Never mind 2016: Here are 5 New Year’s gigs you should know about

"Sgt. Pepper's" style collage of 2016 deaths — 2016 homage by Chris Barker.

Those of us who admire music-makers of renown shared many hard losses over the past year. And many us who treasure our own music scenes have lost local heroes as well.

Time passes, and young lions grow older — since their mortality reminds us of our own, and the music they made reminds us of our receding youth, it’s always personal. And for those of us of a certain age, 2016 seemed way too close for comfort.

But we’ll always have the music. On the eve of a year I hope will bring more good news than bad, I thought we’d take a quick tour of five shows from New Years past (and revisit some 2016 highlights from FiveBands): Continue reading “Never mind 2016: Here are 5 New Year’s gigs you should know about”

Fox Pass and the Modern Lovers connection: On the record with Jon Macey

Fox Pass' Michael Roy and Jon Macey in the studio — Michael Roy (left) and Jon Macey. (Courtesy Jon Macey)

I’m not just the author of FiveBands — I’m also a fan. Working on this project has given me the chance to discover groups I never heard of but would have loved from Day One. And of that growing list, Boston’s Fox Pass is one of my favorites.

Fox Pass started in 1972 as a high-school collaboration between guitarists/vocalists Jon Macey and Michael Roy. Early adherents of the New York sound of the Velvet Underground as well as Boston’s own Modern Lovers, Macey and Roy led Fox Pass through a succession of rhythm sections and hundreds of gigs until the band’s farewell performance at The Club in Cambridge on Dec. 27, 1978.

The duo moved to New York, where they joined their friend Tom Dickie to form Tom Dickie and the Desires (managed by the legendary Tommy Mottola). That band dissolved in 1982, and Macey and Roy parted ways until the late ‘90s. A reformed Fox Pass finally released its debut album in 2005 and a second in 2010.

While Fox Pass released just one single during the ‘70s, Jon Macey has generously shared some unreleased Fox Pass tracks from the era, which I’m honored to present here:

Let’s flip the FiveBands formula this time. Check out bands you know that crossed paths with Fox Pass:

Continue reading “Fox Pass and the Modern Lovers connection: On the record with Jon Macey”

Return to the Rat: 5 more Boston bands you should know about

The votes are in, and veterans of the late-’70s Boston music scene focused on the Rathskeller (a k a “the Rat“) want you to know more.

I recently stage-dived into this scene armed with a copy of Looking for Lady Dee: A Punk Rock Mystery by Johnny Angel, co-founder of Rat regulars Thrills. Johnny’s book provided me with some useful clues about worthy bands that never achieved fame outside the region — but picking just five proved a serious challenge, even to a Boston dilettante like me.

Former Rat scenesters agreed. Prompted by their advocacy — as well as some fantastic online resources including Boston Groupie News and the Music Museum of New England — here are five more bands you should know about: Continue reading “Return to the Rat: 5 more Boston bands you should know about”

Johnny Angel, Boston’s Rat, and 5 bands you should know about

Portrait of Johnny Angel — Johnny Angel, 2015.

There are 8 million stories in the naked city, and Johnny Angel has a few thousand of them. As founder of Thrills, the Massachusetts native (and current Los Angeles resident) played a major role in Boston’s late-’70s scene focused on the legendary Rathskeller, better know as the Rat (and a k a “Boston’s CBGB“). Thrills gigged with Boston’s finest as well as touring groups from the Ramones to the Dead Boys to U2; Angel has maintained those relationships as a musician, radio personality, print journalist and actor.

But how to tell the tale without the clichés of a standard-issue memoir? Johnny took a novel route in 2015, when he published Looking for Lady Dee: A Punk Rock Mystery. The book weaves together scrupulous autobiography with a film noir mystery: An old flame from his days at The Rat has disappeared, and Johnny teams with a punk femme fatale to find her.

Along the way, Johnny Angel pays homage to his band and a slew of others who pioneered the scene. Here are five you should know about: Continue reading “Johnny Angel, Boston’s Rat, and 5 bands you should know about”