workinsteamin

Been thinking a lot lately about bands that I used to listen to when I was in college in the mid 80s. As I recall there was a very vibrant indie music scene in Beantown with bands like Dumptruck, O Positive, The Turbines, Christmas, Lyres and many others I cannot remember. There is very little reference to this scene on the internet which surprises me as the stuff was all over college radio at the time. Any other fans of this period of Boston music?

Janszoon

Yep. I grew up in the area and was a big fan of Heretix, though maybe they're more like late 80s.

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Psy-Fi

I've got various cassette, vinyl, and a few CD releases from many of the Boston area bands of that era. Saw a lot of them live back in the 80's. Human Sexual Response, Classic Ruins, Gang Green, Negative FX, Dangerous Birds, Art Yard, Del Fuegos, Jerry’s Kids, Prime Movers, Volcano Suns, Mission Of Burma, Birdsongs of the Mesozoic, The Dark, Cheater Slicks, The Dogmatics, The Upper Crust, Big Dipper. Bim Skala Bim, The Nervous Eaters, The Neighborhoods, The Proletariat, Hell Toupee, Barrence Whitfield & The Savages, The Lyres, to name a few.

Most of them are long gone from the Boston music scene, some occasionally get together for reunion shows, and a few (like The Lyres and Barrence Whitfield) are still around making albums and playing live. I just saw a show with The Lyres a few weeks ago and I saw Barrence Whitfield with The Grits & Groceries Orchestra a few months ago.

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Neapolitan

Boston always had a decent music scene. Since most the bands I know were mentioned already I guess I'll add bands from the 90s I like ~ The Magnetic Fields, Swirlies, Belly, and Helium.

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workinsteamin

Found this. Should jog a few memories...

26 Years of Boston Rock

Posted on September 1, 2006
1981-1985
TIME WARP IN THE
ANNE FRANK MUSEUM
by Joe Coughlin

Jesus, has it really been 25 years? Actually, longer. The drinking age was 18 when I started clubbing, four years before T Max hatched this thing. The number of bands back then who had the stuff to endure (and sadly, didn’t) is staggering. But the number of people still at it is equally so. This is a VERY short list of players who made these pages back then, and who continue today. Apologies to the many I’ve missed, this is off the top of my head, from a partial list of issues and who was in them. (I urge all those still out there to post their current events on the Noise Board.) The peripheral characters alone here could fill ten more articles, but I held it to names definitely published. Some of you will even have favorite bands now whose members were playing before you were born. So, by year and issue number in which these pieces ran, here’s a short glimpse at how some of this has come together over time.

1981 (#1) The club Streets opened in Allston, and Human Sexual Response (whose song titles this article, more on them later) were an early draw. (#2) The Phantoms’ Angelo “Piggy” Aversinow drums for Girl On Top. Matt Burns of V; now drums for Classic Ruins (who started in the ’70s and never left), Awakening Stick, and sometimes The Coffin Lids. In between, he’s played with Inside Outburst, The Peecocks, Spike, Alice Highland, a one-shot live incarnation of GG Allin and the AIDS Brigade, and many others. (#4) Lizzie Borden(& The Axes) opened for The Ramones, and she now fronts The Liz Borden Band.

1982 (#5) Young Snakes spawned Aimee Mann’s career. (#6) Gang Green appeared on the famous This Is Boston, Not L.A. EP, and have been back playing awhile now. (#7) Propeller Records founded a cassette-only label whose roster largely fueled a tiny club called The Underground near B.U. (which hosted early appearances of Pylon, The Cure, and Glen Matlock’s post-Sex Pistols band The Spectres, to name a few). An early compilation featured Dangerous Birds (with Thalia Zedek, later of Uzi), Art Yard (including, for a time, T Max on guitar and vocals, and ex-Maps bassist Dan Salzmann, who would later join Christmas), and The Neats (featuring Eric Martin, still out fronting his Illyrians), who would be the last band to play there, literally bringing down the house (the ceiling tiles, anyway) during a cover of Roky Erickson’s “You’re Gonna Miss Me.” Arcade Ambo (a more upbeat variance of New York’s The Dance) played a show at the now-defunct Inn Square Men’s Bar which I’ll never forget. Vivacious singer Denise DiZio later performed with Snack World, Crown Electric Company, Boston Rock Opera, and was recently spotted singing backup in Allan Sheinfeld’s notorious “Alvis” revue as one of “The Nutra-Sweet Sensations.” (#9) Carmelita (then host of WERS’ local show Metrowave) now hosts Bay State Rock on WAAF, Sunday nights. (#10) Carter Alan became a honcho at ’BCN, befriended U2 and wrote a well-received book about them. Primary Colors’ (and then-former Atlantics’) drummer Ray Fernandez runs Boston Butta Beats studio and plays out with The Illegals.

1983 (#16): Aimee Mann’s next band ’Til Tuesday won the Rumble and quickly broke wide. She continues to record, and recently performed with The Boston Pops. (#18) Much-loved Del Fuegos would get national attention from their beer commercial. Frontguy Dan Zanes now makes music for the children’s market. (#18) Three Hands’ bassist Chas McCann plays in jazz duo Tenor Madness, and can often be seen in street performance. (#19) Psychowould hook up and record with GG Allin, and have played out recently. (#20) Men & Volts (originally a Captain Beefheart cover band) would release several wildly acclaimed records. Members would start (or join) the Duplex Planet mini-industry, Fort Apache Studios, Agbekor Drum Troupe, Ramcat, Joey DuPont Reaction, The Burning Sensations, Condo Pygmies, The Roys, and countless others. Guitarist Phil Kaplan now helms both Bangalore and Funeral Barkers (the latter with Billy Loosigian of Willie Alexander’s original Boom Boom Band), while drummer John Proudman plays out with Cul De Sac (featuring Robin Amos, ex-Girls synth-ist from back around the same time). Men & Volts and The Incredible Casuals would cover each other on record. The Casuals are 20-plus years into their summer Sunday residency at the Wellfleet Beachcomber, and some members also still play with The Chandler Travis Philharmonic. (#22) Christmas would go on to open for Husker Du at the Orpheum. Some members would form Combustible Edison, move to Vegas, do soundtracks and work with space-age loungemeister Esquivel. Myspace.com shows the band as currently based in New York.

1984 (#23) Jerry’s Kids scored opening slots for major hardcore acts at The Channel’s legendary matinee series. When they dissolved, Bob Cenciformed the sci-fi-billy Hellcats From Outer Space, played solo and other stuff. In 2006, Jerry’s Kids are back. Prime Movers would essentially become The Slaves, both of whom are also playing again. Some members also appeared in costumed surf act The Strangemen along the way, and were somehow picked to open for Jimmy Buffet. (#36) Volcano Suns were started by drummer Peter Prescott after Mission Of Burma disbanded, but Dredd Foole & the Din (basically Burma fronted by the manic Dan Ireton) were recording. Burma members went into other disparate projects, until they miraculously reunited in 2002, and are still at is as we speak, while Foole was back out this year with a solo fingerpicking act. (#28) Kenne Highland would go on to release more records with more bands than anyone (including himself) has apparently been able to keep track of. Latest word has him singing with a gospel choir. (#29) The Turbines (sprung from Noise Pencil and The 2×4’s), would release the beloved single “Wah Hey!” and more, and open for X at The Orpheum. Singer John Hovorka moved to New York, but still plays out (including here) under his last name only. Salem 66 was fronted by ex-Maps singer Judy Grunwald (song subject of locals The Dark), who’d eventually marry David Minehan, now of Woolly Mammoth studios, and then-leader of 1979 Rumble winners The Neighborhoods who, you guessed it, are playing again. DJ Shred founded Frontal Assualt fanzine, Espo Records, hosted “Boston Emissions” on ’BCN, was heavily involved with the Rumble, and has booked various clubs for years. (#30) The Blackjacks featured Johnny Angel, ex-Thrills/ City Thrills (which included bassist Merle Allin, who would join Cheater Slicks before they left town, then find worldwide infamy with brother GG). Angel also founded parody act The Swinging Erudites (with former Rat/ Hoodoo BBQ chef James Ryan), as well as Punk Saliva, a cover band with Springa of SSD singing. Mostly writing and doing radio in L.A. these days, Angel still found time to whip up a recent Blackjacks reunion at The Abbey. The Outlets would release some classic vinyl. The lineup and sound would fluctuate, but they were still out there as of fairly recently. (#31) The Dogmatics, notorious from their Thayer Street loft scene days, would tragically lose a founding member in a motorcycle accident, but are also back doing shows now. (#33) Then-’BCN jock Mark Parenteau currently resides at a New York correctional facility.

1985 (#34): Uziwas formed by Thalia Zedek (who was yet to join Live Skull, and later the band Come with Chris Brokaw, ex-Codeine, and yet another local who would record with GG Allin). The flyer for their farewell show at the old Johnny D’s (now the Common Ground in Allston, unrelated to the Somerville club) implored, “Come Die With Us.” Last checked, Zedek was still at it. O Positivefrontguy Dave Herlihy would form Toyboat. He’s now an entertainment lawyer and professor, teaching a record industry class at Northeastern. Mr. Curt, who played with Third Rail, and won the 1980 Rumble with Pastiche, now fronts The Mr. Curt Ensemble, and just released a new 10-song CD. (#35) Willie Alexander still plays occasionally, and released an all-new record with his original Boom Boom Band about a year ago. (#37) Barrence Whitfieldstill plays locally and has a huge European following. Not only did Lyres never quit, but there have been recent reunions of forerunners DMZ, featuring J. J. Rassler, who still plays with The Downbeat 5. (#41) Johnny & the Jumper Cables have played out in the last few years, and ringleader Johnny Black is in the process of resurrecting his trio. (#42) A revised Throwing Muses played a show in August ’06 without Tanya Donnelly, who had a nice run with Belly in the interim. Kristin Hersh, meanwhile, has released six solo albums and now plays with 50 Foot Wave. (#43) The Flies went on to share members with The Titanics, Satanics and, later, Upper Crust (still playing). (#44) Band 19 featured Richie Parsons of Unnatural Axe, who still do shows. (#46) The Five’s arresting vocalist Reid Paley moved to Brooklyn, but still plays solo and with his trio. And coming full circle for these years, members of Human Sexual Response had become The Zulus, whose bassist Rich Cortesehas lately played with Wendi Faren and Shaun Wolf Wortis, while guitarist Rich Gilbert was playing out with Frank Black before the recent Pixies reunion. I’m out of room, but obviously this doesn’t even begin to cover it.

{mospagebreak title=1986-1990}

1986-1990

Bands Who Could Be Good

by Francis DiMenno

After absorbing punk, new wave, post-punk, two-tone, nouveaux-psychedelia and hardcore/ thrash, by late 1984 the Boston scene seemed temporarily adrift. Although, commercially, heavy metal, synth-based pop, Athens/ Hoboken-style jangle, and U2-style guitar rock predominated, garage punk bands such as Lyres, The Neats, and The Outlets also endured. Cantones and The Underground were long gone, supplanted by Jack’s, Chet’s, Johnny D’s, Green Street Station, and others. As ever, The Rat featured non-mainstream local acts.

However, by the late 1980s, the scene had undergone a renaissance and two Cambridge clubs in Central Square predominated: T.T. the Bearsand The Middle East. From 1988 to 1990, local booking agent Billy Ruane helped expose breaking acts to a wider audience—who else, for instance, would have given the homeless Mr. Butch his own weekly showcase?

Let’s backtrack a bit. What factors were behind the revival of the Boston scene? I suspect that by 1985, Boston bands had begun influencing rather than following trends. Furthermore, in 1986 and 1987, vinyl releases became instrumental in driving a local renaissance, abetted by regional record labels Ace of Hearts, Taang!, Homestead, Throbbing Lobster, Arf Arf, and, later, Stanton Park—as well as by airplay on college radio stations such as WMBR and WERS. Furthermore, the rise of alternative rock enabled three significant local bands to gain national exposure.

The first of these was Throwing Muses, whose 1985 cassette-only and 1986 full-length LP releases were astonishingly novel. There existed no prior frame of reference for their work, except possibly the Shaggs by way of the Go-Gos, albeit fired by an extraordinary lyrical and musical intelligence. They followed up with 1987’s Chains Changed EP, 1988’s Sire Records debut, The Fat Skier, and 1989’s Hunkpapa.

The second was Dinosaur with their first self-titled release in 1986, and, especially, their SST label LP You’re Living All Over Me, from late 1987. You could liken these Deep Wound offshoots from Western Massachusetts to Neil Young backed by a Crazy Horse who could really play; yet their world-weary cynicism was thoroughly contemporary. They followed up with 1988’s Bug, then Lou Barlow left the band to form Sebadoh.

To complete the triad, there was the 1987 eight-song debut by The Pixies, Come on Pilgrim. Black Francisliked Lou Reed (he told us so), but The Pixies’ fiery, atavistic approach to rock ’n’ roll (quote: “Cro-Magnons with X-Ray guitars”) was anything but affectless. They consolidated their reputation with 1988’s Surfer Rosa, 1989’s Doolittle, and 1990’s Bossanova.

Three very different local bands also excelled: avant-garde mainstay Christmas released their long-awaited LP In Excelsior Dayglo in 1986 and followed it with 1989’s Prophets…; jangle-pop avatar Salem 66 released their ecstatic 1987 LP Frequency and Urgency, and the 1988 follow-up National Treasures…; punk revivalists The Lemonheads appeared with their 1987 debut LP Hate Your Friends, followed by Creator and Lick.

Former Mission of Burma and Volcano Suns members also made their mark: 1986 gave us The Volcano Suns’ sophomore disc, the rampaging All-Night Lotus Party, as well as brilliant LPs by Dredd Foole & The Din, Birdsongs of the Mesozoic, and Roger Miller. In 1987, Miller released the Groping Hands EP and Volcano Suns pounded us into submission with their pot-leaf emblazoned third LP, Bumper Crop. Veterans of the first Volcano Suns lineup, Big Dipper scored with a six-song EP, Boo Boo, and a follow-up LP, Heavens. In 1988 Taang! emptied their vaults and released a slew of Mission of Burma demo recordings and studio out-takes, Dredd Foole’s second LP belatedly appeared, and Big Dipper triumphed with the LP Craps, with its classic Suns-era anthem “Song to be Beautiful.” In 1989 Volcano Suns released Farced, and in 1990, the double-LP Thing of Beauty.

From 1986-1990, The Noise reviewed many classic local singles, EPs and albums. Overall, 1986 was an extraordinary year: the moody pop-punk band Dumptruck released their second LP, Positively; there were also debuts by roots-rockers The Turbines, blues-minimalists Treat Her Right, the melodic Three Colors and Scruffy the Cat, and two-tone ska holdouts Bim Skala Bim.

On the heavier side, fans were treated to The Oysters’ garage rock anthem “Mine Caroline”; the LP Burning in Water by the newly reformed Moving Targets; 1986 rumble winners Gang Green’s debut LP, plus debuts by Sorry and straight-edge thrashers Slap Shot. On the more avant-garde side were EPs by Uzi and The Wild Stares, and The Last Sacrifice scored with a compelling goth A-side, thrash B-side single: “Suspended/ Acid Rain Dance.” Further on the fringes were releases by Expando Brain, Holy Cow, and Sleep Chamber.

Veteran bands also released fine debuts and second albums; these included: Classic Ruins, Men & Volts, The Flies, The Dogmatics, Chain Link Fence, The Nervous Eaters, and The Neighborhoods, with their long-awaited second LP The High Hard One.

1987 also offered an outstanding roster: In the roots-rock category were Dumptruck’s third, and The Turbines’ second LPs, plus Willie Alexander’s classic Tap-Dancing on My Piano. Three Colors and Dr. Black’s Combo also released collections, and the Mash It Up! anthology showcased local ska/ two-tone bands. There was also “Lunch With Ed,” a demo by the funk-percussion AEF-offshoots in Dogzilla. On the punk side, Clash acolytes Last Stand released their LP debut.

Older bands such as Lyres and The Neighborhoods also continued to supplement their recorded legacy. The Girls, an extraordinary avant-garde ensemble from the early 1980s, issued an LP, Reunion, which featured their immortal cult favorite “Jeffrey I Hear You.”

In 1988 mainstays Erik Lindgren, Willie Alexander, Men & Volts, The Unattached, and Wild Stares all released noteworthy records, but this year was also pivotal for up and coming bands: on the roots-rock front were Nova Mob with “Cavalry”/ “Mad House,” plus Tracy Santa, and The Idlewiles, with “Hell in a Handtruck”/ “Fly,” and “A Room as High”/ “Maybe Tomorrow.” The Cavedogs released a pop single, “Step Down”/ “Proud Land”; The Blake Babies debuted with their 9-song LP, Nicely, Nicely; and Galaxie 500 issued a single, following it up with an LP, Today. Bim Skala Bim released their second LP, and Barrence Whitfield, with a new Savages line-up, his third.

On the hard rock side, Gang Green and Slap Shot pleased their fans with sophomore discs; Hullabaloo and Bullet la Volta issued 6-song EPs; Anastasia Screamed released their first single.

Other LP debuts arrived, from rhythm-and-politics combo Vasco Da Gama; Uzi offshoots A Scanner Darkly; synth/ grungers Common Ailments of Maturity; and noisemakers World of Distortion and Meltdown. EPs appeared by 1986 rumble winners Childhood and folk-revivalists Big Barn Burning, and The Raindogs debuted with their glum “Lonesome Pain”/ “Grey House.” The folk-rockers in Lazy Susan and Blood Oranges, and world-music aficionados Les Miserables, debuted, with cassettes, as did the inimitable Well Babys; and the poetic folkies in Ed’s Redeeming Qualities released two demos of classic songs.

1989 was the year that the old order truly began to pass. To be sure, the long-awaited single, “Red Clouds”/ “The Bo Tree,” by Busted Statues finally appeared, plus debut singles by The Gingerbread Men and Mindgrinder (both featuring former members of Children of Paradise). Furthermore, Classic Ruins, Holy Cow and Treat Her Right released follow-up efforts, and the Zulus their first full-lengther; and pop veterans Push Push, garage rockers The Del Fuegos and The Five, plus thrash mainstays Jerry’s Kids and Slapshot, all got out LPs. But this was also the year of The Blake Babies’ Earwig, and LP debuts by The Slaves, Cxema, Buffalo Tom, Hollow Heyday, Miranda Warning, Bullet la Volta, and (1989 rumble champs) The Bags, as well as EP debuts by Anastasia Screamed, Masters of the Obvious, and A.C. Demos by stomp-rockers Hell Toupee, psyche-recidivists The Void, and avant-edged racketeers Green Magnet School and Still Life all began crowding the oldheads off the racks.

In 1990, scene veterans such as Roger Miller(No Man), Nat Freedberg (The Titanics), Kenny Chambers (Moving Targets), Salem 66, and The Cavedogs all released quality LPs, and at the end of that year came Anastasia Screamed’s masterpiece, Laughing Down the Limehouse. But LP releases by Sebadoh, High Risk Group, and Common Ailments of Maturity also heralded the arrival of a new avant-garde sensibility, and single and demo debuts by newer bands were brilliantly abrasive (Think Tree, Gingerbutkis, Slaughter Shack, Medicine Ball, Six Finger Satellite, Bulkhead, Subskin Cables) and willfully odd (Left Nut, Uncle Foamy, Lunk, 7 or 8 Worm Hearts, and Judas & Natasha Experiments), but always original and intriguing. There were also more mainstream pop-oriented releases, such as those by Vasco Da Gama, Buffalo Tom, Laughing Academy, O Positive, Big Barn Burning, Sob Story, Letters To Cleo, Curious Ritual, The 360s, The Dambuilders, The Bosstones, The Vouts, and 1988 Rumble winners Heretix. Such pop bands were also to set the stage, if not the standard, for the next five years.

As ever, “cult” bands often coalesced into the next period’s hot new acts. Psycho-Tec went on to form Think Tree; The Void became Rootlock and, eventually, Mascara; Mark Sandman (Treat Her Right) and Dana Colley (Three Colors) formed Morphine; Chic Graning and Anastasia Screamed split into Scarce and Delta Clutch, respectively; Rich Gilbert(The Zulus) went on to wider fame.

And, finally, let’s not forget G.G. Allin. As if we ever could.

{mospagebreak title=1991-1995}

Bufo Alvarius

Thanks. Kind of a street guide for a long-gone city...

The Girls are named, but not the Farmers. I've always loved this short-lived band and their intriguing album (11 August 1984), recorded at the first Congregational Church, Cambridge, MA.

Vegetables do and House of pancakes (1984)

Bufo Alvarius

The Explorer - Roger Miller (1986).

alli-oop

My mom was a fan of The Cars and the album I grew up with most from them was Shake it Up releases in '81. I still like it a lot.

Psy-Fi

One of my favorite musical blasts from 80's Boston music past...

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The Batlord

Every time I see this thread I think, didn't they only have one album in the 80s? Does Third Stage really warrant its own thread?

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