In the comments for this post, someone from one of the more enigmatic bands that turned up in the searches popped up to reveal quite a few completely new twists to the story. I was hoping that someone would find references to themselves, and then be able to provide more pieces of the puzzle, but not so quickly! Here’s most of Brad’s post:
In 1975, there were 2 bands playing something other than the covers of the day or metal…Ultrex & Harlot. By ’76, both bands split and some members came together as the Backstabbers, New Orleans’ 1st punk band. I was the singer and we lasted till ’78. I split with the bass player and formed The Contenders,who split in ’80 when I moved to Austin and formed Aces 88 (Poison 13 covered and recorded our song, ‘Big City Lights’,) then joined the Next for a month or so. I also played with Lester Bangs for a bit there, then I moved to San Francisco in ’81 and joined Passion Kick, left and formed Fade To Black, a Doorsy psychedelic goth band who released Corridors of Gender (soon to be reissued on cd w/ bonus live and demo trax.) When the band split up (don’t they always?) I moved to London and played with Slaughter Joe (w/ JAMC producer Joe Foster) Came back to SF in ’85 and formed Bohemian Luv Jones, a mad cross between and R&B revue and Iggy Pop! A couple of others came and went,then I “retired” for 12 years. I continued writing songs for others (Mike Levy, Mystery School, etc.) and finally formed Corsica in ’02. Our 1st cd, Ocean Born is finally going to be finished next month and we’ll be shopping it around. Meanwhile, I’ve played solo acoustic shows under the pseudonym of Jack Orion, and have recently joined yet another band called Swoon, a collision of Psychedelic Furs-ish post-punk and glam. We’ll also be recording a cd over the next couple of months, so stay tuned!
A side note….’Lectric Eye was an idie label run by Carlos Boll of the Skinnies (now the other half of The Mystery School in NYC) The (Totally) Cold were pretty goofy but did include Vance Degeneres who went on to develop Mister Bill for Sat Night Live and now, I see his name as a producer for either Elimidate or Blanddate or one of those shows…The Normals have all dropped out of music as far as I know. Men In Black still make mysterious appearances now and again (I still see Jay here in SF…but he’s now a woman) RZA…who knows? Lenny Zenith was in NYC last I heard.
When I was a kid I heard a lot about Lenny Zenith. Some said Lenny was a girl, some said Lenny was a boy. But everyone said that Lenny used to get an audience by spreading the story that he/she had Cancer & would be alive much longer….I recall seeing a photo of Lenny on a flyer, I thought it looked like a lesbian Ronn Goedert(White Witch). (Though it could be argued that Goedert looked like a lesbian all by himself…)
Of course that should have read “Wouldn’t be alive much longer”
I had never heard of the backstabbers until I read this piece. First punk band in N.O.? No offense but I had no idea anyone in N.O. even knew what punk was in ’76? Who really started punk anywhere, anyway…the stooges, johnny thunders, the new york dolls, the velvet underground, the who, the stones? All these guys were pre-pistols. It’s kind of interesting when you think about it but I guess punk started whenever the individual decided it started for them. That moment in their individual quest for something special, something artfully anti-social, a real honest to God ‘Fuck The World’ attitude, backed up with guitar, bass and drums. The clothes, the hair, the words and posture. Mixed with as much drugs and alchohal as humanly possible. Oh well so much for my take…
‘Big Daddy New Wave’
No links for Brad’s comments? I’m dying to know who else is in Swoon – *which* members of Specimen (Tim? Jeff? Kimba? Gere? Is Smeg still alive? The smart money says it’s not Ollie.), Fade to Black (I don’t remember Brad), and Thrill of the Pull (I’m guessing Bobby). I’m curious to see which old Nightbreak fixtures get up on stage tonight, but not motivated to cross the bridge for their free show without just a couple more hints.
Apologies for cutting into an already progressive conversation with a somewhat off-topic question, but I’ve seen mention of the San Francisco incarnation of The Specimen and I’m wondering if any of you recall vinyl 12″ or video they released for MISS YOU/PINK AND PERFECT/WET WARM CLING FILM RED VELVET CRUSH ON YOU. Supposedly, it was released following INDESTRUCTABLE/BRAINBURST and I’ve been desperately seeking a copy as a friend of mine from London and I are fanatical about The Specimen. In addition, do any of you know where I might be able to acquire recorded live shows (cassette, video, format doesn’t matter) or any copies of the early UK material featuring the tracks “Nightfall” and “Friends in the Dark”? I know this may seem a bit ridiculous, but it feels like we’ve been able to get our hands on everything except those releases.
In addition, if anyone knows how I can reach any of the former members of the US Specimen, they may have an idea of what I’m talking about and could help me a lot…my friend spoke to Ollie and sent him a lot of Specimen bootlegs and recordings as it seems Ollie never held on to any of it! Feel free to contact me at kmacontheattack@yahoo.com or need_our_dna@yahoo.com with any helpful information. Thank you!
Hey! I never spread rumours about myself, so you shouldn’t talk out of school! If you wanna know the truth ask me directly, and I’ll tell you! I’m still alive (and kickin’ thank you) and have a kickass new band so there! I was in NYC for 10 years worked at EMI and AOL Time Warner got married and my wife just finished grad school.
Hello all,
I had totally forgotten about this place until a friend drew my attention back to it.
To Jessica….the lineup for Swoon is:
Tim (Specimen) – drums
Stephan (TOTP) – guitar/keyboards
Scott (TOTP + FTB) – vocals
Lynne (Glitterus) – bass
and as for me,I was the singer/guitarist for Fade to Black & when I left,Scott was the singer and they got another guitarist. Hope to see you at one of our shows soon…please introduce yourself since you were obviously in the “scene” in the old days.
To Gino: I liked your definition of punk,it certainly was the case in 1976 before the whole Pistols thing exploded. All we had were the Dolls/MC5/Stooges/VU to draw from…and we did.
to Seth: go to http://www.myspace.com/swoon and write to Tim,maybe he can help track down the Specimen stuff
to Damien: got one of your many cds…liked it lots. Same Damien from N.O. Wayward Youth,right?
to Lenny: Hey! You tell ‘em! Glad you’re well.
to anyone: I can be reached at the My Space site too…bests, Brad
Actually, that Waynard Youth Damien must be a different one.
Holy hell. I’ll absolutely be at your next show.
Man how did i stumble on to this site , I’ll never remember.Anyway let see if i can shed a lil light on what Brad said . Before the term PUNK became popular ( you call us punks in those days you’d get cut ) the very first band i remember ever doing a sorta raw stooges , MC5 kinda thing was as Brad said the Ultrex , In fact i think we both saw them for the first time opening for the Dolls less Johnny , Jerry and Arthur at a club in N.O. called Ballinjax , At the time i believe Brad and i were in a band that at the early stages was called Thrush that later did a few shows as Harlot after i left . The Ultrex spilt up and formed the Basckstabbers with Brad singing and Russel Jobert on guitar. The Backstabbers were really the first band in N.O. to play on a regular basis what you might call punk but at the time there was no such thing as punk they were more influenced by the Dolls and stooges .After the Backstabbers split Brad and I did short term project maybe played a few shows I formed band called Stray Bullets , another short term project in fact a couple of those guys later joined Brad in the Contenders . When the N.O. experience record came about everyone sorta came together to make it i joined the somewhat reformed Backstabbers just for the record and played on a few other tracks and Brad in the Contenders . Everyone kinda drifted Brad to Austin and later S.F. Myself i went to NYC and played with Sylvain Sylvain from the Dolls and recorded with him for RCA and also worked with Ian Hunter from Mott The Hoople and a bit with Iggy , But if any of you read this and wanna get in touch my email address is djrnno1957@yahoo.com
I was the soundman for RZA back in the early 80′s. The New Orleans music scene was alive and kicking. Lots of energy even if it was 5 or 6 years behind the almost everywhere else. Lotsof club action. Jimmy’s, Jed’s, Tipitina’s The Riverboat and even Ole Man Rivers’ and of course the late, late night bar scene at Andy Capps.
Hey, wow, nice surfing on to this site! Brad O, I know you don’t remember me. I was friends with Joanie. Once pinup punkette and wife of Chuck Welch of RZA now I sell software in Upstate NY. It’s pretty cool to see what people are up to these days. Good luck with your music.
Hey all! I remember a band in NO back in the early 80s called An Island. They were a pretty cool psychedlic/new wave trio and played alot of shows for a while. I think I must have seen them about 3 times and thought they were really good. Anybody know whatever happened to those guys? It seems like they were playing all over the place and were then suddenly gone.
Hello again all….
to Danny: What’s up you old bastard? get in touch! easiest at http://www.coesicaband.com for now. You played w/ Hunter & Iggy??????????
to Judy: Of course I remember you,immortalized in L the P’s song “Judy’s Jumping Around” no? Mathilde was your pal…ever hear from Joanie?
to Jessica: Swoon is no more…watch for new recordings/my space site by Scott & I soon,perhaps as Swoon,perhaps not.
bad news time….Russel Joubert,Backstabbers guitarist jailed last year for murder…will be getting in touch w/ him and will post here…he was/is a guitar god!
be good……
oops! the link to my current band should be http://www.corsicaband.com
drop me a line….B
Does anyone know the story on Russel Joubert from the Backstabbers, I heard he killed his girlfriend and is in prison…? Neal
I remember hanging out at Cord’s Underground after gigging in New Orleans 1975. 76 ? Ultrex was playing some punkass stuff , but it was Eddie St. Pe ( Became weatherTV guy) on vocals. He wrapped the mike stand like he was doing twiggy. Or maybe Ziggy ? Yea we played covers of Mott , Bowie & whatever but we did do originals. Silverleaf , Zebra, Star, Mink, all hung out there spending all the money we made doing covers of our favorite Glamour Rockers…I always looked at The BackStabbers as Russell’s coming out band ..he played with some great rockers including Benmont Tench of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers another member was Frank Bauer my first drummer. 1960′s kid bands. Russell should have been a ganster rapper. Tuna Fish Larry…think that was their name…BC
Hello again all….
A bit of info to pass along -
Neal – sadly,you heard correctly. Russell is doing life w/ no parole in Angola…he plays guitar in the prison band as he’s too sick to work…word is,he doesn’t have long to go w/ a bum liver.
Bernie – wow! Don’t recognise your name from back in the day,but obviously,you were there….all those cover bands used to crack me up. Were you a friend of Russell’s? Indeed Eddie was the singer in Ultrex but I was long gone before he became a weatherman(!)
Danny – took up the thread nicely,son….hope you’re well.
yo Brad and Danny,
long time no vidi ye olde droogies.
MIB VI is in process in chico, ca – only do a few of the old songs, only 1 hagman tune “Chicano”, with all this immigration talk we figrued it was quite relvent these days. a lot on new stuff and negetiveland type noise.
you remmeber those early mib gigs and i was jumping all over, rolling around on stage , etc. that was all inspired by you brad.
i had never saw the backstabbers before then, but had heard about you from the wiz “hello this michael, your on the radio” and PF, and like the who told jimi at monterey, i had to pull out all the stops.
anyway, send all links and stories to me and i’ll post just about anything on my pages.
peace be with you all my brothers,
say hi to carlos also,
rev. first duval, mib
so we played with you with fade to black at the on broadway, the all black show w/ black dolls, men in black, black athletes, i think, was good.
caught the bohemien luv jones set by accident with new orleans friends at a club on divisidaro in ’85, what was the bass players’ name,, my mind gets pickled.. he lived with us at 307 for,a while with cindy aND DAPHNE.
AND DANNY,
so we played with you with fade to black at the on broadway, the all black show w/ black dolls, men in black, black athletes, i think, was good.
caught the bohemien luv jones set by accident with new orleans friends at a club on divisidaro in ’85, what was the bass players’ name,, my mind gets pickled.. he lived with us at 307 for,a while with cindy aND DAPHNE.
AND DANNY, daphne and i caught the you with syvain at the i-beam in s.f., weren’t able to get backstage to say hi and meeet syvain, sorry bout the spellings.
write me anyone with news or whatever you want posted on my main news page page
mennblk@pacbell.net
http://sambario.com/mib.html
peace to you all,
rev. first duval
Dave D., i remembered. him and his briother came out to s.f..
his brother came once to audition for men in black, we pumped him for info, “what did brad and dave tell you about us?”
he was pretty tight lipped, said,” it was gonna be music that defies definition.”
that part was true, but at least he showed up. good!
peace,
rev. d.
bernie,
where’s my samba rio demo vid freddie gave you in ’98 ???
see if you can find it,,ok.
duval
Hey Brad ,
I finally got around to emailing you hope you got it , it’s been a while since i got yours ( sorry ) Hope your email address is still the same if not email me at djrnno1957@yahoo.com and i promise i will not take so long to write back
To Duval ,
I do remember you and MIB you guys were a riot Rockin Rick Cronic lol what ever happend to him ? anyway if anyone wants to write you have my stuff i’ll try not to take a yr to respond
Danny
Interesting to find all of this after all these years. Glad to see that you’re all not in prison. Neither am I. Music degree, instructor at Tulane for three years, looking to form a new band……anyone interested? Bass players need not apply, unless they’re Randall.
Well hello again to all….I keep stumbling into this site from time to time & I’m glad I did.
To Danny – nope,never got an e-mail back from you…will try again.
To Duval – thanks for all the kind words…never knew I was “an influence” on anyone! And yes,I do remember the All in Black show at the On Broadway….good bill! Dave Doucet is still in the area,married w/ a son…he’s a postman now,after years as a chef. He’s kept his hand in music,sporatically playing w/ Lee Shupp(also ex -Luv Jones) in Bodacious! Best bass player I’ve ever played with. Been talking to Cindy but Daphne fell off the map for me.Get in touch if you wanna stir up the old days.
borgeron@sfpl.org
To Ken – I have a Backstabbers/Contenders lp w/ your name on it…just get in touch & give me your address. Ever see/hear from Billy Drew? Or Bubby Mendoza? ‘Stabbers drummers are all ghosts….
I also have the demos for the lp you guys were gonna do after I left…you deserve to own your own music! Sadly,I can’t send stuff to Russell in prison…anyone hear any more news on him? Randall is well & has started recording his own stuff in NC.
As for me,the 1st Corsica album was scrapped & a new one recorded…should be mastered next month & shopped around. My other main project is Wicked Electricity,a heavy psychedelic sound w/ Carlos Boll.It’s being shopped now,so more as this develops. Please visit our MySpace site for more.
all for now kids….hope to hear from you soon.
- B
the site was offline for six months or more. glad that you stumbled back. i’ve missed the discussions going on in these old posts.
Wow it’s good to read about old new orleans musicians. Last year (08) My friend George Lennox pass on, George told me for a time he was the manager for the Backstabbers.
Bubby’s gone now, Brad….
Frank Assunto also.
~AG
Hello again all,
EJ & AJ – don’t recognise you from initials but that’s really sad news about all 3 deaths. N.O. was full of characters back then,but Crazy George was one of the sweetest and oddest guys I’ve known,and yes,he was the Backstabbers manager & benefactor…we even rehearsed in his attic. Bubby was just a sweet kid back then & a great drummer ala Jerry Nolan. And Frank was a fucking institution! Lots of good memories from those Dukes shows. Please send on more info if you can.
I’m living in Hawaii now & have several releases about to drop…a full length cd from my latest solo-ish project Jack Orion titled Darker My Sky.Also a 3 song ep done & a new Corsica ep as well. There will be a 2nd Corsica cd later this year…followup to Sight of the Sun in ’08. Still writing & collaborating so who knows what else will happen. Please,anyone from back in the day,do get in touch or at least leave some stories here. Any news on Russell,Little Buddy,Cathy Clockwork or Babs Hoover out there?
Sure you remember me, Brad, you and I worked at AllSouth Records when I was mixing sound for the Dukes.
Bubby was one of my room mates when a lot of us moved to Los Angeles. We were sharing an apartment in North Hollywood. 1987-88.
He was killed in a motorcycle accident with a Fed-Ex truck, just a few years ago; damn shame.
Frank was relocated to Texas after Hurricane Katrina, and went in for a check-up and the doctors found that his body was was riddled with cancer.
His family brought him back to Metairie, where he passed away in hospice.
I was there with him the day before he died, and his last request was just to feel the wind in his face… so we just took his hospital bed outside for an hour. I mean, what could they do, and most of the hospice staff just looked the other way when we told them it was his last request.
Mike Assunto and I worked on the remaining multi-track recordings from the Dukes, but it’s just a vanity project at this point. However the stuff sounds great, too bad I didn’t have digital capabilities in 1980.
Anyway, I was able to put together almost a dozen cds of The Dukes and The Monsters (my band after The Dukes) but it was more or less mainly just to finally complete some of that material.
As the Monsters we lived in Hollywood, and you could see the Hollywood sigh from the window of our house/rehearsal hall/studio.
Carlo Nuccio moved out there and he owned a 16 track 2 inch recorder that he stored in our rehearsal space, so I was able to cut demos on almost everything I’d ever written.
AG…you know,it’s funny,but after i wrote the last post,I figured out who you were…N.O. was full of guys that went by initials,so sorry. Really sad about both Frank & Bubby…glad you’re ok. I always liked the Dukes,gone before the Monsters tho’…were the bros. in that one with you too? I saw Carlo in the late 80′s in SF with the last incarnation of the Rain Parade. He was such a good drummer. Been living in Hawaii for the last year but will be moving to Twin Peaks in the San Bernardino Mts in the next few months. My girlfriend’s folks gave us a cottage up there so we couldn’t pass it up. Still doing music with my band Corsica & solo-ish as well,under the name Jack Orion…all kinda folkie Byrds/Love type stuff…with the state of the music industry,it may as well be a vanity project. Think the Jack Orion cd will actually be released by a German label soon,so we’ll see. Hell,I do it cuz I love it…lost the starry eyed wonder ages ago! Speaking of All-South…Steve Gifford finally died a few years ago…all that wine & coke did him in in the end. Haven’t heard much about Russell recently,but I’m guessing he’s gone too. Docs in Angola gave him 2 years to live…4 years ago. he never could put down the needle…still in touch with Carlos Boll & Randall from back in the day…lots of others from then gone. Did we do something right? Good to hear from you & would love to hear some of that Dukes material if possible…will check back here soon.
Howdy folks…it is I …from… The Ultrex, Eddie Saint Pe’…
Russell was my best friend back in those growing up days…we loved the Dolls …and Ziggy…the whole scene, yall remember.
We wrote songs in Russelle’s bedroom…we were into the scene pretty deeply…
I departed Ultrex, and the whole scene when my lover and later wife Debbie moved to New Orleans from NY … it was ’76…right after Ultrex opened for the Dolls at BallinJaxx…in the Qtr…
I never went back…Debbie and I did go to NYC after that and I did gig a bit in the city…played Max’s and CBGB’S…but got a job..I was 20…at NBC at Rock Center and that changed my life…I have been in Television these lo many years and a happy person…I had three daughters …all out of college now (2012) and had a happy life as a TV Weatherman…still happy as a matter of fact. I am sad at what I have learned has happened to my friend Russell.