THE TWEEZERS - Already!

THE TWEEZERS  Already!  cd  1997
Get That Girl / Walking With The Radio On / T.V. Romance / I'm The One / The Glory Girls / Someday / Dance The Night Away / Saturday Night / She Said / Teen Machinery / Pretty Boy / Next Time Around / Bad Time / Prove It.
Produced by The Tweezers.
The Tweezers: Kogi: guitar & vocals / Fifi: guitar & vocals / Tomoko: bass & vocals / Uganda: drums.

"...BG: Fifi, while Teengenerate was going on you started the Tweezers. Why did you decide to go for such a change in sound?
Fifi:  Because you know the music called power pop?  I have been really into power pop for many years. Stuff like the Raspberries and Cheap Trick…  Actually, in Japan there was no music called power pop.  In Japan people called Generation X and the Jam power pop. But since we were teenagers we have been into the Raspberries.  When we saw the Devil Dogs they covered the Raspberries songs and we where really surprised because we have been loving them for so long.
Fink:  Actually, Andy from the Devil Dogs is younger than us, so I was surprised that such a young American played the Raspberries.  I thought nobody knew about them.
Fifi:  Nobody cared.  I used to have an American girlfriend, she was kind of a student, she was from Cleveland, Ohio.  And I asked her, “do you know the Raspberries,” and she just laughed.  Just laughed and asked me, “ How come you know a band like the Raspberries?  They are really not popular now.”  I tried to ask her about the song “I Wanna Be With You” and she just laughed.  She thought it was boring.  “Why don’t you listen to Elvis Costello instead,” she insisted.  “Elvis Costello is much cooler than the Raspberries.”  And I just hated her opinion…  Because she came from Cleveland… I just wanted information about the Raspberries from her.  When we were doing Teengenerate we went to Cleveland and tried to find traces of the Raspberries…nobody cared!  Nobody cared.  And I thought it was a shame, really a shame, because we still really loved the Raspberries.  Why such a great band and no one cared.  But when we met New Bomb Turks they all loved the Raspberries. They were really big fans.
BG:  Americans usually have pretty bad taste.
Fifi:  Currently.  Yeah, yeah, yeah I know.  Have you ever seen the picture from Bomp Magazine with Jimmy Zero from the Dead Boys holding a Raspberries album?  The Dead Boys were really influenced by the Raspberries.  They ripped off the Raspberries’ songs.
BG:  Really?  Which songs?
Fifi:  Do you know the song called “ All This And More?”  It was ripped off from the Raspberries.  And Stiv Bators first solo album…  He confessed that he ripped off songs from the Raspberries.  Do you know the song called “Tonight” by the Raspberries?   They ripped it off, but in a good way.
BG:  They changed it?
Fifi:  Yeah, changed it.  That’s important.  Because they really loved the Raspberries songs.
Fink:  Do you know the song called “Its Cold Outside?”  It’s ripped off from the Raspberries too.
Fifi:  Here is Jimmy Zero holding the Raspberries.  (Shows Steve the picture from an old issue of Bomp!)
BG:  And that record is on the cover of the Tweezers album.  That, the Nerves, and I don’t remember what else…
Fink:  Flashcubes.
Fifi:  Actually, I brought many records for the sleeve.  That picture was taken in the park.
Fink:  Anyway, he started the Tweezers, and I think something changed, because all the punk kids started to care about pop music like that.  Steve Baise heard the Tweezers album in my room.  He came to join a Japanese band for a while and he stayed at my apartment.  So I played the Tweezers single for him.
BG:  There’s a Tweezers single?  I didn’t know that!
Fink:  Yeah.  Very expensive.
Fifi:  I only have one.  It’s boring.
Fink:  I think Steve Baise got an idea. Basically, he had it before, but after the Devil Dogs he didn’t know what he wanted to play and I think he got an idea from the Tweezers.
BG:  Fifi, why do you think that the Tweezers were so boring?
Fifi:  I don’t know but…just boring.  When we did shows it was really boring because the Tweezers were much less rock n roll than Teengenerate.  I just want rock n roll even if I am playing power pop.  Power pop is good melody with a real wild rock n roll heart.  To me power pop is rock n roll.  Now I think the Tweezers aren’t so rock n roll.
Fink:  I think during the Tweezers years Fifi tried to assimilate the power pop style.
Fifi:  I just tried to imitate good seventies American power pop for fun.  I wasn’t so serious..."

Interview by Steven Strange on Terminal Boredom

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WILD CHILD - Speedlife O'Mind (video)

WILD CHILD  Speedlife O'Mind

from Philippe Montiel on Vimeo.

GUN CRAZY - Dropping Like Flies

GUN CRAZY   Dropping Like Flies  CD  2003
Edge Of Town / Hotel Room / Talk To Jane / Factory Line / Red China Queen / Cannonball / Waitin' For A Ride° / Private Affair / Twenty Dollar Man* / Third Time Down.
Produced by Mike Mariconda.
Gun Crazy: Gary Rhodes: drums / Jimmy Sanchez: guitar & vocals / Clint Shay: lead guitar / Greg Putman: bass + Mike Mariconda: 1st guitar solo on */ Alan Nelson (The Materialistics): backing vocals on °

"On their debut album, produced by Mike Mariconda (Devil Dogs, New Bomb Turks), Houston's Gun Crazy come off like an amped-up combination of Bloodbrothers-era Dictators, the Saints, and Lazy Cowgirls."
" Ten punk ravers loaded with buzzsaw guitars, sneering attitude, and ragged but right singing. Some rippin’ punk rock’n’roll from Austin, struttin’, swaggerin’ and slangin’ its charm like a high-end call girl in the midst of a ship full of horny sailors. I’ve been a bit burned out on this genre for a while now, but when something this cool comes along, you can’t help but pay attention, and this is worthy of frequent listens."
"What do you consider to be your primary musical influences?
Jimmy Sanchez (guitar, vocals): That’s always a hard question. As far the band goes, we’re influenced by anything from the obvious punk rock stuff like the Saints, X, the Weirdos, the Real Kids…to earlier bands like the New York Dolls, Iggy and the Stooges, MC5, and Dr. Feelgood to 60s bands like the Yardbirds, Pretty Things and the Small Faces…to even older stuff like Chuck Berry, Larry Williams, and Eddie Cochran. I mean, we definitely don’t sound like any of these bands…we just kind of get inspiration from them. It’s not really a secret or anything new, we’re just taking rootsy rock and roll and playing it faster and louder."
You can read the complete interview HERE.
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THE OUTCASTS - Self Conscious Over You

THE OUTCASTS   Self Conscious Over You  cd  1994
Self Conscious Over You / Clinical Love / One Day / Love Is For Sops / You're A Disease / Love You For Never / The Princess Grew Up A Frog / Cyborg / School Teacher / Spiteful Sue / The Cops Are Coming / Just Another Teenage Rebel.
Produced by The Outcasts.
The Outcasts: Colin Cowan: drums / Martin Cowan: rhythm guitar & vocals / Greg Cowan: lead vocals & bass / Getty: lead guitar.

The band formed in early 1977, with an initial line up of Blair Hamilton (vocals), Greg Cowan (bass), Colin "Getty" Getgood (lead guitar), and Greg's brothers Colin Cowan (drums), and Martin Cowan (rhythm guitar). According to Greg Cowan, their name derived from the fact that they were banned from five clubs in one week. Hamilton left the band within a month of its formation, with Greg Cowan taking over vocals.
The band played their first gig in May 1977, playing a mixture of their own songs and cover versions of songs by The Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Damned and The Ramones. After building a strong local following, they were picked up by the local It record label, who released the band's debut single, "Frustration", in May 1978. They were then signed to Terri Hooley's Good Vibrations label, who released "Justa Nother Teenage Rebel" in November 1978, which saw the band receiving airplay on national radio from John Peel.

A further single and the band's debut album, "Self Conscious Over You" followed in 1979. Shortly before the album was released, Greg Cowan was involved in a serious car crash that left him in traction for fourteen weeks and unable to play bass, so Gordy Blair (of another Belfast band, Rudi) joined, with Raymond Falls also joining on drums, because, according to Cowan, "Colin was such a bad drummer".Trouble followed the band around, and this led to them being sacked from Good Vibrations, so their next release was on their own GBH label in 1981, the "Magnum Force" single. This was followed by the band's first Peel Session for BBC Radio 1. GBH became Outcasts Only, and their next releases was the Programme Love EP in 1981. In 1982 they released a cover of The Glitter Band's "Angel Face", which spent over two months in the UK Indie Chart, peaking at number 21. The band were struck a massive blow when Colin Cowan was killed in a car crash. Colin was described by his brother Greg as "the core of the band. He started The Outcasts, he even gave the band its name".

The large attendance at Colin's funeral prompted the band to play a thankyou gig at the Harp Bar, and the positive reaction convinced the band that they should carry on. They recorded a second Peel session and released the "Blood and Thunder" album on Abstract Records, which reached number 20 in the indie album chart.  A few more singles and the "Seven Deadly Sins" mini-album followed, but the band split up in early 1985. Greg Cowan, Martin and Getty started a new band, Time To Pray, but this only lasted until 1986. Ray Falls joined the army. Greg Cowan returned in 2003 with an "Irish punk supergroup" along with members of Rudi and Stalag 17, performing at the book launch of It Makes You Want to Spit!, which is still going as Shame Academy. In August 2011 The Outcasts played on Rebellion festival in Blackpool. Source
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LATEX NOVELTIES - A Girl's Best Friend

LATEX NOVELTIES  A Girl's Best Friend  CD  2007
Teenage Idol / Surf Bandits / High Cost Of Lovin' / Nervous Wreck / Kiss And Make Up / I Don't Wanna Look Like No Ramone / I Do I Own Thing / Tangerine Hair / Just Meat / Retaliation / We Don't Wanna Go Home / Born To Destroy / Falling Down / The Solution / We Don't Wanna Go Home (live 1979).

Formed in Indianapolis, in the summer of 1978, Latex Novelties came as a shock to some, but a welcome relief to Midwest music fans hungering for more than radio rock and over-produced record company darlings. Latex Novelties provided a ray of hope, proving that fans didn’t have to take the ponderous, pretentious, acts that had become more corporation than musicians.
The Novelties could, and did, bring the new punk sound from New York and the UK to Indianapolis for the very first time. They immediately became the “must-see” band for every person seeking an escape from the endless string of cover bands that ruled the Indiana music scene.
Their attraction to bands such as the Ramones, the Dolls, the Sex Pistols, the Vibrators, and the Damned, influenced the Novelties to create some of the most original songs of the time. The Novelties have always had strong and uncompromising ideas about their live shows and their outrageous and often extreme act awakened a sleepy Midwestern town like a boot to the head. The door was opened and a vibrant and active punk scene exists in Indianapolis that none had ever thought possible. The Novelties have earned their position in the history of punk rock and this release proves why!  Source

Formed in 1978, Latex Novelties were the first punk band in in Indianapolis! Influenced by glam greats (NY Dolls/Bowie) and early british punk bands such Vibrators and Sex Pistols, they became immediately "the must-see" band for every person seeking an escape from the terrible musical scene in town during those days.
Dedicated to Pat Grindstaff  & Pelado Records!
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WAYNE KRAMER - Ramblin' Rose

WAYNE KRAMER  Ramblin' Rose  7''  1978
Ramblin' Rose / Get Some.

"...K. Shimamoto: Was Mick (Farren) involved in that single of "Ramblin' Rose" you did in England around '78?

Wayne Kramer: Yeah. While I was in the penitentiary, he wrote me at one point that all the bands over there were outraged that I had to go to prison and a couple of labels had gotten together -- Stiff Records and Chiswick Records -- and they were gonna put out two of those tracks as a benefit for me, and they were gonna give me all the money when I got out of prison, which was really a brotherly thing for them to do, considering that most people come out of prison with what they have when they go into prison, which is nothing, and that's generally the reason they wind up going back to prison. But when I came out, I had like 2000 dollars as a cushion to help me adjust to life back on the street. It really, really made the difference for me...not that I would have gone back to dealing drugs or selling stolen TVs or guns or whatever, but it really did...a couple grand, y'know, straightens you out. Takes the pressure off..."
Source: Working To A Plan: Brother Wayne Kramer
Interview by Ken Shimamoto October 16, 1999 in  I-94 Bar

Stiffwick was the fruit of a brief liason between the Stiff and Chiswick companies, two of the premier independents of the Punk / New Wave era.  Its only release was 'Ramblin' Rose', by Wayne Kramer, founder of the MC 5.  The single's catalogue number was DEA/SUK-1; it came out in October 1977, and was distributed by Lightning. Source

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THE BLACKJACKS - (That's Why I Always) Dress In Black

THE BLACKJACKS  (That's Why I Always) Dress In Black  7'' SP  1985
(That's Why I Always) Dress In Black / Generic NYC Woman.
Produced by Johnny Angel.
The Blackjacks: Johnny Angel: vocals & guitars / Jeffrey Erna: drums / Whitey: bass & backing vocals / Rafael Mabry: guitar & backing vocals.

''By 1983, hard rock in Boston was a dead issue. The metal scene that began making waves in LA early in the decade hadn't really reached New England yet, the punk scene was dead, and the hardcore movement had begun to devolve into art-metal and noise. The notion of aggressive yet sexy music was deceased, and for all intents and purposes, there were three distinct camps in Boston: The would-be Angloid synth-pop, foo-foo haired sons and daughters of Boy George, the pseudo roots types who sucked Buds and wore flannel and claimed Hank Williams as god (but were really just collegiate simps trying to glom onto Americana and trailer-park culture, but as such were scruffier beatnik-y versions of their true role models, Britain's Teddy Boys), and dull bar bands. 'Til Tuesday were the big hype, as were the Del Fuegos, both fine groups, but hardly the spiritual heirs of Chuck Berry, the Stones and all the nitty-gritty societal bilge that tends to make the angriest and most heartfelt noise.
In June of 1983, Johnny Angel had returned to Boston a broken and beaten dude. His prior group, Thrills, had relocated to Manhattan with wide-eyed dreams of a new life in the Apple, only to find New York even less receptive to the straight-ahead charge than Boston. Besides, in B-Town, he could chill in a cushy job in the family business. His last bit of employ in New York was hauling boxes in a stinking Broadway warehouse, where he'd had a vision that the only time he'd ever ride down the magic boulevard in a limo would be in his own coffin, so it was NYC toodaloo!
Horrified at the total de-evolution of rock and roll at home, he hooked up with Whitey, ex-bassist with the Outlets, who was similarly bored and angered by Boston's local music scene. Whitey knew a former Outlets fan named Jeffrey Erna who was reputed to be a great drummer, and the three hooked up, bashing out Outlets songs at their first rehearsal, August, 1983.
Combining Angel's love of primal 60's psych and 70's punk with White's basic approach and Erna's speedy, rushed rhythms, the Blackjacks begun gigging a month later. Angel's year and change in exile in New York had provided wads of inspiration for new songs. "Generic New York City Woman" was a hate screed aimed at art-gallery inhabiting Manhattanite know-it-alls. "Junk Train" was a thinly veiled swipe at former Thrills singer Barb Kitson, who'd become seriously strung out on dope in New York. "Dreaming Of Saturday Again," was written about the horror of warehouse life. The latter song had been written with the intent of being a new Thrills single before that band broke up in 1983, and was to be produced by Tommy Erdelyi, but Thrills called it quits first! ..." Source
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