Circa 1980, "The Scene"

October 3, 2008 in Uncategorized by Stan the Man | 18 comments

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.

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

Click here for the article.

Tags: , , , , , ,

Remembering Roger McCall

October 3, 2008 in Your Stories by ds | 18 comments

Uncle Roger

Uncle Roger

 

Roger McCall was an original supporter of the growing alternative rock scene back in the early days of Scorgies.  

As the overnite DJ on WCMF, he had a special relationship with everyone working trick shifts at Kodak, or the other factories, or the 24hr Wegmans, etc.  In the early days after college, as I was job hunting, I did a lot of short term factory work, often on overnite shifts. No matter where I was working, his show was always playing in sync out of countless small radios, echoing all over the warehouse floor.

He started a show called Homegrown where he played local bands tapes or indie singles, had them come in for live interviews, and always talked up their shows.  This led to a series of Homegrown compilation albums where many of the local bands had their first (and sometimes only) recordings released.

He & Kevin Patrick started up a late nite show on ‘CMF called “Import/Export” where they played a lot of the UK singles Kevin was collecting as well as good stuff coming out here that the station normally wouldnt touch. National recording acts that passed thru to play Scorgies often stopped by ‘CMF after their show to talk with Roger. 

He wasn’t at a lot of Scorgies shows, because he was on the air at that time, but I can’t think of another local media personality that was as supportive.  He was never malicious, even in private he would never say anything negative about any local band.  I remember Paul & Peggi & I doing an impromptu little collaborative recording & performance project called the Three Stools. We recorded 3 or 4 songs in my bedroom. I knew Rogers tastes in music enough to know he wouldnt like this stuff at all.  I also knew him well enough to think that he would tell me that he didnt like it. There was a lot he could pick apart about it, but when I asked him what he thought all he would say was “I love the concept”. A true gentleman.

I moved to NYC & hadnt seen Roger for well over 10 yrs, when I ran into him unexpectedly at 6:30 AM one morning during a visit home.  I was leaving the East Ave Wegmans with coffee, as he was coming in, having just gotten off the air.  It was literally like we hadnt talked in a week, it was so great to see him.

Roger was murdered near Bulls-head a few years ago. Killed on the street at nite, in a crime that was never solved. Maybe others can shed some light, but to me it seems like there wasnt much effort to solve it.  I never heard much about WCMF leading the charge or putting pressure on the city to go the extra mile in finding the killer. He definitely deserved more.

One thing I know for sure, there isnt a band in Rochester, then or now, whose path isn’t somehow easier because of Roger McCall and his support for local music.

Duane

Tags: ,

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Projectiles

October 2, 2008 in Uncategorized by Stan the Man | 2 comments

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

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

Tags: , , ,

Big Apple Bound

October 2, 2008 in Uncategorized by Stan the Man | 3 comments

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.

Tags: , ,

Lights! Action!

September 30, 2008 in Uncategorized, Your Stories by Paul | 7 comments

This is a diagram of Duane Sherwood’s light set-up at Scorgies. Apparently he wasn’t going to be able to make a gig and he may have left these visual instructions for Jeanne Perri who often helped us behind the scenes. Unlike other clubs at the time, the sound system and lights were always at Scorgies. But it seemed only Duane knew what to do with the lights.

When Duane wasn’t behind the board, even when some relatively big name band was on the stage, the lights would not be focused on the players, not clustered in any logical order so that blue and red lights would both be on a subject at once cancelling each other out, or all the lights would be flashing all the time. Duane carefully orchestrated the back row of lights to work in tandem with the front spots and he was able to produce startling results. He paced himself too. The lighting produced a mood that fit the music and punctuated the highlights. And he always saved a big bang for the right moment.


Duane Sherwood and Jeanne Perri doing lights at Scorgies

Duane did lights for New Math as well as Personal Effects and the Majestics. We took him with us to New York, Boston, Cleveland and Washington. We could hardly play without him. And it wasn’t just lights, Duane’s theatrical flair was largely responsible for the direction of the multimedia shows that we did at the Community Playhouse, RIT, the Top of the Plaza and laser light show at the Planetarium.

Tags: ,

Out of the Closet

September 30, 2008 in Uncategorized, Your Stories by Peggi | 3 comments

It was fun going to band practice while New Math developed their sound and songs. First at a house off Park Ave. where Gary and Mark lived. Then they moved to their first practice space in the Cox Building and later to another there. I remember the first one was huge and cavernous. The second was better sound-wise and had windows that overlooked St. Paul and the side street where the Adult Bookstore resided. An easy walk down the street to Scorgies for a beer after practice. Somewhere along the way Michelle Ford, Sue Metro, Tim Dodd (Paul’s brother) and I started jamming in the closet of their practice space. We had a really long gestation period and had trouble coming up with a name (Rhonda’s Radio?) and the music ambled all over the place but we had fun (they later formed Targets). Then Paul decided to leave New Math and we joined up to form Hi-Techs with Martin and Ned. During this time, everyone lived and breathed music, whatever they were doing, and our lives are forever intertwined. So many of us from that time still are friends and share some common history. Personal Effects evolved out of Hi-Techs when Ned left the band and Bob joined us. That was in 1981. The PE story is in itself a long, involved one like any band’s. I’ll just say that we played together through the 80’s and then after a hiatus, formed Margaret Explosion which continues to play today as an improvisational, instrumental jazz band.

Tags: , ,

Scorgies Reopens in 1990

September 29, 2008 in Uncategorized, Your Stories by Peggi | 3 comments

Comedy and the drinking age swooped in to finish off the Scorgies music scene in 1985. It came back after a 5 year hiatus. But things were never quite the same as the crowds moved to DJ-controlled dance floors. Remember the club where Dinosauer BBQ is now? Here’s the article that appeared when Scorgies reopened:

Don Scorgie 1990

Don Scorgie says he's returning to live music because "I just enjoy it."

Hip Scorgie’s is Back in the Live Music Scene
By KAREN KRENIS

Anyone who cared about live rock’n’roll in the early ’80s cared about Scorgie’s, Rochester’s hippest, most daring venue for new music. Long before most listeners had tuned in to the Bangles, 10,000 Maniacs, the Go-Gos and the Ramones, those bands were storming the stage at Scorgie’s. And even though slam-dancing was only allowed once, the rowdy club at 150 Andrews St. is always remembered fondly as Rochester’s post-punk musical outpost…

Updated article by scribe Alan Morrell, click here to read

The Music Wave of the Future

September 29, 2008 in Uncategorized by Stan the Man | 2 comments

Caught up with scenester Jim Buhlman (a.k.a. Del Rivers) last week; he shared with me a smattering of his treasure trove. Here’s a Dave Stearns article from January 16, 1980. While it centers on Penny Arcade’s “New Wave Mondays” it highlights New Math, Cappy and the Frenchmen, Bowery Boys and King Juke. Paul, I didn’t know you were in a band that wrote songs about French Poodles!

The Music Wave of the Future

You hear the music of the New Wave. Some people feel it, too. They talk about it, in its own language. To them, New Wave is no longer just a fad; it makes the earth move. Short hair and functional clothing are taking the place of the sprayed coifs and disco suits of the ‘70s and the long hair of the ‘60s. New Wave is streamlined for people with little money and lots of energy. Is this a music, a lifestyle for the ‘80s?
By DAVE STEARNS

Click here to read the article.

Tags: , , , , ,

MX-80 at Scorgies

September 29, 2008 in Your Stories by Paul | 4 comments

MX-80 rolled into Rochester to play Scorgies on Thursday, October 30, 1980. They had just released their first album on Ralph Records entitled “Out Of The Tunnel” and they were touring the East Coast. Martin Edic, Peggi and I caught MX-80 at Max’s in NYC and some other place uptown before their appearance here. Each show was sensational.

Peggi and I were good friends with Rich Stim, lead singer and sax player (pictured on the left). Rich taught Peggi how to play play sax. The first song she learned under his tutelage was Hava Nagila. And the drummer, Dave Mahoney, was my best friend and roomate for years. Peggi and I were in a band called the Chinaboise with these two in Bloomington, Indiana. Bruce Anderson, second from left, could be the best guitar player in the world and Dale Sophiea is a monster bass player. Peggi and I left Bloomington for Rochester and MX-80 eventually moved to San Francisco.

We opened for them in Rochester and in Buffalo. They made the Hi-Techs sound like a toy band with their powerful anthems, “Follow That Car”, “I Walk Among Them” and especially “Someday You’ll Be King”. We were blown away by their performances. Unlike most of the Scorgies bands, MX-80 is still around. Check out their video of “We’re An American Band“.

Here’s an mp3 of “Someday You’ll Be King”
[audio:http://www.quadrupedmedia.com/downloads/mx80SomedayYoullBeKing.mp3]

Tags: , ,

4 More Years! 4 More Years!

September 26, 2008 in My Favorite Shows, National Acts, Your Stories by Peggi | 2 comments

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 on 11.6.84 (Recorded by Duane and Bob)
[audio:http://scorgies.com/blog/mp3s/11HeartbreakHotel.mp3]

« Older entries § Newer entries »