Johnny Ramone still cranking hard after twelve years in the world's premiere punk band.
Rockin' alive at Wolfgang's, S.F
NoTes
By Pleasant Gehman, Mike Gitter,
Damien Pythias and Carol
Schutzbank
Those scintillating music mashing
goddesses in Frightwig gripped a
loose audience at the Farm in San
Francisco with some brash signals
flaring from their loose amalgam of
amplifiers. Tis call a bunch of noise.
and if you lift one foot off the floor
hold your index fingers in your ears
and open your mouth it would sound
like slightly muffled noise. Orily, since
you're concentrating on your bal-
ance, the ripping guitars and sublim-
inal chanting seem to fall more into
place and you start grooving The
Ramones/ Social Distortion show
at the Hollywood Palladium was
peaceful enough, although it was
sold out Imagine the crowd's sur
prise when, upon leaving they were
met by no less than seventeen
LAPD squad cars, a circling holi
copter and the full not squad. Guess
the police thought it was better to be
safe than sorry. The Ramones have
been leaving a bit of a mayhemic trail
of unforgettable nights. For some
reason or another, they cancelled
their gig at the L.A. Strent Fair, When
the crowd found out. they rioted
Their two night stint as Wolfganga in
San Francisco went by peacefully
Notably, the boys never played their
song, "Bedtime For Bonzo, in their
live sets. Something about Johnny
Ramone not liking e. Can you believe
the Ramones have been going at it
for twelve years? Next rip-a-
rocka's to hit SF were the Red Hot
Chili Peppers and Thelonius
Monster at the I-Beam Boy did this
double-bill do some eye, ear and
throat damage T.M.'s vocalist Bob
Forrest remembered most of the
lyrics and they did a dynamite version
of "In A Gadda Da Vida" with a note-
for-note, lights-out drum solo Chill
Peppers singer. Anthony, jimboed
all over the stage in Fruit of the Loom
bun-huggers with his eyes turned i
backwards inside his head and spit
out and, sometimes, downright gurgi-
ed bitchen covers of Black Flag's
"Nervous Breakdown" and Jimi
Hendrix "Foxy Lady" They didn't
come out in their "socks as jocks"
routine this time (although they did
at their Santa Cruz show)...The
Soundcheck. Los Angeles' place to
get 86'ed in 86, has been running
amuck recently, especially one Sun
day night when it was taken over by
skaters. It was a joint (no pun intend
ed) birthday bash for Tony Alva,
Debbie Patino (of Raszebrae). Skate
Master Tate, a conspicuously absent
Steve Olson, Peter Ducommin,
Rosie Flores (Screamin' Siren) and
Johnny Ray it turned out to be just
your usual wild evening as Skate
Master Tate took over the stage with
a band composed of Johnny Ray (of)
the Knitters) on bass, Jeff Ross (of
Rank & File) on guitar, Denver Mexi-
can Steve on the skins and Scott
Morrow (from the Fiends) also on
guitar They emitted a red-hot version
of "Sympathy for the Devil, a fright
ening Jailhouse Rock" and a boozy.
disintegrating version of "Flying
Saucers Rock 'n Roll." Eventually so-
meone mercifully cut off the power.
Alva got into a big fight, and luckily,
it was last call. Another great Sound-
check night featured Haunted
Garage, a diamond of a band who
only play once every couple of
months, with tunes like Satan's
Sadists (about narcs) and sickening
tongue-in-cheek covers of iggy. The
Doors, etc. With more psychotic
originals these guys might blow The
Cramps away. The lead singer looks
like he has two black eyes (and it ain't
makeup) and even though ha's a tad
overweight, manages to strip down
to a skimpy pair of tights with a devil's
tall attached and a floor length, black
fur-fur cape with a white furry
Playboy logo on the back. They even
do amazing things with Silly String
and strobe-lights. They've got no
records out, but they're opening on
a mini-tour with Stan Ridgeway.
The FloorLords have a single out-
that features "Electrified Wet Mud-
wall" and "Black Ice Ride" on Squirt
down Records Bell Jar has a new
EP out. Beginning of Ends soun-
ding kind of Birds-ish, on their own
tabel. Fire Hose, who've risen
from the ashes of The Minutemen.
are planning on a new album on SST
Records. It's sot for a December
release and tentatively titled, Where
Else But Pedro? Also from SST
are these great releases to check out
A captivating EP titled Live At Van
Muys from Painted Willie that is
precisa, crisp and energetic; includes
arousing version of Love's Little
Red Book Next is Beyond Barbeque
from Lawndale and Thinking Of Em-
pire from Slovenly. Both Minutemen-
league style of music: Mr. Watt would
have been proud. Witch is refor
ming (singer Peter Rabbit split for a
short stint with Spoiled Rotten)
because they're featured in the new
movie, Radioactive Dreams.
Racer X is working on a second
album Rough Cut is touring
England with Saxon and will be cut-
ting demos as soon as they got back
to LA. Safari Sam's in Huntington
Beach has been forced to close down
due to problems with a liquor license,
and apparent neighbor complaints.
Another great nightclub bites the
dust In H.B. there's still Nightmoves
Things have really started hap
pening for Flag of Democracy. They
have a new drummer and an album
due out any day. The winner of the
persistance to play under any situa-
tion award goes to NJ's Will To Live,
who recently played at The Kennel
Club The band blew a fuse or two)
with their Einsturzende Neubauten
style of punk music. Undeterred, they
finished up the set with a metallic
acoustic set banging pieces of scrap.
together with percussion and
drums. Another Na band with
potential are Cleft Palate, a duo who
perform noize with guitar, vocals and
tapes Speaking of noize and
such-check out a band called
Jericho 7, a group of ambitious mus
cians who want to take music to the
limit and boldly go where no band
has gone before. One band's
cancellation is another band's
break? When Adrenalin O.D. failed
to show for an all-ages show in
Philadelphia recently, a young raw
band called E.A.B. was given the
chance to step in and play. The bill
was a strong one, featuring Dead
Spot. Electric Love Muffin and
Pleased Youth--a hard act to follow,
but these guys were energetic and
enthusiastic enough to pull it
off.
The Dead Milkmen have com
pleted a video, featuring the song
The Thing That Eats Hippies" off
their new album. It's a lot of fun.
Watch for these guys on their current
U.S. tour Just when you thought.
Trenton was the only place to lay on
the East Coast between Philadelphia
and New York, out pop two alter
natives. The Diaz Brothers have been
doing shows for some time in
Margate, NJ. Line-ups have includ
ed a lot of top-notch area bands, as
well as some big name draws. If
you're looking to set up shows and
plan on passing through, cal (609)
822-1539 for more information. Then
there's the Court Tovorn in New
Brunswick, which has been doing
both all-age and bar shows. A recent
show there featured Butthole
Surfers with Serial Killers and the
place was sold out before the show
even began. For information contact
Steve Blush, PO Box 2553, Stuyve-
sant Station, NY NY 10009. Bal-
timone's Grey March have been
quietly but determinedly plugging
away. The band has an album out
and recently completed a tour of the
midwest and parts of Canada. Look)
for the album in your stores.
Squirrel Bait continues their ram-
page of the airwaves with a new 7°
Kid Dynamite/Snake Train Coming
While not as strong out of the studio
as in, this is nevertheless a band to.
keep your eyes peeled for Hobo
ken's Antietam, who teased listeners.
with their 7"recently, have released
their album and it is truly a kifer. This
is one band that constantly leaves
you wanting more... The Blasters"
Phil Alvin is full of surprises these
days. While brother Dave has team
ed up with friends John and Exene
to play with X. Phil has put out an
album on a whole different track Un
sung Stories (on Slash Records) has
Phil playing with jazz king Sun Ra
and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. It
may not be what you'd expect, but
you can't deny it's a great release,
chock full of cool rhythms and
melodies Look out for interna
tional reggae star Burning Spear,
who is on tour in North Amarica with
an extensive itinerary. His album Peo
ple Of The World has recently been
licensed domestically and is now
available here. Metal heads,
beware, Hallow's Eve is stalking the
airwaves with Death and Insanity (on
Metal Blade Records). Produced by:
Metal Blade's Brian Slagel, this is not
for the slight of heart or hearing.
More religion: Stryper's follow
up to their mega-album Soldiers
Under Command is at long last near
to seeing the light. Called To Hell With
The Devil, it is being recorded and
mixed completely on a digital
system-the better to destroy your
eardrums with. Then you turn the
volume up. Compact disc collec-
tors who are used to finding commer
cial music and nothing more
available, can breathe a sigh of
relief-Enigma Records is now
beginning to offer some of their ar
fists' releases on CD's. At the mo
ment, Stryper's Soldiers Under Com
mand along with Alan Holdsworth's
Metal Fatigue and Atavachron are all
available through Capitol Records.
Suicidal Tendencies on CD? Yup.
Soon to come: Polson's debut album
Look What The Cat Dragged In, The
Smithereens' Especially For You and
Peter Hammill's Skin. Do You
Remember When Dept. Ginger
Baker, the drummer from Cream,
has returned to vinyl after a lengthy
absence. His new release, Horses
And Trees, is produced by Bill
Laswell and features an all-star line-
up on instruments including Bill
Laswell on bass and Bernie Worrell
(of P-Funk, Talking Heads and
more), among others. Baker, who
was also involved in Blind Faith, and
who has been working behind the
scenes as well as in studios, now
plans to become actively involved in
creating music again. With
Enemies Like This Who Needs
Friends Dept.: Former Clash
guitarias Mick Jones is scheduled to
release a second album with his new
band Big Audio Dynamite. Joining
him on the record will be none other
than Joe Strummer it was disagree-
ments between the two that led to the
demise of the Clash originally-so
what's going on now? Dog Nas
ty? Well, no,not axactly, but it seems
that ex-Dag Nasty and Minor Threat
guitarist Brian Baker has moved to
sunny LA and with ex-Descendents
bassist Doug Carrion and Doggy
Style's Brad and Lou has formed
Doggy Rock! With Doggy Style
under a great deal of pressure for
what authorities deem a "ques-
tionable moniker, a major revamp
ing seemed in order, thus calling for
a name and membership change
which breaks up Washington DC's
Dag Nasty, finds the Descendents
searching for new members and vir-
tually revitalizes Doggy Style Ex-
pect big things. After two years of
silence, Boston's Jerry's Kids are
once again back together. With for-
mer drummer Brian Betzger now:
pounding skins for Gang Green,
original Gang Green drummer Mike
Dean steps in to provide a mean
backboat for the band that made:
thrash respectable. They may be
recording soon.. Washington DC's
Dischord label is back with a
vengance. Having recently released
Grey Matter's final vinyl outing, Take
It Back, they plan to release material
from Egg Hunt, Soulside and Dag
Nasty. Egg Hunt is a two song 7
that again teams ex-Minor Threat/
Embrace vocalist lan McKaye on
vox, guitar and bass with ex-Minor
Threat drummer Jeff Nelson.
Reportedly. Mr. McKaye is once.
again in a band with Dag Nasty's
Colin Sears on drums. One Last
Wish is a new DC outfit containing
most of the Rites Of Spring crew.
Anthony, of the Red Hot Chill Peppers, bares nearly all of it at the I-Beam S.F
SEEN THATCH