{"id":1036,"date":"2008-11-01T15:32:47","date_gmt":"2008-11-01T19:32:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scorgies.com\/blog\/?p=1036"},"modified":"2008-11-01T15:32:47","modified_gmt":"2008-11-01T19:32:47","slug":"never-mind-the-cliches-heres-the-bollocks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scorgies.com\/blog\/?p=1036","title":{"rendered":"Never Mind the Cliches, Here's the Bollocks!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Never Mind The Cliches, Here\u2019s The Bollocks<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Hazy Memories From J. Laben<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Cliches

Cliches @ Scorgies<\/p><\/div>\n

This might read like a bowl of Alpha-Bits as it\u2019s really difficult, after all these years, to keep things in any kind of chronological order but here goes\u2026Everyone deserves a \u201cshout-out\u201d and there are plenty in this one, plus, some observations from various \u201cScorgies regulars<\/em>\u201d and Cliches <\/strong>band mates.<\/p>\n

I took a job with Record Theater in Gates in 1977. The guy who hired me was John Pusateri and I think he hired me because we had similar taste in music. We used to play Ramones<\/strong>, Pistols<\/strong>, Clash<\/strong>, etc. LPs in the store all the time, to scare the few customers that we had right out the front door. John was good friends with the guys in New Math <\/strong>and he convinced this sheltered suburban pseudo-punk (me) to go see this band that I had never heard of. It might have been at The Electric Circus\u2026Big Daddy\u2019s\u2026The Orange Monkey<\/strong>\u2026 I\u2019m not sure of the order but from the first time I went to see them, not only did I think this band was the greatest thing I had ever seen, I also liked the \u201cscene\u201d itself. I started going to see them every time they played a gig. These early gig locales were dumps but in actuality, PERFECT venues to see New Math <\/strong>in.<\/p>\n

There may have only been 30-40 people at many of those early shows, but the people that went to see the band were also developing their own very tight community\u2026and they were so friendly and willing to accept me into their little scene. I loved the first New Math <\/strong>lineup \u2013 Paul on drums, Robert on bass\u2026Gary and Dale playing guitar and Kevin channeling Barrie Masters on vocals. This was my favorite incarnation of the band\u2026I liked their originals and loved their cover tune choices. Over the next year or two, I started slowly convincing some of my OTHER suburban pals to come out to the shows and they also dug this scene. It seemed like something special, and it was ours- I think that\u2019s what made it so cool to be a part of.<\/p>\n

R.Hollands<\/strong> speaks:\u00a0“<\/strong>Terry is exactly right from his description of the tape he has of <\/span><\/em>New Math<\/strong> at the Penny Arcade. We did, every time we saw\u00a0New Math <\/strong>and Pink Hat (Kevin Patrick) play, yell shit at the stage, constantly. I believe we derived more pleasure from yelling stuff than the actual music. But we were if nothing else, devoted. I didn\u2019t see too many other people at these other venues voicing their drunkenness or their support for the band. Penny Arcade, Electric Circus. <\/strong>“You’re f—–g the dog!’ was indeed our exhortation! Funny stuff indeed.”<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em>Meanwhile, they closed down the Gates Record Theater and offered me the chance to go work at the Midtown Plaza location. I was not yet the \u201cdowntown city animal\u201d that I would evolve into but with some trepidation, I took the offer. I was going to college at St. John Fisher and Midtown was fairly close by so it made sense to me. It was here that I worked with Martin Edic \u2013 later of Hi-Techs <\/strong>and BlueHand <\/strong>\u201cfame\u201d – and we had a lot of fun at the store, too. Martin was also a part of the \u201cnew scene\u201d that New Math<\/strong> was incubating so we all hung out together after work. The guys from New Math <\/strong>would come into the store on occasion and because I was regularly appearing at the gigs, I became pals with Kevin Patrick. It was he who convinced me that I could start a band, even though my guitar skills were limited. But I suspected that I did know how to incite bedlam, which was a requirement for fronting a band back then.<\/p>\n

It was also around this time that I discovered Scorgies<\/strong>. I think we walked over from RT for lunch one day. It was close to Midtown\u2026they had GREAT cheeseburgers and it was here that I had my first taste of chicken wings. Over time,\u00a0I came to think that they were the best wings in the city. And I found out that bands could play downstairs. Now, they were not all \u201cpunk\u201d or \u201cnew wave\u201d bands. I recall seeing King Juke a number of times early on\u2026Mose Allison\u2026Lots of different stuff\u2026But if\u00a0 New\u00a0Math <\/strong>wasn\u2019t playing elsewhere, this became my hangout\u2026Because of the jukebox \u2013 I had never seen a jukebox that had music like THIS on it \u2013 and because of Don Scorgie himself. I guess Danny Deutsch was the man who started putting the hip stuff on the juke box and he will be forever remembered as a visionary for that deed alone.<\/p>\n

I think I had gotten in a fight in one of my early visits to Scorgies <\/strong>and instead of banning me for life, Don took a liking to me. I started spending so much time at the bar that I decided, in late 78 or early 79, that I might like to work there. I had zero bartending experience but Don hired me anyway. If your drinks at Scorgies all tasted like Gin and Tonics in the late 70\u2019s, that\u2019s probably because that\u2019s the only mixed drink I knew how to make. But I could pour a $.55 Genny, Genny Light, or Genny Cream Ale just fine.<\/p>\n

I started working 4 nights a week and it was awesome. I was making money instead of spending money and started meeting people at the bar who would become some of my best friends for life. D. Deutsch\u2026The Shaffer brothers\u2026Who could forget the \u201cFat Pack\u201d? Many of the people that worked for Scorgie were also musicians\u2026people like Vicki Crosta, who I\u2019ve just recently re-connected with because of this website and reunion show. And I got to work with classic Scorgies characters like barkeeper and guitarist John Kralles\u2026my buddy Clayton\u2026The bouncers like Jimmy Houser who, in addition to working the door for The Cliches<\/strong> at Scorgies many times, saved me from a beating on more than one occasion. Too many people to mention, although they all DESERVE a mention because it wasn\u2019t only the bands but the PEOPLE that made Scorgies into what it was. I even met my future wife after a gig at the bar. And all of my friends from Chili and from Fisher started hanging out at the bar, too, so we didn\u2019t have to go anywhere else to get together and have fun.<\/p>\n

Andi speaks: <\/strong>“In fall of 1979 word got to <\/span><\/em>me in the Mercy cafeteria that there was a bar I had to check out. Seems some of the <\/span><\/em>Southwedge girls had heard my eulogy to Sid Vicious in the art room the previous spring and just knew I should be introduced to Scorgies. I blame them. Terri B and I made our way to Andrews St. in her Torino one Friday night, only to find a bland, Izod-covered crowd heading downstairs to see Duke Jupiter. So what\u2019s the big deal? We might as well be at the Mason Jar. Peering into the windows of the main <\/span>entrance revealed a far more interesting sight. There was Kim B, a junior at Mercy, draped over some short dude in a biker jacket who we would come to know as Jimmy Jazz. A girl who could pass for Nancy Spungeon had fallen on the floor. A guy who I later knew as Geoff Wilson sat alone and mysterious, staring back at us. Now THIS is\u00a0more like it.”<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em>Skip ahead to later in \u201979 and with Kevin Patrick\u2019s encouragement, Geoff Proud \u2013 another friend from Chili \u2013 and I started writing a few songs and attempting to put a band together. Proud had previously played in a \u201ccountry rock\u201d band in high school called \u201cNLS<\/strong>\u201d- it doesn\u2019t matter what that stood for (No Longer Strangers) – and I was the sound man for his band, until I was fired for getting hammered one night behind the board and turning all the knobs up to \u201c11\u201d until we had feedback bouncing off the walls and ceiling of the bar they were jamming at. Originally, we called ourselves The Orfans<\/strong> and we were both going to play guitar so we needed a bass player and a drummer. We tried out at least one bass player \u2013 can\u2019t recall who \u2013 but at the same time, I was going to college with John Perevich, who played and recorded with both \u201cThe Now<\/strong>\u201d with \u201cLarry Luxury<\/strong>\u201d and \u201cThe Times<\/strong>\u201d with Paul Dodd and the Fritsch brothers (See RIP page on this site). I asked and Johnny was in.<\/p>\n

Except now we had three guitar players. That wasn\u2019t going to work unless we wanted to be Foghat or something. So Proud kindly went and bought a bass, but now we needed a drummer. We tried out a few \u2013 Tim Roberts, who played in The Targets<\/strong>, was one of the candidates. We finally settled on the guy we should <\/strong>have asked in the first place \u2013 Tom Backus, whose drums we were using WHILE we were trying out prospective drummers, and who had played in NLS<\/strong> with Proud.<\/p>\n

\"Cliches<\/a>

The Cliches on Stage<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/dl>\n

T.Backus speaks: <\/strong>“I <\/em><\/span>didn\u2019t really pay much attention to what was happening there, so I don\u2019t have much in <\/em><\/span>the way of crazy stories. I do remember us hanging up the sheets that we played behind until the crowd tore them down on Halloween, 1982. Johnny Thunder’s <\/strong>band using our gear and turning everything up to ten on all the amps, then watching him shoot up as soon as he got off the stage. A personal memory happened before Scorgies was popular, I would mix sound for the Tom Austin <\/strong>band and would have to literally push his P.A. From his practice space on St. Paul all the way to Scorgies for the gigs. That was when the stage was on the left as you walked in downstairs, and the pizza was some of the best around still. I remember Willie calling the fire marshal at the Ramones<\/strong> show because they wouldn\u2019t let him due to too many people down there already.”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The band was complete. We came up with about 10 originals and filled in the rest with Ramones<\/strong>, NY Dolls<\/strong>, old 60\u2019s band covers and we were ready to go. We opened for New Math<\/strong> in 1980 at Scorgies for our debut and they couldn\u2019t have been nicer.<\/p>\n

\"Cliches<\/a>

Cliches Debut Gig W\/New Math<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/dl>\n

Within a year, we opened for anyone that came through town, and then started headlining Scorgies<\/strong> as Don was quick to figure out that a) We could draw people, and 2) that our fans drank. A lot. Scorgie was a happy guy when his cash register rang.<\/p>\n

G.Proud speaks<\/strong>:“I remember one night at the bar Andi and Tracey <\/em>(Kimono Girls) had taken some Valium or something and were being very silly and I <\/em>went down to the other end of the bar to order some drinks (Don was bartending and he never moved from the front corner so you had to go to him). When I came back theywere both asleep. I wrote the song “Valium” when I got back to Culver Rd. that night. Actually, I think I had already a verse or two, but needed a chorus. I never did thank them for it.”<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em>Cliches<\/strong> shows were a blast. It didn\u2019t matter how we played, just that we played. We played with TV\u2019s set up on stage so that people could watch \u201cthe game\u201d while at the gig. From our audience, we had backup dancers (The Clichettes)<\/strong>\u2026backup singers (The PAWS)<\/strong>\u2026and would let anyone that wanted join us on stage for a song or two. John Kralles of the band Passenger<\/strong> (at the time), best known for bartending at Scorgies for years and for hating every band that hit the stage, including us, would join us onstage to play guitar for encores on a few occasions. Luke Warm would get up on stage and sing background vocals \u2013 OK, SCREAM <\/em>background vocals. The shows were a friggin\u2019 blast. The front of the stage, a veritable train wreck. We even played a weekend where The Hi-Techs <\/strong>opened for us one night, and The Chesterfield Kings <\/strong>opened up for us the next night. The Cliches <\/strong>didn\u2019t host a party without the guys from The Press\u00a0Tones <\/strong>in attendance. Everyone in the bands got along great. Sometimes, of course, we didn\u2019t always get along with the people that came to the shows to HARASS the bands, but we\u2019ll leave the \u201cFamous Scorgies Fights\u201d <\/strong><\/em>for another post.<\/p>\n

C Laben speaks: <\/strong>“I guess one of my <\/span><\/em>favorite Don Scorgie stories is that he saved my ass from getting kicked or killed <\/span><\/em>more than once. There was the one time where Me and Angelo (or Rich) were playing doubles in shuffleboard against a couple of idiots and we won maybe $5.00 apiece \u2013 but before they paid us they tried skipping out. I saw them in a car out on Andrews St. and I ran out after them. The guy that owed me was in the passenger seat and he had the window down and he was taunting me as they were driving off. So being the smart lad that I was I dove head first into the window and started punching him as they were driving down the street. Scorgie saw this and ran out the front door and grabbed me and pulled me out of the window. He told me it wasn\u2019t worth it \u2013 and brought me back inside and gave me a free beer.”<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em>And the after-hour parties were even better. We ended up in the studio sometime in early 1981 – I THINK it was Jim Havalack\u2019s Sandcastle Studio<\/strong> \u2013 recording an 8-track demo of \u201cTelevision <\/em>Addict\u201d b\/w \u201cDisposable Music<\/em>\u201d. Kevin Patrick produced it for us and I <\/em>can\u2019t say this for sure, but I believe the only recording outside of New Math <\/strong>or Jet Black Berries<\/strong> with Kevin Patrick vocals would be\u00a0THESE two recordings. Listen carefully\u2026Kevin sings background vocals on \u201cDisposable Music<\/em>\u201d and you can clearly hear him ask \u201cHey man, you got a dime for the bus?\u201d <\/em>at the beginning of the song.<\/p>\n[audio:http:\/\/www.greendoch.com\/mp3\/Disposable.mp3|title=Disposable Music|artists=The Cliches]\n

We snuck into the second WCMF Homegrown <\/strong>album in late 1981 on the basis of this demo, but then crossed everyone up when we got to the studio and decided to record \u201cRiverview Restaurant\u201d <\/em>instead with Todd Schaffer (sp?), who worked with Backseat Sally, producing. Called \u201cEmbarrassingly stupid\u201d <\/em>by Times-Union <\/strong>Music Critic Dave Stearns, it was the highlight of our band\u2019s existence. The review, I mean. I don\u2019t care about the record itself. But we ended up winning Dave Stearns over in the end.<\/p>\n

\"Dave

Dave Stearns Tip-Off (Times-Union)<\/p><\/div>\n

We graduated from college in 1982\u2026Hung around playing until March of 1983 when we\u00a0played a \u201cFarewell Show\u201d at Scorgies<\/strong>\u2026and that was it. We had to move\u00a0on with \u201creal life\u201d\u2026jobs, careers, etc. I bartended on and off with Scotty Weichman,\u00a0Pat and Tim Shaffer and Vicki at Scorgies until around 1988, even winning a\u00a0Democrat & Chronicle\u00a0\u201cBest Bar<\/span><\/em><\/strong>tender in Rochester\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>poll.<\/strong><\/em> Obviously the ballot box was stuffed but it wasn\u2019t stuffed by me.\u00a0Undeserved, perhaps, but I\u2019LL TAKE IT. \u00a0It\u2019s still on my resume.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Anyway, I did get married to Linda in July of 1983 and the wedding guest list was\u00a0basically made up of 70 people from Scorgies<\/strong> \u2013 customers,\u00a0co-workers, band-members, cleaning crew, etc. – and I think we even snuck in a few\u00a0relatives.\u00a0The best part of the wedding reception? We had a \u201ccover band\u201d hired to provide\u00a0entertainment. Well, at some point they took a break and Don Scorgie, after a few\u00a0drinks (Can you believe it?), grabbed the microphone and started chanting\u00a0\u201cCliches, Cliches<\/strong>\u201d<\/em>, amongst other incoherent ramblings. You don\u2019t say no to\u00a0Scorgie when he\u2019s into the tequila. We hadn\u2019t played together in about 4 months but\u00a0with the bands permission, we used their equipment to play 2 or 3 final songs. In\u00a0tuxedos. There are a few pictures floating around. What an affair!<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve met him, you HAVE to love Don Scorgie. Some of the best times of my life.\u00a0The early Scorgies <\/strong>days.<\/p>\n

The End.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Never Mind The Cliches, Here\u2019s The Bollocks Hazy Memories From J. Laben This might read like a bowl of Alpha-Bits as it\u2019s really difficult, after all these years, to keep things in any kind of chronological order but here goes\u2026Everyone deserves a \u201cshout-out\u201d and there are plenty in this one, plus, some observations from various […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,4],"tags":[40,44,87,101,111,137,144,161],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scorgies.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1036"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scorgies.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scorgies.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scorgies.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scorgies.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1036"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/scorgies.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1036\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scorgies.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scorgies.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scorgies.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}