Karen Booth
I’m doing the happy dance over today’s installment of RNRHS, featuring honest-to-goodness American music legend, Peter Case. Many children of the ’80s, myself included, love his band, The Plimsouls, and associate them with a very memorable time in our lives. “A Million Miles Away” is the touchstone, nostalgia wrapped up in an endlessly listenable package. Hell, the title for my book comes from the lyrics. The thing is though, The Plimsouls were only the tip of the proverbial iceberg and Case’s solo career has proven to be most enduring, earning him accolades and a legion of die-hard fans. He has had three Grammy nods over the years, his songs are continually revived by other artists (a three-disc set was recorded in tribute to him) and featured in films and TV (most recently, on True Blood). Over two decades, he’s recorded ten solo albums and his most recent release, “Wig”, is not to be missed. You can find out even more about Mr. Case, including worldwide tour dates, at petercase.com. A million thanks to Peter for being so generous with his time and memories!
Peter Case
Hamburg High School, Hamburg , NY, dropped out of the class of ’72 after 9th grade, Currently: writing songs and singing them, touring the world
Band and/or song that reminds you the most of high school: I listen to Bob Dylan, Cecil Taylor, the Beatles, Captain Beefheart, The Stones
Favorite piece of music memorabilia in high school: my band Pig Nation played at the school dance, there was a riot, the local paper printed an editorial: ‘Where Were The Chaperones?’ They gave out our addresses too.
Band that you hated that everyone else at school seemed to love: I loved the first Led Zep LP, and nobody knew what it was. My girlfriend said she liked Bobby Goldsboro, so I broke up with her.
Best high school make-out song: I didn’t particularly mind what song was playing.
Best show or concert you saw in high school: When I was 16 I ran off from home and saw Lightnin’ Hopkins play in Boston, early 1971.
This week’s RNRHS is from Regina Joskow, one of my oldest (as in we’ve been friends for a long time) and dearest friends. Regina was one of the amazing women that I looked up to when I got my first music biz job and she was similarly in love with Soul Asylum, so we had much over which to bond. On top of that, her birthday is the day after mine, so we are astrologically in synch. I had to send Regina a note yesterday afternoon while I was trolling the internet for photos of Todd Rundgren–I never realized exactly how hot Todd Rundgren was in his day. I mean, if you’re into that whole scrawny rock god thing, and yes, Regina and I have been known to be into that.
Regina Joskow
Bronx, NY, Currently: Independent Publicist
Band and/or song that reminds you the most of high school: My twin obsessions were the Ramones and Todd Rundgren. I spent every cent I made at my after-school job at Weber’s Bake Shop on records, concert tickets and magazines so I could indulge my crazy fandom.
Favorite piece of music memorabilia (poster, t-shirt, etc.) in high school: I had a huge poster of the Rolling Stones on the wall over my bed. My father used to call Mick Jagger “the man from the planet of the apes,” which I thought was hilarious. I actually covered every square inch of my walls (at least what I could reach) with pictures I cut out of Creem Magazine, Trouser Press and Rock Scene. It was a little over the top, but I thought it was the coolest. I had a t-shirt from the Johnny Blitz benefit at CBGB in 1978 that I was particularly fond of. Johnny was the drummer of the Dead Boys, who was injured in a knife fight, and because he had no money and no insurance, a bunch of bands put together a benefit to raise money for his hospital bills. The benefit took place over three nights and I was lucky enough to attend one of them. I still have the remains of that t-shirt, though I’m shocked that I ever had the chutzpah to wear something that’s essentially the size of a handkerchief as a top (of course, I customized it and cut off the bottom, the sleeves and the neck band).
Band that you hated that everyone else at school seemed to love: There were a few: Boston, Kansas, and Styx come to mind. I hated all of these with a burning passion. I’ve come around to appreciating the first Boston album, but the mere thought of Styx and Kansas is enough to give me hives.
Best show or concert you saw in high school: I had the dumb luck of being best friends with a girl whose sister worked at CBGB, so she got us into a bunch of shows that I wouldn’t have known about otherwise — and even if I had known about them, there was no way I would have been able to get in to any of them. Television made a huge impression on me, as did Patti Smith, who’s still one of my musical heroes. I have very vivid memories of seeing Television open for Peter Gabriel at the Capitol Theater, and of Gabriel’s fans throwing things at the stage and yelling for Television to get off. It was really quite traumatic at the time. I think the most memorable arena show was the Rolling Stones at Madison Square Garden for the “Some Girls” tour. I also remember what a trip it was to see the Clash open for the Who at Shea Stadium: David Johansen was on first, and the stands were almost empty. By the time the Clash came on, the stadium was full, but most people had no interest in the Clash, and kept chanting for the Who. This was after Keith Moon’s passing, and I had little interest in seeing the Who with Kenney Jones. If my friend Maria hadn’t insisted that we stay, I would have bailed.
Best high school make-out song (optional!): I honestly don’t remember.
Today’s RNRHS comes from indie rock music biz legend, Lori Blumenthal. Yes, Lori, I’m going to call you a legend and you can’t get out of it, even though you no longer work in music. Sorry. When I got my first music business job at Twin/Tone Records, Lori worked at I.R.S. Records and was one of the women that I really looked up to because she was so incredibly well-respected by everybody. I mean, everybody. Lori also happened to be really good friends with a guy named Steve Balcom, who is now my husband, and I remember worrying that Lori might not like me and that it might somehow influence Steve’s opinion of me. I had a ginormous crush on him and he didn’t know it and well…my worrying was for nothing because it all worked out in the end. Lori has some very cool NY music memories, so please, read on.
Lori Blumenthal
West Hempstead High School, West Hempstead NY, Class of 1980 (Go Rams! not really, nobody cared, they were all way too busy smoking pot), Currently: a long suffering bookstore employee in the era of the death of the printed word…previous life as a music business executive in the era of the death of the music business. I know how to pick ’em.
Band/or song that reminds you the most of high school: The cool thing about my high school life was that I was really into the Who and the Stones so I could be friends with the classic rock stoner kids, but punk was really starting to break through, and we were discovering the Clash and the Ramones and Elvis Costello. That way we could feel superior to everyone else, like we knew a huge secret and nobody else was in on it. And we did, kind of. History smiles sweetly on us, the kids who liked punk in 1980.
Favorite piece of music memorabilia from high school: See above. I had a Boston T-shirt because I saw them at Madision Square Garden and a Jackson Browne baseball shirt, but then I had a Ramones shirt and all kinds of new wave accoutrements, like a satin pink tie that I wore with my punk shirts. We went to the CITY on the weekends, and hung out on St Marks Place. We were convinced we were cooler than everyone else that just stayed on Long Island.
Band you hated that everyone else at school seemed to love: I always hated the Grateful Dead. They were huge and maybe because I never got stoned or took drugs I never got it. I still can’t stand any band that is even vaguely influenced by the Grateful Dead. And of course half of my boyfriends and my ex-husband were Deadheads. Serves me right.
Best show or concert you saw in high school: We saw some great concerts. We were so lucky to be so close to NYC. We saw the Runaways open up for Cheap Trick (ed’s note: WOW), we saw the Ramones several times during high school. I think Blondie opened one of their shows. I saw Van Halen on their first record.
The Optional Question: Best high school make-out song? I had braces through my senior year. No making out for me, not till college and of course then it was all about REM.
Today’s RNRHS is from Billy Maupin (another of my former fellow co-workers from Mammoth Records) and mentions two things I hadn’t thought about in a long time–Poindexter Records and cassingles. Ah, the cassingle, such a perfect nugget of musical enjoyment–like Jolly Ranchers for your ears. And Poindexter…well, one of the best record stores ever. It is missed by many, like countless others all over the country. Nothing beats a Saturday afternoon spent puttering about in a record store. Does that sound like something an old person says? Like, nothing beats a Saturday afternoon spent down at the malt shop after your shift pumping gas at the service station? Damn.
Billy Maupin
Northern High School, Durham, NC, Class of 1989, Currently: GM of the Yep Roc Music Group
Band and/or song that reminds you the most of high school: U2 – Joshua Tree and Rattle and Hum were the soundtrack to my high school years. My friend Matt and I became slightly obsessed with Rattle and Hum going as far as making tapes of the movie audio and declaring it (to anyone who would listen) to be “far superior to the cd “. This was pre internet so I am sure my fandom pissed a lot of people off. Also recall spending a lot of time trying to track down all the official cassingles so that I could have all the unreleased b-sides. I remember getting the last one right around graduation and how important it was to compile the b-sides onto one cassette for “Beach Week”.
Favorite piece of music memorabilia in high school: T-shirts were always a favorite. 1) REM Bicycle Little America Tour Shirt – I wore that shirt through high school, college and for years afterwards, and would probably still be wearing it today if it hadn’t literally fallen apart. 2) Poindexter Records T-shirt (The 1916 Perry Street location) – I spent untold hours (and dollars) there. The shirt had a really simple logo of a face but no matter where I wore it someone would come up and ask me what it meant. 3) Rush Hold Your Fire T-shirt – I bought this from a bootlegger leaving a Rush show at Reynolds Coliseum. He wanted $10, I offered $5 and he said no way. I made like I was going to leave and he relented and gave it to me for $5. The quality sucked but at $5 I couldn’t complain.
Band that you hated that everyone else at school seemed to love: There was a moment in 87 or 88 when it seemed like the only band anyone was talking about was DRI. Outside of the iconic logo I just didn’t get it. Crossover Thrash? Hello? Pick one or the other.
Best high school make-out song: Def Leppard “Rockett”
Best show or concert you saw in high school: REM at Cameron Indoor stadium. I remember racing from school to the Record Bar at Northgate Mall to get tickets after hearing that the show was almost sold out. The clerk pulled out a steel cash box from under the counter (this was pre ticketmaster) and I got the last two tickets. My tickets ended up being dead center in the last row but it was still an incredible show.
Hey y’all! Just had to say that since today’s installment of RNRHS (we’re calling it that now, btw) is from my amazing friend, Amy Barefoot, who can say things like y’all and make it sound perfectly natural. It sounds terrible when I say it (see sidebar). In fact, I apologized profusely the few times I tried to use it. Amy and I used to work at Mammoth Records together and although we were separated by two floors, that didn’t stop us from spending lots of time together. Now whether a whole lot of work was getting done during that time, well, our old boss reads this blog so yes, we were being very productive. We weren’t talking about rock boys or cats or drinking or our co-workers at all.
Rock on y’all.
Amy Barefoot
Smithfield, NC, Smithfield Selma Senior High (also known simply as Triple S), Class of 1988, Currently: The boss of me at Barefoot Public, Inc.
Band and/or song that reminds you the most of high school: First of all, I should probably explain that I grew up in Johnston County which means that what you are about to read is further evidence that I defied the odds as I should probably be living in a trailer in the field behind my parents house. Luckily, planets aligned, I crossed county lines and grew out the spiral perm.
The hair metal bands of the 80’s were really unavoidable for me. For some reason I morphed from worshiping the British pop darlings of Duran Duran to discovering the beauty of the Psychedelic Furs and Echo & The Bunnymen on the Pretty in Pink soundtrack to landing straight in the middle of a big heap of neon spandex, eyeliner and lots of hair.
I once made a banner for Bon Jovi from a queen-sized sheet that I then strategically placed up my acid washed jean miniskirt along with a roll of duct tape to enter Greensboro Coliseum. I had been told security would confiscate all banners and they would be checking purses. I’m pretty sure I looked like I was seven months pregnant but the crowd cheered as me and my friends unfurled our homemade love letter on a sheet. It was worth the trouble in the end because Jon Bon Jovi mentioned how much he liked it three times during the show. The crowd ripped it to shreds and I actually saw someone walking out with the part of the sheet that had my name on it.
At home, I couldn’t escape the metal bands either as some of my really good friends were in a band called SCAVENGER’s DAUGHTER. Whenever I say the name of this band, I always have to pronounce it like a monster truck race announcer. FYI, a scavenger’s daughter was a type of torture device not unlike an iron maiden, which they covered extensively along with Judas Priest. I would go to the local Battle of the Bands and then change into respectable clothes to go to my church’s youth group meeting (yeah, my dad was a preacher). Occasionally Scavenger’s Daughter would play the Brewery opening up for such gems as Confessor. I’m really glad my planets aligned and I crossed county lines.
Favorite piece of music memorabilia (poster, t-shirt, etc.) in high school: I have two. There is the totally classy “Slippery When Wet” t-shirt from the aforementioned Bon Jovi tour. Occasionally I’ll tease my hair, break out the white leather fringed boots and wear it as a Halloween costume.
The other prized piece of memorabilia is a few plies of yellowing toilet paper that I’ve kept sealed in a small plastic box since 1985. I went to see Duran Duran and while John Taylor (this is for you Karen) (ed’s note: thank you, I happily accept all mentions of JT) was playing, some nut threw a roll of toilet paper at him. He saw it coming, caught it and wiped his beautiful, sweaty brow with it and tossed it into the crowd. I was fortunate enough to catch some of it, which I generously split with my friends. That was my first concert. I walked out of there like. . .”screw your little tour t-shirts. . . I’ve got sweaty John Taylor toilet paper.” That sounds kind of gross now but at the time, I was cooler than Anthony Michael Hall holding up Molly Ringwald’s underwear in the bathroom in Sixteen Candles.
Band that you hated that everyone else at school seemed to love: Effing Genesis. I was a member of a dance academy from the age of 6 to 18 and each year we had a big dance recital production thing.. One year, I was recruited/forced to do a ballet routine on roller skates. . .that’s right. . .roller skates to “Tonight, Tonight, Tonight”. To this day, I can hear that song or any song from that album and simultaneously get ghost bruises. I sucked at skating. My costume should have been made out of bubble wrap I fell so much. I don’t know whose brilliant idea it was for me to do a skating arabesque across a bumpy stage but I’d like to think they still feel bad about picking me to do it.
Best high school make-out song: “Glory of Love” or some Peter Cetera bulljive from a Karate Kid movie. I think I made out with a guy to that. It’s funny, I don’t remember his name but I remember that his eyebrows were a lot darker than his hair because he frosted his tips but he was no John Taylor. He wasn’t even a Nick Rhodes. Oh, and he had a dog named “Sparkplug”. My friends met him at the state fair. . .I think that says it all right there.
Maybe something from Journey’s Raised on Radio.
Best show or concert you saw in high school: It’s a toss up between the Bon Jovi/Cinderella/Skid Row spectacle and The Bongos/Power Station line-up. I did go to a Bruce Springsteen show with my dad, who in addition to being a preacher was also a teacher at my high school. It was a fun yet awkward show. It was at the newly built Dean E. Smith Center at UNC. My dad went to the bathroom at one point. . . came running back to our seats, grabbed my arm and made me stand outside the men’s bathroom so he could introduce me to some UNC men’s basketball players as they left. I was mortified. It was a defining moment for both of us. For him, he was the coolest teacher at school because the next day he just talked about the show instead of teaching and for me, I’ve never been to see any live, musical performances with him since then.
