a musical history – by Terence Ruffle

(This is the final part of a two-part story. Part one is here.)

We, that is the Accidents, did get to meet the Flamin Groovies, in 1977, at Essex University.

Radio Birdman supported them, though we didn’t know alot about them then.. They sounded a bit “country” to our ears at the time (????!!!???) so we really didn’t give them a chance. I love Radio Birdman now of course, “Aloha Steve and Danno” being an all time classic single, amongst the other classics I first heard via the New Race album. That album, “The First and the Last” being one of my all time favourites, which I got on cd for the first time recently, an expanded version. When I lived in South Florida I would take great delight in cruising round in a 1990 Mustang GT convertible that a friend had left with me (Cherry red paint work, cream leatherette seats, 0 – 90 mph in under 10 seconds, it rocked!) with “November 22nd 1963″ or “Crying Sun” blasting out of the fabulous 4 speaker stereo that the ‘Stang had. I’ve seen Radio Birdman since, and thought they totally rocked, and ofcourse Deniz Tek has played with both Wayne Kramer (Dodge Main) and Ron Ashton (The New Race), all three being guitar Gods to me.

The Groovies were excellent fellows, Cyril Jordan and George Alexander especially. After some trepidation on our behalf, and much “oh go on, you knock”, and having stood outside their dressing room for a while, they welcomed us back stage after the gig, allowing us to share their rider. Still have the empty can of the beer Cyril gave me! Told me he’d bought his 12 string Rickenbacker from a guy who’d bought it for his son, in 1966 and who’d quickly grown tired of it and left it in a closet. Cyril said the guy opened the closet and there it was, almost factory fresh, probably 10 years later. When the guy told Cyril he wanted a hundred Bucks for it, he nearly tore the guys arm off. It was a beautiful guitar, and sounded so good through the Roland space echo, an effects unit that Jem from the original Surf Rats discovered to his great delight, some years later.

Cyril and the rest of the dudes spoke in a heavy, Californian drawl, probably the first time any of us had heard an accent like it. Cyril also used the phrase “Rock out” a number of times, which Paul and I thought was a wonderfully descriptive ism, and used it as frequently as we could from there on in! As a twenty year old Punk rocker, with a major love of all things 60’s and Powerpop, this was a dream come true. The Groovies had played local, and we’d got to hang with them, how Rock’n'Roll was that?!?

But just as the Groovies wore their 60’s influences on their sleeves, so did the Ramones. From the Beach Boys, to the girl groups ( just like the New York Dolls ), to Phil Spector, to the Beatles and all things Garage and UK beat related, they sucked all of that in, to end up sounding totally unique, unmistakably THE RAMONES!!! I always tell people that when the Ramones came on stage that night, it was like Elvis at Vegas, seemed like a million flash bulbs were going off in the space of the first 30 seconds. The way they sang and spoke, they sounded like Aliens. New Yorkers. Genuine Americans. In bike leathers and jeans, something Will and I were pretty much already doing. Beaten up faded 501’s, with cap sleeved tees and leather Bomber jackets, and Dr Martens boots or shoes.

The sound was massive, monolithic, like a Tyrannosaurus Rex in a cage, right in front of our very eyes. Dee Dee’s cry of “Wun – Choo – Fee – Four” preceeding each song, counted the same each time, no matter what the tempo. Twenty songs in twenty minutes, no guitar solos, just sheer raw power. And loads of catchy, essentially 60’s styled, Pop. With Johnny’s super fast buzz saw guitar dominating the proceedings, the most distorted, powerful guitar sound ever. Like a huge Amphetamine rush, an uber buzz for both the Heart and Soul. And I totally connected with them, they immediately became mine and Will’s ultimate Rock’n'Roll band.

It’s really hard to explain the feeling of a Ramones show in these times. Rock’n'Roll is so corporate and neutered generally, a shadow of it’s former self, though remarkably some of the Heroes of my youth still totally Rock, see Iggy and the Stooges, The Dolls, and DKT (the surviving members of the MC5). Get hold of a copy of “It’s Alive”, play it through a 2000 watt hi – fi, at maximum volume, that’ll give you some idea!!! Al and I saw the Ramones in January 1991, and they’d just bought their new monster P.A., it was REAL loud. When they came back on for their encore, they actually turned the P.A. up a couple of notches. It was so loud Al and I actually moved away from the front, the sheer force of the music felt like it was re-arranging the molecules in my major organs!!!

I was with Will and several lady friends that wonderful, historic, life changing evening in 1976. I remember turning round to one of the gals and saying “Joey, what a wonderful name for a budgie!!!”.

R.I.P. Joey, Johnny and Dee Dee, see you in Rock’n'Roll Heaven Dudes.

If you’d like to find music by the groups mentioned in this article, you can buy it on CD and vinyl from netsoundmusic.com.

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