Entertaining Tucson: Entertaining Tucson Vol. 1
By Lydia L. Young
March 1985 - The Magazine. Page 3
This page is from the 3-volume set of "Entertaining Tucson Across the Decades," a compilation of Tucson's music and entertainment history.
The Lone Ranger (Clayton Moore) will ride into the Old Pueblo March 28-31 (1985) to host the University of Arizona Spring Fling.
It promises to be a fun-filled four days. Besides the traditional
rides, food booths and games, the music line-up is a “gonga!” thanks to Stacey Simms,
entertainment director of Spring Fling. The auditory senses should gear
up for what could turn out to be a truly euphoric experience.
The first night of festivities on March 28th features Friendly Warning and If. The March 29th schedule includes The Outcrowd, Buddy System, Mobile Cubes and a surprise performance.
Split Decision cranks things up March 30th along with the Saddle City Band, Rainer & Das Combo, Only’s and Gentlemen After Dark.
That same day, the Lone Ranger is scheduled to emcee an awards ceremony
at 6:00PM. An hour later, a dance contest breaks out. Lots of prizes
are up for grabs.
The last day of Spring Fling on March 31st has Long Island Sound performing with Street Pajama and Brian Bromberg throughout
the day. Check the centerfold calendar for times of each performance.
Shows are included in the price of admission.
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By Lydia L. Young
March 9, 1985 - The Magazine. Page 9
According to Jeff Keenan of Phantom Limbs, Howe Salmon (the Dogs and
previously with the Limbs) is going to be drumming for the band when
they do their recording in San Francisco (date still tentative). A giant
sorry for missing the show with Rank & File, which I heard was
excellent. A pound of cheese to Jeff Keenan.
On February 3rd (1985) Manifest Destiny played WREX. With only a few days notice Los Hamsters opened and Matt Griffin (bass) said they were not quite ready. Manifest Destiny,
a mid-tempo original hardcore band was reportedly decent. I was told
that the sound system was not working well and there are hopes the band
will return for a fairer review.
Sharon O’Brian and camera took on the night of February 8th for me. The Dance Attack (break dancing) at WREX was especially enjoyable. Also fun was Jack’s Pub that night featuring the band If with
a circus theme. Unfortunately, the camera was not working properly and
the pictures did not come out well. Nevertheless, I thank Sharon for her
determination.
River Roses played energetically at the UA Cellar during “Eat to the Beat” February 13th.
I hope to hear more of their thought-provoking, inventive music. Not
too many people showed up for the Toxic Reasons show on Valentine’s Day
at WREX.
Word is the band was very tight
and their message came across clearly… to inform people to be aware of
controls put on us. The international mixture (one American, one
Canadian and two Englishmen) blended well to bring forth different
viewpoints. The opening band What Went Wrong managed to get
themselves kicked off stage due to disorganization and a laissez-faire
attitude (thank you for the fan mail).
Al Perry said the new Cattle album should be out soon. Current plans are for a record release party at Tequila Mockingbird on March 23rd.
I spoke to Mauro Codeluppi (vocalist) of the Italian band Raw Power who said the band will be flying into Canada on March 22nd. The tour actually begins April 1st. For the first two months (at least), Breakout will be opening for them, after which U.P.S. is expected to join them. Their new LP, recorded on their last American tour, will be out in two weeks.
Mark Smythe (ex-Isaiah, Pills and Jonny Sevin) has been working hard on his own material lately. He was in the studio last week, backed by Only’s to tape a song co-written with Van Christian, “Stride by Stride.” The sound is one the heavy metal side, but the Mark Smythe emotion and dance attraction is evident.
Smythe describes his new
direction as “compulsive, gut rock and roll.” He has plans to spend as
much time in the studio as possible, in order to put his material in
shoppable form. Smythe said he is more interested in playing guitar for a
band than leading one. He also has something up his sleeve, but is not
talking.
I saw the Veg-a-matix at WREX February 19th
as was very impressed. Their music is fast paced, rock and roll rooted
with pop overtones. The professionalism of the band was brilliantly
evident on stage in the way the member’s complimented each other. Soon
after the show, Hope Gorecki (vocalist) contacted me with news the band had changed its name to Enola Gay and the Tokyo Bombers. The weekend of the 23rd the band spent working in the studio. They feel very happy with their progress and experimentation.
Last heard of as the Giant Sandworms (Giant Sandwurms), Howe Gelb and Scott Garber have moved to Los Angeles and are recording as Giant Sand.
Garber said the name was changed to end the affiliation with the movie,
So far, he said, they have had good response to the change. For the
moment, Garber said, “No comment about the record.”
February 20th at Tequila Mockingbird was a bit surprising. The Johnies opened
and were described as a garage band performing mostly covers ranging
from Nancy Sinatra’s “Boots” to “Sister Ray” by the Velvet Underground.
Their set was loose, but fun. Most of the crowd left after the Johnies
and The Cattle had a good, but short set, due to equipment being knocked over.
Jack Martinez of Only’s said
the band is about three quarters done with recording. “We are trying to
get a real good piece of recording and it’s going great.” Martinez
added that they have imported a professional producer, Doug Williams,
from Los Angeles. He also stressed the band is not pressing an album.
Pandemonium seemed to be the order of the evening at WREX. February 24th. Some fights broke out. There was destruction to the club and cars were vandalized. The bands, however, were great. T.S.O.L. was
tighter and more professional than ever. Their heart and soul were
bared as they played. There was a bit of jamming with T.S.O.L. and M.I.A. at the end of the show that was both unusual and pleasant.
By Jeff Latawiec
March 1985 - The Magazine. Page 11
With the close of this month, we are getting near the release of Roc Lochner’s long awaited mini-LP. They filled in the waiting time by playing the Roxy, and a gig at the University of Arizona Ballroom. They also managed to get out and see some music by other bands. Most of the group was present Friday the 22nd (1985) for Aftermath’s gig at WREX.
That was one good show, despite being plagued with a late start (Aftermath didn’t
go on until after 1:00AM) and some sound problems. They were hot,
tight, and all the other, adjectives you use to describe a band you
like. They have trimmed down to a four-piece, since one of the
guitarists is no longer with them. But Cliff handled all the guitar chores with no problems. A lot of that is due to Joe Nutt’s incredibly good bass playing. Along with Rick’s drumming, the space behind the lead solos is amply filled. This is singer Richard’s first time as lead vocalist for any band. But he looked as if he’s been doing it always Friday night. That means he was good.
We’re Here and a band composed of University of Arizona students called Believer also
played the same show. WH has also shaved down to a four-piece, getting
rid of their lead vocalist. As mentioned last month, they have gone
original and they seemed to please quite a few folk with their new
style. I didn’t arrive in time to see Believer, unfortunately, but I
heard they did a lot of metal covers; and seemed to get a decent
audience response.
The Magazine Concert Update: We finally located a site to put on the planned benefit concert. The people from WREX, mainly Chris, Joe and Daryl
have made arrangements to use their hall for the show. The next step is
finding a date when all the groups can play. Anyhow, it’s going to
happen. I hope tons of people come so that the Mag can become an ever better independent publication.
I was out looking at records
the other day and I saw some discs made by local groups in the bins.
It’s really nice to be browsing through the slabs and be hit with a name
like Naked Prey, who had just released their first album. Hope
to see more of the same. As usual, the people I owe thanx to are legion.
But, I’d like to single out Joe Nutt, Raeanne, Tawny, my brother and Tommy, and finally, R.Z.
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