See This Show!
Having not moved here to Boston until late 1985, I missed a lot of the earlier, groundbreaking Boston Rock history. I never made the scene at The Tea Party, never saw Aerosmith play at a high-school, or U2 as the opening band at an unsold-out Paradise. I only saw later versions of The Neighborhoods, Lyres and Nervous Eaters. Nonetheless, I am still facinated by the history of Boston rock, and have over the years become acquainted with some of those who made it. I have shared a stage, a dressing room, a smoke, a drink or a laugh with the likes of Willie Alexander, Asa Brebner, Billy Loosigian, Robin Lane, Peter Wolf, Dave Minehan, Darren Hill, Carter Allen, Reeves Gabrells, Duke Levine, and many more. I've talked guitars with Joe Perry, hung out with touring rock-stars beneath the stage at The Orpheum, and logged countless nights at The Rat (upstairs, downstairs, balcony, stage, soundboard, and most memorably the grimy, stinky "band room" behind the stage). I've met Bernie Taupin and Elton John at an invitation-only event on Landsdowne street, and even mixed sound for Paul Simon at a private fundraiser in The South End. I have engineered sessions for Aimee Mann, and once mixed front-of-house on a New Year's Eve at "The Gahden". So, yeah, I got in and swam around in Boston's famous dirty water for a while.
I now happen to be a sometimes guitarist in the Dave Sammarco Band, where Scott Baerenwald, one of those Boston Rock History figures, is a sometimes bassist. Scott was a member of the short-lived but brightly-burning '70's power-pop group Reddy Teddy, after which he was an original Chartbuster with Robin Lane -- which brings me (finally) to the point of this Blog. Well, there are two points, actually. First, there's a big reunion show coming up this Saturday night at The Middle East, featuring Reddy Teddy, who are celebrating the release of a new CD, Willie Alexander, Robin Lane with The Chartbusters and more. Guess wht I won'r be there? Riigghhtt! Because I have a gig with Dave Sammarco at The Pleasant Cafe in Maynard. And speaking of Boston Rock history, Maynard was once home to a famous recording studio called Northern Studios, where Reddy Teddy recorded, among many other notables. So, get out to this once-a-generation show and see how Boston Rock was made, by the people who made it!
Second, I had almost forgotten about a song I recorded back in about '92; one of my originals, called "Haunted Train". Robin Lane had seen my band The Derangers play the song at The Cavern Club (in the cellar of the original Boston Hard Rock Cafe on Clarendon Street-- now long gone) and she liked the song so much she asked to sing on it. Naturally I was honored and more than willing to say yes. So we did it, and it has really never seen the light of day. Listening to it now, I think it's a pretty good song, and I'm going to bring it back in to the repetoire of my new band, "Twang 'em High!". If you'd like to hear "Haunted Train, just click on the link to our MySpace page below. You'll fiind the song there, in all its Robin Lane-afied glory. Be patient, her voice does not appear until a couple of minutes in to the song, harmonizing with me on the chorus.
Twang 'em High on MySpace
Some other cool links:
Boston Phoenix interview with Robin Lane and The Chartbusters
Reddy Teddy Website and History
Boston Groupie News on Reddy Teddy
