-
20 YEARS AGO
Issue #89 – November 1989
Cover: Hell Toupee
Bands: Think Tree, Swamp Oaf,
the Bags (the latter
two being in fact the same band),
Bentmen, Big Dipper, Bullet LaVolta, Gang Green, Galaxie 500, Mindgrinder,
Well Babys, O Positive, the Neats, whose
entire recorded output from 1981 through 1984 plus extras has just now
(as in 2009) been released by Ace of Hearts (20 years later being about
par for the course with that label, wink wink). It’s also available
through iTunes.
Gossip & Stuff: O Positive
signs with Epic. *** Treat Her Right appears in David Lynch’s Wild
at Heart, and opens for Dylan in New York. No
truth to the rumor that Bob Dylan got back together just for that show. *** Juanita takes over WFNX’s local show,
Boston Rocks. We always called her Juanita Flange but she wasn’t
really Rita and Lolita’s cousin. *** WERS’s local show Metrowave
is taken off the air. *** Mr. Butch has a regular gig at the Middle
East on Saturdays at 2:00. No
truth to the rumor that it was at 2:00 in the morning, right
after the doors closed. *** The
Del Fuegos hire a fire truck to drive them around the city to promote
their new release, Smoking in the Fields. At
one time, those guys could’ve put out fires with all the beer they
consumed. *** From a helicopter
over Ernie Boch Oldsmobile, WBCN drops a 329-pound pumpkin on two cars
marked M and S in a benefit to help smash Multiple Sclerosis. No truth to the rumor that
WMBR plans to drop a 329-pound pumpkin on any club that hosts "Dad
Blues." *** Brett Milano’s
interview (by Francis DiMenno) ends with him encouraging some band to
cover the Rutles’ “Cheese and Onions”—it does get covered and
airs on WFNX’s local show when the Noise’s 20th
anniversary all-star band Thee Majestic Din Society sneaks it into their
Sgt. Pepper show. The DJ at the time had no idea that the song wasn’t
on Sgt. Pepper. No
truth to the rumor that that’s how he got the job there.
15 YEARS AGO
Issue # 144 - November 1994
Cover: 360’s, Rita & Lolita,
the Curtain Society, Flower Tamers
Bands: Roadsaw, Crown Electric
Company, 6L6, Flying Nuns, Dambuilders, Sirensong, Orbit, Velvet Crush,
Opium Den, Tulips, Curious Ritual
Gossip & Stuff: Combustible
Edison is doing OK soda commercials. *** Aimee Mann, Dinosaur Jr., and
Letters to Cleo each have a song on Melrose Place: The Music (1995
Series). *** Dana MacDonald starts booking T.T. the Bear’s. ***
Paula Kelley and John Dragonatti (Jack Drag) team up to form Hot Rod.
*** Opium Den members are active—lead singer Annette Kramer gives
birth to a baby girl, lead guitarist Christian Gilbert gets divorced,
and drummer Mike Demma gets married in Las Vegas. But
are they all cousins? *** Our copy
editor Leslie Case is in Diet of Worms and Asian Babe Alert. *** Pat
McGrath (Looney Tunes) is dreaming about James Apt’s collection of
walking canes and is afraid it may have some Freudian implications.
Lawyer Patti Jones wishes she’d dream about walking canes. And James
Bennet (the Noise) dreams that Pat McGrath is inspecting his
walking stick. Maybe
they should all take a hike. ***
Rita and Lolita go on a pictorial shopping spree at Oona’s—they
fail at trying to get all the clothing they want by trading Noise
advertising, but Jerry the DJ comes to the rescue and foots the bill
for the best-dressed sweethearts of the Noise. Much
truth to the rumor that these two then invented “wardrobe malfunctions.”
10 YEARS AGO
Issue #196 – November 1999
Cover: The Shods, Barbaro, Heidi
Bands: Count Zero, the Outlets,
Lyres, Slide (see
5 Years Ago, below), the Sheila
Divine, Orbit, Helicopter Helicopter, the Raging Teens, Rustic Overtones,
the Gravel Pit, Cherry 2000, Half Cocked, the Gravy, whose
Todd Spahr is doing voiceover and music scoring work in Los Angeles
as we speak.
Gossip & Stuff: Boston Rock
Opera is performing S.F. Sorrow (by the Pretty Things) with Peter
Moore (Count Zero) starring in the lead role. *** Kay Hanley and Michael
Eisenstein (both Letters to Cleo) are working on an animated TV rock
show called Molly-O. *** New England Sports Network records Random
Road Mother’s tribute to Nomar Garciaparra titled “Number 5.”
*** Angry Salad gets TV airplay on Odd Man Out with “The Milkshake
Song.” *** The Shods sign to Lunch Records. *** Boby Bear (the Darlings)
stars as a country superstar wannabe in the indie film, Blame Binky.
*** Q Division moves from Boston to Davis Square, Somerville. *** Two
new musical instrument stores open—Gordon LaSalle Wurlitzer and Mars
Music Planet. *** Jen Trynin and Mike Deneen (Q Division) announce their
plans to marry. Also
not cousins. *** Hari Hassan (Roadsaw)
is brutally attacked after a gig and is left with a twice-broken jaw,
loss of teeth, and broken ribs. *** A new club is about to open in Davis
Square called The Aquarium. I don’t remember this 300+ capacity club. That story does sound fishy.
5 YEARS AGO
Issue #246 – November 2004
Cover: Andrea Gillis, Wack Ass
Egyptians, Kahoots, the Humanoids, Peter Stokes
Bands: 27, Mollycoddle, the Explosion,
Muck & the Mires, Robbie Roadsteamer, Fat Day, Campaign For Real
Time, Undo, Fluttr, Mr. Airplane Man, December Sound, Big Digits, the
Halogens, Extreme, the Downbeat 5, Tristan Da Cunha, the Charms, Slughog,
Green Magnet School, who
have graciously allowed a slew of their vintage stuff for free download
on Gimmesounds.com.
Gossip & Stuff: This is
the first issue to come out after the Red Sox win their first World
Series in 86 years, so on the cover it reads—the Bloody Red Sox---Freakin’
Unbelievable—inside there’s a story by Al Janik that starts with
October 28, 2004 a cold day in hell, and I even throw in a full page
ad with a photo of Yawkey Way displaying the new World Series banner
and the words “Believe in your Dreams.” A
far cry from the days when Slide released the album “Forgiving Buckner.”
The jokes then were, “What do Bill Buckner and Michael Jackson have
in common? They both wear a glove for no good reason.” And that Buckner
tried to kill himself after that fateful game by jumping in front of
a bus, but it went between his legs. Oh
yeah—this is a rock rag—Fluttr plays at the Napoleon Skydiving Center
in Michigan and after the gig, members of the band jump out of a plane. No truth to the rumor that
they later played the Kennedy Library and then drove off a bridge. *** Gene Dante plays the Beast in Fiddlehead
Theatre’s production of Beauty
and the Beast. *** Waltham signs with Rykodisc. Really?
The whole town? *** Jen Rassler
legally changes her name to Jen D’Angora. Insert
“sweater puppies” joke here.
*** Rayboy Fernandes plays his first drumming gig in 20 years with Girl
on Top. *** Ad Frank is singing a song about the Noise Board. Fittingly, it contains only
one note. *** Linda Bean (Frigate/Orbit)
gives birth to Calvin on 9/22. *** Keith Michael (Scamper) becomes a
dad on 9/28. *** Brian Viglione (Dresden Dolls) slices his neck open
while shooting a video. Luckily,
he already had his vampire make-up on. ***
Hi-N-Dry releases Sandbox in memory of Mark Sandman. *** Tony
Schinella sings “Regime Change Starts at Home” in hopes of Bush
losing his second term. Is
this where we argue that impeachment doesn’t count if the election
was rigged?
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