rock and roll

on

Did I mention I mixed the Tuff Darts at Max’s? That was a cool rock-a-billy type band.for-the-love

There was so many really good bands and artist’s that had marginal success at best like the Robert Gordan & the Tuff Darts. Some of them had an album or 2 out, some of them got F’d up on drugs and other crutches and died at an early age and a lot of them never amounted to anything but a flash in time and some just faded into the upholstery never to be heard or seen again.

The John Collins band I was particular close to as I was a close friend with the Guitar player Mr. Gary Blankenburg or Blank as we called him. There was some other bands that in my opinion really sucked but for some reason was part of the underground punk music scene like the Ramones and the Dead Boys, in which one night when I mixed those idiots (the Dead Boys) part of the act was Stiv Bators the lead singer raped his girlfriend on stage. That was the shock appeal that that genre was looking for, now you have some looking back and immortalizing them as pioneers of the punk generation. To each there own!

 

1556b8daa162d00b44882e98ec3c2f4e
Stiv Bators and the Dead Boys at Max’s Kansas City

There were some artist’s that was always pleasant and fun to be around and deal with, like David Johansen from the New York Dolls, later to have a decent solo career. Also another favorite was Mink DeVille, just cool sharp rock n roll with some ethnic flair.

bf6774389ab3231b25428d2436bbce49--david-j-rock-fashion
David Johansen – New York Dolls

Another gentlemen or let me rephrase that another gender bender was Wayne County who became Jayne County and the Back and Street Boys – Fun and interesting, always going out of his/her way to say hello! That was all part of the fabric that was Max’s Kansas City in the 70’s.

Wayne County concert poster from the late 70's
Wayne County aka Jayne County and the Back Street Boys

Note: I found all these pictures from the internet – as I have none of my own from that time period, as who the hell carried a camera around with them back in the late 70’s and 80’s and of course cell phones did not exist! So thanks to all who took these pictures and full credit is deserved.

 

 

 

 

 

on

As previously mentioned, my partner and I were the production managers and engineers at the MUDD club during part of it’s hay day in the underground art and music scene. Having that in with the club and owner Steve Mass, it was easy for me to hook up my band, “The Lampshades” for a Saturday Night gig.  The pictures were taken from the front of the stage so -apologies to our drummer Gary Sabshon was not in any of the Mudd Club pictures.

Enjoy the pictures and the set recorded LIVE!  

 Great Pictures of THE LAMPSHADES – playing the MUDD Club!

image8 (2)
Al B. Front – Jim T. in the Back
image3 (13)
Jim Tucker – Guitar
image4 (9)
Al B.- Bass Guitar – Ken Kern – Guitar – Gary Citro – Keyboards
image6
MUDD Club 1981

Enjoy the entire set we played that was recorded LIVE at the MUDD Club 1981

on

As for the release of the 45, that was the toughest job to do as I was the only one really trying to get exposure in every avenue I could find. I think that this is every independent artist’s and band’s lament. How in the world are you suppose to get any body to pick this up and play it and promote it, without having some major record deal behind it. Since I was working at the Mudd Club their was a DJ their that had some in’s with a distribution company that sends out new released singles to DJ’s around the country and world. It was sort of like this club thing for DJ’s that they sign up for to get free music and it was up to their desecration if it got play in the club or station they were working at.  If you go to the link you can see the 45 is still being sold in 3 different countries, USA, Norway and the UK as it was distributed from that DJ club. I have to assume there is some old DJ’s out there that still have a copy and have decided to sell it.

https://www.discogs.com/Lampshades-Not-Sold-Separately/release/2889226

We did get some play in clubs and I vaguely remember it got on the radio once. We played all the songs live in a lot of clubs that year, playing and promoting the 45. Although we did our best, it really never took off and got the play we were dreaming and hoping for. Oh well, that is the life of a musician never quit and never say die – – strive on and keep the music alive!

To my Fans – I have a Bunch of The Lampshades 45’s, if you are looking for one – I can arrange to send you one –

BUT!                                                                                                                                               Here’s the Deal –                                                                                                                             Email and Follow my Blog and website, Like Aldo Buzzi of Facebook, Follow on Twitter and Re-tweet, follow on Instagram and forward to your all your friends                                                                                                                                                                     And I will send you a Lampshade 45 for FREE! 

                            As always while my supply last’s, first come first serve!  

                                  Obviously you will need to send me your address  

on

This video was a first mix of the song so there are some parts that will sound a little bit different then the final mix on the CD – Test Drive  “RAW”. These video’s I have produce have been a home grown art form in stop motion format. Pictures and moments that are meant to ingrain and make a mark on the brain, like having a flash of light and when you close your eyes you still see that flash.

Japanese Tiles – (Japanese Lady with Dark Eyes)                                                     Composed, Performed and Video imagined by Al B.

on

Quickly another blow to the band came when Pete decided he was going away to college and he felt that his path, even though he was majoring in music wasn’t playing in the band anymore. Now to find a solid drummer. We put an ad in the Good Times local music rag and lo and behold there came an onslaught of drummers knocking on our door. Well about 6 to 8 drummers in a bushy haired kid came in with some solid chops, his name was Gary Sabshon. The Final 5 was set Myself, Ken Kern, Gary Citro, Jim Tucker and Gary Sabshon.

Gary Sabshon
The Final 5 Lampshades Left to Right Al B., Jim Tucker, Gary Citro, Ken Kern, Gary Sabshon

on

The lampshades went through many band mates until it’s final 5 was established. The first true band set up was myself, John Donnelly, Pete Fagiola, Gary Citro and Robbie Nichole’s. We wrote a few original songs but the majority of the music was cover music. The covers that we played were very eclectic, from Pink Floyd to the B52’s, Devo and the Doors.

Robbie Nichole’s
At 17 was starting to live and breath the moment

John left the band and new member Kenny Kern joined us. Kenny was an extremely versatile musician and is a really great guitar player among the other instruments he could play he also sang very well. We continued to dabble in some original music but embarked on doing 3 sets of cover music so we could play the Long Island Bar circuit and earn some cash. Not too long into playing at some Long Island hot spots like Wooden Ships, Uncle Bob’s Rocking Fun House, Camelot Inn and some place in Massapequa in which right now the name eludes me. Soon after we started playing the circuit we had to part ways with Robbie, as he was tough to get along with and really was not a good musician or should we say his musical taste’s didn’t taste very good. Now to find another guitar player in comes Jim Tucker. Jim was a good solid rhythm man and could also sing. This group of 5, Ken, Jim, Gary, Pete and me started writing a bunch of original tunes. Still playing covers in bars and a few colleges to get cash, we began to integrated some of the original pieces into the sets. Andy Blinx a good friend, fellow musician and artist had an in at Radio City Music hall with the engineer Don Hunnerburg. So we took some of the bar cash equity to record 4 songs at the Radio City studio’s shooting to do a 45 record on our own. We invited John Kessler along to help with the production on the mix.

image1 (6)
Don and John at the console

Being that Andy got us the inside track to record at Radio City, the only caveat was that we had the studio from 12 midnight to 4am. Needless to say what we did to keep up – was something called sex, drugs and rock & roll!                                                                                Thank-you Mr. Blinx!

Don Hunnerburg
Pete at the Vibes -Gary watches

on

Forty five plus years ago, sitting at the dinner table with my parents I boldly exclaimed, ” I’m going to pursue a career in music”. So began the start of a journey that brought me to many people and places that few others get a chance to experience in a life.

I always liked music, although through the Kessler brothers it sparked me into diving in head first into new and exciting genres that I never knew existed. John played keyboards and Wow Bob played drums, so naturally John talked me into getting a bass guitar, a fender precision candy apple red ( very road worn) with a tree trunk “C” neck.

The fun begins as I got pulled into the New York City music scene. John taught me the engineering part of music and at 17, I was mixing bands at the famous Max’s Kansas City on park Ave. The Ramones, John Collins Band, Mink Deville, the Dead boys to name a few. In between I was playing and started my first band, we sucked. Although the influences of all the different music I heard made a profound impression on my music and the direction I would take. Finally I put together a better band, but we did not have a name. At the time there was a person Wayne County that would be hanging out and playing at Max’s. Wayne soon became Jayne County and in one of his/her songs one of the lyric lines was wearing everything but a lampshade, well it went something like that. And to tie the story together Jayne would always come over and make it a point to say hello to me. Thus the ribbing started, well Al what’s the name of your band?, Al B and the Lampshades? Not to be too pretentious, the band settled on The Lampshades.

More to come                            20160213_032849275_iOSWayne County concert poster from the late 70's20160213_032849275_iOS