Shuck Up – It’s THE PET CLAMS [1981]

Text by Julia Masi / FFanzeen fanzine, 1981

Introduction © Robert Barry Francos / FFanzeen, 2020

Images from the Internet, unless indicated

This interview was originally printed in FFanzeen, issue #7, dated 1981. It was written by our Managing Editor and current philanthropic goddess, Julia Masi.

Yeah, so I saw the Pet Clams, who were previously known as The Big Fat Pet Clams From Outer Space, in both incarnations; at CBGB. It’s not surprising they played there since they were managed by its owner, Hilly Kristal; in fact I once saw them open for the Colors, also managed by Hilly. Honestly, they were an okay fun band, but not one that would stick out in my mind. But then again, they were quirky and played a weird white reggae, so here ya go. The Pet Calms from Outer Space, a name they went back to at some point after this was published, have some CDs available at their website, bigfatpetclamsfromouterspace.com – RBF, 2020.

 

Pic (c) Robert Barry Francos

When the Pet Clams landed in CBGBs on a rainy October Saturday for a soundcheck, they were still known as the Big Fat Pet Clams From Outer Space. They said they were experiencing their first interview, but after talking to these guys for about five seconds, it was obvious that they’d say anything to a girl in a tight sweater. For what it’s worth, FFanzeen spent this wet weekend afternoon in 1980 with Richard Glebstein, keyboardist / “lead singer and person who gets yelled at”; Gary Applebaum, guitarist; Dave Anderson, bassist; Al Spero, drummer; and their manager and CBGBs owner Hilly Kristal, in an attempt to find out – who are the Pet Clams?

* * *

Gary Applebaum: We were the Pets. We’d been mentioned in Rolling Stone. But there were a couple of other bands around called the Pets, and we found out that, because of trademark and copyright, we couldn’t use the name Pets. So I said, “Why we call ourselves Clams From Space? I was writing the script for a horror movie, Clams From Space. It was this whole Roger Corman-type thing. So we fooled around with it. We used a different name every night for about two weeks. So one night, we called ourselves the Pet Clams From Outer Space. And when Hilly, our manager, put it in The (Village) Voice, he left a word out by accident. And that’s how we became the Big Fat Pet Clams From Outer Space.

FFanzeen: How long have you been together?

Gary: We’ve been together two years. We started playing together at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, New Jersey, about August of 1978. We played there for about a month, around the Jersey Shore. We mostly played covers. We taped ourselves at a five-hour gig one time, and we played 10 or 15 original songs and 30 to 40 covers. When you play all night, you gotta play about 50 or 60 songs. We listened to the tape the next day and the only things that sounded any good were the original songs. We played the covers as through we just went wild on them. No discipline at all. And Richard has a sort of distinctive voice. You’d never know he’s from California.

FFanzeen: You’re from California?

Richard Glebstein: No. Lakewood, New Jersey.

Hilly Kristal: He has a very exciting voice. It sounds like a moose.

FFanzeen: Describe your music.

Richard: Rock’n’roll, reggae, New Wave. We do it all. People say we have a style.

Gary: We have a lot of different styles.

FFanzeen: Is it true that your single is a political song?

Richard: It depends on which side you listen to.

Gary: We have a couple of political songs, but the one (Hilly) put out as a single is “Gonna Get Fooled Again.” It was written about a year and a half ago. We opened for Squeeze and had about 15-16 shots of Jack Daniels. And I was out in Greenwich Village, driving home with the car doors open, trying to hit parked cars. The next day when I went to work – I was building houses at the time – I fell asleep on a concrete slab in a puddle of water. Everyone was standing around laughing at me and I wrote the lyrics with my carpenter’s pencil on the cement. It’s more or less a statement of tie idiocy of the two-party system. For instance, the two-party system might have some basis in England because the main parties are the Conservatives and the Liberals. They supposedly have different views. In America where they have the two-party system and both parties are essentially the same, it’s really silly to bother having an election. Both parties are the same party. [I whole-heartedly disagree, and believe that is a stance based in ignorance. – RBF, 2020.] We complain that Russia doesn’t have a democracy because they only run one candidate. We run two candidates that say the same thing. What’s the difference?

[Enter bassist Dave Anderson]

Richard: Dave wrote the music to that song. That’s why it’s not that good. We’re actually a brilliant rock’n’roll group.

Gary: He’s paid to say that.

Richard: No, I’m serious. I sat and gave it a lot of thought. We’re really brilliant.

FFanzeen: On Monday, you’re going to record your first album [released on Friday the 13th, in March 1981, titled The Pet Clams]. What will it be like?

Richard: Three reggae songs: “Don’t Get So Upset,” “Things Keep on Changing,” and “Jerusalem,” a very strong song.

FFanzeen: What is it about?

Richard: He was in a suicidal mood, so he said he was walking down the road to Jerusalem.

Gary: It’s more or less the juxtaposition of the end of a relationship and a time of turbulence in the world. Sort of like Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca, sitting there talking while the whole world is at war around them.

FFanzeen: Besides politics, what else influences you?

Richard: He’s influenced by other carpenters. I’m influenced by students. I’m a Special Education teacher at Lakewood Middle School.

FFanzeen: Do your students like your music?

Richard: My students are all deaf. No, they’re not.

Gary: Pitiful songs on the album.

Richard: “Gonna get Fooled Again” is going to be on the album.

Gary: Is it really?

Richard: Well, it might be. [It is – Ed., 1981]

Gary: One song’s about turning up in CBGBs. It’s called “That’s Showbiz.” And not making any money. They tell you to wait; just wait.

Richard: That’s what everybody does in rock’n’roll, whether they have an album out or not. Everybody waits.

FFanzeen: Back to your histories.

Richard: I used to play alone for a very long time. I was the cult hero of the polyester crowd.

FFanzeen: So what makes this band different from all other bands?

Richard: This band eats unleavened bread.

Gary: We’re the same as everybody, except I’m smarter.

Richard: We used to play at punk weddings and rock bar mitzvahs.

Gary: We’d done original stuff before and failed.

Richard: I didn’t. I was a tremendous success.

Gary: Have you caught his albums as a solo? He made about 10 solo albums in the ‘late ‘60s. He was very famous. His name was Randy Newman then.

Richard: I thought Newman was too Jewish. I like Glebstein.

FFanzeen: Have you ever had to open for a band that incongruous to yours?

Richard: We liked playing with Squeeze and David Johansen.

FFanzeen: How did the audience react to you?

Richard: They hate our guts. We can’t understand why.

FFanzeen: Does this band have a slogan?

Richard: Do bands have slogans?

FFanzeen: Yeah; the Stimulators have “Loud Fast Rules.”

Richard: Let’s get a slogan right now.

Gary: The band is so good it doesn’t need a slogan.

Richard: We don’t have a slogan. We love what we do. It’s hard work and we do it because it’s fun. This is a hobby. Gary’s a carpenter; Al’s a carpenter. You know all the maniac drivers in New Jersey? John taught them all to drive. We’re all very nice people.

Gary: And sexy as hell.

FFanzeen: Don’t lay it on too thick: I’m planning to take pictures.