Who Says It’s Greensboring, NC?: By Nancy “Suzy Q” Foster

Text by Nancy “Suzy Q” Foster / FFanzeen fanzine, 1981

Introduction © Robert Barry Francos / FFanzeen blog, 2017

Images from the Internet

This article was originally printed in FFanzeen, issue #7, dated 1981. It was written by a woman of many names; back then she was Nancy Foster, or Nancy New Age, or Suzy Q. Today she goes by Nancy Neon.

Nancy grew up in Greensboro, NC. Even at a young age, she was a dedicated fan of music, and was an early member and President of the North Carolina Wayne Country Fan Club. When I met her in the late 1970s, she was running her own fanzine, New Age, before moving to New York City where we would oft meet up and attend shows at CBGB’s, and especially Max’s Kansas City. These days, Nancy calls Boston home, where she occasionally runs and books shows.

                                                                                                                         

After a brief stint returning to NC in the early ‘80s, Nancy wanted to move back to New York, and I had the pleasure (not sarcasm) to drive down to Greensboro from Brooklyn, and spend a week there, before bringing her to the Rusty Apple. I had the opportunity to meet some of the people mentioned in this article, including Molly Polly Sexual, and others such as musician Lynn Blakey.

We often hung out at a now-gone club called Friday’s, where the bands ranged from amazing, to Talking Head wannabes. But the scene was actually quite vibrant, and these groups are the focus of this article. – RBF, 2017

Mike and Ron of Butchwax

BUTCHWAX:

My first memory of Butchwax was walking into Friday’s (the Max’s Kansas City of Greensboro) in September and hearing the real neat lead guitarist, Mike Dupree, singing Johnny Thunders’ “You Can’t Put Your Arm Around a Memory.” Instant love. If this can happen in Greensboring [sic], North Carolina, then there’s hope for the whole world, right?

Butchwax does rave-up versions of songs by the Dolls, Heartbreakers, Pistols, Cochran, Jayne County, the Angels, Shangri-Las, plus a whole set of great originals, like “Borderline, “ “Looking for an X,” and especially the pop masterpiece, “Innocence.”

In addition to Mike, who drums “Baby Talk,” “Chinese Rocks,” and the such at 78 rpm, and makes all the go-go dancers strip their gears, there’s Ritchie Clerk, a real bitch of a bass player who makes an art out of abusing the fans; Ron “Butch Modern” Taylor, a consummate rock’n’roll songwriter (thief?) and screamer who gets extra points for being the editor of the fab fanzine Modern World; and then there’s Mike Dupree, the lead player.

An extra added attraction/distraction is the gorgeous blonde rock'n’roll Jezebel, Polly Sexual, who distills her own absinthe, gets intoxicated on French symbolist literature, and dances with Arthur Rimbaud in the poppy fields. She sings lead vocals on “My Boyfriend’s Back,” “Jeepster,” etc., and does a lot of hip shaking and heartbreaking.

I’m counting the days until I can get rocked/racked by Butchwax-mania again. Till then, this interview, done December 20, 1980, after their set at Friday’s, will have to do.

Mike Dupree: The last interview we did, I answered every question with “I’m hungry!”

FFanzeen: Are you hungry now? Where do you like to eat after the show? IHOP?

Mike: I like to go to my friend’s house and eat spaghetti at three o’clock in the morning.

Ron: Is there a Dave’s Diner around?

Mike: We stopped at this place between Asheboro and Silver City called Dave’s Diner. It was fantastic! Are you recording this?

FFanzeen: Yes. When did the group first get together?

Mike: Late 1976. First, it was Ron and Nick (Nasty), this guy we worked with. Then I started playing with them, too. Then, we got a whole bunch of weird drummers who played boxes instead of drums – whatever we had available. Our first drummer was pretty good, but we couldn’t get along with him because he was an asshole.

FFanzeen: Are you all from North Carolina?

Mike: Ritchie was born in Alabama, but he’s from Atlanta.

Ron: Mike’s from Tarboro.

Mike: No, (Ron’s) from Little Washington, and I’m from Raleigh.

FFanzeen: Who are your musical influences as a guitar player? That’s obvious, though.

Mike: Johnny Thunders, Steve Jones, Eddie Cochran, and Chuck Berry.

Fan 1: You guys were fantastic. Please shake my hand?

FFanzeen: Love, peace, and soul! [laughter] This is a crazy question: Isn’t playing hardcore rock’n’roll in North Carolina like being a martyr?

Mike: Here’s a Butch Modern quote: “Nobody who was hardcore in rock’n’roll every made money. Period.”

Malcolm Rivera (Butchwax Manager): You’d better ask more questions or they’ll smash your tape recorder.

FFanzeen: I’m gonna leave!

Fan 2: I could sell that tape recorder and replace some of the money I spent on drugs.

FFanzeen: A pal of mine said if he lived in Greensboring [sic], he’d have to become a sex pervert or junkie. Are you sex perverts and/or junkies?

Mike: I’m not a junkie…yet.

FFanzeen: An apprentice junkie. How hard is it to get smack in North Carolina [the crowd begins yelling and cursing about the lack of previously mentioned brain damage]?

Mike: It’s hard to get good stuff.

Fan 3: You know, I’m in love with Johnny Thunders.

Fan 4: He can’t fuck anymore. Who wants him?

Ron: I hear Little Washington is the place to get it.

FFanzeen: What, drugs or Johnny Thunders? What do you think about when you’re onstage?

Mike: Usually the little girls in the audience.

Ron: Yeah, the girls with the long legs!

FFanzeen: Describe your ideal girl.

Mike: Between 16 and 40. Between 5- and 6-foot tall. Between 90 and 130 pounds. She has to have either blonde, red, brown or black hair…

FFanzeen: Tell me your idea of a dream date.

Ron: Amanda Lear [artist/singer-songwriter/actress/model from France – RBF, 2017]

Mike: I don’t think I can answer that.

Ron: Brenda Lee at 15.

FFanzeen: What’s your favorite disease?

Ron: Anorexia nervosa; herpes simplex.

FFanzeen: Has the audience ever become violent other than tonight? [People were getting thrown across the dance floor – NF, 1981.]

Mike: You should’ve seen ‘em in Charlotte. Two guys kept being thrown onstage. One got thrown into Ron and almost knocked Ron into the drums. One guy was standing up front with his fingers up his nose, (then) holding his finger up to me.

FFanzeen: When and why did you start doing your fanzine, Modern World?

Ron: Right out of boredom. The first issue was supposed to come out in October of 1978, but never came out until June of 1979.

FFanzeen: That’s the story of publishing fanzines. I’ve been doing it over five years, so I know. How much money have you lost so far? [laughter]

Ron: About 3- or 400 dollars.

Mike: Most of them were given away instead of bought.

FFanzeen: Is your manager trying to book you in New York City?

Ron: We’re not sure that he’s doing anything.

Mike: Richmond, then D.C., then maybe New York City after that.

FFanzeen: Where’s the farthest you’ve traveled to do a show?

Mike: Charlotte

Fan 6: Y’all made 160? They had a redneck band that played here and made 700!

FFanzeen: Which was the first record that got you interesting in rock’n’roll?

Ron: Meet the Beatles. I listened to my parent’s C&W records, like Hank Snow’s Movin’ On. The first record I remember getting excited about was “Baby Sit and Boogie,” by Buzz Clifford. [laughter]

FFanzeen: What’s your fave song to perform?

Ron: One of our own, but it varies as to which one.

FFanzeen: I love “Innocence.” That should be a single.

Ron: When it goes well.

Mike: “Chatterbox” is the most fun for me to play.

FFanzeen: Have you done any recording? Any plans for a single?

Ron: We’ve had plans for a single before we completed the group!

FFanzeen: Who do you think is the best dresser in rock’n’roll?

Mike: Wendy Williams.

Ron: Eno.

FFanzeen: What kind of groupie do you attract?

Mike: Do we attract girl fans? I thought we attracted guys!

Ron: When we get one, we’ll let you know.

FFanzeen: How would you describe your following?

Ron: Nonexistent.

Mike: Small.

FFanzeen: Who do you think is better – Th’Cigaretz or Butchwax?

Ron: We are.

Mike: Even Flipside said that. I doubt Mouth of the Rat would agree with that. They said Th’Cigaretz are North Carolina’s answer to God.

Ron: We’re North Carolina’s answer to Satan.

FFanzeen: If you could invite anyone in the whole wide world to dinner, who would it be?

Fan 5: Iggy Pop!

Ron: The Shangri-Las

Mike: I’m still trying to think of the girl I’d most like to have for dinner.

Ron: The girl with the longest legs.

FFanzeen: What three things would you take to a desert island?

Mike: Heroin, coke, and pot.

FFanzeen: No girl? Just drugs?

Mike: Well, you said things. Are girls things?

FFanzeen: Yeah!

Mike: Three girls, then.

FFanzeen: The Shangri-Las.

Ron: The three girls with the longest legs and the biggest tits.

* * *

CRASH LANDON & THE KAMIKAZES:

It is Saturday morning and I feel great, because I saw Crash Landon and the Kamikazes last night.

When I heard they were 14-16 year-old boys, I knew I would be there with bells on. There’s a soft spot in my heart for underage rock'n’rollers. Something about living on pinball and wet dreams really inspires ballsy, thrilling rock’n’roll that older guys who have numbed their brains with too much drugs and mediocre sex cannot muster.

The second they started blasting their hardcore, purist rock’n’roll, the dance floor was packed with bodies jerking in convulsions like they were rocked with tarantism. All of the songs were riotous – the Rolling Stones’ “Fortune Teller,” the Monkees’ “Let’s Dance On,” Syndicate of Sound’s “Little Girl,” rock’n’roll classics like “Money (That’s What I Want)” and “Poison Ivy” (which was really humpy, like a mating dance), plus great originals bursting with power.

It’s all teenage dance/romance/sex anthems. “Let’s Dance On” was a rave. Most people find the Monkees uncool, but you have to be really cool to know how cool the Monkees are. Crash Landon and the Kamikazes are ultra cool!

“Little Girl” was outrageous with the Byrds-like jangling, agitated guitar sounds. Plus, it’s a great breakup up ain’t hard to do song, which has special meaning for me, as I wiped my slate clean for 1981.

These guys are fabulous and it’s really inspiring to see kids with their hearts and heads in the right place – not into Billy Joel, Queen, etc. After their intense set, I went outside (despite the cold and walking pneumonia), and began to praise the group to the rhythm guitarist.

The first words out of his mouth were, “Do you like the New York Dolls?” Sigh! Only to be 10 years younger! I know I had found a kindred spirit. We talked about the Heartbreakers. His name is John and he really digs Johnny Thunders. Merde! He must be all of 13 or 14 years old! [NOTE: Cult musician John Dexter Romweber would go on to be the lead of the Flat Duo Jets, and have a documentary made about him called Dexter Romweber: Two-Headed Cow (reviewed by me HERE). This may be the first article published to ever mention any of his bands. Thank you, Nancy! – RBF, 2017] 

I told John that they would do great at Max’s Kansas City, where the kids would shove the tables aside and dance up a storm like that it did for the teenage group, Nastyfacts. Then I spent the rest of the night in a booth talking to the lead singer, who told me more about psychedelic music than I have ever heard from any of my contemporaries.

These guys are the best. They know and love their rock’n’roll and play it with incredible energy and enthusiasm. They are the hottest things in North Carolina, along with Butchwax and the Orphans. I hope they stay “crazy kids”/rock’n’roll teenagers forever!

* * *

THE ORPHANS:

The Orphans are proof in the flesh that what I said about one-horse towns is true: that it is great to live in Greensboro because it is so far behind the times that punk is still new and fun. I am not ready for punk to be passé. The Orphans are the only true punk band I have seen in North Carolina, except for the short-lived Leeches, whose members (except me) were only doing it as a joke on the easily shocked provincials.

Yet the Orphans mean it, man! The difference between the Orphans and Crash Landon and the Kamikazes is the difference between late ‘70s punk and ‘60s punk. The Kamikazes are more old school-type rock’n’roll. Whereas, the Orphans play with that ‘70s punk buzzsaw fervor and with teenage anguish in their lyrics.

At the Orphans’ gig, I danced straight through three sets, except for one song, during which I was goo-gaaing at the group’s sartorial finesse. At the end of the show, I was joshing with them, saying how another local writer, Also Aswell and I were going to give them the “Best Dressed Band” award.

The other guitarist is the wildest, having an affinity for chasing into the walls, despite dressing elegantly a la the Jam. The drummer adds that emphatic punch and inspires a lot of headbanging. The Orphans made my head spin from so much dancing and excitement. Mike’s guitar hits you right in the guts (and lower – oops!). So great it hurts: pleasure/pain.

They do covers of the Sex Pistols, the Jam, Clash, Generation X, Undertones, Ramones, Dead Boys, etc., but their originals, like “Boredom” and “TV” prove that they can write hardcore rock’n’roll, as well as introducing punk classics to the unenlightened yokels. “I Love You” is a beautiful heartthrob song with Mike singing in a gorgeous, Anglo-style pop voice. The Orphans are from Charlotte, about 85 miles away, and I have a feeling that I will be getting acquainted with Greyhound very soon.

LEVI DEXTER: Hepcat Heartthrob [1982]

Text by NanSuzy Q. Foster / FFanzeen, 1981
Introduction © Robert Barry Francos / FFanzeen, 2015
Images from the Internet

This interview was originally published in FFanzeen, issue #8, dated 1981. It was written by “NanSuzy Q. Foster,” aka Nancy Foster, Nancy Neon, Nancy New Age, and Suzy Q.

Note that I have linked some music to artists mentioned by Dexter throughout this piece. Click on them to hear it.

Fanzine publisher / music fanatic / ”The hottest thing from the North to come outta the South” / my-sister-from-another-mother Nancy Foster and I had tickets to see the Clash play at Bonds, in Times Square. It was the thing to do, I suppose, more than anything else. When we got to the venue and we saw the over-sold crowd on line being obnoxious and bullying, Nancy suggested that we ditch the gig and head downtown. The Rockats were performing that night, recording their Live at the Ritz album. We sold our tickets to someone for just enough of a profit to pay for our way into the Ritz, and hopped on the subway. If you are thinking, “Are you crazy?” then I recommend you check out the video clip below. The Rockats were an exciting band, in a way that the Stray Cats could never achieve, even though they were better at marketing themselves because they were all Yanks. The encore, which does not appear on the record, was a cover of Chuck Berry’s “’Round and ‘Round,” which Levi bend down on stage and shared his mic with Nancy, who has a booming voice of her own. It was a great show. – RBF, 2015

FFanzeen: Was the Rockats your first group?
Levi Dexter: Yes, they were the first group that I ever professionally played with. A couple of years before that, there were other rockabilly bands in London, like Crazy Cavan, the Flying Saucers, and Shakin’ Stevens.

FFanzeen: What year was that?

Levi: Late ’75 to late ’77. I’d get up and do one song with them for a laugh. I never had a band. One day I was doing a song with Shakin’ Stevens in a movie theater, of all places, and Leee [Leee BlackChilders, famous photographer and scene maker who worked for MainMan, managed the Heartbreakers, and is currently Levi’s manager – NF, 1981; Leee passed away in 2014 – RBF, 2015] saw it and said, “Wow!” and helped me to get a band together.

FFanzeen: So, were Smutty Smiff and Dibbs Preston in the original Rockats?

Levi: The original Rockats formed in 1977. It was an all English group. There was Don Deveroux (on drums), Dibbs on guitar, Smut on bass, and Mick Barry on rhythm, and me.

FFanzeen: How did you meet Dibbs and Smutty?

Levi: It was really quite a punk thing. Leee said, “I’ll get you a band.” And I was with Smiff’s family then, and Dibbs was hangin’ around the Vortex (a punk club) and said, “Hey! I can play guitar kind of okay.” And so, Leee introduced me to him; and we met at the Vortex. We met the drummer at a Wayne County concert and we said, “Do you want to be in our band?” Smut was there fussin’ around and Leee said, “That looks great. Why don’t we have him in the band?” He could play enough instruments.

FFanzeen: So, he started playing bass after he joined the band?

Levi: Yeah. He could play. Originally, he learned like, two songs that we would play first, really horribly loud. Then we’d unplug him and say, “Oops! Sorry, something went wrong with the bass amp.” And then he got into this trip where he’d have half a drum stick and he’d just wack on the upright bass. It sounded awful, but it was good fun.

FFanzeen: Where were the two Levi and the Rockats singles recorded [“Room to Rock” / “All Thru the Nite”; “Rockabilly Idol” / “Note From the South,” both 1979, on Kool Kat Records and Peer Communications – RBF, 2015]?

Levi: Out in Los Angeles. I can’t remember the name of where we actually recorded it [LRS – RBF, 2015], because it was such a little place. But out in Radio City, there’s a big joint, where we mixed it [Greg Lee Processing – RBF, 2015].

FFanzeen: Were your British fans exclusively Teds, or did you have punks as fans, too?

Levi: No, we never played to the Teds or rockabilly audience because it wasn’t pure, original – Charlie Feathers – they would freak out. Back then; they could deal with it now. The first date we did was, like, a reggae thing. Then we played with the Fabulous Poodles at some college date. And then the next date we did was with Spiv, of Athletico Spiv. I think it was Spiv Oil back then. The Unwanted, Siouxie and the Banshees, and Adam and the Ants.

FFanzeen: So, your fans were mostly punks, right?

Levi: Yeah. We went on last that date, so it was really scary. The punks really loved it, cos it was noise and fun and rowdy. And it gave us time to learn to play.

FFanzeen: When did you first get into rockabilly?

Levi: My father was a drummer so there was always a lot of that goin’ on. And my mother would play rock’n’roll records, like Eddie Cochran and Little Richard, and Elvis and stuff. I was eleven or twelve, and I got into being a Ted for about two years. And then I just started goin’ out to the rock’n’roll joints and just started hearin’ nothin’ but ’50s music. When I was (first) bein’ aware of music, the only places I’d go were, like, Ted joints. It was all pre-‘60s and it was really all a small-minded, simple attitude of, like, if it’s after 1960, it’s not cool. “The Twist” is not cool because it’s, like, the third number is a six. But some garbage song from 1955, of some guy singing rockabilly was cool, because it was rare. There’s two levels of music: there’s the constant changing thing, level one, where this is in, that’s out, this is in, that’s out; and there’s a level just below that, of the boring, middle-of-the-road stuff, like the radio plays.

FFanzeen: Like AM pop?

Levi: So, either you’re one of those kids that gets into what’s on the radio or you get into the cults, like Teds or Mods or skinheads. But it seems that everybody eventually gets sick of all this constant switching, so thy just settle into whatever fits them most. So, if they’re into, like, ‘50s rock’n’roll, they become Teds, or not really Teds anymore; they’re finished now. Well not really finished. They’ll be around ‘til doomsday. But they became rockabillies, or hepcats – things like that.

FFanzeen: Do you like the new stuff, like Tex Rabinowitz?

Levi: My kind of stuff. Now that I’m into live (performing), it’s hard to tell what’s going on, record-wise. In Los Angeles now, it’s the Blasters, the Cramps – even though they’re going psychedelic. In England, the Hepcats. They’re brilliant live. Always dependable live; they’re gonna be really crazy. The Meteors. They’re the ones to watch cos they’re coming up out of the underground. They’re sort of like the English equivalent of the Cramps, their sort of style. They do horror, like, “My Daddy Is a Vampire.” They’re really scary, but they’re lots of fun. They haven’t played America yet, but they’re brilliant. They’re really great.

FFanzeen: When did you decide that you wanted to make music your career?

Levi: When it first dawned on me that I would put a band together.

FFanzeen: What was your first impression of America or New York?

Levi: When we first came over to America, we landed in California. And I went, “This is it! This is America! I’ve made it!” and just stated huggin’ palm trees. I loved it. We were there six weeks and then we went down South. The idea, when we first came, was that we weren’t gonna play. We were just gonna drive around because we’d been singin’ songs about New Orleans and down South, and stuff like that. We’d never been out of England, so we couldn’t really sing about American rock’n’roll stuff. Then we went to Texas and we got into a lot of crap there. We went to Dallas, had a party there for about two days. Then we went to Kentucky. We were expecting guys with guitars coming out of their pockets, and it was all these farmers and rednecks and hippies, and people who were into KISS and Aerosmith and stuff. And I thought, “This is not what I thought it would be!” We stayed there for four months. Then we finally made it to New York and it was like a breath of fresh air. Kids that were really sick of that stuff. To me, rockabilly doesn’t have a lot of messages. It’s supposed to be spontaneous fun, but it has a lot of passion in it. The only people that I believe can really do it right are the kids. They do not only rockabilly, but rock’n’roll in general – with a lot of passion – and people can feel it. If somebody’s stuck-up and they’ve got a cushy number, they come off real polished and slick, and people feel that. It’s just not what it’s all about. To a lot of straight people, that’s why rock’n’roll is scary. You can have a whole band gettin’ sweaty and throwin’ themselves all over the place and rolllin’ around on the floor. And straight people will go, “What the hell is goin’ on?” It’s just as scary for the kids, with problems and a hard time to watch some slick band. I believe that you should be larger than life. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t wear jeans and a t-shirt, cos I’m supposed to be bigger than life, as opposed to who I am – or what I am. I like to dress flashy. And I don’t like people to tell me I should or I shouldn’t.

FFanzeen: Who are some of your favorite rockabilly singers?

Levi: My taste fluctuates to whatever I’m being exposed to at the time. If you asked me that question two years ago, I would have gone, “Oh, Charlie Feathers, Johnny Carroll and all these very obscure rockabilly guys. But now, that’s not really enough for me. I like the sex life of rockabilly. I like it to be really wild and crazy. But I like it to be pretty sick. Old stuff I like are the guys that never really made it, like Jackie Morningstar that did horrors in the ‘50s. And this blonde girl, Sparkle Moore, who does a song called “Skull and Crossbones.” She was really sick. She does this heavy breathing, like panting and stuff, like really bad taste. She was great. Pure ‘50s trash! She wore a leather jacket with skull and crossbones on the jacket. Like trashy, mayhem stuff. That’s what I like now. I’ve gone through all the, “Oh, I like that stuff cos it’s rare.” Now I’m just into what gets me excited.

FFanzeen: Have you found any places in New York that are cool to pick up rockabilly records?

Levi: Yeah. The trouble is it’s, like, record companies release the record and they’re, like, country-swing rockabilly stuff. There’s too many people rippin’ off the rockabilly kids cos they put out an album that has two wild rockabilly tracks and the rest of it is bad. It’s not fun; it’s not wild; it’s not sick – it’s garbage. It’s just like third-rate country and western with a beat. I may dress in things that cost me a lot of money that I work hard for, but that won’t stop me from rollin’ around the floor and getting’ it all scuffed up. It doesn’t’ matter to me. All that matters is that you’re doin’ what you feel.

FFanzeen: Do you dress the same offstage as on?

Levi: Pretty much. When I’m playin’ I like to wear baggy pants, mainly cos I can move. I like to wear jackets for security. Like some people like to go out holdin’ their guitar, even though they don’t play nothin’. I like to wear a jacket, then take my jacket off. Once I get my jacket off, then I’m, like, “Now I’m ready to deal with the whole thing!” I’m not some prissy showman. I don’t buy $300 suits and then I’m too scared to get them wrinkled up. When I’m on stage, I like to dress like I’m on stage. When I’m off stage, it doesn’t matter. But if there’s gonna be a lot of lights, I like to clash colors, sparkles; cos if you’re on stage, no matter what ya are, no matter if you’re in the biggest joint or the seediest hole, if somebody is watching ya, somebody is watching ya. I’m not going to pretend that I don’t want people to look at what I’m doing. A lot of bands – not just in rockabilly but music in general – are brilliant bands, but I just don’t wanna look at them. Some bands I can watch that are dressed in jeans and motorcycle boots and I’m just entranced by their music. But I really don’t’ give a crap about what they’re doing onstage. Some bands look good in boots, a t-shirt, and a leather jacket. And some bands are so obviously miserable cos they think that’s what they have to wear. No matter what anybody says, an audience of honest kids can feel whether you’re fakin’ it. Whether it’s music or attitude, or clothes or anything.