Being a fat and insecure sophomore at Pittsford-Mendon was hard in 1983-84, but being turned onto the local music scene, the great bands of the day just making waves in the underground music world and seeing live music at a club was life changing!

I struggle to remember much of my time at Scorgies but I do recall me and my friends (who were also band mates of mine) sneaking into there at least twice. Once I know we saw a Personal Effects set and one other time …dare I say it was either for a Rain Parade or a Let’s Active set. I just remember being so worried that we would be kicked out. We were there to see live music by these bands we were just learning about and not those big RAWK show at the War Memorial.

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As the new wave was beginning to gain greater acceptance, more and more local bands were attempting to put on shows at established bars and clubs. The problem each band encountered was that club owners expected two to three 45-minute sets from the acts. While this had not been a problem with stadium rock wanna-be bands, doing our own songs, all of which were less than three minutes long (at 200+ bpm), was too daunting.
Evolving out of the dissolution of the first New Math iteration, I sat in on bass with a group of musicians that were sharing practice space the Cox building and from this came The Targets.
The idea for The Targets developed from one of those “ah-ha” moments when Sue Metro and I realized that what was needed in Rochester was an opening act. Sue and I both agreed that we would open for any act, at any club, under the following conditions:
1)    No sound check
2)    No dealing with PA or lights
3)    Use the amps from the other bands
4)    Show up, plug-in and play for 30-minutes
5)    Party for free while enjoying the headline acts
A simple concept that we were lucky enough to enjoy from 1979 to about 1981. The Targets initial lineup was: Sue Metro – guitar, Michele Ford – vocals, Tim Roberts – drums and Robert Slide – bass.  The groups’ first show was at Scorgies playing with The Chesterfield Kings and New Math. Subsequently, The Targets were featured on Tom Kohn’s production of the L.P. “From the City that Brought You Absolutely Nothing” – playing White Corvette, recorded on a TEAC 4-track in my parents basement. The second line up of the group featured Trisha Knight on vocals for the duration of The Targets life in the Rochester music scene.
I remained good friends with Sue Metro over the years and she went on to be in several more notable bands (High Risk Group and Lucky 57) in Boston and Providence.
Until recently I had lost track of Trisha who, thanks to the Scorgies reunion made contact with Sue and I. Tim and Michele have not, as yet, been located but hope they hear about the November 21st reunion and show up at The German House.
For those of you who remember The Targets, Sue, Trisha and I have been given a slot of time out of New Math’s set to do three of our songs from our days as an opening act. For this we owe a debt of thanks to Gary Trainer and all of the New Math Now folks who support our return to playing (if only for one night). I have not touched my Rickenbaker in more than 25-years, so what your will hear on November 21st is anyone’s guess – but in the end, isn’t that what the new wave was all about? Grab a guitar and play!