The Rat-Taled Dream

 Text © Robert Barry Francos / FFanzeen, 2022
Images from the Internet unless indicated

A Rat-Taled Dream
In the dream, it is the present time, and despite the fact that the club The Rathskeller (aka The Rat) in Boston is long gone, I went to see a show with Kandy Kabot, who lived in the city for a number of years. I had been to the club numerous times between 1980 and 1985, so I was a bit familiar with it. However, the map does not match the territory in my dream.

As we approached the club, the front of it was lined with people waiting to get in, and there were windows on the front that went longer than the club’s entrance could fit in reality. We looked inside and there was a big room with marble floors, as people lined up.

Inside, at the head of the line, was a fortune teller reading tarots, who had to be paid in order to get into the club, above the cost to get in. I am not a believer in mysticism, especially having dated the assistant of a professional psychic during the early 1980s, so I was trying to figure another way into the club. When I got back to the glass doors, Kandy was gone, I looked in and she was on line to the fortune teller.

The Secret Service
(ffoto by Robert Barry Francos)

Somehow, I got into the place in a roundabout way, avoiding the seer and, for the moment, since the doorman was not there, I got in without paying. I went backstage and ran into the opening group (didn’t catch the name), which were a bunch of young guys who were in good spirits and friendly, and I hung out with them for a while, getting along well. They reminded me of the Long Island band The Secret Service, who I had seen at The Dive Bar in New York City in real life in the 1990s.

Naturally, I had my camera with me, but questioned whether it would work since I have not used it in a long time, and was unsure of the batteries.

I heard someone speaking behind me, and it was well known Boston musician Al Quint who I do not know personally, but with whom I am Facebook friends. In dream logic, however, I had seen him play before, in the 1980s. I turned around and said hello, and he said, “I know you! You took that picture of me onstage that I really liked.” I was impressed he remembered me.

The Dogmatics at The Rat
(ffoto by Robert Barry Francos)

We walked down a long corridor together and talked generally, until we got to the main room, where he took off to get ready. And instead of the lovely dive bar that the Rat actually was, in the midst of the dream, it was a large room with rows of folding chairs with a dais in front with four or five tables. The place was crowded, and in about the fourth row sat the opening band, who called me, saying they had saved me a seat. As I shuffled through the row to their enthusiastic waving me over, I woke up.

An Interview with JOE VIGLIONE: A BANG! Magazine #7 Reprint [Late-1980s]

Text by Robert Barry Francos / BANG! Magazine

Intro and photos by RBF / FFanzeen, 2020

BANG! cover from the Internet © Rocco Cipollone

During the first half of the 1980s, twice a year on Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends, I would take a sojourn up to a Boston suburb known as Woburn (Dragon Ct., specifically), to visit Joe Viglione and he would generously let me stay on his couch. While it was great hanging out with Joe and talking music, life, etc., I also took a number of solo trips out to Boston to see bands play at such venues as the Rat, Chet’s Last Call, and the Paradise, and hang out with other Boston-local personalities, such as Kenne Highland, Donna Lethal, and the publisher of BANG!, photographer Rocco Cipollone. Through Joe, I got to meet the likes of Rolling Stones producer Jimmy Miller [d. 1994], Willie Alexander, Jon Macey, and JoJo Laine [d. 2006], among others.

During that time, Joe had an alter ego, or a pen name at least, by the name of Janis Reed, mixing the names Janis Joplin and Lou Reed, two musicians close to Joe’s heart. As Janis, he wrote a gossipy-news back-page column for the glossy Musician magazine.

We have remained friends over the decades, as Joe has dipped his fingers into local politics, cable television (both in front of the camera and behind) with his interview program “Visual Radio,” as well as keeping involved in music, most notably lately with his “Demo That Got the Deal” compilations.

Sometime after 1985, I interviewed Joe for Rocco Cipollone’s fanzine, BANG!, which is reprinted below. – RBF, 2020

* * *

Back in 1977, when I first joined the fanzine scene, there was a fraternity of editors, among them Mike McDowell of (Ballroom) Blitz, Nancy Foster of New Age, Joe Viglione of Varulven, and myself, of FFanzeen.

Through the years, I am still in contact with many of the editors, including all of the above, and am lucky enough to call them friends. Of all of the above, the one who has been around the longest and probably the most successful in his field as far as a career and influence goes, is Boston’s own self-titled aristocrat, the Count, Joe Viglione.

There’s no phase of “the biz” that Joe Viglione doesn’t or hasn’t had his hand in. His magazine is but a memory, but his music expertise is very much alive and active.

First, there’s the performance end. There have been many versions of his band, from the first recordings as Auguste Phenomenon, through is band’s last recording as The Count.

Then there is the producer, putting out a prolific number of records by his and other bands on his label, originally named Varulven (yes, same as his magazine), evolving into VAR Records, and finally VAR International. Most of note are the series of compilations by local bands.

He also produces records of bands other than on his label.

There are also his caps as production director, record distributor, club booking agent, etc.

Interviewing friends is never easy, but here goes:

* * *

BANG!: Before you got involved in music, you published a magazine called Varulven.

Joe Viglione: When I was sixteen, we decided to get together a fan magazine for fantasy and science-fiction. I was a big fan of Castle of Frankenstein and Famous Monsters of Filmland. Then, of course, there were the BosCon Convention and the NorEastCon.  It went to those, but we had already established the magazine then. It was just the thing to do. It was something I had to do. It’s just a calling. You don’t know why you’re doing it, you just know you have to do it.

BANG!: And slowly but surely it included music, like the last issue had an interview with Jonathan Richman.

Joe: Yeah, the last issue did have an interview with Jonathan Richman. We were doing science fiction, fantasy and rock’n’roll, and that was something. Castle of Frankenstein was very interested in pick up, so the whole premise of our magazine was to go beyond what a fanzine was, and to start picking up writers that would be picked up by major magazines, such as Famous Monsters. So, I wanted to develop people, but I was always into music, so I made that my focal point.

BANG!: Is that why you stopped putting the magazine out?

Joe: Yeah, it was just too costly and it became too diverse.

BANG!: You write for other magazines now.

Joe: Yeah, I write for The Beat. I was writing for Preview (which closed), and I’ll write for FFanzeen when I have nothing better to do. [Laughs] Not true!

BANG!: When did Janis Reed come into the picture?

Joe: Janis Reed had produced a Willie Alexander album called Sperm Bank Babies. It took a lot of production expertise. She sat at home with her Advent recording deck and taped it off WEBS. It had Barb Kitson [d. 2006 – RBF, 2020] of Thrills as the MC, who was just a DJ at that point in time. I had let her write for the Auguste Pages, which is our house fanzine for the record company and the band. And then Janis went from the Auguste Pages to Musician magazine, which hired me to do a local Boston column. I did one column and gave it up, and gave it to Janis. From then on Janis Reed wrote it. That’s where Janis came from.

BANG!: You’ve had the title “The Count” since high school, I think it was.

Joe: Yeah, it went way back and it was fun, but it was kinda dumb to keep tagging it along.

BANG!: But won’t you ever miss it?

Joe: Nope.

BANG!: What is your new image?

Joe: My new image is my old image, Joe Viglione. I consider The Count thing something like Myra Breckinridge. When Myron woke up and found out he was Myron, he said, “My  God, I was Myra?”

BANG!: When he woke up back as Myron, in the book, what he actually said was, “My tits. Somebody stole my tits!”

Joe: My cape. Somebody stole my cape! [Laughs]

BANG!: Your new release, “Oh Love, Frustrating Love,” on the last anthology album (Boston Rock and Roll Anthology, Volume 4) has a (writing) collaboration with Nancy Foster from North Carolina. How did you get together with her?

Joe: First, Nancy and I started having long distance sex. We were the originators of phone sex. She started writing me some lyrics and sent them up to me. She sent me 10-15 poems, and I thought they were all great. And two of them – “Oh Love, Frustrating Love” and “Run Wild with Me” – were really super. I put them both to music and I was happier with the music I wrote for “Oh Love, Frustrating Love,” so that’s become a staple of the band, just as “Guitarmaster” has been. It was also The Count’s MOR trip. While all the bands in turn were doing techno-pop and this-and-that-pop, we were fusing punk and rock and roll with MOR music. And people did not like it, but we were being original and we kept doing it.

BANG!: Is this when you were doing “Lejandemi”?

Joe: Yeah, “Lejandemi,” “Oh Love, Frustrating Love,” “Of Yesterday,” and “I Thought You’d Be Mine,” and that pop stuff that you could definitely hear.

BANG!: Why did you release “Oh Love…” now, since you recorded it a few years ago?

Joe: I really loved it, and I still love it. I’m aware that it wasn’t a wise move to put it on Anthology Vol. 4, ‘cause it’s gonna kill any chance of airplay. In fact, it hasn’t gotten one spin and the album’s been getting a lot of airplay up here. The reviews on it so far by the critics have been the best. It’s one of the best cuts on the record. I think the people in Europe will think so too, because Europe’s back into pop.

BANG!: Don’t you think it’s harder to sell a million-unit album if it’s a compilation?

Joe: A compilation won’t sell a million. I mean, it could – you should never limit yourself – but with compilation albums, I don’t use them for that purpose. The reasons I’m using these compilations first is to develop my relationship with the bands, beyond just the club scene, and beyond promoting their records and reviewing them. I wanna get to know what it’s like getting into a contract with the bands for one song, seeing if they’ve got the attitude that I have toward marketing and promoting something. You’d be surprised the gung-ho attitudes you get from certain bands, and then, when they actually realize how much work is in it, they drop out. And then the band breaks up because they don’t want to do all the work. We’re just gonna find the cream of the crop, the real hard workers who are really talented, because those are the bands I think I can bank on.

 

 Dimension 10: Jeff Hill is squatting in front

BANG!: Who’s in your new band, Dimension 10?

Joe: Well, my band right now is my drummer Jeff (Hill), and what I think we’re gonna do is have a revolving door of guitar players, and maybe even a revolving door of bass players, who work on different aspects of Dimension 10.

BANG!: Doesn’t that make it a little confusing for touring?

Joe. No, because we’re going to be going out with people that have the sound – the real sound – that we want!

* * *

Reproduction of the original article on Joe’s blog HERE.

A Royal Look at Boston R’n’R: Parts I and II [1977-1978]

Text by Count Joseph Allen Salvatore Viglione / FFanzeen 1977-1978

Introduction by Robert Barry Francos / FFanzeen, 2020

Images from the Internet, unless indicated

These articles were originally published in FFanzeen, issues 2 and 3, dated October 1977 and Winter-Spring 1977-1978, repectively. It was written by Joe Viglione, a Boston-based musician, band and record promoter, and scenester. His bands have included the Count, Auguste Phenomenon and Dimension 10. Currently, Joe still manages a bunch of bands/musicians, books clubs such as the Cantab, and has a podcast called “Visual Radio” where he interviews some pretty big named acts that is worth checking out.

For a few years, mainly in the early 1980s, I would go stay at Joe’s house on Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends, and tour around Boston, seeing multiple bands at the Ratskeller (aka, the Rat), the Paradise, Chet’s Last Call, etc. In this way, I got to meet so many great people, like Kenneth Highland, Donna Lethal, Rocco Cippilone, JoJo Laine, and one weekend even Stones’ producer and fellow Brooklynite, Jimmy Miller. However, I got to befriend Joe earlier thanks to my ‘zine and his, Varulven. We had a pen-pal correspondence going until I drove up there…I believe it was 1980.

A lot of the bands mentioned in this piece are still amazing when one looks back on their catalog. When these articles came out, I wasn’t familiar with many of them, but would do so, over time. – RBF, 2020

 

Photo by RBF

PART I: Issue 2 (October 1977)

Boston: 8-15-77

Contrary to popular belief, Boston is more than just an album and group on Epic Records. Boston is also a city. The capital of a state! Massachusetts, in fact. Boston also churns out a great deal of real good Rock & Roll. There’s lots of people here and these people like to rock out! This is a vampire’s eye view of the Rock and Roll Universe…

There are three good ways of hearing your favorite bands in this town, or finding out about new ones. One is “clubbing”: hitting the local nightspots which house rock music, or the parties where a band is at, or a boat cruise featuring a decent band. I put these under the heading of clubbing obviously erroneously ‘cause what I mean is live music, but who cares. I’m the Count and royalty can do whatever it wants.

Willie Loco Alexander at the Paradise
(photo by RBF)

We used to have only the Rat and the Club to frequent with occasional good bands at K-K-Katy’s (across the street from the Rat) ‘till it went disco; and dynamite bands (like Third Rail, Willie Loco, myself, the Bonjour Aviators, etc.) at a place called Dummy’s, which was an incredibly large club with wax museum figures for décor and plenty of breathing space, and a beautiful stage and a beautiful sound system, and it only lasted about 3 months. That’s life in the big city, so they say, but now a new club has opened its door to R&R, so things are looking up again. Cantones, in the Financial District, hosts the Real Kids, Willie Loco, La Peste, Baby’s Arm and many more really special people, and the Rock & Roll audience is responding very well to this new venue.

The Rat still reigns as the place to go even though no one really likes it all that much. It is a dive; one would think an excellent place for the Count to hang out, but I do consider myself a bit sophisticated and would really rather hear rock within the antiseptic confines of something like the Playboy Club. The Rat is a cellar: smoke and bad air is as plentiful down there as fish in the sea, so why does everyone go, you ask?? Despite the atmosphere, people still flock to this demonic camber so there is the friends aspect of it, and the music is good, for the most part.

This weekend we caught the Cars at Rat City. The Cars are one of the very best bands in Boston. They have taken the place which once belonged to Susan (since Susan split to New York) as the best band who plays in tune, sings on key, got a lot of great songs and excellent musicians, not to mention management which wants to get them to the top. The Cars feature Ric and Elliot on guitars, Ben on the bass, Dave on the drums, and Greg working on various assortments of instruments from synthesizer to saxophone and rhythm guitar. Songs like “Just What I Needed,” “You’re All I’ve Got Tonight,” “Come Back Down,” and so many more, are becoming big underground hits via live performances and the studio tapes floating around local radio stations.

Baby’s Arm is another new band which is causing some excitement. Frank Rowe writes the songs and plays a nice lead guitar with some very original work. Richee Johnson is the undisputed star of the band and slams away at the drums (he’s known as Sam Slam in certain circles of Boston rock); Billy Cole plays rhythm and sings the Lesley Gore tunes; and John Schriver rounds out the band on bass guitar. John is the third bass player to join this young band, replacing McGregor McGee (bassist on Peter Vallis’ single, “Marrying for Money”) who replaced Randall (ex-Auguste Phenomenon 4, which lasted all of 2 months). He also played bass on the record Randall sang on, “The Fury in Your Eyes” b/w “Boston City Limits” by the Bonjour Aviators, being a member of that band from its inception. Randall is now in a new band called Rawk.

John Felice of the Real Kids at the Rat
(photo by RBF)

Easy Action features KC Lindstrom on guitar, Mike Johnson on drums, Bob Papalado on bass, and Chas on lead vocals. They’re busy gigging around town, having just completed four songs in the studio, may do more studio work, and like Baby’s Arm, have a record in the offing.

Third Rail features the great Richard Nolan on vocals. Richard is one of the most original front men of all Rock. He can mesmerize by just standing and staring. His voice is soft, deep and distinct. Chilling may better describe it. It’s no coincidence that they played with the film Night of the Living Dead last Sunday (8-8-77) at the Rat. Fred Pineau (from the Count and Bonjour Aviators’ records) does the lead guitar along with Gary Soprano (now engineer on the Count’s upcoming LP). Rick rocks out on the drums, and TB Pleyer is the bass player.

Willie Loco is, along with the Cars, the best band in Boston at the moment. Willie is a true Rock & Roll genius. Period. His performances are striking, always entertaining, and abundant in Rock & Roll revelations. His records are treasures, and the tapes of studio work current circulating prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that this man encompasses everything that is Rock & Roll. There is a bootleg album of a performance recorded in December of 1976 about to be released on Varulven Records. This is the ultimate Rock & Roll concert. Willie & the Boom Boom Band (Billy, Dave and Sev) go through nine of their big numbers, including a super triple medley of “Hit Her Wid de Axe,” “You Looks So Pretty When,” and “Hair.” It’s called The Sperm Bank Babies, featuring Al Lorenzo Drake, and will be available as soon as the money is got together... All proceeds go to Willie and the band after pressing and mailing costs. There will only be 300 of the first pressing released [yes, I still have mine – RBF, 2020] so act now!!!

A guest appearance on this LP is made by Thundertrain. They do an old Chuck Berry number called “Around and Around,” and you can hear Mach Bell, infuriated by the injustices of the industry in Boston overheating to the maximum. Mach Bell is one of the best front men in all of Rock and Roll. Really. Thundertrain is a superb live band; one of the few bands around that can crank up and get everyone excited. Their performances are events with Steven Silva blasting the walls apart with frantic leads, and Mach swinging from the ceiling like a Rock & Roll Tarzan.

PART II: Issue 3 (Winter/Spring 1977-1978)

Reddy Teddy, along with Thundertrain, is my fave live band. They create an excitement few other bands can ever hope to achieve. Their performances are superior excursions into Rock & Roll, which don’t quite carry over onto their records (like Thundertrain). We need these guys on a 3-D film. Till then, make it a point to catch them in concert!!! When Matt & John Rose start doing their simultaneous leaps, watch out!

Fox Pass has just re-emerged and is also up there with the elite “best” bands. Jon Macey, Mike Roy and John Jules, along with new members Steve Couch and Max Camfield create some of the best Pop Rock songs this side of the Hollies if they were infected by a severe case of Rolling Stones and Velvet Underground. Their record is a classic.

The Count, at the Rat
(photo by RBF)

There are many more bands, also superb, some not as suburb, some actually awful, but you find that everywhere. If I missed a good band, sorry ‘bout that. It’s about 3:30 AM, so you can see why it’s getting hard to think.

I was talking about ways of hearing your fave bands. The second method employed by Rock and Rollers in the ‘70s is the homemade record. After slamming my music against empty walls for too many years I got the inspiration to put out an EP and viola, instant infamy. My fave local records are Pastiche’s “Flash of the Moment,” Fox Pass, Willie Loco, Thundertrain, Marc Thor, Reddy Teddy, some stuff on the  Live at the Rat EP (Susan, Willie, Marc Thor and Thundertrain, to be specific), the Avatars, and you can be sure there will be many more soon. Inside info tells me Lord Manuel got a great EP due very shortly, and comedian Paul Lovell got Blowfish in the New Wave (EP) due shortly on Varulven Records.

The third formula for getting underground music into your head is via the Rock & Roll radio show. The best underground station in the Boston Rock Nation now is WCUW-FM in Worchester. These guys play underground stuff like it’s the only music in the word (well, it is, isn’t it??). Main New Wave DJ Brian Goslow is the guy to send your records and tapes to. The Count does a half hour radio show called “Auguste Hour of Destruction” for WCUW each week, as does Paul Lovell with his “Boston Groupie News Report.” Brian’s show is called “My Generation PSV (Patti Smith Version)” and is incredible.

[This paragraph redacted]

Leslie got the Boston Beat on WCOZ, Boston’s best rocker. Her show leans more towards the folk side of things, but on good nights you’ll hear the Atlantics, Fox Pass, the Cars, the Count, Piper and what more could now ask for? Debbie Frost has a great show on WHRB during the school year, and Peter’s got a very fine program on WBRS. WERS (not to be confused with WBRS) has recently begun playing New Wave and are publishing their Top 10 New Waves on a chart.

A good way for out-of-towners to keep up on the Rockin’ side of Boston is via the publications produced by many devoted people [aka fanzines – RBF, 1977].

Got to run. Rock on. Love yas…

JOHN FELICE: No Kid!

Text by Donna Lethal, introduction by Robert Barry Francos
© 1986, FFanzeen; introductory comments © RBF, 2012
Performance image © RBF; other images from the Internet

The following article on the underrated indie legend John Felice was originally published in FFanzeen magazine, issue #14, in 1986. It was written by then-Boston-based fan Donna Lethal, who used the name Donna Lee at that time.

The first time I heard of the Real Kids was when I was interviewing the Cramps, and Bradley Field and James Siegfried (aka James Black, aka James White), then in Teenage Jesus and the Jerks and then-Cramps drummer Miriam Linna’s one-time co-workers at The Strand Bookstore, were playing a tape of what was to be their first LP in the background. That first, eponymous album, on Marty Thau’s Red Star Records, was amazing, quite frankly. But it was the single, “All Kindsa Girls” b/w “Common at Noon” that really won me over.

I never did get the chance to see the Real Kids play, unfortunately. Stories of their shows were legendary for being raucous, rock’n’roll garage-driven fun. Lead singer John Felice moved on after the band, and I did have the opportunity to enjoy a rousing set at The Rat, on his home turf in Boston (opening band was the Dogmatics). This was also, I believe, the same weekend I had the chance to meet the exquisite Donna Lethal when visiting Kenee Highland, but I digress…

While leading the Real Kids, Felice had a side project called the Taxi Boys, who did some recording. The Primevals followed the break-up of the Real Kids. With another band with that name from Scotland predating them, Felice’s Primevals faded. In Heartbreakers’ tradition, what followed was a series of Real Kids reunions with most of the original members for a large number of years, until the death of Alpo Paulino in 2006, when the band officially disbanded (Billy Borgiloi would form his own band, the Varmints, which is still in existence).

Felice’s current band is John Felice and the Lowdowns. – RBF, 2012

The Real Kids were one of Boston’s “next big things” during the late ‘70s-early ‘80s period. Their now legendary first LP, simply entitled The Real Kids (Red Star Records), still garners airplay on local Boston radio, and the albums that followed (Outta Place, All Kindsa Jerks, Hit You Hard, plus a slew of domestic and import singles) proved what Boston and France already knew – the Read Kids were destined for the top. So what happened? Faced with a changing scene in Boston, and personal and career difficulties, they broke up in ’83.

One cold February evening I found myself seeking refuge in a friendly local Boston bar, Chet’s Last Call [closed in the late 1980s – RBF, 2012]. John Felice’s (Kids’ lead singer) lineup, the Primevals, was the house band at Chet’s during most of February and March, and what ensued was surprising: no rehashed “comeback” band was here, and the Primevals played a tight, rocking set.

“I hadn’t planned on starting a new band,” says Felice, “but whenever Chet’d see me he’d say, ‘When are you gonna get yourself a band?’ So one night, Pete Taylor comes up to me and says, ‘I hear you’re looking or a drummer.’ I hadn’t even said anything to anyone! But that’s how it started. I got Billy [Borgioli, original Read Kids guitarist - DL], and that’s how it all sorta came together.” With the addition of Dave Pedersen on bass, the Primevals were formed.

Studio plans are in the works, and they’ve got one cut on the latest Throbbing Lobster comp, Claws, titled “Lose That Girl,” to their credit. “This isn’t a comeback,” states Felice. “We still play rock’n’roll. We play as hard; we rock as hard as any band in this fucking city. We haven’t changed our approach to music at all.”

FFanzeen: Starting from the beginning, you were with the Modern Lovers. How did that come about?
John Felice: I grew up in the house next door to Jonathan Richman. I started playing (guitar) when I was 15, but those guys were all older than me, so it was sorta like being the little kid in the band. It was me, Jonathan, Ernie Brooks, David Robinson, Jerry Harrison. I left right before they went to LA to record. I could read the wring on the wall and, sure enough, they broke up not too long after.

FF: Is that when you started the original Kids?
John: Yeah. We went through lots of personnel changes. I had given it up for about three months. When Jonathan got back from LA, he told me about a rehearsal space. I hadn’t planned on heading up a band, but that’s where I met up with Alpo and Billy Borgioli.

FF: What’s Alpo doing now?
John: He’s working with a new band, playing harp and percussion. He and I tried it out during the winter, but it just didn’t work. If me, him and Billy played together, it’d be the whole Real Kid thing all over again. It wouldn’t work out.

FF: But you’re still really big in France –
John: That first LP was a legend. But it took so long between the first LP, then the Taxi Boys stuff in-between back there in ’83 – to record, you know, things change. The fans there were great; real enthusiastic and receptive, not what you find here. We’d try out new material, old stuff too, and it went over really well. The last LP didn’t sell that well, though, compared to the cost of making it. I still get royalty checks and stuff, but it didn’t do so good.

FF: Are you going there with the Primevals?
John: I’d like to. We don’t have a contract or anything. We had a lot of problems – personal problems – with New Rose Records on the last tour, and it kinda left New Rose with a bad taste in their mouths.

FF: Isn’t New Rose pretty lenient, though?
John: We pushed them about as far as they would go. We cost them incredible amounts of money. I feel bad about it now. If we hadn’t fucked up, we could probably be there now, playing and shit, but we fucked up bad. I mean, we manage to play every show, we never had to cancel a gig, we played good, but we fucked up a lot of things. Patrick Mathe, the President of New Rose, was real proud to have us there, and we sorta shoved it up his ass sideways by pulling the shit we did.

FF: The fan club is still going strong…
John: The last issue they put out was the final one. They’re not gonna do anything until they hear from me. I’m in the process of assembling a letter and a tape, cuz they don’t even know if I’m alive, let alone my new band. There’s all sorts of rumors of my death.

FF: Rumors of your death?
John: The last time they saw me, I was a fucking mess. They’ve been hearing that we’re all dead, cuz we almost did die over there a few times. I was supposed to have moved to Paris in January of ’84, but it was a good thing I didn’t cuz I was fucked up – really fucked up – in the middle of a really bad drug problem. If I had moved to Paris, I woulda been in worse shape then I ever have been. We left there on bad terms. I didn’t wanna go back there on bad terms and be all strung out, and knocking on Patrick’s door: “Hi, here I am, you gotta support my drug habit now.” Woulda gone over real well. I called him the day I was supposed to be there and told him I wasn’t coming. That was the last I spoke to him. Our manager got in touch with him about making another record, explained to him that, “Felice is all cleaned up, completed his methadone program, etc.,” making me sound like the all-American boy. His response to the tape was hot, but about seeing me, real cool. The letter he sent was like, “This kid cost me; I’m still bailing myself out.”

FF: Were you the cause of all this madness?
John: No! It was our road manger on the tour! He was taking tons of money to buy drugs. They were readily available to us, wherever we’d go. They could tell just by lookin’ at us that we weren’t into smokin’ no grass or nothing. They’d see us and it was, “Have I got what you need.” Anyway, our road manager was going back and forth to Paris and getting money from Patrick, to live on. We didn’t know how much he was getting cuz he’d take the money and buy drugs, then tell us that he only got this much, when Patrick was really giving him twice as much. So he was ripping us off, too.

FF: So Patrick was supporting everyone’s habits.
John: Yeah, it was unbelievable. He’s not rich at all; he’s still paying off our bills. To make things worse, he throws us into the most expensive studios in Europe [RKM in Brussels – DL] to record Hit You Hard. In Europe, they’ve got these little refrigerators in every hotel room, stocked with booze, so every day Alpo was drinking them dry – twice. He didn’t care what it was, he’d just pour all the nip bottles in a glass with some Coke, drink it up. Plus, he smashed a phone to pieces cuz he couldn’t get through to his girlfriend. New Rose is still playing the bills.

FF: Sounds like Fear and Loathing in Brussels.
John: It was a nightmare. I caught Hep, too. The whole time we were recording Hit You Hard, I was really, really sick. I didn’t know with what. I got Hep ‘til I got back to Boston. I didn’t go to a doctor or nothin’. All I knew was that I’d go to the bathroom and piss black.

FF: How did you physically do the recordings?
John: I don’t know. The recording hours were incredible. We’d go in at 3 in the afternoon an be out at 9 AM. I was crawling. I couldn’t keep anything in my stomach. I’d puke it all up. All I know is that I was one sick motherfucker. I’d just lie in my bed and go, “Oh God, gotta record in six hours.” The record dragged on for so long cuz I was fuckin’ dying. We had this enormous hotel bill, bolstered by Allen’s [Alpo] alcoholic cravings, plus there was a bar in the studio. We ran up a monstrous tab, buying whole bottles of vodka and shit, and you’re not even supposed to drink with Hep. I drank even more than ever had, figuring if I got drunk enough the pain would go away. I couldn’t’ figure out why I’d wake up in the morning and want to rip my liver out.

FF: Is that why you look so bad on the cover of Hit You Hard?
John: That was before the tour. When I got back to Logan Airport, the customs guy took one look at me and it was, “You better get going.” He didn’t even bother to check my bags. And Alpo got hip to our road manager; they were all black and blue and shit. We won’t be going back there for a while.

FF: What about recording now, since the Claws compilation?
John: Right now, I wanna record soon. I’d like to do something outside of a local label, maybe for Slash [Slash Records and fanzine was based in Los Angeles and formed by Bob Briggs; roster included the Germs, Blasters, Misfits, Gun Club, L7 – RBF, 2012]. They know us cuz the Real kids moved there in ’79 for six months and generated a lot of interest, but never followed up on it.

FF: Slash has changed a lot since ’79.
John: Oh yeah. Then it was one room, two desks, newspaper and shit all over; but the guy who runs it knows who we are. It’s just – of years people have been saying to me, “You know, your songs are great. You should get some real musicians to play with. You know, you could make a million dollars if you got the right people to play with.” I wouldn’t wanna do that. If other people wanna record them that way, I’d be happy to sell some of my songs. The thing is, the sound that we get, is our sound. I don’t wanna change it. If they’re gonna be made hits, they’re gonna be made by someone else. Like “All Kindsa Girls,” for example. People say, “You coulda done this, get some real musicians.” Yeah, well, I’ve heard it so much. The guys I play with can play. It’s our sound and I don’t wanna change it.

FF: Even under the worst of conditions you put out the best record you’ve ever made.
John: Hit You Hard is about as polished as I wanna get. The Real Kids had such a heavy stigma attached to us – people saying, “Why do you surround yourself with such fuckin’ losers for?” A small label, like Slash, wouldn’t pressure me into changing the sound. Look what happened to the Nervous Easters. They were a rock and roll band; they went into the studio and put out a shitty record under pressure from the label. I just wanna be left alone to record.

FF: Are you recoding with the Primevals yet?
John: We’re working on a tape, and we’ll try to generate interest with it. If not, put it out on a local label and see what happens. I have no idea about Boston anymore. This whole scene is completely foreign to me.

FF: Getting back to the Throbbing Lobster LP. They’ve done well for local bands.
John: I don’t think our representation was that great on that LP.

FF: You got Andy Paley back to produce it.
John: We didn’t. Chuck [Warner] did [owner of Throbbing Lobster Records, 1984-88 – RBF, 2012]. Chuck saw us on a Saturday and had us in the studio by Tuesday. I like Andy, he’s a great guy and all, but I’d rather have done it myself. It woulda sounded a lot different. As our first available offering, I would've wanted something better.

FF: Still, you’re getting airplay.
John: It is? I didn’t even know about it. All they play at work is [W]BCN.

FF: That’s where I heard it.
John: Really? It’s strange cuz they could say shit about the Primevals instead of the Real Kids. I’d much rather hear the new cut instead of that.

FF: What about the Real Kids reunion gig last summer at The Rat?
John: That’s it again; the Real Kids were such a big deal. Nobody knows who the Primevals are. We really need a manager. It used to be so much easier, to get gigs and stuff. You didn’t have to be on the phone all day. Now it’s five days a week, going to clubs at night, and I hate going to clubs unless I’m there to play. I’m through with that shit. On my own reputation as a… a dinosaur [laughs], a fossil, I guess. It’s tough. It’s not a comeback or nothin’. We play as hard, we rock as hard as any band in this fucking city. We haven’t changed our approach to music at all. Our new material is stronger, I think, and I’ve got better musicians. I don’t think I should have to sell myself, but I don’t expect people to come up to me either.

FF: Do you have any plans for the future?
John: I just live day to day. I can’t spend time feeling sorry for myself. I get pissed; then I get pissed at myself for getting pissed. Those assholes aren’t even worth the energy you put into hating them. You know, it’s not so easy. I’m 30 years old. Most people my age don’t even own a guitar. I can’t give it up that easily. I know what keeps me straight. I don’t wanna get back into doing drugs again. Playing rock and roll is my only shot. I‘ve been playing rock and roll since I was 15. I tried to stop before and I saw what happened.

FF: Do you think people are going to label you as a throwback?
John: We still play the same, still play rock and roll. I’ll always sound like me. If I was writing the same songs I used to, same ideas, we’d be burnt out, like the Ramones are. We ain’t trying to be nothin’. I don’t think that we’ve got any identity – you know, you hear the first few seconds of a song: “Oh yeah, that’s one of Felice’s!” We ain’t got that. If you don’t like it, you can always walk out the fuckin’ door, that’s the way it is. I feel lucky to have the guys I do in the band, cuz it’s tough when you’re my age to find guys who are into the same stuff you are, who wanna do what you want. Kids today, they wouldn’t know the real thing if it slapped them in the face. They hear us, it’s “old shit,” you know. We’re just rock and roll. It’s hard to fight a throwback label. I still can’t play guitar.

FF: You can’t play guitar?
John: I never tried to be a great guitar player. I’m a songwriter; that’s all I ever wanted to be. I went back to school last year, trying to kick dope. You know, you get old, you get responsibilities. You can’t live like you do when you’re young. But I could give a fuck about work. The band is still number one.

BUZZCOCKS: Their Last US Tour (1980)

Text by Joan McNulty, 1981
Introductory text by Robert Barry Francos, 2011, © FFanzeen
Other images from the Internet



The following article about The Buzzcocks’ East Coast tour was originally published in FFanzeen magazine, issue #8, in 1981. It was conducted by Joan McNulty, who was dating Pete Shelley at the time. She also published their official fan magazine, Harmony in My Head.

When Joan did this interview, her photographer friend Gay Fast took a photo of Willie at the top of a staircase wearing one of my FFanzeen tee-shirts, which I still have and treasure. Oh, and I also have the photo of Pete Shelley.

The only time I saw the Buzzcocks play was at the Ritz show Joan describes below, with my pal Alan Abramowitz. It was indeed packed as I knew it would be (I didn’t even bring my camera because, as I correctly figured, I couldn’t get near the stage), but my memory of it is dampened by the over-zealousness of a fan behind me who kept stepping on my heels, purposefully bonking into me, and screaming in my ear (leaning into it). I don’t remember exactly why she was out to be a nuisance, but she delivered. At one point as we were leaving, she was frustrated that she did not achieve whatever it was she was aiming for, so she tried to kick me in a sensitive spot. Fortunately, she telegraphed the move and I somehow managed to catch her foot, lift it up, and she ended up on the floor. Then Alan and I left the building.

I did get to hang out with Pete Shelley and Steve Diggle, though, when I was videographer on a shoot for Alan’s cable access show, Videowave at some New York city hotel in December 1991. They were fun to hang out with for the afternoon.

Oh, and just to be clear about something Joan says near the end, I know from experience that yes, she does give terrible directions. While I haven’t seen her since the mid-‘80s when I had a lovely dinner over her parent’s house, I do know that she still lives in the Boston area. – RBF, 2011



Sunday, 11/16/80: Day 1
It was a windy, freezing afternoon and I was headed to the TWA [airline d. 2001] terminal at Boston’s Logan Airport to pick up Buzzcocks. Their flight was to come in around 3:30, and shortly after I got there, Michael Plen from IRS Records (the group’s American label) arrived as well. Within the hour, the band, sound/light crews, and tour manager Peter Monks, had gone through customs. Peter, Michael and the crew spilt from us to go and pick up the trucks and equipment in Somerville. In the meantime, I drove everyone else back into Boston to the Bradford Hotel, where after all the luggage was dropped off, we began to get better acquainted with one another and the hotel bar. A short while later, the rest of the crew joined us, and after a few more hours of steady drinking, we decided to call it a day, keeping in mind that the reason for their early arrival was to have excess time for interviews… and tomorrow’s schedule was already quite busy.

Monday, 11/17/80: Day 2
The day started off around 11:30 with an interview on The Late Risers Club at WMBR Cambridge. Albert O. was the host, and after quite an informative interview and the preview of Part 3 in the singles series, the band was asked to answer some teenbeat questions from people in the studio and people who had phoned in. A small excerpt:

Albert: Do any of you like girls?
Pete: It has been known.
Steve: Of course we like girls
Albert: They expected you to say no because after (the written question) they wrote, “What’s wrong with girls?” in capital letters.
Pete: Well, there’s two different things, you can say you like girls, but a few people know there’s lots of things wrong with them.
Albert: How often do you do your laundry?
Pete: It depends: if I go out to buy a shirt, I’ll buy a half a dozen of them, so…
Albert: Then you wear it once and throw it away?
Pete: No, then I’ll wait and stockpile them. I’ll wear them a day at a time and then I’ll just let them air out a little bit and then wear them again. Usually it’s about once every month or so.
Albert: What’s your favorite TV show?
Pete: In America, The Price is Right.
Albert: And isn’t Boston a great place?
Pete: Uh, if you say so; the thing is that you have to live here, we don’t…

After we finished, the photographer from Boston Rock [magazine] brought the band out in front of the Walker Memorial Building at MIT to take pictures for the upcoming article, and since we were all starving, we decided to go back to the hotel for something to eat and do the interview afterwards. After lunch, photographer Gay Fast, Steve, John, Paddy and the Boston Rock crew went up to Steve’s room to start the interview while Pete and I went back to his room so he could do a phone interview with a Rhode Island magazine, which lasted about half an hour. When it was finished, we went back to Steve’s room for more BR photos and then we returned with Marc to finish Pete’s side of the interview. Pete’s infatuation with animal / wildlife shows kept Marc reeling during the interview as he proceeded to explain how aphids and lobsters mate… After an hour or so of such ramblings, we decided we needed to stop in the bar, where we ran into everyone else.

At 5:00, we left everyone in a rush to catch Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood on TV (they couldn’t believe it was a real show) while Gay, Steve, John and Paddy left in Gay’s car to drive around Boston and check out the sights. I returned home to change and Michael Plen picked me up so we could get the band to their next interview on WERS Nightclub. When we arrived at the Bradford, Pete was the only one there, and he said Gay had called and said she’d bring the rest of the band there in her car. We got to the station and host Tami Heide began her interview with Pete, which continued for quite some time, fact being that the rest had been discovering “Happy Hour” at the bars, and Gay (although she refused to admit it) had no idea how to get to the station, and since it had begun to snow steadily, made it that much worse driving anywhere. The interview was going smoothly and all of a sudden, the station went on the blink, cutting out… and finally the transmitter blew and thus the interview ended abruptly. At about that moment, the lost crew finally arrived, covered with snow and out of breath from a multiple block run. The band spent some time chatting to some fans outside the studio and we then proceeded to head to WBCN for the next interview.

Being we had some time to kill, we decided to stop off and have a few drinks in the Fenway Motel. We got to the station around 12:30 to be greeted by the famous [WBCN DJ] Oedipus who, after making sure everyone had a beer, proceeded to discuss further plans while Jimmy Mack, the station’s music director, passed the Tension LP around for all of us to autograph. When the interview was finished, we piled into an adjoining studio so the band could do some station IDs, which almost became impossible as we were all exhausted, drunk, and silly. A short while later, we said our goodbyes and dropped the band back off at the hotel to get some rest, the following day being the start of the tour.

Tuesday, 11/18/80: Day 3
The first stop on the tour was Amherst, Massachusetts (a college town – University of Mass Is located there), in a large club called the Rusty Nail, located in a remote section. It took Gay and I three and a half hours to get there (an hour and a half ride by most people’s standards) and when we arrived, we met everyone at the Howard Johnson Motor Inn where the band was just finishing up an interview with a paper. We proceeded down to the dining room to grab some dinner and discuss the night’s show. The band seemed to be a bit nervous as it had been a while since they’d played live, especially here, so some champagne was ordered so everyone could try and unwind.

When we arrived at the club, it was already pretty packed (with a typical collegiate crowd). While the band made their way backstage, I decided to set the tape recorder up and Gay went to take a look around at the layout because she was approached by a man who worked at the college newspaper and was asked if I’d give him some background on Buzzcocks and answer some questions before the show. The band took to the stage about 45 minutes later and although the first few songs were a bit shaky, they soon regained their confidence and followed through with the new parts, as well as a long string of old favorites. The crowd brought them back for two encores and, all in all, the evening turned out to be a good start.

We got into a conversation with some fans standing in the back and a short while later finally made it backstage. A reporter from a magazine (which I can’t remember) made his way back to do a short interview with the band. After having difficulty opening his beer (instead of using the opener attached to the wall, which we surmised he just didn’t see), he attempted to open it on the door handle, and then sped nervously through his questions only to realize that when he finished, he had forgotten to put batteries in the recorder. John, trying to be of help, suggested he go home and put batteries in, that way when he rewound the tape he could listen back to the interview. He quickly thanked everyone and left, while Gay and I got questioned as to whether most Americans were like him. After making numerous excuses, we got started on our long ride home.

Wednesday, 11/18/80: Day 4
Since I wasn’t organized enough to continue on the tour from the night before (I left my luggage at home) I had to take the train down to Willimantic, Connecticut, for tonight’s show. After I checked into the motel, I made my way up to Pete’s room where everyone was gathered, discussing the trip they had made earlier in the afternoon to the nearby mall, and how they got talked into staying a while at the record store there to sign autographs. A short while later a group of people from WRTC in Hartford showed up to do an interview, and we all got into a long conversation about music and radio, which went on for a couple of hours, in the middle of which Gay showed up unexpectedly, having decided at the last minute she’d rather be at the show than at work.

Shaboom was the name of the club for the night’s show, located way out in the middle of nowhere, and when we arrived it was already full. It was a strangely laid out hall, fact being that the ceiling was very low and the stage unusually high, so if you weren’t five rows up in front, you couldn’t see the band’s heads. Gay (who was on the side of the stage shooting photos) and I, after a short while, retreated to the back of the club and somewhat cooler air. The band encored two times, and after the show went backstage. There was a large gathering of fans waiting to meet the band, so after they had a chance to relax, Peter Monks told the person at the backstage door to let everyone file in, in a group at a time, so they’d have a chance to talk with them all. This lasted a couple of hours, after which we went back to the motel and watched some late night TV and tried to block out the screams coming from Paddy’s room. We decided to turn in and get some sleep.

Thursday, 11/20/80: Day 5
Having both the day and night free, after breakfast, we began our drive to New York. We arrived at the Gramercy Park Hotel mid-afternoon, and after we had checked in, we gathered in the hotel bar (to many of us a favorite place – very intimate) to talk for the remainder of the afternoon. Since it seemed like it was celebrity week in New York, in the bar along with ourselves were some of Rockpile, Captain Beefheart’s band, and the Banshees san Siouxsie… so there were plenty of people to talk with. Richard Boone, the group’s manager, had just flown over from England, so he joined us late in the afternoon.

Shortly after we moved into the adjoining dining room to have dinner, after which the group went on to catch David Bowie in the play The Elephant Man (which was sold out, but Michael had reserved tickets for them earlier) while the rest of us retired back to the bar to discuss the tour and upcoming dates.

When the band returned, we decided to go out for the night, first stop being the Ritz as the band wanted to see the size and type of place they’d be playing later in the week. For a Thursday night it had a medium crowd (the Rockats playing) and the video at least was entertaining. We stayed a while and piled back in the car (nine of us) to go to the opening night of the Peppermint Lounge where, after we arrived, we were informed we’d have to wait in line with the others (and we had personal invitations… NY doormen…), so we said the hell with it and left. Half of us went back to the hotel and the rest went to the Mudd Club to catch the Bush Tetras. Another day…
Friday, 11/21/80: Day 6
After breakfast, we split up in groups while some of us went out record buying and shopping… so by the time we started our drive to Long Island for the night’s show at My Father’s Place, we were already running late. The heavy late afternoon traffic was no help, so when we arrived, there was only a short time for a soundcheck. We all went to a nearby steak house for dinner (taking up an entire corner of the place) and the staff from MFP sent over a case of Heinekens. We stalled through dinner as we were waiting for the arrival of Michael from IRS, who was to take the band to a radio station interview, and who was delayed a few hours, knocking us back off schedule for the night. The band did the interview, even getting to play their own personal favorites, and then we rushed back to make it in time for the show. Michael (not the world’s best driver), nearly smashed the car into a stone wall and were lucky to get back alive. The place was sold out when we arrived and Buzzcocks put on a great show, including three encores, the funniest of which during “Times Up,” the lines were changed to:

I was smoking in the smoking room
I was living in the living room
Now I’m dying in the dining room
Waiting for Mike Plen’s like waiting
For the man on the moon…

The backstage room was as small as a closet and it was crammed with fans and well-wishers, which took hours before we could leave. We drove back to the Gramercy late that night and went straight to bed.

Saturday, 11/22/80: Day 7
We checked out of the Gramercy and began our drive to [Cherry Hill,] New Jersey for the show at Emerald City [Now the corporate headquarters of Subaru America – RBF, 2011]. A stop for a late breakfast at Howard Johnson got us sidetracked at a computer Biorhythm machine (where we learned that Peter Monks’ sex life was a total wreck) and that, coupled with terrible directions, got us there late. We checked into the Rickshaw Inn (interesting place [demolished in 2002 – RBF, 2011]) and rushed over to the soundcheck. When we returned to the Inn about an hour later, a chauffeur-driven limousine was waiting to take the band to the Rock Ages Flea Market (a type of record collectors convention) where they were expected for an interview with a station transmitting live from there. Arriving some three hours late (someone gave us the wrong time schedule), we were greeted by the promoters and a gathering of fans. The interview went smoothly and the band spent time talking with fans and signing autographs before deciding to shop around. Paddy got his hands of some Cream LPs to complete his collection, Steve picked up some pretty groovy sunglasses, and Pete got some multi-designed prism paper which, upon arrival back at the hotel, he sat up under the fluorescent light in the bathroom to create a rainbow effect.

We went down to dinner, accompanied by numerous bottles of champagne and then we went pack to Pete’s room with three people from Newsound magazine for an interview. All three were very nice and we engaged in conversation and photo-taking up until it was time to leave for the show. We arrived at Emerald City, dropped our belongings backstage, and went out to the floor to have a look around. The fans seemed to be extremely friendly (possibly because I can’t be objective as the EC is a personal favorite of mine), and the lighting and sound is incredibly precise. It’s a huge place, but well set up for viewing from any corner – and it was packed full of Buzzcock fanatics. No fan was to be disappointed as the gig clicked with razor-tight precision. From the second they took the stage they whipped the huge crowd into a frenzy. When it was all over, I’m sure there was no one who didn’t believe. We went backstage, and talked with fans for a short while and proceeded back to the hotel exhausted. Steve, Paddy and John were interviewed until the early morning hours by a magazine, while the rest of us turned in to catch up on lost sleep.

Sunday, 11/23/80: Day 8
After a huge breakfast, we split up into two cars and began our drive back to New York and the Gramercy. We arrived mid-afternoon and shortly thereafter were met by some people from New York Rocker for an interview. A while later we gathered in the hotel bar with some friends to chat, and an interviewer from Relix magazine joined us to ask some questions. Before dinner, we made our way to the Ritz for the soundcheck (on time!) and were informed that Human Sexual Response from Boston were replacing the Rattlers – the support band for this tour – as they were banned from playing there.

When the soundcheck was finished, Steve, Gay, John and a friend left for Benihana’s [restaurant] where they discovered they had a great liking for sake. Pete and I headed to the hotel restaurant for steaks and we all met back later in the lobby to start out for the show. When we arrived, the Ritz was jammed with an over-sold crowd and the heat was close to unbearable. After the usual hassling by the Ritz staff concerning our wanting to tape the show (permission and all – we were denied), Richard, Michael and I attempted to find somewhere to stand in the back where it was a little cooler, but it was impossible as we were packed in like sardines. From the start of the show to the finish, the crowd went crazy. Despite the conditions, everyone was jumping around (it was hard to actually dance) and “I Believe” found us all screaming, “There is no love in this world anymore…” as the crowd had joined in on every chorus from the first song on. By the end of the show (including four encores, one of them dedicated to us) the fans looked to be exhausted, sweaty and happy.

By the time we made our way through the crowd to get backstage upstairs (half hour later), it was packed with fans waiting to get in to meet the band. Every time the door was opened, everyone crushed forward to try and squeeze in, and Richard actually had to grab me by the arm and pull me in through the sea of bodies. After everyone had a chance to rest awhile, the doorman started to let groups of fans through, and it wasn’t until after two hours that we finally emerged.

We were met by some students of a video school (I think) who had cameras set up in another room and wanted to shoot a short interview with the band, who obliged, and the rest of us sat down to chat while we waited. They were out about an hour later and we headed back to the hotel. We gathered in Peter Monk’s room for an after-show party, along with some fans and friends, and the drummer from Captain Beefheart’s band (a really nice guy with some fascinating inside stories about the Captain). Early morning we crawled back to our rooms to grab a few hours sleep.

Monday, 11/24/80: Day 9
After packing and a quick breakfast, we collected ourselves in the lobby to check out. Realizing that we were down to one car (since the next stop was Rhode Island and not everyone from the previous stops were joining us – including the person with the second car) and we had more people than would fit, Pete, Richard and I decided to take the 1:30 Amtrak there and the rest would drive. We ate lunch on the train, and numerous comic books later, we arrived in Providence, in the pouring rain. We grabbed a cab to the Holiday Inn and checked in (we arrived first as the others had done a bit of record buying in the Village before departing) and we decided to get some rest while waiting for the others. After they arrived, we made our way to the Brown University auditorium for the soundcheck and were greeted by a number of young fans and some early arriving friends (real fanatics) from Boston. Some sandwiches were brought up (which served in place of dinner) and we went back to the hotel to relax before the show. When we returned, a large gathering of people were there (some quite young, in fact), anxious for the start of the show. The auditorium had no seats and was medium size; therefore the acoustics were quite good. The show went really well and the fans seemed to really enjoy themselves (even the kids knew the words) and so did the band. A group of friends came backstage and we sat around for an hour or so discussing previous shows and the very important end-of-the-tour show the next night: Boston. Exhausted, we returned to the hotel to try to get a night’s sleep.

Tuesday, 11/25/80: Day 10
The wake-up call came around 11:00, and we gathered in the hallway with our luggage to make our way downstairs to check out. As we were heading towards the elevator, we were approached by two fans who had spent the night there in hopes of having a chance to meet the band, so we stopped to talk for a short while. We asked at the desk for the closest place to grab some breakfast and were given directions to a nearby Howard Johnson (is there really any other place to eat?) where we stopped, and after eating, began our drive to Boston. We arrived back at the Bradford mid-afternoon (this time it was my bad directions – you’d never know I was a native) and after we got settled, we went to the bar for a drink. It was election night [Ronald Reagan chosen for president – RBF, 2011], the place was jammed with people, so a short while later, we retired back upstairs to talk. A few hours later, we decided to go downstairs where the ballroom was located, to take a look around before the soundcheck. Large groups of people were already in line waiting and we made our way through to find a very large size hall with a totally unobstructed view and a good size stage.

When the band finally took to the stage for the check, shocks were coming through some of the instruments so, after checking out the wires to no avail, an electrician was sent for. The wait began. Hours passed and cancellation of the concert was discussed as it was getting late and the gathering of fans in the hallway outside were banging on the doors and getting a bit anxious. A short while later, the problem was solved and after a rushed check, we decided to go to the hotel restaurant for dinner.

Everyone was a little nervous because the night’s show was very important for many reasons: the last time Buzzcocks were scheduled to play Boston, they cancelled, which meant it had been two years since the last time they played. In the meanwhile, we had started the newsletter (Harmony In My Head) and done assorted radio specials… only to realize there was a huge fan following there and that, coupled with a lot of promotion concentrated on this show, made it extremely important that it turn out well. Although everyone was confident, watching the people file into the hall from where we were sitting did make things a little uneasy, so we went back upstairs to have a few drinks. The night being a three band bill, joining the Rattlers as support was La Peste from Boston, so we didn’t proceed downstairs until around 11:30, via the freight elevator. The band went backstage and Gay and I went wading through the immense crowd (including kids because it was an all-age show) to talk to some friends. The moment Buzzcocks took to the stage, our nervousness dissipated. Within seconds they had the crowd in a frenzy as they seared through both new and old favorites. The song list was as follows:

Chainstore
What Do I Get
Fast Cars
Fiction Romance (dedicated to Oedipus at WBCN)
Harmony
Everybody’s Happy
Lipstick
Ever Fallen in Love
Something’s Gone Wrong
Airwaves Dream
Strange Thing
Noise Annoys
What Do You Know
I Believe
[Encores:]
Love You More
Times Up
Boredom
Oh Shit

Again, during the chorus of “I Believe,” the audience joined in as it had every stop previous, making it a magic moment.

Another highlight came after the final encore when John knocked over his drumset and instruments were bashed around, and he then pulled the American flag from its stand and threw it on top of the wreckage. It couldn’t have been more perfect as it was the last night of the tour. Fans and friends jammed backstage for a champagne celebration and Michelle Kirsh from Take-It magazine was doing an interview with Pete in the corner of the room. We stayed backstage and chatted about the show for a while. Pete even gave some romantic advice to the editor of Take-It, who had recently split up with his girlfriend, and then went back upstairs with a group of friends to carry on for most of the night.

Wednesday, 11/26/80: Day 11 – Last Day
Michael came and rushed us out of bed around 11:30, as the band was expected to be at WBCN at 12:00. They were guests of Ken Shelton’s on Celebrity DJs of the Week. We arrived a little late, and after the introductions, the band got to go through the record library and pick out some favorite groups to play. Pete chose the Residents and the Walt Disney soundtrack to Dumbo the Elephant; Steve chose the Clash and XTC; Paddy chose Cream; and John, the Dance and the Seeds. During the playing of cuts and the talking in-between, Michael drove me back to my house to pick up my car as he was leaving afterwards to go back to New York and I had to drive everyone to the airport later that night.

By the time we got back to the station, they were wrapping things up so we said our goodbyes and made our way back to the hotel to grab some lunch. We went upstairs and moved all our luggage into one room and made our plans for the afternoon. Steve and Gay left to go shopping for bolo ties, and Pete and I made our way out to Medford to spend the day at the Child World toy store. It’s a huge place, almost as big as a warehouse, and by the time we made it back to the checkout counter, Pete had collected 80-some-dollars worth of toys, including a Monopoly game, a snap-together Good Year blimp, and assorted Mickey Mouse games. It was so much fun; I even ended up getting an Etch-A-Sketch.

We were supposed to meet in the lobby of the hotel before 5:00 (flight departure was at 7:30) and even though we left by 4:00 to get back in time, we got stuck in so much traffic we didn’t arrive ‘til 5:30, and everyone was in a panic. The rental car was filled with all the suitcases and everybody piled into my car and headed for the airport, which at rush hour took us extra time to get to as well. I drove to the door to drop everyone off and by the time I had parked the car, everyone had gotten their boarding passes and we made our way to the waiting room until departure time.

We reminisced about the tour and how well it had gone (even with the problems) and made plans for the next time they were coming. It was also very sad because we had all become good friends and we didn’t want to see them leave. Seven-thirty seemed to roll around quicker than usual that evening, and as the lines were filing to board, we kissed and hugged goodbye, and with a last wave, they were gone. All we were left with were memories of a wonderful time.

Now: The Altercockers



Postscript
Next time I heard from any Buzzcocks (letters aside) was late in March when I received a phone call from Pete Shelley informing me of the breakup. I felt a great sadness and an even greater anger that my dream of flipping on the car radio to hear “What Do I Get” blaring out might never come true. Any of their songs would have made the radio a better place, but that’s not to say a valuable contribution wasn’t made. Singles Going Steady doesn’t compete with any of the best Greatest Hits albums; it joins them, and as their manager Richard Boone once said, and I agree, every time you listen to the radio, you can hear snatches of “Love Bites”; and the list goes on and on..

Buzzcocks were the best thing to happen to pop music in the last decade; nostalgia for an age yet to come. And there is more to come. Pete Shelley has signed a new solo contract with an album slated for release this fall, full of wonderful, bright electro-pop tunes; Steve Diggle is busy in the studio working on his own solo material to put together for release in the upcoming future; Paddy Garvey has started a new band entitled Motivation who have been gigging around and hope to sign a new dead soon; John Maher has recently joined the group WAH!, as well as continuing studio and roadwork with Pauline Murray and the Invisible Girls, and other assorted projects.

The future holds wonderful things. Believe…