MINI-MAG #2 : STRANGE DAZE : RICHMOND1980-1989

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

AD 1111

INKWELL MEDIA / RVA MAGAZINE / WWW.RVAMAG.COM ORIGINAL RVA FOUNDERS SUBMISSIONS R. ANTHONY HARRIS & JEREMY PARKER ALL SUBMISSIONS PROPERTY OF INKWELL DESIGN LLC. THE ENTIRE CONTENT IS A PUBLISHER COPYRIGHT OF INKWELL DESIGN LLC AND & EDITORIAL DIRECTOR CANNOT BE REPRODUCED IN WHOLE OR IN R. ANTHONY HARRIS PART WITHOUT WRITTEN AUTHORIZATION OF THE PUBLISHER. EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ANDREW NECCI HEADS UP! THE ADVERTISING AND ARTICLES APPEARING ADVERTISING WITHIN THIS PUBLICATION REFLECT JOHN REINHOLD THE OPINION AND ATTITUDES OF THEIR DAN ANDERSON RESPECTIVE AUTHORS AND NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF THE PUBLISHER OR EDITORS. CREATIVE DIRECTION REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR PART WITHOUT BRYAN WOODLAND PRIOR WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM THE PUBLISHER IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED. RVA LAYOUT DESIGN MAGAZINE IS PUBLISHED QUARTERLY. IMAGES BRYAN WOODLAND ARE SUBJECT TO BEING ALTERED FROM THEIR ORIGINAL FORMAT. ALL MATERIAL WITHIN CONTACT THIS MAGAZINE IS PROTECTED. 804.349.5890 HELLO@RVAMAG.COM RVA IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF INKWELL DESIGN L.L.C.

OCTOBER 2011

1313

COVER & CONTENTS PHOTO: THURSTON HOWES

CONTENTS

RICKY AND THE WHITE BOYS SUNSET LOU DENNIS’ PROBLEM RED CROSS TOURING BANDS GWAR HONOR ROLE TABLE OF CONTENTS

16 18 22 26 34 48 58

PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE UNSEEN FORCE SORDID DOCTRINE mudd helmut ABSENCE OF MALICE The Prevaricators WHITE CROSS

60 62 64 68 78 82 86

GAIL WRONSKY, FRANK GRESHAM (TOP) AND BILL FREIMUTH ressed up and heading out to see Ricky and the White Boys at The Pass: Bill actually has a kielbasa sausage around his neck, lanced and bleeding down onto his t-shirt. This being our very first ever “punk” show, this is how we thought we should dress. Bill is now producer of the Grammy Awards; Gail is now a poetry professor.”

-Frank Gresham

D

15

RICKY AND THE WHITE BOYS SHAFER COURT, 1978

16

17

SUNSET LOU

Lou is a madcap musician and Sunset inventor who got his start in late 70s

CLONE JUBILEE 18

Richmond leading a band called the Fabulous Daturas. His music was more bluesy than extreme, but if punk is an attitude, Lou was one of Richmond’s first true punks. One of the most notorious stories about Lou involves him showing up drunk at a Ramones show at the VCU gym--this would have been 1978 or 79--intent on committing a “performance art assassination” of the Ramones. Lou was then a proponent of his one-man art movement, “diarrhealism,” of which this was to be the crowning moment.

Wearing a modified stereopticon mask (see alley photo), with a beak that had been fit-

ted with razor blades, Lou ventured into the mosh pit, attempting to slash people with the sharp edges of his mask. Several people were injured, and the police providing security for the concert were quickly alerted, at which point he was arrested, beaten up by the cops, and thrown in jail. For some reason, though, he was given a suspended sentence. Fortunately, he never attempted to repeat this particular escapade, and the story passed into local punk legend. For all we know, the version of the story we heard is loaded with hyperbole and falsehood; only the people who were there at the time know the truth, and none of them are talking.

19

MEMBERS OF PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE AND OTHERS HARDTIMES

20

UNSEEN FORCE

GRETA BRINKMAN

PHOTOs: ADRIENNE OWNBY

1982

YFA HARD TIMES

Dave BrockiE

TAYLOR STEELE, BEN SCOTT and MARC CORBETT 21

DENNIS’ PROBLEM THE PYRAMID, 1987-88

GEORGE SOFFEE, FRED LAPIER and MARC CORBETT

22

PHOTOs: ETHAN ISENBERG

23

HOLLYWOOD CEMETERY, 1985

CAMERON THOMPSON, SHANE WAMPLER, PHIL FOXWELL, AYNE BALES, AARON ISRAEL, ADRIENNE OWNBY AND GALEN TAYLOR

24

GRACE ST., 1985

Hollywood Cemetery, 1985

YOUNG SKATE PUNKS 1985

Cameron Thompson, Wendel Poore, Philip Perrine, AND Phil Foxwell

Photos: Greta Bollinger 25

26

RED CROSS

E

veryone knows about White Cross, one of the first Richmond hardcore bands. But have you heard of Red Cross? There were actually two American punk rock bands by that name in 1981; one was from LA and are now known as Redd Kross. The other was from right here in Richmond. After intervention by the international charity organization of the same name, Richmond’s Red Cross became White Cross, but the well-known later lineups of that band were almost completely different from Red Cross’s

original lineup. Coming together in 1981, Red Cross quickly made a name for themselves in the city, for better and for worse. Their wild, raucous stage show resulted in them being banned from a bunch of local clubs, including a few (Benny’s, Hard Times, Going Bananas) that would be hosting punk shows regularly within a year or two. Their confrontational performance at a Halloween show in Shafer Court ended their ability to play on the VCU campus. Singer Frank Gresham tells the story: “We opened for 27

our pals the Orthotonics. By the time they got to the stage, I’d broken glass bottles all over it, and then bombed the audience with plastic bags packed full of white flour--which exploded on impact. The place looked like hell afterwards (a foul “batter” of beer, flour, and glass) and I got the band into trouble for it.” In a 1982 interview from Throttle magazine, bassist Alford Faulkner disavowed all involvement in the Shafer Court massacre. “FRANK did it! We had nothing to do with it! Frank did it all!” Not long after that interview, Frank left the band and the name change occurred. White Cross went on to a more respectable and widely-known history than their short-lived predecessor, but Red Cross have a distinct role in Richmond punk history.

28

CASABLANCA, 1982

29

SHAFER COURT, 1982

FRANK GRESHAM, ALFORD FAULKNER, SCOTT PRICE, AND MIKEY RODRIGUEZ 30

31

PUNKER BIKE RACE SHAFER COURT, 1983

32

Photos: mary ann golden

33

DEAD KENNEDYS THE MOSQUE BALLROOM, 1983 34

PHOTO: CINDY HICKS 35 3535

36

THE EXPLOITED HARD TIMES, 1985

PHOTOS: THURSTON HOWES 37

MINOR THREAT BENNY’S, 1983

38

PHOTOS: CINDY HICKS

39

BLACK FLAG

hard times, 1984

40

PhotoS: THURSTON HOWES

Rockitz, 1985

41

BROKEN BONES GOING BANANAS, 1985

GBH HARD TIMES, 1985

COC 538 CLUB, 1983

SCREAM MOSQUE BALLROOM, 1983

42

GBH BENNY’S, 1983

PHOTOS: THURSTON HOWES 43

PSYCHO DRAMA HARD TIMES, 1984

44

PHOTOS: THURSTON HOWES

sycho Drama were a Washington DC band who came down to Richmond for a couple of Pmemorable shows in the early 80s. These pho-

tos are from Hard Times, taken when the singer climbed a ladder midset, only to fall and injure himself, ending the show and requiring a trip to the emergency room. Legend has it that he was proclaiming himself to be Jesus as he climbed the ladder. Legend also has it that he appeared to be wearing a fake tail during the set, which later turned out to be one of those horse-tail buttplugs that you can find on fetish websites these days. Who knows whether you can trust the legends? One thing is for sure, though--these guys freaked everybody out when they played.

45

LEFT TO RIGHT:

CRISPY BROKEN BONES UNKNOWN SEAN SUMNER JOEY SHITHEAD WIMPY ROY GBH BOB SCHICK GBH BROKEN BONES ROB MOSBY GRAVES TRUESDALE TOMMY RODRIGUEZ DEWEY ROWELL OPPOSITE PAGE:

CIRCLE JERKS BROKEN BONES GBH TOXIC REASONS 46

47

GWAR backstage at pb kelly’s

DAVE BROCKIE 48

PHOTOS: THURSTON HOWES

ROCKITZ

PHOTOS: KIT HALSTED

G

WAR started out as a side project of an early 80s Richmond hardcore band called Death Piggy. They were having trouble finding opening acts for their shows, and decided to create a joke opening band made up of Death Piggy members playing different instruments and pretending to be hostile aliens here to conquer the world. Perhaps unsurprisingly in hindsight, that concept was a bigger hit than Death Piggy ever managed to become (ubiquitous cartoon pig graffiti notwithstanding), and soon GWAR had completely eclipsed the 49

PB KELLY’S

50

PHOTOS: THURSTON HOWES

SHAFER CT. VCU, 1986

group it had originally opened for. Members of local instrumental prog/punk group the Alter Natives became the musical backing for a troupe of wildly costumed performance artists. They were working with very limited budgets, but that didn’t prevent them from coming up with wildly outrageous costumes from the outset of the group. With the addition of shocking onstage antics and wild public stunts, GWAR soon began to take over Richmond, at one point talking their

PHOTOS: CINDY HICKS

way into a one-minute segment on the Channel 6 evening news. Dave Brockie told Throttle that the members of the band had barged into the station, fully costumed, and “demanded that we be put on television immediately or we’d kill everyone in the room.” It worked, and the band were shown on tv that night, climbing on snowbanks and waving makeshift foam weapons at passing cars.

51

Dead Kennedys the Mosque, 1983

Doug Dobey stagediving

52

Photos: Thurston Howes

53

DOUG DOBEY HARDTIMES, 1984

STEVE HUNTER 1984 54

ANDY MARCUS HARD TIMES, 1984

DIRTWOMAN

PHOTOS: THURSTON HOWES 55

538 CLUB, 1983

56

PHOTOS: CINDY HICKS

57

Honor Role 1986

Pen Rollings 58

Photo: SAM MAUNEY

1989

Photo: JOEY ODETTE

Casablanca, 1982

LINDA GRIGGS AND Pen Rollings DANCING

BOB SCHICK

CHIP JONES

Photo: SHARON FRIEDHOFF 59

PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE PB Kelly’s, 1985

Bo Steele, George Soffee, Taylor Steele AND Marc Corbett 60

P.B. KELLY’S, 1985

PhotoS: Chris Stoddard

61

Unseen Force PB Kelly’s, 1985

Bob Verderame AND Scott Badger 62

PhotoS: Chris Stoddard

GRETA BRINKMAN

DEWEY ROWELL 63

SORDID DOCTRINE 1987

Bryan Bridgman, Dwain Curd AND Nick Smilek

64

PhotoS: Adrienne Ownby

65

CLIFF BENNY’S, 1983

CLIFF FARRAR 66

Photo: CINDY HICKS

67

MUDD HELMUT 1989

ben lawes, rob mosby, dan deckelman, wes freed and mike rodriguez 68

rockitz, 1986

photos: cindy hicks

69

70

7171

72

73

DAVE BROCKIE BENNY’S

KAREN BRYSON BENNY’S

538 CLUB

DAVE BROCKIE ROCKITZ

74

JON GRAFT BENNY’S

TAYLOR STEELE HARDTIMES

BENNY’S

538 club

PhotoS: THURSTON HOWES 75

GOING BANANANS, 1985 76

PhotoS: BRIDGET CAMDEN 77

ABSENCE OF MALICE DUPONT CIRCLE (DC), 1986

Shane Wampler, Graves Truesdale, Joel Benson, AND Tim Hohmann

78

PhotoS: Chris Stoddard

Photo: AYNE BALES

79

80

PhotoS: Ayne Bales 81

PREVARICATORS 538 Club, 1987

CLARK BALL AND DAVID STOvER 82

PhotoS:CINDY HICKS

STEVE HUNTER AND FAN 83

ALTER NATIVES 1986 84

Photo: KIM K

THE GOOD GUYS 1982

BEEX 1982

THE DADS 1981

PhotoS: CINDY HICKS 85

WHITE CROSS BENNY’S, 1983 86

PHOTOS: CINDY HICKS 87

538 club

MIKE RODRIGUEZ 88

PHOTOS: THURSTON HOWES

89

DWAIN CURD GRAVEN IMAGE 7 INCH COVER, 1983

ne night at a gig, Honor Role started handO ing out these stickers to people, after calling their names off a list. There were names of peo-

ple in the scene, and these stickers said “kicked out of the scene”. It turned out that it was just a sarcastic joke on their part, making fun of some girls that had actually kicked this one girl out of the scene.”

-Mike Rodriguez (White Cross) From interview in Maximum Rocknroll

90

CONTRIBUTORS

THURSTON HOWES

CINDY HICKS

FRANK GRESHAM

AYNE BALES

ETHAN ISENBERG

MARC CORBETT

LINDA GRIGGS

ADRIENNE OWNBY

CHRIS STODDARD

KIT HALSTED

THANKS TO EVERYONE THAT PROVIDED IMAGES AND INFORMATION: THURSTON HOWES, CINDY HICKS, FRANK GRESHAM, ADRIENNE OWNBY, MARC CORBETT, LINDA GRIGGS, ETHAN ISENBERG, AYNE BALES, CHRIS STODDARD, KIT HALSTED, SHARON FRIEDHOFF, AND OF COURSE, THE INTERNET. THANKS TO CHRIS BOPST AND PETE HUMES FOR INSPIRING THIS PROJECT. THIS MINI-MAG IS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF BRYAN HARVEY, STEVE HUNTER, DWAIN CURD, GRAVES TRUESDALE, CHRISTINE GIBSON, AND SEAN SUMNER. 91

92

93

94

95

96

97

98

99

100