THE CHESTERFIELD KINGS Interview: The House of Garage (1985)

© Robert Barry Francos / FFanzeen, 1985/2022
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A few times a year, weather permitting, I would fly up from New York to visit Buffalo Musicians’ Hall of Famer and friend since high school Bernie Kugel, and would pile into the car of record collector extraordinaire, Mad Louie, the Vinyl Junkie’s car, and head over to Irondequoit, a suburb of Rochester, to make a pilgrimage to the House of Guitars. Besides the obvious front room of instruments, given the name of the place, the back also had a very disorganized yet quite eclectic new and used recording section. But the main reason to head over was to visit the two members of the Chesterfield Kings, who worked there. Andy Babiuk, who took care of the front with all the instruments (and has written books on the gear used by the Beatles and the Stones, and Kings leader and voice/harp Greg Prevost (he also co-wrote the Stones’ book with Babiuk), who skillfully manages the mess in the back.

Greg is a very interesting and charismatic character, with his omnipresent eyeliner and 2-liter bottle of soda (Tab). He’s also a well-recognized collector of hopelessly obscure garage recordings and old television shows.

When we got there, he would be running all over the store at a customer’s request to fetch a recording, or answering the phone. Between, he’s smiles and laughs, and a bit of gossip. He had been there a long time, and eventually retired some years after this interview took place.

This was originally published in FFanzeen No. 13, dated 1985.

The Chesterfield Kings: The House of Garage (1985)

Without a doubt, the leaders of the new garage/psychedelic scene are the Chesterfield Kings. With their self-titled album and single, “She Told Me Lies” b/w “I’ve Gotta Way With Girls,” on Mirror Records, they’ve shown the world exactly how they think music should be a la mid-‘60s raunch’n’roll.

It is clear who they model their live shows after: the likes of the Rolling Stones and the Chocolate Watchband, circa Riot on Sunset Strip (1967), but their music goes beyond that, into an area of relatively unknown classic cult groups that have been cropping up in dozens of compilation albums on labels such as Voxx/Bomp! and Moxie. The more obscure, the better.

The Kings consist of Doug Meech (drums), Andy Babiuk (bass), Orest Guran (organ/rhythm guitar), Cedrick Cona (lead guitar), and as front man, Greg Prevost (vocals/hot harmonica). The Kings is a band who has opened a whole new chapter in how rock’n’roll could and should be played – no holds barred.

Last summer (1984), while vacationing in Buffalo, I headed over to the House of Guitars (the HOG to friends) in Irondequoit, NY, which is a suburb of Rochester. In this humble record and musical instrument store, run by showman Armand Schoenbroeck, who has a few cult albums under his own belt, works Andy and Greg. I didn’t have much of a chance to say much to Andy, as he works in the business front part of the store, but I did get a chance to talk somewhat with Greg.

On this trek, I dragged along two willing cohorts and record collectors, Bernie Kugel, of the band Mystic Eyes, and Mad Louie, the Vinyl Junkie.

What follows is a brief part of the conversation. Actually, I just turned on the cassette recorder and let Greg, Bernie, and Louie do most of the talking. In between constant phone calls by customers asking about purchasing Bruce Springsteen tickets and great music playing on the PA (supplied by Greg), there was a lot of harmless kidding around at the expense of many (myself included), all in the fun of conversation and admiration. Note that “[laughs]” indicates that we were all laughing at that point.

This is technically not an interview in the true sense of the word, but I like to feel it’s informative enough to hold the reader’s interest, and give some insight to at least a fifth of the band.

FFanzeen: Why don’t you have Armand (Schoenbroeck, Mirror Records) help you produce a (garage) compilation album?
Greg Prevost: I could do it, but –
Bernie Kugel: It must cost a whole lot.
Greg: Not a whole lot. Just make up a thousand.
Bernie: You can save it.
Mad Louie: Yeah, since you just blew $400 on singles a month ago. Plus, you took me out to lunch Saturday, so you’re broke for the next 10 years.

FFanzeen: What would you put on it?
Greg: Mostly Upstate (New York) stuff that nobody’s got.

[Phone interruption]

FFanzeen: Looks like you only have about 5 of these CDs [in the store].
Greg: I know. Now it’s like the big thing.
Bernie: The Index album on CD [laughs].
Louie: Rhino put the Turtles Greatest Hits on CD. It’s got an extra song that isn’t on the album.
Greg: Did you get the thing?
Louie: I don’t want a CD player. I heard the thing and I hate it. It sounds too clear.
Greg: I like those scratches.
Bernie: Yeah, you need them on old records. That’s why when we plug in, we don’t plug in all the way. That’s why there’s so much distortion [laughs]. Makes it sound like a ventilator or a fan, like that Jades of Fort Worth album. It sounds like someone has a radio playing through the amp, or something.
Voice over PA: Got any Springsteen tickets left?
Greg: That’s all I’ve been hearing. I think it’s time for some sounds [puts tape on PA].
Bernie: Is this the Phinx re-issue album, or the original?
Greg: This is the 45 [“My Baby Don’t Care”]. I didn’t get the album.
Bernie: Miriam (Linna) and Billy (Miller, d. 2016) keep writing about them in the magazine (Kicks).
Greg: Oh, that’s pretty good, isn’t it? I like that.
Bernie: “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg.” We were going through this whole thing – I think I was with you, Robert – all these crappy record in the Salvation Army. There were hundreds, and “Sid Herring! They let him make records after the Gants?” I almost spit up my Coke.
Greg: Somebody should find him. I tried, but no luck.
Louie: Probably in a fishbowl.
Greg: JD (Martignon, of Midnight Records in New York; d. 2016) told me he was puttin’ out a book.
Bernie: Robert saw it. It’s out already.

FFanzeen: It’s all [about garage] compilations. It lists every song on every album.
Greg: That’s not bad.

FFanzeen: But with all the albums being released, it’s outdated as soon as it comes out.
Greg: He’ll probably have to update it every week. “A new issue each week!”
Bernie: Back from the Grave, Vol. 300 this week. [Laughs] High in the Mid-Sixties, Vol. 16: Lake Placid, New York, 1963.
Louie: Vol. 18: Dumbfuck, Iowa. Boy, Greg (Shaw, Bomp! Records; d. 2004) is really putting out those High in the Mid-Sixties stuff.
Greg: I know. Why don’t they just call them Pebbles records anymore?
Louie: I think he wants to be more regional. Like Greg (Shaw) always says, “We have the Northeast, the Mid-East –
Greg: South. I really like “The South.” That was pretty – vague.
Louie: “16 Degrees West of the East.”
Bernie: “New York City, from Fifth Avenue to 125 Street.” [Laughs] Who’s this (on the PA)?
Greg: You don’t know who this is? It’s the Wild Things. “From Santa Claus, Indiana.” [Laughs]
Bernie: The Wild Things. Oh yeah, from the 19th Santa Claus: Early ’63 to January ’64. [Laughs]
Greg: That was good, Bernie. Santa Claus punk records. I’m surprised they don’t do something like that. There’s a lot of punk Christmas songs. ”
Bernie: Christmas Pebbles. [Picking up Hot Ones by theStandells, from the stacks] You get down to this stuff here; you get “99-1/2 Percent Won’t Do,” “Eleanor Rigby,” followed by Soul Drippin’.”
Greg: Then you know you don’t want to buy it.
Bernie: Primo stuff here. [Laughs] I like this Michael (Taylor, Bad Seeds) stuff.
Greg: [Laughs] You really like that?
Louie: Awful. I told you he likes it.
Bernie: “Zilch, Pt. II.” Aw, that’s a great one. [Laughs]
Greg: Oh, it is good. [Laughs]

[Phone interruption]

Bernie: [Holding up a Chocolate Watchband album from Eva Records, whose liner notes Greg wrote.] Oh, good liner notes. How much did you get for this one?
Greg: A free copy of the record.
Bernie: Did they actually do it?
Greg: They actually sent me a copy. It was bent in half, but they sent me one.

FFanzeen: I’m so ignorant on so much of this stuff.
Bernie: Well, Greg’s gonna be opening up a school. He’s gonna have a punk summer camp.
Louie: All you have to do is sit there, eat shit, drink Tab, and watch videos.
Bernie: “This is a bottle of Tab I have from ’66. One of the test bottles. Let’s see how it tastes.” Have you seen the Richard and the Young Lions video yet? 
Greg: Naw. I heard there’s one out.

[Phone interruption]

FFanzeen: I hear you’re out touring a lot right now.
Greg: I wouldn’t exactly call it a tour. We just do weekend-type things. It’s not worth playing the middle of the week anywhere, ‘cause nobody goes out. Who wants to play for $300 in some hick town?

FFanzeen: It could be worse. Could be like when the Gizmos played at Max’s on a Tuesday and there was no one there. Except for a couple of drunks and me.
Greg: Really? Outrageous.

[Phone interruption]

FFanzeen: Who did this song (on the PA)?
Greg: “The World Ain’t Round It’s Square,” by the Savages. 

FFanzeen: Have you heard the Tryfles do it? 
Greg: The Tryfles? Yeah.

FFanzeen: They’re a fun band.
Greg: Yeah, I saw them once. At the Dive.

FFanzeen: Didn’t I see them open for you at Irving Plaza?
Greg: Was it that night? No, I don’t think so. I think it was the Lyres, the Vipers, Outta Place, then us, then Green on Red. I remember, I was real sick that night. It was horrible. It was the worst night I ever had. We had to cut the set short ‘cause my throat went out. All the way down (to NY) I had this sore throat, or somethin’ like that. All the way down, I’m drinking like two gallons of orange juice. “Maybe my throat’ll get better.” And by the time we got there, it was, like, three in the morning, and my voice was shot. I kept coughin’. It was horrible.

FFanzeen: Everyone there had a good time, though.
Greg: It was okay, but I don’t know. Then that guy was, like, somebody threw somethin’. Then he got beat up by some guy in the front.

FFanzeen: I remember once seeing Iggy (Pop) at the Brooklyn Zoo (club), and right in the middle of the first song, someone thew some ice at him. He stopped the song and said, “Don’t throw that fuckin’ shit at me, man. That ain’t a request, that’s a command.”
Greg: Really?

FFanzeen: Then he started the song from scratch. He was pissed off.
Greg: This (on the PA) is Monoman’s (Jeff Conolly, of the Lyres) favorite record (“What a Girl Can’t Do”).

FFanzeen: Who is it?
Greg: The Hangmen.
Bernie: This is like an oldie to me. It was one of my first records.
Louie: What about this (next song on the PA)?
Bernie: The Swamp Rats? Alright. 
Greg: “Hey Joe,” on CD.
Louie: Know how many versus they could put on one CD? About 30.
Bernie: What’s that ‘70s thing that the Swamp Rats were on?
Greg: Disco Sucks?
Bernie: Not Galacticus [post-Swamp Rats]. No, the other one.
Louie: Yeah, I remember that.
Bernie: Where he does, like, “Somebody Real Famous.” They put, like, some of the songs on an album. It says, “Everything on this album was recorded in a one-track studio in a radio station.”
Greg: They’re real mad about that [fantastic] DJ’s album [pre-Swamp Rat] that Eva (Records) put out. Their manager’s a DJ still, right , and he’s on the radio saying, “Any stores out there carrying this record, we’re gonna smash them all if we come find ‘em,” They’re really mad.
Bernie: What did you think of that Battle of the Garages, Vol. II album?
Greg: There’s some good stuff and some bad stuff.

FFanzeen: I liked it a lot.
Bernie: What did you hate the most about it, besides my song [a cover of the Stoics’ “Enough of What I Need”]?
Greg: I don’t remember. There’s this group called Mystic Eyes on there… 
Bernie: What did you think about that psycho-crap on side two?
Greg: I couldn’t hack some of that stuff. Side one’s pretty good, and side two, there was some stuff...

[Phone interruption]

Louie: Did you sell any copies of this?
Greg: The Lyres album (on Ace of Hearts Records)? Yeah, check your Lyres album. Hold it up to the light. Monoman says if you can see through it, like this purple color, it’s real rare. Mine’s like that.

[Phone interruption]

Greg: Know what I found out? Did you ever hear of the Storytellers? “Cry With Me.” It’s this great snotty-fuzz record. They’re from Jersey. And all the guys or most of them are Asbury Park, in Springsteen’s group.
Louie: Really?
Greg: Yeah. Rick Noll was tellin’ me.
Bernie: [Singing like Bruce:] “Baby, I was pushin’ too hard.”
Greg: This is the best version of “Maggie’s Farm.” The guitar player is great.
Bernie: Who’s this (on the PA)?
Greg: Defiants.” I like the guitar playing. He plays two notes the whole song. Except it does change. I was a bit disappointed when he did the change. Right here. Then he goes right back into the two notes. Oh, up a step.
Bernie: Do you find that there are a lot more independent records still undiscovered out there?
Greg: Yeah, never ending, really. I keep thinkin’ I heard them all but they’re there. Real great stuff.
Bernie: And you thought you could stop with Nuggets. [Laughs]
Louie: It’s getting to the point where you find stuff repeating on albums.
Greg: Yeah, it’s real bad.
Bernie: It seems the guys putting out the records are getting real desperate.
Greg: Yeah, they are.
Bernie: That’s why you’ve got to get into it here.
Greg: Yeah, I’ll put out 30 volumes to start. [Laughs] Box sets. 10 album boxes.
Bernie: Unreleased Independent Punk…January ’65 through March ’65.

FFanzeen: That’s the first box set. [Laughs]
Bernie: “From Bernie’s basement recording studio. We use just a plastic recorder in the corner.”

FFanzeen: “July 7^th, 7:30 to 9:30.” [Laughs]
Bernie: Yeah, that’s it. [Laughs]
Greg: “Three-hour live tape.”
Bernie: “Rising Storm arriving for rehearsal.” 
Greg: “Hear them drive up in a car.”
Bernie: “You guys ready to play?” Record goes on, that’s it. “Next month, Rising Storm, Vol. II.

FFanzeen: They oughta release a record of the guy in Bill Haley’s band who stands there during the applause at the end, just saying, “Bill Haley” over and over. It’s always the same guy.
Greg: Yeah.

FFanzeen: Probably his brother.
Bernie: Yeah, Alex Haley! [Laughs]

FFanzeen: Why do you think they call it the “Roots of Rock’n’roll”? Sorry, ‘couldn’t resist.
Bernie: Heavy metal [on the PA]?
Greg: The Merlyn Tree. “Look in Your Mirror.” 
Bernie: Where can I find more Stoics records?
Greg: I got a whole lot of them in my basement.
Bernie: Acetates? All unreleased stuff?
Louie: He’s got the master tapes, to hell with the acetates.
Bernie: “Bill Ash [of the Stoics] is in my closet.” And the guy, Rich Marachalla, whoever they put on the record [“Enough of What I Need,” as co-writer]. [Laughs] 
Greg: That Stoics record is pretty rare.

[Phone interruption]

Bernie: What about this record [picks up 45 of Alvin Cash and the Registers, “Twine Time”? 
Bernie: What does it sound like?
Greg: It’s soul, but it’s good. It’s like James Brown. It’s Doug’s favorite album, our drummer -

[Phone interruption]

All things must pass to others, so at this point, so did we.

Greg Prevost and Kings in-store performance,
Virgin Records, Times Square, NY, with Nancy Neon
(ffoto by Robert Barry Francos

The conversation, you may notice, is quite dated. The timeframe was obviously before CDs became the standard, and it was discovered that CDs were actually cheaper to put out than vinyl. Now we all have large CD collections of the even rarer cuts that could not be afforded to put out on LP form. And while we all agree that the feel and sound of vinyl is something we all still cherish, the material available on more cold and harsh CDs and now digital has become more of a boon and less of a curse. This especially became true among rarity collectors with the advent of CD-Rs.

As a side story, after this interview was published in FFanzeen, a friend of Greg, Bernie and Louie’s was riding the subway in Manhattan late one night after a long squawk. Asleep across the seats, he woke up and saw a newspaper on the floor in front of him. “Is that Bernie, Greg and Louie? What they hell are they doing in the paper?” Obviously, he was looking at a discarded copy of FFanzeen. Freaked him right out.

During the summer of 2001, on the way back from a photographic road trip, I made a stop off to see Greg at the HOG. It was the first time I’d been there in a least a decade. The phones were just as busy and the customers just as questioning for material (this time, for rap), but shooting the shit with Greg was as light and fun as always. And I made sure to assure him that there was, indeed, no tape recorder. And the Chesterfield Kings are no more. Greg has gone solo and now goes by Greg “Stackhouse” Prevost, singing Americana blues, and is still releasing music. On CDs. 

 

Club Flyers and Invites from 1970s and 1980s: Part 4

Text (c) Robert Barry Francos, 2011
Images are owned by the artists
Also, images can be enlarged by clicking on them.

As stated in an earlier blog, throughout the years I have collected flyers, especially from the 1970s and '80s. Many were sent to me directly by the bands while I was publishing FFanzeen. Below are some scans I made from my personal collection, in no particular order. I did see many of them, but not all, and I will comment on them from time to time. Note that I do not financially profit off of publishing them, but only do so to honor the work that was involved, and for archival purposes.

Desperate Teenage Lovedolls was possibly one of the first hardcore fiction films to be released. Actually, its first incarnation was as the VHS-only Desperate Teenage Runaways, which they had to legally change the name due to the growing popularity of the Runaways (yes, I own a copy). The film was pretty bad, and starred or had cameos by many local So-Cali scenesters (similarly, as did the British Jubilee). When the film came out in larger format, it was shown on the big screen for the first time on the East Coast at Danceteria. The opening bands, Adrenalin O.D. (aka AOD) and White Flag were powerhouse hardcore acts. It was a fun night, for sure.

Not only did Donny Fury do sound at CBGBs and have an inexpensive basement practice studio for local bands not far from the club, but he also fronted the Donny Fury Band. We did an article about him/them in FFanzeen, but I never actually saw the band perform. This show was not on his home turf, but deep in Brooklyn, around Caransie (definitely not the so-called cool, hipster part of the Borough of Kings where the clubs are now), at the famed Zappaz. I frequented the club a few times, occasionally clashing with the Tony Manero wannabes on the corner. Anyway, the photo collage on the flyer is excellent.


Though invited to this mainstream rock Press Conference held at the Hard Rock Café, I didn’t go. WNEW was the classic rock station, and I just wasn’t interested in whomever they would invite. I had been to a similar one for the USO in 1980 with Stephen Stills, and members of Kansas, America, and Cheap Trick, among others. With the exception of the CT… yawn. Now if the Ramones would have been there, that would have been another story.

Though I don’t actually know much about Johnny Jewel, I’m fond of the Television song they were named after. Feel free to let me know if you were at this Ritz gig, and if they found their little wing head.

The Vipers, led by Jon Weiss, were a fun garage band during those heady revival days of the early ‘80s. When I interviewed them for FFanzeen at their loft in Alphabet City, their manager (RIP) had to leave early to go catch Bruce Springsteen at the Garden, which I found weird at the time, for some reason. While “Cheated and Lied” was not their biggest hit, relatively speaking, I still hear it and smile for the extraordinary cut it is. I still have their demo cassette, with the songs in a different order from their LP. While I know someone who worked at the Cat Club, I can’t remember ever being there. But I did see the Vipers numerous times at various venues (mostly Irving Plaza, though).

The Cucumbers’ 1988 Holiday on Ice Tour was, I believe, their first big East Coast outing. Based in Hoboken, NJ, I saw the quirky band play a couple of times around New York, and participated in an interview on cable access show Videowave. They were a cut-up for my (still) camera between takes.

The Undead seem to be more understandably popular now that they’re history than when they played the Mudd Club. Bobby Steele’s girlfriend at the time, Laurie, posed for the cover of FFanzeen wearing nothing but one of our tee-shirts while leaning on a hydrant. That is one of my biggest memory of the band. They did set the local – and then national – scene on fire with their scorching horror hardcore.

The Beach Blanket Blowout at the Palladium seems like a show that may have been inspired by some of the Ritz mash-ups that I loved, such as their Girls Night Out series. Here the performers include Joy Askew and Get Wet’s vox Sherri Beachfront. Then there’s the infamous Neon Leon. I didn’t go to this because, well, it was the Palladium, one the uncoolest venues for us club rats in the city. I believe they were trying to lure us in with some star acts of the downtown fashionistas.

While the Mudd Club had the reputation for occasional debauchery and some amazing acts, such as this night with the Fuzztones and the Chesterfield Kings, I rarely went there because their door policy was ridiculously prohibitive. For example, they would almost never let in two males who were together (but any females were always accepted, as look as they looked “good”). Why travel all the way to the club to find out you probably wouldn’t get in, even though one of my writers worked there. Good show + bad door policy / policing = fuck ‘em.

Speaking of debauchery, probably no club during the ‘80s had the repute of one that had been a grand church, the Limelight. While their shows were interesting, between sets they were basically another Palladium, filling the air with beats and scratching (I remember hearing a 20-minute version of Lauper’s “Girls Just Wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-n-n-n-n-n-na have f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-un fun fun fun fun”). It was, however, an excellent venue for Peter Zaremba’s Love Delegation for their signing to Celluloid Records. Zaremba was and is an R&B man who mixed it with punk and garage maniacality (yes, I know there’s no such word… deal with it). As a Fleshtones’ side project, he got to play a more undiluted version of what he loves. (RIP Wendy Wild.)