Hydro interview conducted Aug 22nd, 2002 by "the rock home of Stockholm", Swedish Rocket 95.3 FM radio.
Back to the roots with the Hydromatics
Aug 9th 22.08 / Ever missed the good old days of rock 'n roll? Ever felt like there was more to it back then? Get the real thing with the Hydromatics by listening to the chat Niktator had together with the band, including front man Scott Morgan from The Sonic's Rendezvous Band and The Rationals, before their fabulous performance at the Barbarella Festival.
STREAM IT
Another Hydro interview from 2007 for Aligre FM Paris radio.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
And now, for something completely different
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Dynaminds - Sophisticated Slaves CD
A very cool and sympathetic band from Bitburg, Germany who let me produce their album, with Paul Smith (Dumbell, Hydromatics, Consultants) engineering. I also play a few lead solos on the record which means it belongs in "Slug Trails". Check them out and go to their shows ! SNAG IT
Hydromatics Tulle, France 2007
Los Hydromaticos in Madrid, Spain for the 7th time or so.
Les Hydromatiques cause that's what we're called in France, (in Spain they call us "Los Hydromaticos") playing a town called Tulle in France, 2007. I'm giving you, my faithless tools, the songs "Do It Again", "Electrophonic Tonic" ("Electrophonique Tonique" ?) plus some imprompto fun Detroit covers we felt like wingin for the hell of it :
The MC5's "Looking At You" and "Dirt" by the Stooges.
This show should be included on the forthcoming hydromatics DVD in it's entirity.
OOPS, UPDATE
I mixed this from only half the audio tracks explaining why the bass is painfully absent. I will remix so you'll get a proper sound very soon.
DONNEZ-MOI LE ROCQUE
Pass : slugtrails
Hydromatics Malmö, Sweden 2007
The Hydromatics in Malmö, Sweden, September 2007.
Love and learn / The Earth is shaking
ROCK ME
Pass : slugtrails
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Tony Slug and Ries Doms - Rocket Reducer 62
An MC 5 cover.Yours truly on guitar, vocals + bass, and the great Ries Doms of the Hydromatics bashing the drums. Recorded in the studio for our personal enjoyment and previously unreleased.
pass : blogspot
RAMA LAMA FA FA FA
Fitz pics
Santa Cruz Scott made these Fitz of Depression pics. Thanks Scott !
Fitz Of Depression at Annie's, San Francisco, april 23d, 2009
 |  |  |
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Slug Interview
The following interview was conducted by rockscribe extraordinaire and allround swell guy Ken Shimamoto ca. 2000 by mail for I-94 BAR, and is reproduced here for archiving reasons.
One of the rockingest platters I've heard this year, the Hydromatics' Parts Unknown combines the talents of Motor City R&B/garage/punk godfather Scott Morgan with three European disciples: Nicke Hellacopter and the Nitwitz' Theo Brouwer and Tony Slug. Tony joined me over a virtual brew from his home in Amsterdam on October 16.
K: Scott Morgan played me the rough mix of the Hydromatics album at SXSW in Austin last March. I remember thinking, "Who woulda thought the spirit of Fred 'Sonic' Smith would make its way across the Atlantic to the Netherlands?" The Rock works in mysterious ways.
T: Well, man, that's a very big compliment. I WISH I could get those leads to
fucking FLOW like Fred did. I think I got about a third down (at most), but y'know, I'm working on it.
Really, Fred's style of playing influenced me more than anything, ever since I was a teenager. (Of course, he got it from Chuck Berry.) I would listen to the Five over and over again. In the early punk days (late '70s), everyone was into these crappy English bands and I was just like, "No, no, that's not right, listen to THIS" and everyone thought it was a big bunch of noise. Or they'd call it "hippie shit." Then with my old band, Loveslug, we'd do like four MC5 covers live, and no one had a clue.
Thankfully, people are picking up on this stuff right now. I hope Scott gets some well-deserved credits at last with the Hydromatics. We're having a great time jamming together, and it's fucking awesome to play those SRB tunes live.
K: One thing I like about your approach guitar-wise is that you take what Fred did as a starting point, but you add your own slant as well. Being YOURSELF and using what you've learned as a springboard to your own expression is a big part of what Fred was about, I think.
T: That's absolutely right. There's so many kids out there who try to perfectly clone, say, Steve Vai or Hendrix, and even when they do master it, it has no soul or balls for that matter. Personally, I feel Chuck Berry is the originator.
K: Yeah, Chuck probably IS the man for rock guys. There's a line that runs from him through Keith Richard to Fred and Wayne Kramer and Johnny Thunders, on down the line. It IS folk music, after all.
T: I read ya loud and clear. Chuck himself stole a bunch of stuff, too, of course. But I also really like his calypso-ish stuff, for instance on Bio. Great album! [If you listen hard, you can hear some of this influence in Tony's playing on Parts Unknown. No fooling!]
K: Scott's girlfriend Maureen Ferrell tells me there's a possibility the Hydromatics will be playing at SXSW next spring. Sure hope so.
T: Cool, man, I can't wait. It depends on a lot of things. It's been like 15 years since I played there last, with the Big Boys and Minutemen.
K: I played once with Tim from the Big Boys before they were a band. I remember Biscuit used to pin Purina Dog Chow bags to his clothes as part of his stage getup.
T: Funny. How about the Dicks? They used to play a whole lot together. Originally MDC were from Texas, as were the great Offenders. Their bassplayer was this long haired, half-Mexican, half-Japanese guy called Mikey and he was incredible. Then two years later (1986), he moved to San Francisco and started doing smack. Duh. I played with all those bands in the early '80s. We actually did a show in Odessa, Texas, if you can believe that.
K: I was stationed in Abilene in the Air Force. Midland and Odessa seemed like places you didn't want to break down. Real "Bad Day At Black Rock" scenes.
T: I'll say, dammit. We played with this band called Research and apparently they had been frying in the Texas sun too much. I remember they had songs with titles like "Cows Eating Dolphins" and stuff like that. The dude told me he at one point wore a skinny necktie for ONE DAY, and he had guns pulled on him SIX times that day. So, you know, that kinda explains why there were no pink Mohawks in Odessa. Also, the accents were so thick that I couldn't understand a word.
K: How'd European post-punk go over in West Texas?
T: Well, we weren't post-punk but more like full-on super thrash. We did a few shows with the Dead Kennedys, including one in Dallas at the Republican Convention. Big riots.
K: Big Al Creed from the New Christs had some really good things to say about the Hydromatics...as if we didn't know!
T: That's great! I'm a big fan of the New Christs myself. Especially their 45s I like a lot.
K: So, how did the Hydromatics project come about?
T: Well, whew. Long story...Nicke and myself had wanted to do a side project thing for many years. We planned to record a heap of SRB tunes (or at least steal a bunch of their riffs, hee hee). But with the 'Copters being on tour all the time, we had to put this project on hold for a while. Then I hooked them up with Scott and so it happened that Scott ended up playing live with the 'copters and recording some tunes with them, which is very cool. Then Scott seemed really interested in participating in the side project thing with Nicke and me, so we could get to work.
K: Talk a bit about the recording of your album in Amsterdam last February.
T: It was real fun. Nicke hadn't played the drums really since he quit the Entombed, and he is just incredible. Great drummer. Of course we had all prepared ourselves, so we wouldn't be going "duh" in the studio not knowing what to play. We had exchanged tapes with ideas for songs through the mail. But seeing as how the four of us never had never all gotten together, I think we did a good job with the album. I mean, some members of the band only met each other six days prior to recording it! Of course, playing with Scott is a real pleasure, too.
We rehearsed for three days to get a live set going, and wrote the orginals on the album in the next three days. Then we played three live shows, which included a BAD ASS version of "City Slang" I might add. Scott and me were on our knees and rolling on the stage in the end part, the whole nine yards. So that was helluva lot of fun. I mean, the guy is 50-years-old mind you, and he's still got it!
K: Who are the Hectic Horns [who appear on the album]?
T: They are this horn section that was rehearsing next door to our recording studio. They do some work with the studio engineer's blues band, Dripping Honey. Scott went up to them and asked if they wanted to help out and they did, quite nicely I might add.
K: Any plans for an American or Australian release?
T: I wish! Looks like a well-known label is gonna do it in the States, from what I hear. At this point nothing is confirmed, however.
K: You've got a pretty extensive tour of Europe coming up. How'd you pick the cities/venues to play?
T: Basically it's the Hellacopters tour, then Nicke figured we might as well be on it, so we said yes. But we needed a second band in between and this is where Zen Guerilla comes in.
K: How's Nicke feel about playing twice a night [on drums with the Hydromatics and gtr/vox with the Hellacopters]?
T: Man, the guy is unstoppable! The 'copters just came back from Japan and after one day their Scandinavian tour started. We cancelled that leg, to make it a little easier on him. At any rate, he told me he has no difficulties doing two sets a night, as long as he can rest for an hour in beween.Rock 'n' roll is top athletic, I tell ya. But he's like 10 years younger than me.
K: Any tour plans for the Hydromatics in the States or Australia?
T: No concrete plans at this point, but we're definitely up for it. We'd LOVE to go to Australia.
K: Any plans for further Hydromatics recordings?
T: Basically yes, but you can imagine this depends on many factors, foremostly the relentless touring schedule of the Hellacopters. We're thinking about possibly doing a next album next spring.
K: You and Theo also play together in the Nitwitz. Can we get some background on that band for fans who might not be familiar with your work?
T: Well, the Nitwitz started in 1978, and were like the first Dutch punk band to emphasize playing really fast. Then we turned into B.G.K. ca.1982, whose entire back catalogue has just been re-released on Alternative Tentacles, by the way. This is like full-on hardcore thrash. B.G.K. toured the States twice and all over Europe half a dozen times. After that, I was in Loveslug until 1993 or so. Consequently, I did a gruelling tour with Sonny Vincent and Spencer P. Jones from the Beasts Of Bourbon in 1995.
Then in 1996, there was a book coming out on Dutch punk 1976-1982, and I'm all over it, so the guys who did it asked us to do a reunion show for the publishing party. After some persuasion, we did and rocked the hell out of these nostalgic old punks in their mid-30s! Next, Epitaph slapped us with some dough to do a demo, and record some new stuff. But they weren't happy with it; I mean, we're not exactly marketable to the walletchain and skateboard crowd or nothing, or possibly the album title (Dark Side Of The Spoon) didn't go down too well with the Epitaph label boss [Brett Gurewitz], who was in rehab kicking heroin, hee hee. So Get Hip picked it up, and those dicks Ministry stole our album title. Now there's been more personnel changes and I am the only original remnant.
K: Who's this Sonny Vincent guy?
T: Sonny was in this band called the Testors in NYC in 1977, who useta play with the Dead Boys a lot. Then he played with Moe Tucker and has his other band, Shotgun Rationale, which sort of has different line-ups all the time, including members of the Dead Boys, Plasmatics, Replacements, Tank, Beasts Of Bourbon, Velvet Underground, Husker Du. All kinds of people, depending on where Sonny lives at the moment and who he can talk into it, I guess.
K: I know Scott Asheton did a record and tour with him.
T: Yep, Steve Baise from the Devil Dogs was in that line-up too.
K What music have you been listening to lately? Anything new/cool that I-94 patrons might not be familiar with?
T: Well, not much, actually. The only thing that cuts it for me is a personal approach, so I go out and support my friends' bands, and whatever people send me in the mail. I don't read music magazines or anything, really, to find out about stuff. Just see bands live. Once in a while you see some really cool shit. Turbonegro were fucking incredible, both live and on record. I've supported the 'Copters since they opened playing for 12 people and stuff. Just saw The Donnas the other night, who were all right, but nothing spectacular. A little too L.A. for me. There's a German band I like a lot, the Cellophane Suckers. Those guys fuckin' jam!
K: Last and most importantly, since we're in a bar -- what do you like to drink?
T: Chilled Grolsch lager. Not the fake Grolsch you can get in the States but the real Dutch kind. I live on that shit. American beer sucks ass. And I'm quite partial to the occasional tequila (straight), or vodka on the rocks.
K: Scott Morgan played me the rough mix of the Hydromatics album at SXSW in Austin last March. I remember thinking, "Who woulda thought the spirit of Fred 'Sonic' Smith would make its way across the Atlantic to the Netherlands?" The Rock works in mysterious ways.
T: Well, man, that's a very big compliment. I WISH I could get those leads to
fucking FLOW like Fred did. I think I got about a third down (at most), but y'know, I'm working on it.
Really, Fred's style of playing influenced me more than anything, ever since I was a teenager. (Of course, he got it from Chuck Berry.) I would listen to the Five over and over again. In the early punk days (late '70s), everyone was into these crappy English bands and I was just like, "No, no, that's not right, listen to THIS" and everyone thought it was a big bunch of noise. Or they'd call it "hippie shit." Then with my old band, Loveslug, we'd do like four MC5 covers live, and no one had a clue.
Thankfully, people are picking up on this stuff right now. I hope Scott gets some well-deserved credits at last with the Hydromatics. We're having a great time jamming together, and it's fucking awesome to play those SRB tunes live.
K: One thing I like about your approach guitar-wise is that you take what Fred did as a starting point, but you add your own slant as well. Being YOURSELF and using what you've learned as a springboard to your own expression is a big part of what Fred was about, I think.
T: That's absolutely right. There's so many kids out there who try to perfectly clone, say, Steve Vai or Hendrix, and even when they do master it, it has no soul or balls for that matter. Personally, I feel Chuck Berry is the originator.
K: Yeah, Chuck probably IS the man for rock guys. There's a line that runs from him through Keith Richard to Fred and Wayne Kramer and Johnny Thunders, on down the line. It IS folk music, after all.
T: I read ya loud and clear. Chuck himself stole a bunch of stuff, too, of course. But I also really like his calypso-ish stuff, for instance on Bio. Great album! [If you listen hard, you can hear some of this influence in Tony's playing on Parts Unknown. No fooling!]
K: Scott's girlfriend Maureen Ferrell tells me there's a possibility the Hydromatics will be playing at SXSW next spring. Sure hope so.
T: Cool, man, I can't wait. It depends on a lot of things. It's been like 15 years since I played there last, with the Big Boys and Minutemen.
K: I played once with Tim from the Big Boys before they were a band. I remember Biscuit used to pin Purina Dog Chow bags to his clothes as part of his stage getup.
T: Funny. How about the Dicks? They used to play a whole lot together. Originally MDC were from Texas, as were the great Offenders. Their bassplayer was this long haired, half-Mexican, half-Japanese guy called Mikey and he was incredible. Then two years later (1986), he moved to San Francisco and started doing smack. Duh. I played with all those bands in the early '80s. We actually did a show in Odessa, Texas, if you can believe that.
K: I was stationed in Abilene in the Air Force. Midland and Odessa seemed like places you didn't want to break down. Real "Bad Day At Black Rock" scenes.
T: I'll say, dammit. We played with this band called Research and apparently they had been frying in the Texas sun too much. I remember they had songs with titles like "Cows Eating Dolphins" and stuff like that. The dude told me he at one point wore a skinny necktie for ONE DAY, and he had guns pulled on him SIX times that day. So, you know, that kinda explains why there were no pink Mohawks in Odessa. Also, the accents were so thick that I couldn't understand a word.
K: How'd European post-punk go over in West Texas?
T: Well, we weren't post-punk but more like full-on super thrash. We did a few shows with the Dead Kennedys, including one in Dallas at the Republican Convention. Big riots.
K: Big Al Creed from the New Christs had some really good things to say about the Hydromatics...as if we didn't know!
T: That's great! I'm a big fan of the New Christs myself. Especially their 45s I like a lot.
First ever Hydromatics gig in Amsterdam, 1999
K: So, how did the Hydromatics project come about?
T: Well, whew. Long story...Nicke and myself had wanted to do a side project thing for many years. We planned to record a heap of SRB tunes (or at least steal a bunch of their riffs, hee hee). But with the 'Copters being on tour all the time, we had to put this project on hold for a while. Then I hooked them up with Scott and so it happened that Scott ended up playing live with the 'copters and recording some tunes with them, which is very cool. Then Scott seemed really interested in participating in the side project thing with Nicke and me, so we could get to work.
K: Talk a bit about the recording of your album in Amsterdam last February.
T: It was real fun. Nicke hadn't played the drums really since he quit the Entombed, and he is just incredible. Great drummer. Of course we had all prepared ourselves, so we wouldn't be going "duh" in the studio not knowing what to play. We had exchanged tapes with ideas for songs through the mail. But seeing as how the four of us never had never all gotten together, I think we did a good job with the album. I mean, some members of the band only met each other six days prior to recording it! Of course, playing with Scott is a real pleasure, too.
We rehearsed for three days to get a live set going, and wrote the orginals on the album in the next three days. Then we played three live shows, which included a BAD ASS version of "City Slang" I might add. Scott and me were on our knees and rolling on the stage in the end part, the whole nine yards. So that was helluva lot of fun. I mean, the guy is 50-years-old mind you, and he's still got it!
Hydro in Amsterdam, 1999
K: Who are the Hectic Horns [who appear on the album]?
T: They are this horn section that was rehearsing next door to our recording studio. They do some work with the studio engineer's blues band, Dripping Honey. Scott went up to them and asked if they wanted to help out and they did, quite nicely I might add.
K: Any plans for an American or Australian release?
T: I wish! Looks like a well-known label is gonna do it in the States, from what I hear. At this point nothing is confirmed, however.
K: You've got a pretty extensive tour of Europe coming up. How'd you pick the cities/venues to play?
T: Basically it's the Hellacopters tour, then Nicke figured we might as well be on it, so we said yes. But we needed a second band in between and this is where Zen Guerilla comes in.
K: How's Nicke feel about playing twice a night [on drums with the Hydromatics and gtr/vox with the Hellacopters]?
T: Man, the guy is unstoppable! The 'copters just came back from Japan and after one day their Scandinavian tour started. We cancelled that leg, to make it a little easier on him. At any rate, he told me he has no difficulties doing two sets a night, as long as he can rest for an hour in beween.Rock 'n' roll is top athletic, I tell ya. But he's like 10 years younger than me.
Hydromatics at Roskilde Festival, Denmark, 2003
K: Any tour plans for the Hydromatics in the States or Australia?
T: No concrete plans at this point, but we're definitely up for it. We'd LOVE to go to Australia.
K: Any plans for further Hydromatics recordings?
T: Basically yes, but you can imagine this depends on many factors, foremostly the relentless touring schedule of the Hellacopters. We're thinking about possibly doing a next album next spring.
K: You and Theo also play together in the Nitwitz. Can we get some background on that band for fans who might not be familiar with your work?
T: Well, the Nitwitz started in 1978, and were like the first Dutch punk band to emphasize playing really fast. Then we turned into B.G.K. ca.1982, whose entire back catalogue has just been re-released on Alternative Tentacles, by the way. This is like full-on hardcore thrash. B.G.K. toured the States twice and all over Europe half a dozen times. After that, I was in Loveslug until 1993 or so. Consequently, I did a gruelling tour with Sonny Vincent and Spencer P. Jones from the Beasts Of Bourbon in 1995.
Then in 1996, there was a book coming out on Dutch punk 1976-1982, and I'm all over it, so the guys who did it asked us to do a reunion show for the publishing party. After some persuasion, we did and rocked the hell out of these nostalgic old punks in their mid-30s! Next, Epitaph slapped us with some dough to do a demo, and record some new stuff. But they weren't happy with it; I mean, we're not exactly marketable to the walletchain and skateboard crowd or nothing, or possibly the album title (Dark Side Of The Spoon) didn't go down too well with the Epitaph label boss [Brett Gurewitz], who was in rehab kicking heroin, hee hee. So Get Hip picked it up, and those dicks Ministry stole our album title. Now there's been more personnel changes and I am the only original remnant.
K: Who's this Sonny Vincent guy?
T: Sonny was in this band called the Testors in NYC in 1977, who useta play with the Dead Boys a lot. Then he played with Moe Tucker and has his other band, Shotgun Rationale, which sort of has different line-ups all the time, including members of the Dead Boys, Plasmatics, Replacements, Tank, Beasts Of Bourbon, Velvet Underground, Husker Du. All kinds of people, depending on where Sonny lives at the moment and who he can talk into it, I guess.
K: I know Scott Asheton did a record and tour with him.
T: Yep, Steve Baise from the Devil Dogs was in that line-up too.
K What music have you been listening to lately? Anything new/cool that I-94 patrons might not be familiar with?
T: Well, not much, actually. The only thing that cuts it for me is a personal approach, so I go out and support my friends' bands, and whatever people send me in the mail. I don't read music magazines or anything, really, to find out about stuff. Just see bands live. Once in a while you see some really cool shit. Turbonegro were fucking incredible, both live and on record. I've supported the 'Copters since they opened playing for 12 people and stuff. Just saw The Donnas the other night, who were all right, but nothing spectacular. A little too L.A. for me. There's a German band I like a lot, the Cellophane Suckers. Those guys fuckin' jam!
K: Last and most importantly, since we're in a bar -- what do you like to drink?
T: Chilled Grolsch lager. Not the fake Grolsch you can get in the States but the real Dutch kind. I live on that shit. American beer sucks ass. And I'm quite partial to the occasional tequila (straight), or vodka on the rocks.
Ken, Slug and Pat Todd of the Lazy Cowgirls in Texas, 2003.
Monday, May 11, 2009
V/A - N.Y.H.C. the spirit of old school video
Looks like somebody put out a DVD compilation with B.G.K. on it. See here
B.G.K. were definitely not part of the New York hardcore scene, despite the fact that New York used to be called New Amsterdam, maybe. We are definitely bona fide old school hardcore though. The NY scene embraced us heartily when they had heard our music and found we were tough enough to hang/drink with them in Thompins Square park I guess. This is long before bands like Biohazard (at the time 100 % metallers with dubious political affiliations) or Sick Of It All would claim their stake as "original NY hardcore" with tough guy cookie monster bullshit.
Upon arrival (staying in a cockroach infested hellhole on 2nd street in the Lower East Side's notorious "alphabet city") we discovered that M.D.C. ditched us and that the whole tour had been cancelled. Great timing !
The reason for this cancellation was that the companion of tour booker (manager of D.O.A., Ken Lester) had freaked out with a nervous breakdown or whatever to the point of going into hiding, taking all the tour info and papers with her to some super secret motel location.
Wonderful. Again, great timing. Furthermore, to our surprise, M.D.C. had seemingly abandoned their squathouse/anti-commercial/anarchy antics, and now demanded $1000 guarantees per show. Plus planetickets, that is, maybe conveniently neglecting to mention certain members drug habits, argueing "we're far from home, we got rent to pay, we got kids, and have been doing this for a long time", etc.
Which totally made sense seeing as how we were about 10 times farther away from home, also had kids and rent to pay and have been doing this as long as they had. Not to mention the B.G.K. album they released on their R Radical label that we hadn't been paid for, the European tour we set up for them, and all the Euopean shows we did together and gave all our money to them. It wouldn't be the first (or the last) time they dicked us, but I have to be diplomatic here.
Anywhoo, making the best of a bad situation, Cause For Alarm reformed ad hoc, and we went on tour anyways as a package deal. The line-up of C.F.A. consisted of former M.D.C. roadie and future Grateful Dead(!) tourmanager Chris Charuki (check this if you don't believe me) on vocals, ex-Agnostic Front guy Alex on guitar, Robbie on drums and newcomer Joe Rock on bass. 15 Years or so later I went to see C.F.A. in Amsterdam to say hi and could not recognize one single member. When some 'hardcore' girl at that show sneered "what are you doing in our scene, hippie ?" because of my long hair so I was like fuck this 'hardcore' bullshit and bailed.
Despite my pleading, B.G.K.'s 'manager' Wouter refused to shell out out $ 15,- for a 16 track mixing desk recording ("$ 15,- ?? that's ridiculous") for anti-commercial reasons, but the gig was recorded anyways and came out as a bootleg later.
Also on that bill were Adrenalin O.D. from New Jersey. They would follow us around in their car, showing up unexpectedly in the oddest places, requesting they also play. Of course they could. For this aptly titled "invite ourselves" tour, they printed T-shirts showing a hand holding a bundle of flowers, which we thought was pretty amusing.
B.G.K. were definitely not part of the New York hardcore scene, despite the fact that New York used to be called New Amsterdam, maybe. We are definitely bona fide old school hardcore though. The NY scene embraced us heartily when they had heard our music and found we were tough enough to hang/drink with them in Thompins Square park I guess. This is long before bands like Biohazard (at the time 100 % metallers with dubious political affiliations) or Sick Of It All would claim their stake as "original NY hardcore" with tough guy cookie monster bullshit.
Upon arrival (staying in a cockroach infested hellhole on 2nd street in the Lower East Side's notorious "alphabet city") we discovered that M.D.C. ditched us and that the whole tour had been cancelled. Great timing !
The reason for this cancellation was that the companion of tour booker (manager of D.O.A., Ken Lester) had freaked out with a nervous breakdown or whatever to the point of going into hiding, taking all the tour info and papers with her to some super secret motel location.
Wonderful. Again, great timing. Furthermore, to our surprise, M.D.C. had seemingly abandoned their squathouse/anti-commercial/anarchy antics, and now demanded $1000 guarantees per show. Plus planetickets, that is, maybe conveniently neglecting to mention certain members drug habits, argueing "we're far from home, we got rent to pay, we got kids, and have been doing this for a long time", etc.
Which totally made sense seeing as how we were about 10 times farther away from home, also had kids and rent to pay and have been doing this as long as they had. Not to mention the B.G.K. album they released on their R Radical label that we hadn't been paid for, the European tour we set up for them, and all the Euopean shows we did together and gave all our money to them. It wouldn't be the first (or the last) time they dicked us, but I have to be diplomatic here.
Anywhoo, making the best of a bad situation, Cause For Alarm reformed ad hoc, and we went on tour anyways as a package deal. The line-up of C.F.A. consisted of former M.D.C. roadie and future Grateful Dead(!) tourmanager Chris Charuki (check this if you don't believe me) on vocals, ex-Agnostic Front guy Alex on guitar, Robbie on drums and newcomer Joe Rock on bass. 15 Years or so later I went to see C.F.A. in Amsterdam to say hi and could not recognize one single member. When some 'hardcore' girl at that show sneered "what are you doing in our scene, hippie ?" because of my long hair so I was like fuck this 'hardcore' bullshit and bailed.
MRR 16 NY scene report. No mention of S.O.I.A. or other metal goofs.
Despite my pleading, B.G.K.'s 'manager' Wouter refused to shell out out $ 15,- for a 16 track mixing desk recording ("$ 15,- ?? that's ridiculous") for anti-commercial reasons, but the gig was recorded anyways and came out as a bootleg later.
B.G.K. at CBGB's, New York, 1984
Some guy from Agnostic Front stagediving or something
Also on that bill were Adrenalin O.D. from New Jersey. They would follow us around in their car, showing up unexpectedly in the oddest places, requesting they also play. Of course they could. For this aptly titled "invite ourselves" tour, they printed T-shirts showing a hand holding a bundle of flowers, which we thought was pretty amusing.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
