Hours before they played, we were told to brave a Hamilton’s “Party Nite” and catch the opening set at all costs. The tip sounded sincere, not a prank to get us beat up by college boys, so we donned an inconspicuous brown jacket, paid the $5 and mosied in.
Turns out the band in question, Teaspoonful of Zest, was the latest performance project from our illustrious pal Dead Lewis. As is his wont, he found a cache of obscure songs in a certain genre, found some sidemen who could share the joke, rehearsed them exhaustively in the style in question (in this case, a sort of primitive suburban funk familiar to white AM radio listeners in the mid-1970s) and let loose the results upon an unsuspecting audience. Songs included “Gift Trap,” “Wink,” “Apples to Apples” and “Couch of Power”—did we just have you diving for your parents’ record collection there.
The most popular by far were the double-entendre tunes like “Priest of the Parish,” “The Resistance,” “Never Have I Ever” and “Buck Buck”…
From Rich to Rick: We were remiss in not noting last week the actual names of the drummer and bassist in Tin Rick. While we maintain that the real story there was the merging of vocalist/guitarist Martin Gibson and lead guitarist Eddie Rick, we ought to have made room for the hallowed names of Carvin and Cort, the Benedetto brothers, formerly of (duh) The Benedettos and the power trio Bee See Rich (with Richard Fernandes, now of the more conventionally acronymed PSR)….
Kangaroo Hop at the Bullfinch with Siam How Lonesome I Am and Wake Up America… Bantam Step, Dog-Gone Dangerous Girl, Tiddle-De-Winks, The Rolling Chairs—sounds like another College Nite at Hamilton’s. Drink up, fellas… Cool psychedelic basement show with Havanola, So Long Sammy, Where Journeys End, Picture I Want to See, Mr. Jazz Himself and Poppy Land—but we’re not allowed to tell you exactly where it is. Frosty (Q’s bald pal) will be standing on the corner of Day and Knightsbridge at 4 p.m. with details. Seriously… White reggae paradise at D’ollaire’s with scandal Walk, Jim-Jam-Jems, Kickin’ the Clouds, backing singers Lonesome Little Raindrops and backing band Idol Dreams….