THE FLESHTONES Interview (1978)

Text © Robert Barry Francos / FFanzeen, 1980/2022
Images from the Internet unless indicted

(photo by Robert Barry Francos)

The Fleshtones Interview (1978)

In October 1977, I was invited me to a Halloween party at Keith Streng’s house, in the heart of the borough of Queens. Keith was and is a member of a raucous band, the Fleshtones. I had not seen them as of then, but had heard many people speak of them favorably. Yeah, sure, why not?

When I finally did get a chance to see the Fleshtones perform the night I interviewed them, I was duly impressed by how compelling their sound was. With a strong mixture of sixties psychedelia, R&B, garage and pop sounds, the band is frenetic and easily one of the more underrated dance bands. Though they’ve never been appreciated to the level they deserve, they persevere and continue to thrill their fans.

The interview below, which I conducted at Max’s Kansas City, was published in FFanzeen, Issue #3, dated Winter/Spring 1978-79.

Peter Zaremba
(photo by Robert Barry Francos)

The Fleshtones Interview

I have known some members of the Fleshtones since last October. Whenever we met, we would talk rock’n’roll. Finally, it was at the Dictators concert at My Father’s Place that I asked for an “official” interview with the band. The next week, the Fleshtones were due to play at Max’s Kansas City with the Erasers. So that night, June 10, 1978, I did the interview upstairs in a Max’s dressing room. In attendance were, of course, the Fleshtones: Peter Zaremba (vocals, keyboards, harmonica), Keith Streng (guitar, vocals), (Jon) Marek Pakulski (bass), and Lenny Calderone, Jr. (drums). Also in attendance in this very small space were Chris Stamey, Gordon “Detroit” Spaeth (guest sax on “I’m Real” and “Crossfire”), M. Henry Jones, who did a short and now classic film (using pixilation) of the ‘Tones performing “Soul City,” and Zantees' lead singer, Billy Miller.

FFanzeen: You seem to be very sixties-oriented. Which bands?
Peter Zaremba: Everyone likes the same bands. At this point, everyone’s into the same influences.

FF: Which new bands do you listen to?
Keith Streng: DMZ. I love DMZ. Though we hate their album [DMZ, on Sire – Ed.].
Peter: We’re definitely into Boston music. They’re really a lot neater than most bands. Like the Count [Joe Viglione – Ed.]. The Count has an amazing personality. You could mistake him for a genius.

FF: How did you get signed on Red Star Records?
Peter: Well, Marty’s (Thau) into – it’s strange what Marty’s into.

FF: Suicide. Walter Stedding.
Peter: Right. He’s into taking chances. We’re just the latest one. He’s certainly into supporting bands. We like Marty.

FF: Have you recorded yet?
Keith: No.
Peter: We’ve made tapes by ourselves. Maybe you’ve heard some of them?

FF: No, this is the first time I’ve heard you.
Peter: Really. What was your opinion of what we are doing? Do you think it was very straightforward?

FF: I thought it was very sixties-ish and right out of ...
Keith: Riot on Sunset Strip.

FF: Yeah. When are you recording?
Keith: July. An album.

FF: Are you going to name the album after the group, like the other Red Star artists, like the Real Kids album is called The Real Kids?
Peter: We’re definitely not gonna do that.
Keith: We really like the Real Kids.
Peter: All the Boston bands are like, really psychotic, almost. Really emotional.

FF: What are some of the songs you do?
Keith: The instrumental we do is called “Atom Spies.” The other instrumental we did tonight is called “Zombie,” but that will eventually have lyrics.
Peter: “Judy,” “Code Three,” “BYOB.”
(Someone): “Nervous Breakdown.”
Keith: That’s not an original. If that was an original, we’d be stars.
Peter: You know, stuff.
Keith: “Keep on Dancing’.”
Peter: “Caroline,” “Soul City.”
Keith: “Sometimes Good Guys Don’t Wear White.” We do them because they help us with our song writing.
Peter: We’re not actually trying to bring back the sixties.

FF: What songs are you recording for the album?
Keith: I don’t know.
Peter: We’re not sure, but we want to try to get as many sounds as we can on the album.

FF: I mean, what ratio between covers and originals?
Peter: At most there’ll be three covers on it.

FF: Which ones?
Peter: Probably “Caroline.” “Rockin’ This Joint” by Kid Thomas. Maybe “Come On, Let’s Go.”
Keith: Yeah, we’d like to do a version of “Come On, Let’s Go.”
Peter: By Richie Valens.

FF: How did you get the idea of doing the film and showing it on stage as you play?
Keith: That’s Henry’s alley.
M. Henry Jones: I had the idea to superimpose the visuals over the subjects. The sound will be played with the film and the group will play live over it. And what happens happens. The film is called “Soul City.”

FF: How long did it take to make the film?
Henry: Nine months. It’s two minutes long; it’s a two-minute song. It will be officially released in October, but a lot more work has to be done on it.

FF: How will it be released?
Henry: A worldwide distribution.

FF: How were the Fleshtones formed?
Peter: Those guys were always in bands, y’know. They started to jam and they started doing this experimental thing. For it, Marek was playing bass and everybody was switching instruments. I came into it and we decided to form a band. And we learned, like, four songs and played at a party a few days afterwards and, you know, we just kept doing it.

FF: How long ago was that?
Peter: It was a few years ago. And we still like to play at parties. We get some good sounds.

FF: You’re a good party band.
(Billy Miller enters)
Peter: Have you heard the Zantees?

FF: Yeah, they’re good.
Peter: We’re big Zantees fans. The main thing, you know, is to have a good time.

FF: How would you describe yourselves?
Peter: Basically, nice guys. We’re just rock’n’roll sort of guys.

FF: What do you do during the daytime?s
Peter: Generally, I wake up six or seven in the evening. And then we rehearse.
Billy Miller: Then he goes over to Miriam’s (Linna) house.
Peter: Then I go over to Miriam’s house.
Keith: And listen to her great record collection.

FF: Do you plan to tour?
Keith: Yeah, tomorrow we play in his house and the day after in my basement.
Peter: We did a really good gig in Philadelphia.
Keith: That was a hot gig.
Billy: You should have seen these guys in Connecticut.

FF: And of course, you played in Boston.
Peter: That was a minor stop.
Keith: That was a real fuck-up.

FF: Who did you play with up there?
Peter: The Real Kids. We would like to play with DMZ. There’s a lot of bands up there we’d like to play with. They’re very straightforward. What’s your next question? What’s the future of rock’n’roll? Well . . .

FF: What’s the future . . . What are the group’s goals?
Keith: I don’t know.
Peter: We always sort of just wanted to play this music and have people like us. To get people into rock’n’roll for being rock’n’roll. Being able to react to it other than intellectually. I guess as a group, we’d like to make some money eventually.
Keith: We wanna get better, too.
Peter: We practice a lot. We try to get better.

 * * *

The large crowd in the dressing room and the post-set adrenaline made the situation a bit chaotic and unnerving for this interviewer, so follow-up questions were definitely missed. The Fleshtones were and are a party band. Driving rhythms and motion, and yet with an intellect that guides them into commanding the listener out onto the dance floor.

Red Star never did release their album. They were, however, signed to IRS and released the Up-Front EP in 1980, and then their first album, Roman Gods in 1981. The tapes of their Red Star sessions would be released by ROIR (that wonderful source of overlooked or old demos/recordings) in 1982, by the title of Blast Off.

Peter Zaremba came to be known nationally as the host of the MTV show, “160 Minutes,” which presented new and obscure videos by independent bands. He has also hosts the CaveStomp! shows in New York. Keith Streng formed his own experimental rock’n’roll group with REM’s Peter Buck, called Full Time Men, which have a few releases. But through it all, the Fleshtones remain a viable band, coming close to breaking with a song and video for “American Beat,” from the soundtrack of the film, Bachelor Party.

It is also worth checking out the biography of the band by Joe Bonomo, titled SWEAT: The Story of the Fleshtones (reviewed HERE). 

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.)

Club Flyers and Invites from 1970s and 1980s: Part 2

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 may 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.

The Rattlers were a fun band. They first time I saw them was with Lester Bangs fronting them as Birdland (My Father's Place, opening for the Ramones). When Bang separated and the new trio retitled themselves, it was a 100% improvement, and Mickey and David produced some great sounds. By the time the photo for the show below was taken, David had left to form a weird synth band (Ships, I believe it was called), and the Rattlers became a foursome. I had only seen them as a trio, but I bet their sound was solid.

I've seen the Dolls in both incarnations ('70s; '00s), but other than his regular stints on Saturday Night Live, I had not had the pleasure to witness David Johanson's Buster Poindexter incarnation (nor his Harry Winston). After the disco-y "Have You Heard the News," I found this refreshing. Sacrilege?



Along with being one of the first to ever interview the Fleshtones, I've been a fan since the first time I saw them. It was rare that a recording of them, which are all great in their own right, could hold a candle to them live, though. They were kinetic in a way that was catching. If you get the chance, read Joe Bonomo's history of the band, SWEAT, by all means do so.

Brenda Bergman was a gutsy, blusey singer in the 1980s who often appeared with another favorite of mine, Get Wet. Just down the block from the imposing Limelight, s.n.a.f.u. was a ideal place to see these bands play. I probably saw BB about a half dozen times back then.

Mr. Homosapien left the Buzzcocks and made a name for himself as a solo, though perhaps not that much, as the Buzzcocks reformed after a few year-split. I found his material from this period a bit too electronic for my tastes.

I remember powerpop band the Poppees playing a bill with the Marbles at a Rock Ages convention, among other great gigs such as this one. Back in the '70s, not only was New York the origin of punk (yes, NYC was), but there was also a huge powerpop scene that was just as cutting edge, but ended up not making it into the 1980s to make a dent, having been drowned out by New Wave disco-laden groups like Blondie.

From LA, this was part of one of their first tours.

New York's only all-Chinese hardcore band, they made a bit of a notch for themselves locally and put out a bunch of singles. I never saw them play, but had met them a number of times at other gigs, and they came across as nice guys.

While I didn't necessarily agree with her politics, as a person there was no one like Helen Wheels (RIP). She was a tough, muscular, diminutive woman who liked to play with knifes onstage, hung out with bikers, and lived her life at the moment. And yet, she was one of the cheeriest, sweetest people I knew. When I interviewed her before she opened for Iggy Pop at the Brooklyn Zoo, I was nervous, but quickly fell under her charm. While never a metalhead, I went out of my way to see her band play (once at a performance at FIT, where they freaked out that she tossed a switchblade into the stage, one of her bits).

I was lucky to have seen Salem 66 a number of times, in their home town of Boston (Harvard), New Jersey (Maxwell's), and various places around New York. They were quirky in a way that seemed to have been a trend in Beantown (Pixies, Christmas, etc.), much as No Wave as mostly in New York. They were a fun band to both hear and watch.

Club Flyers and Invites from 1970s and 1980s: Part 1

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

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 (some here actually have letters on the back from the musicinas). Below are some scans I made from my personal collection, in no particular order. I did see may 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.

1. The Love Delegation was made up from, in part, members of the Fleshtones. While I saw the 'Tones play a number of times, and in fact I was one of the first to ever interview them, I did not get the chance to see any of their offshoot bands. The Love Delegation album is quite good, as well.

2. I sold my tickets to the Clash at Bond's to see the Rockats play the Ritz, the night they recorded their live album; however, I did not see this show. Of the purist rockabilly revival groups on the New York scene during the 1980s, they were among the best; the Stray Cats, who for some reason managed to get more attention, were by far not as lively a band.

3. The Insect Surfers were a fun surf-style band in the '80s, hailing from Washington, DC. Their manager was Bill Ash, who got me in to see them play Hurrah's. As for the Underground, on the corner of Broadway and 17th Street in NYC (I believe it's a sports clothing store now), the only show I ever remember seeing there was metal-god Thor, and was not my favorite place.


4. The Fast were one of my favorite groups to see live, especially during their earlier powerpop days. I interviewed them in the back of van on a highway by-road in Brooklyn with my then managing editor. After they went in a more metal direction, Miki tried a few side projects, including an all-Gene Pitney show, and the Miki Zone Zoo. Unfortunately, I never did get the chance to see this amazing and underrated guitarist's sidework. RIP, Miki.

5. The Left Bank was a bit out of the way for someone from south Brooklyn like me, being way up in Westchester (people from there generally hate it when you refer to it as "upstate," as it's just north of the Bronx), but I managed to make it to a number of shows there, including Ronnie Spector and the Ventures. However, it was this Dictators show that I remember best. They were in top form, and that night they recorded their Fuck 'Em If They Can't Take a Joke live (originally) cassette only ROIR album.

6. Great, amazing show, and one of the first I ever photographed (with an Instamatic and flashcubes, developed into slides). It truly was an extravaganza, and all gave 150 percent.

7. I headed down to the Stiff party, on lonely and dingy Crosby Street in Manhattan. I had heard, and apparently correctly, the "U.K. artiste" was Lene Lovich (who is American). The room was dark-dark-dark (and I didn't have a flash, but still managed to get some photos), and Lene sang with us as a group standing around her, since there was no stage. In the audience was also Nina Hagen, who jumped in for a song with Lene, who apparently is a pal. Below is the invitation to the party, both outside and inside.

8. Never saw Justin Trouble, I believe, but I do have the "Johnny Thunders produced" record. It rocks, remaining a fixture of its time.

9. I've seen Elda play a couple of times, and she was a blast. Lots of power, lots of energy.

10. The last ad for Max's Kansas City. I was at Heartbreakers one (my companion, Nancy, interviewed Walter in the "Andy Warhol Room" that night for FFanzeen), as well as the Rattlers / Ronnie and the Jitters gig - yes, the final show at that historic and keystone club. It is greatly missed, but at least I know I can get some groceries from the Asian deli now in the spot.

Book Review: SWEAT: The Story of The Fleshtones

Concert photos (c) Robert Barry Francos

Taken at CBGB's, late 1977, Fleshtones on shared bill with the Zantees

During a visit to Buffalo, Bernie Kugel brought me to the local Borders, and pointed out this book, SWEAT: The Story of The Fleshtones, America's Garage Band (Continuum International Publishing, NY, 2007) by Joe Bonomo (pictured below). The main reason he did this is because I am listed in the bibliography due to an interview I did with the band in 1977, and published in my fanzine, FFanzeen), in 1978. A couple of months later, I bought a copy of the book at the Strand.

The Fleshtones certainly do deserve a tome to them, and Joe gives detail after detail about their background, lifestyle, formation, recording, and friends (including a rightful heavy nod to Miriam Linna, who was more involved with the New York scene than she is rarely given credit). Interviews with everyone involved, including record producers and label executives, are extensive and pretty through. And also often pretty amusing in hindsight, such as Paul Wexler's vexation with the Up-Front sessions (perhaps they should be referred to in the future as the Up-Tight sessions?).

But it's the Fleshtones contribution to blue-eyed R&B that is the main focus of SWEAT, and as well it should be. The true sweat is the audience as they jump around to some of the livliest music that came out of the '70s New York scene. The fact that the band is still around today shows that they are a well-honed music machine.

One of the central characters in the first half of the book is their house, in Whitestone, Queens. I remember being at one of their infamous parties, held Halloween, 1977. The first performance of the Zantees (who would eventually transform into the A-Bones) was held in their basement. It was a wild scene (though not as scary as a late-night forage to a local White Castle that same eve), with enjoyment watching the imbibing aplenty (I was pretty straight-edge already). The reason I bring this up is because as I'd met the Fleshtones in the -- er -- flesh, I can attest to how lively a crew they were. They also attracted a large number of interesting people into their circle, many whom I have associated, such as filmmaker M. Henry Jones and out-there fanzine editor Lisa Baumgartener (who was known to record every conversation she had, whether on the phone or in person).

There are some typos that run throughout the book, and some clear omissions, such as relating how the band shared a bill with Nervus Rex (spelled Nervous Rex in SWEAT) without mentioning that their drummer was Miriam (though Joe does mention her skins affiliation with the Cramps and Zantees). Despite this, the detail of the book is definitely a labor of love (labour of love, for you Canadians) and it clearly shows.

As the book often points out, the Fleshtones were on the forefront of the New York garage scene that would take off just a few short years after their formation, showing them to be ahead of their time. The Fleshtones contibuted much, and so does Bonomo with this book. I look forward to his next endeavor.

More info on Joe Bonomo or the book:
http://www.myspace.com/fleshtonessweat