Entertaining Tucson: Entertaining Tucson Vol. 1

February 1985: Tucson musicians rock

By Lydia L. Young 
February 1985 - The Magazine. Page 9

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WREX had an unusual line-up January 9^th (1985). Stark Raving Mad from New York cancelled, but two of Tucson’s own played. Los Hamsters opened with the energy and excitement of a rock and roll show. The band was tight, playing mostly originals reminiscent of the ‘60s and ‘70s and a few covers such as “Little Red Riding Hood” and “Sister Susie’s Turn to Throw the Bomb.” Los Hamsters is a great band, inspiring amusement and dancing. Their rapport with the audience was fantastic. The diversity in fashion added to the fun.

Linda, whose fingers flew on lead guitar, brought the ‘50s to mind. Matt, on a bouncy bass dressed in all red, flashed ‘60s. And vocalist Splatt, writhing on the stage, was definitely ‘70s hard-core punk. Julia’s sticks were a strong backbone to the band– much more noticeable in her talent than hidden behind the drums. An encore was inevitable.

The second band to play that night was What Went Wrong I could ask the same question. The guitarist was hot, but the rest of the band gave the impression that they could care less. That rubbed off on me.

Italy’s Raw Power band heard last summer is definitely hitting the U.S. in March. They will be touring with Breakout in California. It is possible that U.P.S. will do the south and Midwestern dates with them. Brian Bromberg [1] has returned to the local scene. I caught him briefly at Jack’s Pub January 17^th but look forward to hearing more.

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Volume 1

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Chances burned to the ground

Chances Night Club, 6542 E. Tanque Verde Road, was condemned hours after an arson fire ripped through the building Thursday, January 11, 1985. The bar opened in November 1978.

T&Z to serve drinks, Chances bites the dust, Roxy and DanceTrax rises

By Lydia L. Young 
February 1985 - The Magazine. Page 9

The new Roxy is a beautiful, roomy club, with a great stage and sound system, I saw Concourse on January 5^th (1985) and was not impressed by their unoriginality and same old cover material. Let’s hope for some good shows. Chances burned to the ground, reportedly by an arsonist, in January.

Speaking of new clubs, another all ages club opened on North Oracle called DanceTrax. They will feature recorded music.

Dance Attack is a multi-colored show synched up to the music flash on screens as the “O Team” DJ’s spin a wide variety of music. It happens at WREX Friday, February 8^th from 9:00PM to 2:00AM. Be there for “the “Midnight Break off” when breakdancers take to the floor.

Terry & Zeke’s now has their liquor license, says Terry Glassman. That means they now serve well, call and mixed drinks in addition to a wide selection of beers, wine and champagnes. I ran into an unusual contrast of attitudes at Terry & Zeke’s Monday Night Jams. Everyone had a good time on January 14^th. There were so many changes in musicians I could hardly keep track. Everyone was encouraged to join in. The following Monday I went down and the musicians on stage refused to let anyone else play. I got the blues.

The Flipper Show at Characters January 24th apparently was not heavily attended. The next day, Terry Glassman said, Characters has been temporarily closed for renovations. That makes two bars lost. And, oh, no, a third.

Tucson bands rock the clubs

I was definitely impressed with the Speedways at Twin Peaks on January 12^th (1985) Their music is basically old rock and roll covers, but they are tight and talented.

U.P.S. is auditioning serious drummers. Paul said the band wants to record and get ready to go on the road. There was a party January 12^th that brought a new local band out of the desert. The band, River Roses consists of Chris Seldom (rhythm guitar and vocals), Gene (lead guitar), Kate (bass and vocals) and Rob (drummer). They were without a drummer, so Julia (drummer for Los Hamsters) sat in. River Roses is a band worth hearing. They do almost all originals with a couple of Velvet Underground covers. Sort of a new version of folk/rock, Los Hamsters also played the party– fine tuning themselves for the major gig at WREX.

Liz Youngren (ex-drummer for Feline), who can be seen rather regularly jamming at Terry & Zeke’s, said she is keeping her beat in shape and looking to audition for a serious band.

Mark Smythe said he is currently writing new material with plans of going into the studio to record a few originals. One of those will be “Stride by Stride,” co-written with Van Christian that was performed at the Virgin Vinyl Christmas Concert. Mark said he is already shopping his songs in the L.A. area. Road Furniture has been working very hard lately. They have finished a personal video called “Road Furniture” which will be aired on TWIT, January 31^st between 9:30PM and midnight on public access channel 37. Tony Dow said the band will play live on February 1^st and work on another video with Cox Cable. Dow added, Road Furniture had-been polishing their originals in preparation of doing professional quality video on February 9^th (1985).

January 11^th was an eventful night at WREX. The Cattle opened, with, I was told, one of their best sets including three new songs (see interview, this edition). Naked Prey played second to approximately 150 people. Many sources reported that Van Christian instigated violence and a general negativity over the whole show, singling out people in the audience with a deliberate attempt to cause fighting. Charlie Pickett and the Eggs played next and tried their best to turn the negativity around. They played a very good set.

Jeff Keenan of Phantom Limbs said they are auditioning drummers. Because of this disruption, they have moved their San Francisco recording date to March. Al Perry said the new album will be in approximately six to eight weeks.

I was definitely impressed with the Speedways at Twin Peaks on January 12^th (1985) Their music is basically old rock and roll covers, but they are tight and talented.

U.P.S. is auditioning serious drummers. Paul said the band wants to record and get ready to go on the road. There was a party January 12^th that brought a new local band out of the desert. The band, River Roses consists of Chris Seldom (rhythm guitar and vocals), Gene (lead guitar), Kate (bass and vocals) and Rob (drummer). They were without a drummer, so Julia (drummer for Los Hamsters) sat in. River Roses is a band worth hearing. They do almost all originals with a couple of Velvet Underground covers. Sort of a new version of folk/rock, Los Hamsters also played the party– fine tuning themselves for the major gig at WREX.

Liz Youngren (ex-drummer for Feline), who can be seen rather regularly jamming at Terry & Zeke’s, said she is keeping her beat in shape and looking to audition for a serious band.

Mark Smythe said he is currently writing new material with plans of going into the studio to record a few originals. One of those will be “Stride by Stride,” co-written with Van Christian that was performed at the Virgin Vinyl Christmas Concert. Mark said he is already shopping his songs in the L.A. area. Road Furniture has been working very hard lately. They have finished a personal video called “Road Furniture” which will be aired on TWIT, January 31^st between 9:30PM and midnight on public access channel 37. Tony Dow said the band will play live on February 1^st and work on another video with Cox Cable. Dow added, Road Furniture had-been polishing their originals in preparation of doing professional quality video on February 9^th (1985).

January 11^th was an eventful night at WREX. The Cattle opened, with, I was told, one of their best sets including three new songs (see interview, this edition). Naked Prey played second to approximately 150 people. Many sources reported that Van Christian instigated violence and a general negativity over the whole show, singling out people in the audience with a deliberate attempt to cause fighting. Charlie Pickett and the Eggs played next and tried their best to turn the negativity around. They played a very good set.

Jeff Keenan of Phantom Limbs said they are auditioning drummers. Because of this disruption, they have moved their San Francisco recording date to March. Al Perry said the new album will be in approximately six to eight weeks.

There is a new experimental rock and roll band in Tucson called If. Members include ex-Hi Top Stink’s main men Danny Hill (arctic guitar), and Spanna (guitar and percussion), Also there is Heidi Hegwer (drums) and Darrel Mayers (bass). All members of If do vocals.

Ipso Facto has been having some very successful weekends at Nino’s. Joey (bassist) said they are trying to put another tape out, preferably live, Also, he said, Ipso Facto is planning some gigs outdoors in the near future.

Lots of Los Lasers action. Bassist Pat Murphy quit the band January 12^th. Pat said he will be trying to get a band together in March or April. Also, drummer Marx B. Loeb III is leaving March 2^nd. He said he is planning on starting another rock and roll oriented band. George Hawke said they have hired a new bassist named Jim Miller and have not given up on Los Lasers.

The Resistors are going into the studio to record a demo and to shop around. Word is that their original sax player, Murphy, has returned. The band is working on new songs and doing some heavy rehearsing. They won’t be playing for a while.

I did not see the show, but I heard Chuck Dukowski’s (ex-Black Flag) new band SWA, played WREX on January 19^th and was discordant, slow and metalish with no real direction. The Minutemen, however were said to have played their best Tucson performance ever. They did two full encores to about 300 people.

The Outlaw changes

By Fonda, February 1985, The Magazine. Page 18

Country music enthusiasts have surely noticed a big change with the moving of the Outlaw to 5822 E. Speedway. Fortunately, they will still offer live music.