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
Tags: Absolute Grey, Hit & Run, Invisible Party, Personal Effects.
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Great read! Thanks for spelling my name right!
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In the article on EarCandy, Mitch mentions a mixed tape I gave his brother Scot that had the intriguing lyric “where I walk, buildings fall” that has stuck in his head all these years.
“Where I walk, buildings fall, worms are screaming, peanuts crawl. There’s no pain or weakness here. Only tacos and free beer!”
That’s from a song called “I Walk Among Them” (from the “Out of the Tunnel” LP originally released on Ralph Records in 1980) by our good friends (since college) San Fran band MX-80. Rich Stim wrote and sang those lyrics. We love them. Hi-Techs played a Scorgies gig with them on 10.30.80.
http://www.quadrupedmedia.com/downloads/mx80IWalkAmongThem.mp3 -
the comment from Bowery Boy
” Most of the new people made me sick, they weren’t even musicians, but scenesters with instruments.”
is particularly interesting…..see Stan the Man & Chaz Lockwood’s comments in the Ab Grey article concerning the “generation gap” between the converse & leather rockers and the new “scenesters”.
I’d be interested in hearing anyone else’s take on this.
Steve
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I thought Bowery Boy’s comments about scenesters were not fair- nobody, including the BBoys, could make any great claims of musicianship when they first started but many proved to be very good songwriters and players. The eighties came in with a vengeance and styles, including music, changed- as they always do.
Some bands did not change and they could easily be on the receiving end of criticism for that. Neither is fair, IMHO.
There was room for all- even Passenger! 😉 -
What puzzles me about Bowery Boy’s complaint is that I was under the impression that DIY was integral to, if not the prime directive of, the aesthetic of punk/new wave/garage/back-to-basics or whatever combination thereof or other appellation might be applied to what took place on stage at Scorgies and the other joints we remember. I even recall Bowery Boy himself asking me why I wasn’t playing in a band when I first commenced hanging around down on Andrews St . . .
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Perception can sometimes feel like reality. I can see Geoff’s point in the sense that the Bowery Boys were popular but not to extent that New Math or Personal Effects were. Still, they were perennial Scorgies favorites, especially with the regulars. And a lot of the regulars were Bowery Boys alums or were in bands with one who was a former member!
Hey! I met my lovely wife Lynne at a Bowery Boys gig! We’re still together! I’m pleased to see that Geoff/Joff is still screamin’ “Bloody Murder” with the NYC Bowery Boys.
And as for my comment about a “generation gap” it should be taken in that light, that there was, in some circles, a distinction between what was “real” rock and roll and “popular.” Everyone dug what was popular and loved the real stuff. It was good either way. We all rocked at Scorgies and danced at Jims.
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