Scott Miller... ................... ...Christmas for True Gamesters

Game Theory mailed Christmas tapes to fan club members in 1989 & 90. The truest gamester I know dubbed me a copy of the very silly Child's Christmas with it's most memorable Gordon Sumner send up and probably my first intro to Scott Miller.

True Gamesters (1989)

A Child's Christmas Saving The Whales

Water

True Gamesters Christmas Tape (1990)

Christmas Moog (recorded at Scott's parents house in 1977)


In Memory of Scott Miller (1960-2013)

Thanks to Rustle Noonetwisting for the original dub of the 1989 tape and cover scan, and to Rushbo at Big Plans for Everybody for the digital versions and info. Lots more Scott Miller rarities over there.

Reg Kehoe & his Marimba Queens.... ....Holy Cats! (Lancaster 1930s-50s)

At Guernsey Barn Pavillion in Lancaster (note deer carcasses in rafters)

This terrific Reg Kehoe & his Marimba Queens Soundie has been making the rounds on the web for some time, but I didn't know they were from Lancaster until recently: some royal musical heritage for the home town.

I should be hammered with rubber mallets for citing Wikipedia in my research, but this is really interesting and the most complete info I can find about the band and the film, so here you go:

The lasting legacy of Reg Kehoe and his Marimba Queens is in "A Study In Brown", a two-minute black-and-white film made in early 1940. One of hundreds of "Soundie" films, they were printed backwards (mirror image) so they could appear correct when played in a Panoram machine (an early film jukebox about the size of a refrigerator) which employed a series of mirrors to reflect an image from a projector onto a 27-inch, reverse-projection, etched-glass screen in the tight, enclosed cabinet. The popular machines were first produced in 1939 by the Mills Novelty Company of Chicago, Illinois (which also made art-deco, fancy slot machines), and found their way into countless soda shops, taverns, bus and train stations and other public places across the nation. The specially made 16 mm films ran in a continuous loop and stopped when an in-line metal strip passed a sensor. The patron then put another nickel (or dime) in the machine to run the series of four to six 2- to 3-minute films again. The Panoram mechanics were housed in art-deco, high-quality wood cabinets and played Soundies, 8- to 12-minute films that typically showed jazz and other musicians of the day, as well as dance troupes and other acts.

Most viewers notice the sound is not necessarily synched to the video; this is because when making Soundies, the artist first recorded an acceptable copy of the audio, then various camera takes were made using different camera angles and closeups as the performers lip-synched the lyrics and acted as if they were playing the instruments. The results were edited to create the appearance of several cameras doing the filming, when in most cases only one camera was used.   

With the beginning of World War II, production of the Soundies and Panoram machines was drastically reduced due to a wartime raw material shortage and the Mills Panoram's 1940 success quickly faded. 

"A Study In Brown" was also shown in movie houses as a bonus before the main feature. Reg Kehoe and His Marimba Queens played from about 1938 to 1955 and was a hugely popular act, starting and ending each yearly tour with appearances at Hersheypark in Hershey, Pennsylvania. In between, the troupe played up and down the East Coast and throughout the Midwest, traveling by bus ala the Big Bands and making the rounds of all the major dance halls—including in Chicago The Aragon, Willowbrook (Oh Henry Ballroom), Melody Mill, Midway Gardens and Trianon.  

Stealing the show in "A Study In Brown" was 'hep-cat' bass player Frank DeNunzio, Sr., of Hershey, Pennsylvania, who played his standup–slap bass almost until his death in February 2005. The woman playing the marimba next to the maraca player, Grace Bailey, in the film is Reg's wife, Fern Marie, who died in July 2006. On the back marimba is Joyce Shaw on the upper, Ruth Hauser on the middle octave, and Janet Yonder on the lower. On the side marimba, Madee Greer is on the upper and Polly Weiser on the lower.   

No other Panoram recordings made by Reg Kehoe and his Marimba Queens are known to exist. However, thanks to their two-minute "soundie", the legacy of the Marimba Queens lives on. The band played its last engagement at the Bedford Springs Hotel, Bedford, Pennsylvania in 1962.

NOTE: Reg Kehoe and his Marimba Queens did make additional recordings in the 1940s. There are 18 "glass" records of music and two "glass" records of live interviews with Reg and some of the band members. 

A Study In Brown (audio)

Thanks to Cyndy Yoder Henry, daughter of Marimba Queen Madee Greer, for the photo above. I didn't know they were a Lancaster act until this photo turned up on the Bands of Central PA site right above these guys:

...

Todd Shuster's Report Cards ....... .............. (Philadelphia 1988-97)

After his marvelous pop punk to paisley journey with The Jags and The Impossible Years (1978-88), Todd Shuster disappeared into the grownup world of school teacher where, I can testify, nearly all free time gets sucked into the job and your commitment to the kids. What makes it fun and sustainable, and not just exhausting, is that teaching itself is an artistic outlet. But it's also necessary to keep some of your creative pursuits alive outside the classroom (hence tapewrecks for me). Todd, has maintained a low-intensity output of music on a 4-track recorder, releasing cassette demos and a 20-song CD in 1997 that's a tribute to his career.

King Leer

My Imaginary Friend

My You Museum (acoustic)

It Better Be

My Report Card

Was I There At All?
His Secret Vest 
Billy's Life  
Breakfast Man
The Elusive Ingredient 
Tempest in a Teacup

Most recently, Todd has recorded a track for the upcoming Television Personalities tribute on The Beautiful Music. The connection was The Impossible Years' Scenes We'd Like to See EP was the first release on Dan Treacy's Dreamworld Records. Happily, The Beautiful Music tracked down Todd for the tribute through this very blog.


Thanks to Rustle Noonetwisting for the demo tape and Todd for the CD.

Kirk & the Jerks ..... ................ ..Live at the Chameleon (Lancaster 1987)

Listening back on Kirk and the Jerks playing live, they were hanging on for dear life as they cut these songs loose with no brakes. My favorite moment: The joyously botched guitar bridge near the end of To Hell With 'Em All, followed by Kirk's "Aww fuck it!!" as the song nearly flies out of control. But they somehow manage to keep the pace up and hold it together through every one of these retro-punk masterpieces.

To Hell With 'Em All
Hang On to the Dream
Sonic Reducer
All Alone 
Standing at the Back Door
Never Ending Heartache
Out of My Head
Who Cares If Tomorrow Comes
It's Been a Long Time

Go back to Kirk and the Jerks' first tape, and even further back to their first band, Nobody's Fools.

The Jerks went on to play in Jet Silver & the Dolls of Venus, Substitute, Mystery City, The Stiletto Boys, and Dave's current band, The Dying Elk Herd, having more fun in the Conestoga River:
Don't Let the Riverbeast Get You!

Briggs Beall (Lancaster and Philadelphia 1984-89)

Briggs Beall was one of the first bands to play and record original not ready for primetime pop in 1980s Lancaster. Their first tape, Moral Complication, brought 80s jangle and post punk influences into their sound via a 4-track cassette machine and was an inspiration to the few other garage bands in town to start recording their own songs. Despite the variety of musical genres we played... pop, garage, punk, hardcore...we shared the bills at shows and a few dozen local fans that appreciated something original and creative.

The band lasted for five years. When members went separate ways, pursued careers, got married, had kids, Briggs Beall stopped playing, but, as friends, they've never broken up.

Fast forward to Spring of 2013, and the members of Briggs Beall reunite to support guitarist Rob Miller and his wife Suzanne with their simultaneous struggles with brain and ovarian cancer. Rob passed away in May, and in the wake of his death, band members and friends have been reassembling memories of the times they had with Rob and Briggs Beall, along with a few of Rob's own memories from emails and the band's Facebook page.

Moral Complication (1984)

6-7-8

Hopeless

Soldier of Fortune

Star Hits

Tent Town

Twos and Fours

Will You Buy Me Something

Yellow Bunnies

Kent Vienot - drums and lead vocals
Rob Miller - guitar and vocals
Dave Evans - bass
John Emery - guitar
Rob "Patch" Braden - drums
Mick McDermott - drums
Pete Senty - drums

John Emery: Long before Briggs Beall existed, music was a big part of our friendship. We felt as if we were part of a small minority of people interested in “alternative” music in Lancaster, and after being “roadies” a couple of times for my brother’s band [The Press Club], the idea was generated to form our own band. However, Rob Miller played clarinet in high school, and we weren’t so “alternative” that we would have a clarinet in a rock band, so Rob taught himself guitar.

Dave Evans: For me it meant learning to play any instrument and Rob had just started learning guitar. Freshman summer saw the creation of "The Rain." In various iterations it included Rob, me, Kent and Scott Stauffer. We toyed with being a reggae band - that was extremely brief. 

Those early days were fun and full of big ideas.  We had no clear direction and we weren't even sure from week to week about who was in the band. Thought about buying conga drums, marimbas and all kinds of things.  Ultimately we stuck with the instruments we actually had access to and the music we could play. 

John: The band started playing covers of favorite alt rock songs, including those of REM, The Smiths, Elvis Costello, etc.. We started writing a lot of original songs as well, something that had started with “The Rain”. Feeling that “The Rain” was a little depressing, we decided on a new name, “Briggs Beall”, the name of a character in a James Thurber short story. 

Dave: We wrote a few songs - Soldier of Fortune, Star Hits, Emotion:Anxiety. I think it was at Thanksgiving break of Sophomore year that John joined us and made us SOOOOO much better. That Christmas we recorded the "Moral Complication" tape and the rest is history! 

John: Bottle Refuge Studios was my family's basement and my brother Rob's 4-track recorder. It was aptly named "Bottle Refuge" because there were tons of empty bottles - not all beer (lots of diet pepsi) - littering the counter tops.

Live at Chameleon (1985)

Something

John: Rob Braden joined the band on drums in 1984, which allowed Kent to move into the front man/lead singer position. We released our 2nd self-titled cassette tape, which actually sold a couple hundred copies at Lancaster stores such as Stan's Records and Zap's. The band promoted itself by organizing a concert in a public square by the Brunswick Hotel in downtown Lancaster, which helped us to start building a small but loyal following. 

Briggs Beall (1986)

Walk Me Into the Cold and the Rain

Emotion Anxiety

Tad's Closet

John: The band continued to land gigs at Lancaster clubs, including The Inn in Millersville, where Rob M. was a student, and all ages shows at the Chameleon Club on its original location.

The Patch Sessions (1987)
All For Me
Assembly
Klingman

John: In 1986-1987 most of the band members moved to the Philadelphia area, where we were able to play a number of clubs in Philadelphia, including one of our favorites, JC Dobbs, as well as Khyber Pass, Revival, and the Ambler and Chestnut Cabarets. Rob B. was still living in Lancaster, and opted to leave the band in ~1987 due to the challenge of commuting to gigs in Philadelphia. Rob B. was succeeded by subsequent drummers Mick (‘87-’88) and Pete (‘88-’89), both of whom brought their own sounds to the band.

The Mick Sessions (1988)
Bored
Rosemarie

Mick McDermott: I remember my audition at Crefeld. When I walked in Rob Miller was closest to the door. I remember the Ric guitar the most, Rob was very warm and welcoming which put me at ease. To me he was extremely patient and when I would get cranky during practice he would say take it easy it is ok.I got a kick out of the pointy shoes at the gigs as well.

John: The Midgets of Rock tour, as Dave refers to it, was a weekend tour which took us to Buffalo NY to play a Friday night concert at the high school of Rob’s sister, followed by a drive to Pittsburgh to play at the legendary club, The Decade. The latter gig was booked by our manager Bob, who originally hailed from Pittsburgh. Bruce Springsteen was rumored to be in town that weekend, and he was known to show up at The Decade when in town, but alas, he never showed.

Looking back, with the exception of our drummers, we were all self-taught on our instruments, and the reason we achieved the limited success that we had was due to hard work, perseverance, and perhaps naiveté, not knowing that we really had no business playing in some of the clubs we performed.

Not sure if this is funny, or pathetic, but after having opened for several bands at JC Dobbs on South Street in Philadelphia, the manager, Cathy, was kind enough to book us for a headline gig on a weekday night. Unfortunately, the opening band was Trip Shakespeare, whose members ultimately went on to form the band Semisonic. Well, Trip Shakespeare were awesome musicians, and they completely blew us away musically. It was a pretty humbling experience for us, as we were perhaps not quite ready for a headline gig at Dobbs. On the bright side, that was where Rob learned of Trip Shakespeare, a band that he really enjoyed for years after.

Perseverance is something I think of when I think of Rob, as I have vivid memories of him, working through a guitar part with his long fingers, slowly and deliberately, then taking it home and practicing incessantly, eventually nailing the part. 

Dave: Rob's contributions evolved with the band. In the beginning Rob was very folky - Yellow Bunnies. He was the master of songs about nervousness - Emotion Anxiety, Tad's Closet. He was mod for a while. He had his Nehru jacket and his giant Beatle boots. He played with his huge toothy grin. My sister always comments about his smile when she talks about him. Towards the end he wrote with Pete - Evolution. Rob sang all the Violent Femmes songs and sounds more like Gordon Gano than Gordon Gano.

Kent: Rob’s rhythm guitar playing was the foundation of our sound. He truly brought unique musical ideas to song writing, often using dissonant chords and distinctive rhythms, which was a great counterbalance to the poppy tendencies of his bandmates.

John: Rob had style. Period. Rob could pull off fashions and haircuts that nobody else could. If we dressed like Rob, we would look like jerks, but Rob could pull it off. From puke green, to 70’s yellows, to his Dorothy Hamel pageboy haircut for a time, it looked good on Rob, and he wore it with style and confidence. 

Dave: Suzanne [Rob's wife] says “he shops like a girl” and she is right. Meticulously picking through every item – from the hat on his head to the shoes on his feet. 

One fall, Rob and Kent and I set off to NYC to get Rob some boots. He knew of a store and had an address. Mind you, this was before Siri directed us everywhere. We arrive in NYC and thought we needed to go to 80th street or somewhere such. After traveling up to the 80’s and then over what seemed to be all of NYC, and spending a lot of our cash to do so, we arrived in SOHO at the store where Rob found the coveted boots. We barely had enough money for the train fare home but we found the boots. He wore them at every show after that. 

Our hair and looks were all completely disparate--no wonder we never made it as a band.......... (Looks: Patch--Billy Idol tough guy, Kent--Michael Hutchence swagger; John--U2, tough guy, Rob--60's retro, garage band, Dave--jean jacketed guy of the 80's--too cool for school......) -Rob Miller 

John: Rob also wrote great lyrics, often a little dark, but very creative and poetic. His collaboration with Pete on the song Evolution was about roadkill. Who else would have written a song about roadkill, … but it worked.

The Pete Sessions (1989)

Evolution
With Flowers
Serious Time

John: There are lots of pictures in my head when I think about Rob in the band, from his cool Rickenbacker guitars, to stepping out front to sing Violent Femmes and Gang of Four covers, to playing one-finger organ on a cover of The Monkees Stepping Stone. And the audio ‘picture’ that is quintessentially Rob is his delivery of the phrase “... and I don’t like it” in the song Emotion-Anxiety.

I think the band stopped playing because we felt we had given music a good shot, and it was time to get on with our "real" careers. Dave was going to med school, Kent to graduate school (education), Rob was working as a biochemist, I was in grad school (molecular biology) and our drummer Pete was headed to architecture school. "Break up" is probably the wrong word, as we're all close to this day. In fact, every 3-5 years the core 4 of us (Rob, Dave, Kent, John) vacation together with our families. This started with Dave's wedding in 1997, with the most recent reunion in 2011.

Dave: I completely agree that using the word "breakup" to describe the band members moving on is not ideal. I agree with John's description. We were all in our mid 20's and saw a life beyond Briggs Beall. While we did move past the band, we also kept a finger on the guitar string. What is it that the Sirius station says, "Respect for the past without being stuck in it"? Briggs Beall existed for about 5 years. They were great years full of hard work and fun – but formative ones as well. The band and music served as the foundation for a lifelong friendship that has endured for over 30 years – years that have seen raucous laughter, bad breakups, successful marriages, fantastic children and a lot of great times then and through the years.

Briggs Beall on Facebook
Briggs Beall on SoundCloud
Rob Miller's Obituary 

For Rob Miller and his friends and family.

Back To School Music History

The kids are back in school and I'm updating my links for US History and American Studies. There are still lots of holes, so let me know if you know of any sites that cover groups or genres missing.

Radio Shows and Online Audio Sites 

Native and Colonial America - Oral Tradition and Sheet Music
Juba and Djembe: Music Helps Interpret Slavery

Revolution and Early US
Steven Foster
Music in Slave Life
Blackface Minstrelsy 1830-1852

Earliest Sound Recordings 1857-1860 - Phonoautograph
First Sounds

1877-1920 - Phonograph Cylinder and Piano Roll
Edison Cylinder Recordings
The Marches of John Philip Sousa
Ragtime - The Library of Congress
The Ragtime Centennial Show
Lt. James Europe Reese's 369th Hellfighters Jazz Band

Twenties - Phonograph 78 rpm Record
Edison Sound Recordings
The Roots Music Listening Room
Antique Phonograph Music Program
Folk-Songs of America: Robert Winslow Gordon Collection 1922-32
Jazz Roots

Thirties - “Talkies” Sound Film and Portable Reel to Reel Tape
Cultural Equity – Alan Lomax’s field recordings
Manufacturing Memory - American Popular Music in the 1930's
Radio Hits of the 1930's
Traditional Music and Spoken Word - American Folklife Ctr 1933-50
Labor Sings! - Union and workers songs
WJSV Radio Complete Broadcast Day On September 21, 1939

Forties - Radio
RadioLovers
1940's Sounds & Music
Postwar Blues Records from Small Independent Labels
Route 66 - Jump Blues Radio Show on WMNF
Superman vs. The Clan of the Fiery Cross – 1946 radio broadcasts that revealed the secrets and terror of the KKK

Fifties - 33 rpm Long Player (LP) Record and 45 rpm Single
Sun Studio - Memphis Tennessee
SuperOldies - Internet radio streaming hits from 1955-69
Oldies Television - 100's of TV shows and songs from the 50s & 60s

Sixties - Stereophonic LP
Wolfman Jack on XERB original "border blaster" radio shows 1966-71
Garage Hangover - Obscure garage punk singles
WFMU's Rock & Soul Ichiban - Goofy and bizarre music blog!
Music to Spazz By - WFMU
Downtown Soulville - WFMU
Beyond the Beat Generation - 60's Underground Music
The CONET Project - Shortwave Numbers Stations (Spy Transmissions)
Fiddle Tunes of the Old Frontier - 1967-68 Appalachia
Psychedelic Jukebox

Seventies - 8-Track Tape
Funky16Corners - Soul radio blog
RadioDisco
8Tracks.com – Punk Rock Playlists
Punk FM

Eighties - Cassette Tape and College Radio
New Wave for the Week
Post Punk Progressive Pop Party
Lo Finest - Homemade avant garde cassette recordings from the 80's and 90's
The Living Archive of Underground Music - Cassette culture, home taping, tape trading...from the 1980s to the present.
Rise Above – Hardcore punk mix

Nineties - Compact Disc

Early 21st Century - Mp3 and Podcast

Twenty Teens – The Cloud, Internet Radio, and Low-Power FM
SoundCloud
WFMU
Free Music Archive
G-Town Radio
SoundTap
Prometheus Radio Project

The Dead Milkmen - The Fictitious Years (Coatesville/Philly 1979-83)

Pope Garth O'Neil

I first heard the Dead Milkmen from some tapes lent to me by Rustle Noonetwisting: Millersville Delivery from the early "Bitchin' Camaro" era, and the Summertime Sampler of earlier home taped curiosities recorded over "Agriculture in the South," stolen from Coatesville High School where they all had attended school.

These were a few of the custom tapes they gave out to friends and college DJs. Some of the songs were from recordings made during what became known as the "Fictitious Years," before the Dead Milkmen became a real band, kind of like the formative Hardcore Devo tapes. Full of pre-PC unhinged adolescent girl songs, grating topical silliness, and fantastic pop ditties... Core members included Jack Talcum, Pope Garth O'Neil, and Jake Jiles (later known as Rodney Anonymous).

Rodney: ...Supposedly this whole thing sort of started from this board game that Joe created, that him and his friend Garth, and his family would play, where you would make songs, and then you would roll dice and spin things, and you would try to get your song up the chart. So at one point in the game, all of Joe’s songs are about “Joe is so wonderful.” And Garth’s songs are like “I hate Joe – Joe is the scum of the Earth.” And they would race up and down the charts.

Jack Talcum

Joe: At one point I came up with the concept of Jack Talcum and the Dead Milkmen, and I made a fake fan club newsletter about this band called The Dead Milkmen.  Jack Talcum was kind of like this folk guy, obnoxious folk singer, character, sort of based on Bob Dylan, but not really, and he met the Dead Milkmen band which is this punk band, and he integrated himself into that band and sort of took the band over and formed what I was calling folk punk, or punk folk, or whatever… which I thought was a hilarious combination. I would never have guessed it would be un-hilarious…. 

Rodney: The fictitious concept started off as this sort of family band. I think they were called the Deeks Brothers or something. And over the years, they start in the late 50’s, almost like a folk--like the Kingston Trio. And then, as the 60’s go on, they go through all these changes. So they basically become this huge group called the Sunflower Children of God, which is almost like the Manson Family with instruments…. And somehow they become the Milkmen, and then one of them dies…. This guy by the name of Richard Nixon, in the story…. 

What happened to Rickard Nixon was, this guy had taken a lot of drugs. He was in the Sunflower Children of God, and he woke up, and he couldn’t remember his name, so he picked up the newspaper, and Nixon was president at the time, so “Richard Nixon, that’s who I am.” So he’s playing organ on something, and he dies, and his head hits the organ. And Joe would actually make these songs, so you would hear this “euuuuuh” in the background, and that would be Richard Nixon’s dead head on this organ. So this is the beginning of the breaking of punk now in the story, and so it’s like ’75 or so in the story, and he dies and they become the Dead Milkmen, and that’s where I came into it, but there’s this incredible backstory….

Joe: To go with it I decided to make a tape, so I invited Garth, my neighbor, and a friend of his, and my brothers and sisters, and whoever was around, and we recorded a tape, I think it was around the end of 1979…. And called it So Long Seventies…. I made a few copies of it, and Garth gave it to Rodney in high school. And he heard the tape and approached me waiting for the bus after school one day and said, "Hey I like that tape you made, the Dead Milkmen. When's your next recording session? I would love to be in it. I play banjo." …And he came over with his banjo and we recorded some songs and that became "Folk Songs for the 80's." That's how Rodney became part of "the act." so to speak. 

Rodney: I became aware of punk, I was about 13 my parents called me downstairs because the Sex Pistols were on TV and they were fascinated, they loved them, they were like, “Look at this! You gotta see this! This is great!” because they were spitting and they were telling the interviewer they wouldn’t talk to him unless they gave them 10 bucks. And my parents, being working class people, saw what they were doing. They were monkey wrenching this horrible system that was so fake anyway… So I was really interested in that, and I was kind of branching out finding music. 

...One day [Joe] hands me this tape, this would have been right after New Years of 1980, and it’s So Long Seventies, ...this weird homemade punk tape…. Supposedly one of the guys that collaborated, his great grandfather had written that song, “Jesus loves the little children” so Joe had this song about "Reach Out and kick that child,” it was so great! ...Just weird! Something done in their basement, so I asked if I could kind of get in on it, and I started working with him.

And just to kind of step into all of this, it was a great world to live in because you didn’t have to strive for fame. In one way you already had succeeded. We would take pictures of ourselves, and crop them out, and we would pretend we play the big Reggae Sunsplash festival. And we’d write these newsletters. It was great practice for being in a band.

Joe: ...I'd compile songs I'd recorded. I must've made 5 or 6 cassette albums of the band before it was an actual band using like overdubs.... -Rodney and Joe from audio interviews by Joseph A. Gervasi on LOUD! FAST! PHILLY!

Joe has posted some of the original tapes with the commentary excerpted below on Joe Jack Talcum's Bootleg of the Month Archives. Most of the rest can be found on the Short Bus Degenerates Milkhouse. I've collected my own bootleg's worth of my favorites from each tape, and included tapes that I haven't found yet, or that are lost somewhere in the analog abyss. Even the band members no longer have them, but Rustle's Summertime Sampler has a few songs that were originally from these missing tapes! So maybe we can bring these back to life like reviving the woolly mammoth with DNA and live elephants.

One ... Two ... Three ... Seven....!

So Long Seventies (December 1979)

Please Don't Touch Me

Get Up On Your Knees

When You Are Dead

Rodney: Here's a thought that'll keep you up at night: I listened to this tape and said "Yes, I would, indeed, like to commit several decades of my life to this project."

Folk Songs for the 80s (1980)
Mr. Radioman
Kill Him Quick!

Sour Milk (April 1980)

Time

Kiss My Lips

Idiot

Sour Milk

Music for the Mindless (1980)
(Lost in the analog abyss, but this version from the Summertime Sampler might be originally from this tape. In fact, side B of the Sampler was originally labeled Music for the Mindless.)
Cerobectocismio

For Die Hard Fans Only (1980)

(Also lost in the abyss)

Doctor Talcum's Studio of Fear (December 1980-January 1981)
She's a Bomb
Spit on Me
Girl Hunt
Johnny Keys (Mystery Eyes)
On Bandstand

Cows and Gals (1981)
(Lost, but these 2 tracks from Summertime Sampler might have been from this tape)
Stuffed Animal
Plum Dumb

Raging Cow (June 1981)

Get Happy

Paradise Lagoon (August 1981)
D.H.
Confusion
Curl With the Curly Hair

The Salamander Sessions (Summer 1981)
(The original album The Last Known Address of Jonathan Salamander is lost, but Joe found some of the recordings.)
Toilet Stall Song
She's So Gay
Mellow Fellow
A Minute Closer to Death The band's sendoff to Garth after he joined the Air Force.
Nuwav

Joe: During the summer between my freshman and sophomore years at college I lived with my folks in Wagontown and got a job as busboy in a Ramada Inn restaurant in nearby Downingtown. I recently stumbled across some cassette source tapes from this period, labeled "Studio Tape 2" and "Studio Tape 3". 

My method of "multi-track" recording back then involved playing back the original base recording from one cassette deck into another deck which had a line-in and a microphone-in which could be mixed. That mixed signal would be recorded as the overdubbed track. If I wanted more overdubs, I repeated the process. I had to be careful to get the right levels during the overdub recording because that would be the final mix. Usually I would keep the original take of a song, and the final overdubbed version. Most of the in-between takes would be dubbed over to save tape. This is how I recorded all of the early fictional Dead Milkmen albums.

Anyway, after reviewing these "Studio Tapes" I realized that many of these songs were ones that were released on the long lost "The Last Known Address of Jonathan Salamander" album.

Living Death in the Cellar of Sin (November 1981)
Milkmen Moo

This psuedo-live recording came to me by way of a posting on the Dead Milkmen's Free-for-All message board. It was recorded in one afternoon in the basement of my parent's house while I was home from college on thanksgiving break, and 'released' the next month with a quickly drawn cover. 

In their fictitious world, this 'show' was the first of the Dead Milkmen's tour of the Congo (where they were curiously famous) and was recorded for release as their next album. This recording is not exactly a live recording, however, because an overdub was made to enhance instrumentation on a couple of the songs (believe it or not). But, both the original take and the overdub were done in one take (discounting stopping the tape recorder to change instruments).

Nine New Sins (Winter 1981-82)

Have You Slugged Your Kids Today?
Screaming in the Library

This extremely limited edition, hand-packaged e.p. was recorded sometime during my winter break from college (1981-82). Rodney was my songwriting collaborator for about half of these songs. He also performed on the recordings he helped write. (Some of these songs were later recorded and performed by the real Dead Milkmen.) These recordings precede my first meeting of Dave Blood by about a month. I would meet him after returning to college from my break. Also, Rodney and I were soon to see Dean perform in the band Narthex at the famous Landmark Tavern in Philadelphia, though we would not know at the time that he would eventually become the real Dead Milkmen's drummer.

Purgatory Beat (1982)
Taking Retards to the Zoo
Stupid Maryanne
Runaround
Dance With Me

Wisconsin (1982)
Wisconsin

A Date with The Dead Milkmen (March 1983)
(This might be crossing into the non-fictitious era, but still before the band was fully assembled.)
Filet of Sole
Right Wing Pigeons from Outer Space

Dean: This was recorded in Manayunk on Baker Street where Joe and Dave (plus others) shared an apartment, and released to friends in 1983 – before I joined the band. I believe that Rodney is playing drums on these recordings. Maybe Joe or Rodney can provide some details about this tape in the comments.

Joe: Rodney did play drums on some of these tracks (Filet of Sole is one) and, through the magic overdubbing, Dave Blood played both bass and drums on others (Ask Me to Dance is one). There were no other drummers. It’s still hard for me to believe that Dean was willing to join the band even after hearing this tape. 

I’m also amazed now that we had the audacity to sell copies of this tape to a local indy record shop. AND we sent to it to a local ‘zine which reviewed it (our first press!). Each copy of the tape (we made 10) was packaged with hand-colored xeroxed art covered in clear contact paper plus Scotch tape over a hand-cut cardbaord case. The very bad art is mine. -From The Dead Milkmen Archives 

Millersville Delivery (1983)
Bitchin' Camaro

Rodney: Alone in rock and roll history, Joe Jack Talcum took a fake band and actually made it a real band. And I can’t think of anybody else that said, “Alright I’m gonna write stories about this band. Now I’m gonna have people populate it.” Maybe, we talk about stuff like the Monkees, the Banana Splits, the Archies, which were made to be synthetic. Joe just figured this needed to be. If we didn’t exist, somebody had to fill that niche. It was an actual band, which was kind of odd…. Every now and then, when I’m on stage, I think “wow this all kind of started with Joe writing short stories. I’m kind of maybe playing a part, or caught up. Maybe we’re all part of the short story.” -From LOUD! FAST! PHILLY!

The Official Dead Milkmen Website
Dead Milkmen Free for All
Joe Jack Talcum
Rodney Anonymous Tells You How to Live
LOUD! FAST! PHILLY!
Short Bus Degenerates
The Dead Milkmen Archives
Dead Milkmen discography

Exploding Heads in Abbottstown... Scanner... ...(York/Gettysburg, PA 1979-82)

Joe, Dave, Junnie, & Frank

There were a few isolated outbreaks of punk rock in late-70s central Pennsylvania mostly around Harrisburg: Billy Synth & the Janitors, The Turn-Ups, The Abjects, and The Late Teens. By the early 80's, Lancaster had a few offerings with RAW, Helsinki 5, and The Bodies. Scanner was from York and Gettysburg on other side of the Susquehanna, that had more of a connection via the I-83 axis to the Harrisburg/Baltimore/DC scenes, or what there was of them at that point, than anything happening to their east in Philly or NYC. And they had two bass players!

Live in Abbottstown, 1981
It's a War
Out of School
What Love Is

Bassist Joe Brady gives some history:

Scanner was formed by me and Junnie Fortney 
after playing with various lineups during 1977-78. Later, we had Frank playing a second bass, and Reed on rhythm guitar for a short time. We went through a couple of name changes before settling on Scanner in 1981, when the movie “Scanners” came out. I liked the imagery of heads exploding, and imagined it being the effect of hearing Scanner music!

Playing punk rock in Central PA during the 70s and early 80s was a risky venture. When playing out, we often had stuff thrown at us, and we were simply shut down by some clubs. We played covers of punk bands, such as The Dead Boys, Ramones, Sex Pistols, Buzzcocks, Circle Jerks, etc. Additionally, by the end of 1979, the band had a handful of original tunes thrown in, and we were slowly changing over our playlist to consist of about 75 percent original punk tunes.

Scanner reunited in 2012, and released an album: One Foot in the Grave, and More Pissed Than Ever,
available here: www.scanner1979.com
Scanner Facebook page: www.facebook.com/Scanner1979

Boy With A Dream (and some scissors and glue) .... The Real Joey Welz (Baltimore 1950s-70s / Lancaster 1980s-present)

Lititz, Pennsylvania, 5 minutes up the road from where I grew up in Lancaster County, home to the Victor mousetrap factory and a leading contender for World's Oldest Teenager......  Joey Welz.

So... this Joey Welz character, back in the 80s, played a regular boogie-woogie piano gig he called "Retro-Rock" at a hotel out on Route 30 amidst the Amish Country tourist traps. He released modern "hits" like Rockin' in America and a rap version of Rock Around the Clock. Joey self-released cassette box sets of his music and claimed to be an original member of "Bill Haley's Comets," Uh-huh... sure he is. And like, he was "the first rock'n'roll piano player"... and he "played with the Beatles in Hamburg." This guy can't be for real. Or can he?


For years, Joey has promoted his act out of his house and has his own rock'n'roll museum. He cuts and pastes his face into photos of famous musicians including the Comets and the Beatles for his press kits. Many of his original songs from the 50s and 60s have his more recent Roland keyboard and drum machine inexplicably overdubbed, so it's really hard to know what to make of the "Joey Welz Legend."

But then I found his name on the back of a Link Wray record. Link Wray!!! Could it all be true? So I wrote Joey and asked which records I should buy to learn about the "real" Joey Welz and how he got his start back on Baltimore.

He made me a deal on 4 CDs and I've been digging through them and a few other downloads ever since trying to make sense of it all. I wrote down some "tough questions" for The Welz and sent them off by email.  He responded (in all-caps) without any hesitation at all. I've included here the parts of Joey's story that have at least some concrete, if sometimes tampered with*, photo or audio evidence. I left out some claims, that while they could be true, are too vague or have only circumstantial evidence to back them. You be the judge.

Welcome to WELZ WORLD:

............................................

HERE YOU GO PAL.....ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS.....

THE REAL JOEY WELZ,,, THEY DON'T COME ANY MORE REAL THAN THE WELZZZZZZZ

You claim to be the inventor of your piano style, before Jerry Lee. What do you base that claim on?

IN THE JAY ROCKERS, WE HAD NO BASS PLAYER, SO I BECAME VERY GOOD AT INVENTING BASS RUNS ON MY LEFT HAND AND LEARNED HOW TO CUT THE BOOGIE WOOGIE PIE UPWARDS, BACKWARDS AND HALF UP AND HALF BACK, AND FULL LEFT HANDED OCTIVE RUNS. THIS WAS BEFORE LITTLE RICHARD AND JERRY LEE LEWIS.

The Jay Rockers - Jitterbug Rock 1955

WHEN I STARTED DOING SESSIONS IN 1955, I ALWAYS USED THIS BOOGIE STYLE AND IT WAS JUST RIGHT FOR BILL HALEY'S MUSIC BECAUSE THE BULL FIDDLE BASS DIDN'T MAKE THE NOTES AUDIBLE, ONLY THE SLAPPING. THAT'S WHY I GOT THE JOB AS BILL'S SECOND PIANO MAN, AND WHY THEY CALL ME THE BOOGIE WOOGIE KING OF ROCK AND ROLL.

I LAID DOWN THE BLUEPRINT FOR PIANO PLAYERS IN THE 50S.... IN 1954 I RECORDED THE JITTERBUG ROCK B/W BLUE ROCK, WRITTEN BY JOEY WELZ, ON BERMAN RECORDS. ONLY 10 ACETATES WERE MADE IN 1955. THE JAY ROCKERS WERE JIMMY STAGGS ON GUITAR AND SAM CATALDIE ON DRUMS AND JOEY WELZ ON PIANO. THIS WAS MY FIRST RECORD AND IT WAS ON 78....

The Rockabillies - Twangy 1957
The Rockabillies - Come On Baby 1957
The Rockabillies - Shore Party 1959
The Hi Lees - All Nite Party 1959

The Cold War is another interest of mine. What was it like for you at AFN Berlin (a US military radio station) at that time?

I WAS THE RECORDING ENGINEER FOR AMERICAN FORCES NETWORK IN BERLIN, AND RECORDED AND CO-PRODUCED RADIO PROGRAMS LIKE FROLIC AT FIVE (TOP 40/POP HITS), AND STICK BUDDY JAMBOREE (Country Music).

AT THIS TIME-1960-1963, I WROTE AND RECORDED MANY SONGS LATE AT NIGHT WHEN THE STUDIO WAS FREE. THAT'S WHEN MANY TRACKS WERE RECORDED ON MY FIRST IMPRESSIONS ALBUM AND THE YOUNG JOEY WELZ CD. I ALSO RECORDED GROUPS FOR AIRING AND TWO OF THEM WERE THE BATS AND THE NITE RYDERS FROM ENGLAND ON WHICH I PLAYED PIANO.

Santo & Johnny - A Soldier's Story 1960
The Jokers - Boy With a Dream 1961
The Nite Ryders - Moment Baby 1961
The Nite Ryders - Whistlin' Man's Boogie 1961
The Shimmer Trio - Telestar Tell My Love 1962

I ALSO CO-PRODUCED AND RECORDED BILL HALEY AND THE COMETS LIVE SHOW ON AFN FRANKFURT. DURING THAT TIME,I LAID THE GROUNDWORK OF JOINING THE COMETS AS FEATURED PIANIST WHEN I GOT OUT OF THE ARMY, (replacing Johnny Grande. Johnny and I were the only pianists in the history of the Comets).

I ALSO FIRST RECORDED WITH THE COMETS AT THAT SESSION PLAYING ON HONKY TONK AND SINGING BACK-UP ON SHAKE RATTLE AND ROLL. YEARS LATER, I LICENSED THE AFN MASTER TAPES TO HYDRA RECORDS IN GERMANY AND THEY RELEASED BILL HALEY LIVE ON AFN CD.

Bill Haley & his Comets on AFN Frankfurt 1962 

Rock Around the Clock
Honky Tonk (featuring Joey Welz on Piano)
See You Later Alligator (listen for Joe Welzant in the credits)

AT THE FRIAR'S CLUB IN TORONTO: RUDY POMPELLI ON THE SIDE (HE WAS OUR SAX),AND AL RAPPA ON BASS, AND JOHNNY KEY ON GUITAR AND BILL HALEY IN THE BACK MIDDLE

WE WERE SOLDIERS FIRST. ONE NIGHT I WAS ON THE AIR ALONE AND GOT THE CALL THAT THE WALL WAS GOING UP. I WAS THE FIRST TO CALL EVERYBODY IN. WE GOT OUR HELMETS ON AND ALL WENT DOWN TO THE BRANDENBURG GATE AND STOOD AT PARADE REST FACING THE EAST GERMANS AND RUSSIANS WHO BROUGHT THEIR TANKS DOWN. WE WERE ALL WAITING FOR WHO WAS GOING TO FIRE THE FIRST SHOT. NO ONE DID, THANK GOD, BUT THE WALL WENT UP. 

I WAS ALSO AT THE RADIO STATION WHEN WE BROKE THE NEWS ABOUT THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS, BUT KENNEDY HANDLED IT WELL AND THEY BACKED DOWN. PRETTY EXCITING TIMES FOR A PIANO MAN LIKE ME....

On some of the recordings of you with famous artists, you overdubbed your electric piano much later. This seems misleading and maybe even fraudulent to many people.  Can you explain why you do that?

I SOMETIMES OVERDUBBED MY PIANO FOR RE-RELEASING SOME OF MY CLASSIC SONGS BECAUSE, ON THE ORIGINAL RECORDING, THE PIANO WAS BURIED IN THE MIX. I ALSO OVERDUBBED DRUMS IF THEY WERE NOT LOUD ENOUGH WHEN I ORIGINALLY RECORDED IT. I ALWAYS WANTED TO IMPROVE THE SOUND WHEN I REISSUED THEM AND WANTED THE DRUMS TO BE MORE POWERFUL TO DRIVE THE BAND....

ON THE LEGENDARY FRIENDS ALBUM, IT'S A COLLECTION OF ALL THE RECORDINGS I DID WITH MY MUSICIAN FRIENDS IN ROCK AND ROLL. MOST OF THE SESSIONS I PLAYED ON WITH THE EXCEPTION OF FLOYD CRAMER/DUANE EDDY/THE VENTURES, IN WHICH CASE I ADDED MY PIANO TO THE ORIGINAL TRACKS. I WROTE ALL THE SONGS AND STILL FEEL THIS IS MY MOST HISTORIC ALBUM.

The Ventures - Save Your Love, Save Your Kisses 1963*
The Cruisinaires - I Ain't Got a Thing 1963

The Comets - You Changed 1964*

PHOTO TAKEN AT A RADIO STATION IN TEXAS TO PROMOTE OUR NEW SINGLE IN 65 ENTITLED TOUNGE-TIED TONY

The Upsetters - Maybe You're the Girl 1964
The Kidd Brothers - Wooly Bully Rides Again 1966

Joey & the Time Machine - Big City 1967
Joey & the Time Machine - Caught By Love 1967
Joey & the Time Machine - Psychedelic Happening 1967


I'll Do Anything For You WAS A HIT IN NORFOLK, VA. IN 1969 AND THAT'S ME ON DISCOTEN TV RUN BY GENE LOVING FROM WGH RADIO WHO JUST CAME OFF MY LAST HIT OF I WILL SING A RHAPSODY FOR A SUMMER NIGHT.  DICK LAMB WAS THE HOST ON THAT TV SHOW WHERE I LIP SYNCED MY VOCALS


I was excited to find your name on the back of my Link Wray album!

Link Wray and I became good friends in the early 60s and I was a silent WRAY MAN on some of his records playing piano and organ. He and I made a few albums together where he backed me up, as well as did Roy Buchannan.



Link Wray & the Wray Men - Week End 1963
Link Wray & the Wray Men - Run Chicken Run 1963
Link Wray & the Wray Men - Blue Eyes Don't Run Away 1968*
Link Wray & the Wray Men - Turn You On to Sunshine 1968
LinkWray & the Wray Men - I'm a Wheel 1969
Link Wray & Joey Welz - Rippin' "Em Off in the Name of Love 1970*
Link Wray & Joey Welz - Jesus, Be My Friend 1970*
Link Wray & Joey Welz - Rumble '69 1970

*Keyboards and/or drums overdubbed later

Were you really a Yo-Yo Champion? 

I practiced yo yo from the 7th grade in grammar school to the last year in high school. I was really gone on the yo yo. I worked for the Filipino Champions, holding contests and demonstrating in dept. stores on the weekends in downtown Baltimore.

In 1957, after winning many contests, I entered into a contest between the 3 company champions; ROYAL, CHEEREO AND DUNCAN. The best man was BOB ROLA from DUNCAN YO YOS and I finally beat him in the last contest for world champion. I RECEIVED THE HIGHEST AWARD, THE DUNCAN SILVER EAGLE PATCH WHICH I STILL HAVE IN MY YO YO COLLECTION.

How did you come to settle in Pennsylvania?

I came to Lancaster in the 80s to play gigs and liked it, I opened CAPRICE RECORDING STUDIOS in Lititz in 1990 and became the owner of CAPRICE INTERNATIONAL AND CANADIAN AMERICAN RECORDS and produced many other national and local acts including JIMMY JONES, DANNY AND THE JUNIORS, FREDDY CANNON AND THE 4 TOPS....

My new album is DANCING WITH THE STARS featuring TEN YEARS LATER a memorial for the 10th anniversary of 9-11. THERE WERE 2 RELEASES OF JAY ROCKER RECORDS. AND 4 OF THE ROCKABILLIES WITH ME BACK IN THE 50S on Bat Records.

FANS AND MUSICIANS WHO REALIZED WHO I REALLY WAS WERE STARTING TO CALL ME THE LEGEND AND THE BOOGIE WOOGIE KING OF ROCK AND ROLL. WHEN I STARTED MY ROCK AND ROLL DANCE SHOW I CALLED RETRO ROCK, I CAME OUT FROM BEHIND MY EQUIPMENT AND SANG LIVE OVER MY RECORDS AND ALSO PLAYED LIVE KEYBOARDS OVER THE CLASSIC ROCK RECORDS OF MY FAVORITE BANDS. THIS WAS BEFORE KARAOKE SO I GUESS YOU COULD SAY I INVENTED IT. THE ONLY DIFFERENCE WAS, WHEN I WAS SINGING TO MY RECORDS, THEY WERE REALLY MY RECORDS AND SONGS. I WAS NOT SINGING OTHER PEOPLE'S SONGS WITH THE EXCEPTION OF WHEN I DID THE HALEY NUMBERS, WHICH I ALSO PLAYED ON....

You must have had a day job, right? What career(s) have you had outside of music (and yo-yo)?

MY OTHER JOBS WERE ALL IN MUSIC WITH THE EXCEPTION OF 6 MONTHS WHEN I WAS A PRISON GUARD IN BALTIMORE AT THE STATE PENN. I WORKED IN SALES AND DISTRIBUTION AND HAD THE TERRITORY OF DEL. MARYLAND, WASHINGTON, VIRGINIA AND NORTH CAROLINA FOR THE HANDLEMAN COMPANY, JOSEPH ZAMOISKI CO AND D&H DISTRIBUTORS. I ALSO WAS A JUKE BOX MAN FOR JACHAM MUSIC IN BALTIMORE, AND A RECORDING ENGINEER FOR MONUMENT STUDIOS IN BALTIMORE, AND A&R DIRECTOR FOR WEDGE, DOME, MONUMENTAL, MUSIC CITY, AND PALMER RECORDS IN DETROIT.

I WAS THE PRESIDENT AND OWNER OF BAT RECORDS, CAPRICE INTERNATIONAL AND CANADIAN AMERICAN RECORDS.... I RAN MY BUSINESS OUT OF MY HOME IN LITITZ UNTIL IT GREW OUT OF THE HOME AND NEEDED MORE SPACE IN THE 80S. SO I OPENED CAPRICE INTERNATIONAL RECORDS AND STUDIO AND MY MUSEUM IN THE LITTLE RED BRICK BUILDING BEHIND THE GENERAL SUTTER INN IN THE ALLEY.

You've been on the edges of stardom your entire career and recorded great music with great people, but you never quite made it to the Big-Time yourself (yet). How do you feel about that? 

Bill Haley's Comets - Shake Rattle and Roll 1981

MY MUSIC, LIKE ALL ARTISTS HAVE HAD ITS GOOD RECORDS AND ITS BAD. WHEN I HAD A COUPLE OF GREAT POP RECORDS, HEY LITTLE MOONBEAM, RHAPSODY FOR A SUMMER NIGHT. HEY RATTLE SNAKE, IN MY CAR, ROCKIN'IN AMERICA, I NEVER HAD THE DISTRIBUTION OR PUSH FROM A MAJOR LABEL. AS YOU KNOW THEY HAD THE MONEY AND POWER TO BUY A RADIO HIT. I WAS NEVER PUT THROUGH THE MAJOR PUBLICITY MACHINE. I HAD TO RECORD, MANUFACTURE AND PROMOTE MY OWN RECORDS. ACTUALLY, WHEN YOU STOP AND THINK ABOUT IT, THAT MEANT I WAS MORE TALENTED THAN MANY OF THE POP STARS LIKE FABIAN AND FRANKIE AVALON WHO DIDN'T EVEN WRITE THEIR OWN SONGS.

ANYWAY, I AM THE ONLY ARTIST LIVING TODAY, THAT HAS MADE NEW MUSIC AND RELEASED NEW RECORDS EVEY YEAR SINCE 1955 TO 2013. I HAVE OVER 90 ALBUMS, MADE 75 45s AND WRITTEN OVER 1000 SONGS AND STILL ROCKIN' AROUND THE CLOCK TODAY AND SINGING ALL OF BILL HALEY'S HITS TODAY WHEN I PLAY WITH MY LONG TIME COMET FRIEND, AL RAPPA. THATS MY LEGACY AND I'LL STAND ON IT.

I GUESS IT'S BETTER TO BECOME A LIVING LEGEND THAN A DEAD POP STAR. I WILL NEVER STOP MAKING MUSIC. IT'S MY REASON FOR LIVING, AND LIVING IS THE KEY TO BECOMING A LIVING ROCK AND ROLL LEGEND.

WHEN THE ROLLING STONES DIE, I'LL BE THE ONLY ONE LEFT. OF THE 5 STAND UP 50s PIANO/SINGERS, I AM NOW THE ONLY ONE STILL PERFORMING....JERRY LEE LEWIS, AND LITTLE RICHARD AND FATS DOMINO HAVE ALL RETIRED AND RAY CHARLES UNFORTUNATELY PASSED AWAY, SO THAT LEAVES ONLY JOEY WELZ STILL DOING CONCERTS....THAT'S MY LEGACY.

BY THE GRACE OF GOD, I'M STILL ROCKIN' AROUND THE CLOCK. I STILL CAN HAVE THAT ONE BIG HIT BEFORE I DROP.......

ROCK ON---- the welz man

Joey Welz - The Ballad of Link Wray 2009


........................................

The songs in this post represent a small fraction of the musical genres and albums that Joey has put out over the years. You can purchase them all directly from Joey Welz's expansive CD Baby site:
First Impressions
Top 12 Radio Hits of the 50s
Top 15 Radio Hits of the 60s
Legendary Rock & Roll Friends
Brothers and Legends: Link Wray and Joey Welz

A Joey Welz and the Time Machine 45 was reissued by Frog and Rabbit Records by Billy Synth who also did his own versions of You Changed and Rockin' in America.

More about Joey Welz:
JoeyWelz.com
Canadian American / Caprice International Records
The Bill Haley Who's Who