As I get older, the fog of the passing years decends more and more rapidly, further enshrouding from view everything it touches. So it is always a delight when someone or something comes along to fan the fog away, if only for a moment. Such is the case with one Brendan DeVallance, a fellow traveller from the early Phoenix punk rock scene.
Recently, Mr. DeVallance notified me of his intention of opening a wing on his site devoted to the old days. He asked for a glowing remembrance of his group the Junior Chemists, and I was happy to comply. You’ll find it here, along with plenty of photos and audio clips. If — like me — you’re one of the six or seven folks still alive from back then, Brendan’s pages are sure to take you back.
Along with his other group the Advo-Cats, Brendan started the Junior Chemists in the summer of 1980, around the same time as the Kirkwoods and I debuted the Meat Puppets. (I still have a tape of their very first gig.) And though I can find evidence that our two groups only ever played together once, that show remains clear in my memory.
Happily, Brendan had the presence of mind to bring his camera on that occasion, and took one of the few photos in existance of the Meat Puppets performing during their first year. It’s a cute one too. Since it was a Christmas show, you can see streamers and decorations against the walls. All three of us are babies — there’s just no other way to describe us. We’re just barely out of short pants.
Staged in Phoenix’s premiere dive of the day, the gig brought together not only the cream of punk revellers, but also some guys from our neighborhood. Though some of them were no strangers to the scene, one of two had yet to get their feet wet. Just the same, they were game to come along for the novelty. It made for an interesting contrast to have Curt’s geeky high school chums calling out for Yes and King Crimson covers admid the baleful stares of such local stalwarts as Marcy Murder and Charlie Monoxide.
The photo also captures us using our original gear — with one exception. Absent from the scene is Curt’s beautiful black Les Paul. Not long before this gig, he left it in the back of his truck one night while visiting friends. It didn’t stay back there for long. Its replacement, the Gibson you see in the picture, was flat piece of plank with little sustain and a brittle, unpleasant sound. It afforded Curt none of the majesty and mystery of the Les Paul, and proved to be a thorn in our side for as long as it remained in service.
Henceforth, we learned how important our instruments were to our sound, and to take good care of them. Well, some of us did.
Totally off topic, did you listen to Shocking Blue when you where a kid?
Left by Guylum on June 17th, 2006
Everyone my age knows “Venus.”
It wasn’t until my late 30s that I got a copy of the “Venus” album. Later still, I found more by them. I like “Ink Pot” quite a lot, and “Acka Ragh.”
Left by Derrick Bostrom on June 17th, 2006
i just want to say thank you for putting up this site. the meat puppets were truly one of rock’s greatest, most inventive and consistently good bands, and it’s a real treat to have a site like this for people like me, with such great content. tabs and album demos? i can’t think of a single other band that has been cool enough to sit down and just offer this stuff to people without looking for an extra buck.
Left by Jonathan Ball on June 18th, 2006
Geez, what a trip down memory lane …
I’m pretty sure the Jr Chemists were the first band of six to play the first night I saw you guys, at a New Year’s Eve 12/31/80-1/1/81 in some warehouse in Phoenix. Then, I think, came International Language, then the Puppets, then the Deez, & finally the Nervous. (I’m forgetting one band, I know. Or maybe there were only five? Could’ve *sworn* there were six …)
I must admit I found your set pretty damned irritating at the time, & the people I was with hustled me outside for a bit while the 25-cent-a-cup alcoholic punch being dipped out of a cooler could wear off, because I really, really wanted to hit the nearest Kirkwood during the performance. *sigh* (Probably the same Kirkwood who informed me more than a decade later, after an MPs gig in Little Rock, that an old Phoenix friend from the early ’80s — George Dillon of International Language — had died a few years earlier. Again, *sigh*)
Left by Dan Bailey on October 9th, 2006
You left out Killer Pussy, who debuted their cover of K.C & The Sunshine Band’s “Get Down Tonight” at that gig.
As far as hitting a Kirkwood goes, they are apparently reuniting, so you may still get the chance — depending on what side of the stage you’re on and which one you want to hit.
Left by Derrick Bostrom on October 9th, 2006
Song of the day:
http://www.sledbag.com/splooft/getsmart/songs/GS_The_Man_Who_Shot_Brendan_deVallance.mp3
My friends in the band Get Smart! did this song for a performance for me, based on the song The Man Who Shot Liberty Vallance from the movie. Circa 1986.
—Brendan
Left by Brendan deVallance on November 14th, 2006
This is the Barbie dancer sending a shout out from Monster island. Are there any Arabs on a moped out there?
Left by Dawn on April 19th, 2010
That track is amazing, and I’m not really into that type of music!
Left by Amir Thompson on June 5th, 2010