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THE
SAGA OF LIE, CHEAT, STEAL (Cont'd)
So,
my girlfriend at the time told me that this
guy who hung out at the bar she tended in
was a drummer, and that I should try it
out. I asked who it was, and she said, Sean
Lahey. My immediate response was "do
you mean that little fucking drunk guy at
Noah's that pounds on the bar and chews
my ear off when I am shitfaced?". She
said yes. At first I was reluctant, then
she said, "listen, if he sucks and
is a douchebag, then you got a good story,
if he is good and into it, you got a drummer".
Sound logic I thought.
At
virtually the same time, I had placed ad's
in the local music stores searching for
a rhythm section. I had jammed with a couple
of people who will remain nameless to save
their reputation, but various commitments
and vibes didn't let it happen. So I get
a call one day, and it is a guy saying he
is a bassist and songwriter and he saw my
ad. He said that I sounded familiar, as
he did to me. We exchanged names, and small
worlds, it was Nicky DiBlasi, my former
bass player in Alternate Route (Alt. Route
was my cover band in the late 80's that
was together for about 3 years), who I hadn't
seen in about 4 years. I mentioned to him
that I had a drummer interested and we should
jam. And jam we did. I showed the fella's
a couple of songs. We jelled quickly and
agreed that we had the makings of something.
We all talked. And the band was formed.
And work in earnest we did.
I
was super motivated. My split from the old
band and various wranglings in my personal
life were a wellspring of song material.
Plus partying a lot doesn't hurt. From day
21 Nicky busted my balls about my vocals.
He really wanted another singer. And so
did Lahey. I finally acquiesced and told
them to run and ad and have try outs, but
I bet them they couldn't find a replacement.
I was right.
What
a fucking crew who showed up for these auditions.
A old, fading metal guy, totally metalled
out came in. He brought his copy of RIP
magazine that he was in during the 1980's.
Another dude showed up who was the nicest
guy. He could have been an accountant and
volunteering for church work. He was too
nice. He wanted to know if we knew "The
One" by Elton John. We knew that was
over right then. But the cake belongs to
the following piece of work rubberhole.
This fucking whack job walks in and you
could tell he wasn't fucking right upstairs
immediately. He is totally high strung,
casing the practice pad, and talking a mile
a minute.
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He
goes on this spiel of who he knows and all
this sordid personal stuff. Total Carny
vibe going on. So he starts screeching during
the audition. I am pissed at this point
as we are wasting time on these wankers
as opposed to working out the band. We drank
a lot during those days, and there were
tons of empty beer cans around filled with
backwash and had become receptacles for
cigarette's. I smoked like a chimney and
so did Sean. So this guy asks for a beer,
we tell him we didn't have any - which was
a lie, we just weren't giving any to him.
So he pointed at the empties and said, what
about them, I told him they what they were
and that he didn't want that. So he walks
over, starts swishing the cans around, and
then pulls off of cans that seem to have
liquid in them. We scream."Dude, there
are cigarette butts in those cans and some
of that shit is like 4 months old".
Sure enough, this mental patient gets a
mouthful of butts. Then says" that's
alright, I always find some beer".
That
was the end of the singer shit. So I thought.
So we trucked on and I booked our first
gig at Brady's in Poughkeepsie for early
December of 1993. We had about an hour and
change of music, all original except for
3 covers. We covered "SWLBAR"
from Cream and "Cant Explain"
by Love, and "Yer Blues" by the
Beatles. The place was fucking packed.
The
owner told me later that night that it was
one of the largest crowds the bar ever had
to that date and and one of it's best financial
evenings as well.
Everyone
was at that gig, my old bandmates showed
up, other bands, friends, my old man and
maybe even my uncle. I thought the band
was decent. We were received well I thought.
I knew we needed work. But it was evident
that we were committed and were making the
effort.
Shortly
there after things got weird with Nicky.
He started bringing his girlfriend around
to practices. Sean and myself would have
been cool with it if she had something positive
to contribute or just sat there, kept quiet
and let Nicky work with out distraction
or interference. No chance of that happening.
This white trash queen was a huge distraction
and had a bunch of negative spiels about
the band. No fucking way we were putting
up with that. We told Nicky he had to stop
bringing her around. He was miffed and I
think he was scared to tell her. But her
ass stopped coming around at least.
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Then
Nicky wanted to try out his buddy as our
singer. This guy had ZERO experience. I
knew him from high school as well. He was
a decent enough guy but he never struck
me as artistically inclined. But Nicky was
insistent. So he practiced with us . And
Nicky was stoked. I wasn't, and Lahey was
in the middle. So we told him that we need
to see him play live with us to make any
final decision. So we worked up a version
of "Roadhouse Blues" and I think
he did a LCS tune as well. We were playing
with my friends The Dover Boys at Brady's,
and this was about February of 1994. We
were using their PA system. So this guy
comes on at the end of the set to do his
live audition. Well, talk about overboard.
He starts going nuts, screaming, not singing.
Jumping around and just having a very aggressive
persona. That did not sit well. Then he
smashes the mic into the floor at the end
of Roadhouse. And now the D-Boys are pissed,
and rightfully so. They come up to myself
and Sean and voice their displeasure. We
agreed with them and apologized. Now words
and glances are being exchanged between
the D-Boys and Chris and Nicky. They let
those 2 know that they were fucking poseurs
and not happy about the equipment disrespect.
After averting a fist fight, tempers calmed.
And that sealed the Chris deal for me. I
wasn't crazy about his voice, I wanted to
sing, and his behavior was too unpredictable.
Nicky was pissed. Sean was with me after
that display at the gig.
Shortly
thereafter, Nicky shows up to practice,
and says that he is going to work in Colorado
for 3-4 weeks. We were getting prepared
to go in the studio. We also were playing
gigs. (The Dutch Cabin gig is a whole other
story in itself.)We had gigs coming up.
Sean and I believed that this was a devastating
momentum blocker. We were already a little
wigged out by Nicky's girlfriend and singer
exploits, and this was the proverbial push.
We told Nicky that we couldn't guarantee
that the bass gig would be open when he
returned. We expressed to him our feelings
and were open and up front. No bitterness
or chastising.
I
was sharing this story with Tim Bynum the
night after that conversation went down.
Since the DoverBoys were in another one
of their winter/drummerless periods, he
suggested DoverBoys Bass player Mike Grundy.
I was intrigued. Grundy and I had hung out
and he was and is a hell of a guy. Very
smart, even keeled, and a hard worker. Oh,
and one hell of a musician and bass player.
His dry and biting humor and sharp insight
was a much needed tonic to all of us back
then. Sean was skeptical. Knowing the D-Boys
as a punk band - which they were-he was
doubtful that Grundy's style would mesh
with us. I set up a jam, showed Grundy some
of the tunes, and we just fucking sailed!!!
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Sean
and I knew we found what we needed. We immediately
asked Grundy to join. He was up front about
his desires and conditions. First, the D-Boys
were his first priority, and if duty called
with them, he would go their first. Secondly,
he was not going to do too many vocals and
did not want to be heavily involved with
the writing process. He was totally content
with me bringing in the songs. He wasn't
going to do any booking or business. But
he would be their for every gig, practice,
or studio session ready to work.
Grundy
wrote all his bass parts, and they are killer.
He also helped a lot with arrangements.
This was a rather fortunate event for us
as the songwriting was really evolving and
Nicky was not getting it. His head was in
another direction completely. He was also
playing drums a lot. Grundy fit like a glove.
He took too the old material and his parts
were so strong in the new stuff that we
really didn't play that much of the old
stuff after he joined. Oh, Grundy's other
condition was that I would play with the
Dover Boys in the studio and that if LCS
didn't work out, I would seriously consider
joining the D-Boys.
We
chugged along and went into record a 5 song
demo in early summer of 1994. For a 50 hour
project, it isn't half bad. And it does
contain one of my proudest moments as a
musician. The song "Remember the 8"
still blows my mind. It is a quasi be-bop
jazz riff with psychedelic overtones and
a wailing clarinet part played by Mark Marinoff.
In retrospect, we had stronger material
that should have been recorded, but I will
take the lump on that decision.
And
we started to gig a bunch. All summer -
couple times a week. Grundy would instigate
arguments and ill will between Lahey and
myself because we would play like shit if
we weren't mad at each other. He was right!!We
even did the Hemp Splash in Sullivan county.
What a friggin gig that was. Mark Marinoff
joined us, and we got to headline for the
legendary Buddy Cage, whom at the time none
of us knew what he was legendary for!! And
Lahey screaming at some old folkie peace
loving guy to get of the stage so we could
play, calling him a communist. Hilarious
shit!! Total Punk Rock!!!
Then,
the bummer set in. Sean had been getting
real lethargic and ill. But he was soldiering
on. I get a call, and he tells me he has
Lymes disease. Very bad. He is bedridden
and seriously ill. He let it go untreated
for way too long and it got him. He was
out and done for at least six months. I
was seriously devastated. Grundy was O.K.
as the D-Boys had been getting close to
getting a drummer and were looking at getting
busy again.
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We
still had a couple of gigs booked. Mark
Pukmel filled in like the true gentlemen
and champion that he is. Another fantastic
drummer and person. LCS never officially
broke up. I started playing full-time with
the D-Boys - which is a whole other epic
in itself!!! We always left it at "when
Sean gets better".
Sean
took a long time to get well, and by then
Grundy was settling down and I was moving
to Albany. One day - the LCS demo will be
available. I think there is some solid stuff
on it. But I am biased.
I
miss that band and hanging with those guys
on a consistent basis. I still have contact
with Sean and Grundy. And I couldn't be
shocked if there was a LCS reunion gig/jam
sometime. Sooner than later... PS, As of
September 9th, 2004, Lahey has informed
me he has been acquiring a drum set - stay
tuned.
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