remember the night clearly – and it wasn’t the way it’s written.”

This jibes with reports that Dave Sterns story had “mischievous” sources and that some of the interviewees were bent on pulling Dave’s leg and stretching the truth. See comments for more info.

Geoff Wilson, lead singer and bassist for The Bowery Boys.

Click here for the article.

The cool thing about sifting through old newspapers is reading about shows you’ve barely remember; Embarrassingly enough, though, it appears I sang backup on “Gloria” (with Del Rivers, no less) for the Projectiles. I think I need more Ginkgo Bilbao!

Anyway, here’s an article from Pat Thomas’ Notebook written by Brian Goodman about the time the Projectiles “stepped up” to the plate to sub for the Lyres.:

Projectiles - Notebook Winter 85 Issue

Alphonso Cappelli (AKA Brian Goodman)

On November 16th, 1 got into my ‘65 Dodge Dart and headed off to Scorgies to see The Lyres. When I arrived I was informed that The Lyres hadn’t shown up yet. So I paid the cover and went in. What happened to me after that was that 1 discovered one of the best Rochester 60’s bands since The Cavemen. So I quickly made my way to the front of the stage so I could see what their bass drum said. After pushing a big drunk guy out of my way, I could see that it said The PROJECTILES. It was written in lettering just like an old poster for The CHOCOLATE WATCHBAND  playing at The FILMORE (Wes Wilson, Rick Griffin-artists) The sounds 1 heard were devastating ***** Such as Question of Temp., I Wanna Come Back From The World of LS.D. and Bad Little Woman. 1 stood in amazment as I watched them hammer out about 30 songs in one set. As soon as they left the stage, I quickly started yellin’ MORE MORE. ***** But local legend Stan “The Man” got on stage and made the announcement The Lyres had cancelled. The first thing that came to my mind was that the opening band would be back to play more. Just then Stan said that they would be back and there was gonna be a 10 minute open bar. Cool daddy-o **** After about a 20 min. break, The PROJECTILES took the stage. They started the 2nd set with the classic GLORIA. On lead vocals was Mick (Hidden Charms-Boss Beat) Del Rivers and Stan on backing vocal. After the mayhem, it was back to business. They started playin’ classic nuggets like Public Execution, Mouse and the Traps, the list is endless. A good time was had by all. After the show, I quickly ran after the band to find out their names and where they’d
be playin’ next. They told me that nothing was going on until Jan. 11th and that COUSIN AL and THE NEW GENERATION were gonna be the opening band.

So see you there, So long for now. Alphonso Cappelli

Alphonso Cappelli is a freelance writer who has never written a thing in his life before this. He has also never typed before this. *********

THE PROJECTILES ARE:
Kevin Keefer — Vox Bass
Jerry Flanigan — Guitar, vocals
Den Frank — Guitar, vocals
Tony Pilato– Farfisa Organ, vocals
Brian Goodman– Drums, vocals

I have an Antoinettes cassette waiting to be archived here at Stan the Man HQ; until then here’s a Marshall Fine piece on the Antoinette’s last Scorgies show. Prior to the Antoinettes, Meegan, Margie and Kim were members of Syracuse’s Pop-Tarts! More on that here.

I’ve heard from Kim Milai, she’s still making (and teaching) music in Virginia. Details here.

BIG APPLE BOUND

The rockin’ Antoinettes, Rochester’s only all-woman band, will move on soon in search of bigger breaks

By MARSHALL FINE
Times-Union

Click here for article.