Drew-Who.com: Boston Rock History

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Dead Air

Rock is Dead, Long Live Rock!

The Rock of Boston Signs Off.

I have a heavy heart this morning. WBCN, 104.1 is gone. Of course, the "Rock of Boston" that we loved so well has been gone for awhile, thanks to the global re-programming of once-independent media. A lot of people don't know this, but 'BCN is the direct reason I moved to Boston from Dallas in 1985. I followed a girl here who had been hired, by Oedipus, to be a 'BCN rock-jock. You may remember her; Lisa "Trax Spins Great Wax" Traxler.

Through 'BCN I met rock stars and never missed a big event. I was backstage, I was in the air-studio, I was even on the 'BCN party boat when they had the annual fireworks. I met all the jocks and the non-air people. I played the Rumble. I did sound for bands at The Rumble. I drank cold Stoli shots with Mark Parenteau, talked sports with Bill Abbate, and sat at a studio console with Carter Allen. I gave Tami Heide a ride home once when she was a little too tipsy after a big Boston rock-scene party at The Hard Rock. I was at a small, by-invitation solo performance by Elton John. Through 'BCN I did a mixing session for Roger Waters (and he bought me beer -- on a Sunday). Eddie Van Halen left a half-a-dozen crushed cans of Schlitz Malt Liquor in the back of my car. It was high times in the Hub for young Drew.

(Lest I forget: I engineered 50 live broadcasts on WBCN from 1988 to 1990).

But my experience is a small speck on the big 'BCN picture. 'BCN was a lot more than a radio station. It was a part of the culture of Boston when Boston was a big important rock-music mecca. It was the capitol of rock. If not for 'BCN we might never have heard of Bonnie Raitt, Bruce Springsteen, or U2. WBCN was one of the greatest and most important rock radio stations in the world, and should go down in history as the phenomenon that it was.

It was free-form. It was a rebel. It was a generation. It was independent. It was a force of nature. A booming voice. In the world of Rock, 'BCN was a giant. 'BCN rocked like a fuckin' hurricane. 'BCN kicked ass and took names. It sounds corny, but 'BCN really was the soundtack or our life and times back then.

No matter how big 'BCN's britches were, the station never stopped supporting the Boston local music scene. Hearing my record on 'BCN was one of the highlights of my young life. Oedipus and Carter Allen understood that you had to continue mining for new fresh talent, cool new sounds. When they found something good, they promoted it. They knew the next Bono could emerge from a basement in Allston.

It's a sad testament to the times that the 'BCN era has passed -- pushed out by increasing homoginization of, well, everything. Traditional radio as we know it is dying faster than Axl Rose's brain cells. Thank you CBS for killing one of the last great icons of Boston Rock's Glory Days.

As they used to say at the station in the '80's, "B-C'N Ya!"

Rock on old friend, rock on!

Rock-Jock Generation:'BCN Airstaff in The Golden Era, circa '87

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Reddy Teddy, Willie Loco and Robin Lane to Bust Charts Again!

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

Bern's Turn!

I used to call Drew “The Absent Minded Professor”. Yeah. His keys? He never knew where they were. More often than not, they were in his pocket – in his pants – on the floor. Wallet? Forget it! Found it in the trash a couple times. Then there’s the time we found his checkbook – after looking for days – in a snow bank across the street from our apartment on River Street in Hyde Park. One time our new kitten went missing. Drew had been home alone with the kitty, and when I came home she was no where to be found. Until we opened the refrigerator. Yep! There she was, cold but OK, after a three hour “vacation in the arctic”. The only harm done was that she ate our tuna salad that was in there. Naturally!

Muthah Effin Theresa, that’s me! You have to have the patience of a Saint to hang with this dude.

And dogshit? The bottom of Drew’s foot was like a magnet for the stuff. There could be one pile in the whole Sahara Desert and he’d step in it. Later, we’d be driving along and we’d both smell something foul and he’d go, “Oh crap! Fucking A! There’s shit all over my fucking boot!” Then there’s Drew-time versus actual time. Maddening! He’s on about a sixteen minute delay from the rest of the world. I am one who likes to show up a half-hour early, even to work. Drew is not, never was and never will be a morning person. He’s accident-prone beyond belief, and can and will spill every liquid he touches. Because he talks with his hands – sometimes very animatedly – he smacks the full beer on the table and guess where it goes? That’s right. All over me! We’re talking an entire pint!

But in the end, I love the big dope. He’s the funniest, most charming, and most handsome guy in the world. He’s also a pretty fucking amazing guitar player. He may be a bull in a china shop, but he’s my bull, dammit! Without his endless shenanigans and Tom-Foolery – and I will report on these events from my point of view – my life would be far less entertaining!

Drew Who, right?

I showed up here on a hot late-summer day in 1985 with a hundred bucks and big major-label dreams. The reason? Well, there’s no way around it; I followed a girl. My girlfriend and band-mate from Dallas, Lisa Traxler, had become a WBCN Rock-Jock and was already swimming in the deep end of the rocking mid-eighties Boston scene. She had arrived in late ’84 and kept calling me, saying, “Get out of Dallas, it’s nothing. Boston is hot! Boston is on fire. There are so many great bands and clubs and live music is everywhere. You’ll have plenty of work as a recording engineer and we’ll start our own band. Everyone’s getting signed. So get your lazy ass up here!” Being a ‘BCN air personality, she was well-connected. ‘BCN was important then. ‘BCN was on top. And she was right; in 1985 Boston was a city on-flame with rock and roll. So I came. I remember the incredible energy Boston had; I felt it the second I pulled my little pickup in to the Fenway. It was undoubtedly the biggest decision I ever made. There are times when I do question that choice. There are days when I rue that day. Was coming here a blessing or a curse? Sometimes I think, “I gave Boston everything I had and more, and in return, Boston kicked sand in my face. Cold, dirty Dorchester Bay sand. Boston gave me nothing. Boston doesn’t even know my name.” Boston can be hard -- Whitey Bulger hard. Even though I worked my arse off, I never ended up with the success of a Slade, a Kolderie, a Giordano or a Deneen. My band never got signed. I never won The Rumble. Back in Dallas, I had just worked with—heck, pretty much had discovered—a band called New Bohemians (later re-named Edie Brickell and New Bohemians). I wonder what would have happened if I had stayed there and played-out that hand?

So, what did I contribute, really? Was it a valuable time? Did I do good things? Did I make good friends? Did I make good records? Did I influence people in a positive way? Did I leave my mark? Did I rock? Did I actually accomplish anything at all? And perhaps most importantly, do I have much to show for all that?

Looking back, I think the answer to those questions is yes. In truth, it was a prolific venture. When I see what’s behind me, it surprises even me. I can say this for sure; I met some great people and had a helluva lot of fun!

What Bern and I would like to do is recall, recount and reminisce about the last twenty-plus years. I’ll tell a story of a gig, or a session or a funny thing that happened. I’ll talk about favorite characters from the scene. I can’t do it all at once, but every so-often I can jot down an experience, and it need not be chronological. She'll add a sidebar about what is was like to be caught up in my crazy life. We’ll call it “Drew Who: Boston Rock Stories, 1986 – 2006 "

Drew, Bernadette and Drew-bear, June, 2007

Artists I’ve worked with at one time or another (in no particular order):

Peter Wolf, Gang Green, Seka, Cobalt 60, The Vic Morrows, Trona, Heretix, Tribe, Anastasia Screamed, Band of Planets, Bison, Aimee Mann, Scarce, Delta Clutch, Digger, Hank, Jon Brion, Delusions of Grandeur, The Swinging Steaks, TH and The Wreckage, Serum, Nisi Period, The Raindogs, The Cavedogs, House of Joy, Hothouse Flowers, Roger Waters, The Bags, Stu Kimball, Bim Skala Bim, Jehova Starbelly, Mistlethrush, Tanya Donnely, The Uninvited, Mick Mondo and Streaker, Muck and The Mires, Sidewalk Gallery, The Next, Treat Her Right, Sleepy Hollow, Doug Thoms/Fleshflower, The Moors, Common Ailments of Maturity, Sleep Chamber, Patty Griffin, Laurie Geltman, Ronnie Earl and The Broadcasters, Duke Robillard, Greg Piccolo, Roomful of Blues, Bobby Radcliffe, Micki Honeycut, John Lincoln Wright, Luther “Guitar Junior” Johnson, Vision Thing, Delta Clutch, The Ray Corvair Trio, The Strangemen, Tidal Wave, Ten Star General, Underball, Scratch, The Speed Devils, The Fathoms, Charlie Chesterman, Miss Xanna Don’t, The Derangers, The Nines, The Voodoo Dolls, Angelo Petraglia/The Immortals, Vibralux, The West End Blues Band, The Blue Hornets, Sugar Ray and The Blue Tones, Walston, Lucky 57, The Tullamores, Grand Evolution, Young Rust, Mike Gendren, Jeff Pitchell/Texas Flood, RSO Crew, Still Home, Dogzilla, Grand Evolution, Adam Steinberg, Billy Conway, Jim Fitting, Paul Simon…and more more more…Drew’s On-line (partial) discography:
DrewDiscs

Bands I've played in:

LP/CD Releases I have appeared on:

House of Joy, “A Kick at The Cat” 1987; House of Joy' “Slings and Arrows” 1989; Various Artists, “North by Northeast:Roots Rock, etc” 1990; Various Artists, “Boston Gets Stoned” Rolling Stones Tribute 1991; Various Artists, “Son of Godzippah” 1992; Various Artists, “Rock for Wood” Walden Woods benefit 1993; Various Artists, “Crush” 1994; Various Artists, “Thirteen” 1995; Various Artists, “Tube: Atlantic Surf Essentials” 1996. In addition to appearing on these CDs with bands like House of Joy and The Derangers, I also produced some or even all of the content. The “Tube” surf CD is the highlight of my career, having recorded the majority of the tracks and producing the compilqtion itself. It was released in May of ’96 on Cherrydisc, and as far as I know is the only document of the Boston surf-revival scene of the mid 1990’s.

Places I've played:

Club Bohemia aka The Kirkland Café, The Hard Rock Café, The Kendall Café, The House of Blues, The Channel, The Tam, Necco Place, The Paradise, The Rat, The Rat Balcony, Avenue C, Bunratty’s, Bill’s Bar, Axis, DV8, The Linwood, TT The Bear’s Place, The Causeway, Chet’s Last Call, The Middle East (all rooms), Jack’s, Catch a Rising Star, Jacque’s, E.M. Lowe's Theater (opening for B.B. King!), The Plough and Stars, Nightstage, Sally O’Briens, O’Brien’s, The Abbey Lounge, The Lizard Lounge, Venus de Milo, Mama Kin, Dodge Street, The Wellfleet Beachcomber, The Living Room, The Ocean Mist, The Stone Church, The Iron Horse, The Sea Note, The Met Café, The Century Lounge, Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel, Ralph’s Diner, The Blackstone Tavern, Joe’s American, Toad, Toad’s Place, CBGB, Under Acme, The Rodeo Bar, Club 3, Johnny D’s, Edible Rex, The Overdraught, The Rockpile, 24-city US Tour, 1996…