only we can make history oh baby baby
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oh happy monday. right? weekend, good. right? my trip countdown is down to the fingers on one hand so i'm basically in la-la land about that. the sun's graced the detroit area for so long it feels like we're living in oz considering it's the supposedly-brutal month of january. and, i was wondering, is there supposed to be snow in the winter? maybe it was just a rumor i heard as a child. our poor city, busy MAKING snow for superbowl season-and-setting-appropriateness.
BIG friends entries still happening. todaytoday, i enlisted my roommate kevin to write about friends of way-close proximity and close-of-heart, thunderbirds are now! [myspace] i feel the most proud of these boys, way proud, way excited. like that feeling a mom has watching her 4-year-old daughter tap dancing on stage for the first time. except the feeling persists for years. AND they're playing soon. come up to small's in hamtramck next monday the sixth for their first show with way-new drummer, matt rickle [like pickle with an r].
[additionally, kevin's been way-blogging-it-up lately with marked prolificacy. check the goods here.]
kevin reports:
Everyone knows the name, everyone knows the songs, but few know the history of Thunderbirds are Now! Although their tale includes both wild success and tragic heartbreak, it is undeniable that Thunderbirds are Now! revolutionized pop music for a brief period in the early 1960’s.
Ryan Allen (birth name: Allen Konigsberg) was born on April 14, 1943 in Binghamton, New York. Four years later, to much joy and celebration, his brother Scott arrived. From the beginning the Allens were a force to be reckoned with. Young Ryan was a math whiz and local spelling bee champion, while Scott excelled in sports, lettering in baseball, football and basketball at Montclair Academy, where the boys attended school.
Upon graduation, Ryan attended SUNY-Binghamton and took a job cooking at a local restaurant. There he met Marty Smith, a music aficionado and skilled bass player. Together, Ryan and Marty delved deep into the history of music, sampling works by everyone from Roy Orbison to Glenn Miller. After meeting drummer Mike Durgan at a poetry reading, the three decided to start a band. Thunderbirds are Now! had begun.
After months of practicing, they realized something was missing. But, a weekend visit from Scott Allen and his accordion filled the gap and rounded out the band’s sound. The quartet played various gigs around Long Island, eventually releasing the “My Baby Loves Me” single on Fun Tone Records. A national tour was to follow.
The Thunderbirds could not have prepared for what awaited them on tour – “My Baby Loves Me” was a smash hit, and they were met in every city by screaming young girls and adoring fans. The band’s subsequent appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show” catapulted the group into superstardom.
But, the tour was not without heartbreak. Bassist Marty Smith contracted typhoid fever at the Oregon State Fair and had to leave the band. Further complicating the situation, drummer Mike Durgan was injured by a meteorite at a show in Nevada, temporarily paralyzing him from the waist down. To fill the void, the Allens turned to drifting grifter Howard Chang to take over on bass. Although a sketchy character with a checkered past, Chang was one hell of a bass player, leaving Ryan and Scott little choice but to hire him. Next, the band turned to recently-crowned Mr. Oklahoma, Matt Rickle, to replace the departed Durgan on drums.
Following the tour, the band went their separate ways, with Ryan retreating to his Montana sanctuary to write the follow-up to “My Baby Loves Me.” In his months of seclusion, Ryan started taking alcohol and painkillers to help get through the songwriting process. After six months, the band went into the studio to record Justamustache, a collection of pop hooks unrivaled at the time. Again, they set out on a national tour.
This time, however, the tour was less than a success. Although met by huge crowds of star-struck fans, Ryan became more and more reclusive, while falling deeper into the throes of addiction. Chang’s conversion to Isalm and subsequent name change to Jabar Abal-Chang coupled with Scott’s arrest for soliciting an underage prostitute made the situation even more combustible.
Backstage at a show in Bethesda, MD, the situation came to a head. What began as a quibble between Ryan and Scott turned into a four-way, every man for himself brawl. Ryan left with a broken arm, Rickle with fourteen stitches above his left eye. The next day, the band decided to call it quits.
The band made their amends and reunited in for a 1985 world tour, but could never quite recapture the magic of Justamustache. Their time together may have been short, but the magic of their music is undeniable. The music of Thunderbirds are Now! will live on forever.
Included from their 1965 album Justamustache on Frenchkiss Records is the #1 single “Eat This City.”
Thunderbirds are Now!
Eat This City
Justamustache
© Frenchkiss Records
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
i am daylights edit:
i'm also posting one of the way-new thunderbirds demos. a way-good jam. here ya go:
thunderbirds are now!
make history
oh happy monday. right? weekend, good. right? my trip countdown is down to the fingers on one hand so i'm basically in la-la land about that. the sun's graced the detroit area for so long it feels like we're living in oz considering it's the supposedly-brutal month of january. and, i was wondering, is there supposed to be snow in the winter? maybe it was just a rumor i heard as a child. our poor city, busy MAKING snow for superbowl season-and-setting-appropriateness.
BIG friends entries still happening. todaytoday, i enlisted my roommate kevin to write about friends of way-close proximity and close-of-heart, thunderbirds are now! [myspace] i feel the most proud of these boys, way proud, way excited. like that feeling a mom has watching her 4-year-old daughter tap dancing on stage for the first time. except the feeling persists for years. AND they're playing soon. come up to small's in hamtramck next monday the sixth for their first show with way-new drummer, matt rickle [like pickle with an r].
[additionally, kevin's been way-blogging-it-up lately with marked prolificacy. check the goods here.]
kevin reports:
Everyone knows the name, everyone knows the songs, but few know the history of Thunderbirds are Now! Although their tale includes both wild success and tragic heartbreak, it is undeniable that Thunderbirds are Now! revolutionized pop music for a brief period in the early 1960’s.
Ryan Allen (birth name: Allen Konigsberg) was born on April 14, 1943 in Binghamton, New York. Four years later, to much joy and celebration, his brother Scott arrived. From the beginning the Allens were a force to be reckoned with. Young Ryan was a math whiz and local spelling bee champion, while Scott excelled in sports, lettering in baseball, football and basketball at Montclair Academy, where the boys attended school.
Upon graduation, Ryan attended SUNY-Binghamton and took a job cooking at a local restaurant. There he met Marty Smith, a music aficionado and skilled bass player. Together, Ryan and Marty delved deep into the history of music, sampling works by everyone from Roy Orbison to Glenn Miller. After meeting drummer Mike Durgan at a poetry reading, the three decided to start a band. Thunderbirds are Now! had begun.
After months of practicing, they realized something was missing. But, a weekend visit from Scott Allen and his accordion filled the gap and rounded out the band’s sound. The quartet played various gigs around Long Island, eventually releasing the “My Baby Loves Me” single on Fun Tone Records. A national tour was to follow.
The Thunderbirds could not have prepared for what awaited them on tour – “My Baby Loves Me” was a smash hit, and they were met in every city by screaming young girls and adoring fans. The band’s subsequent appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show” catapulted the group into superstardom.
But, the tour was not without heartbreak. Bassist Marty Smith contracted typhoid fever at the Oregon State Fair and had to leave the band. Further complicating the situation, drummer Mike Durgan was injured by a meteorite at a show in Nevada, temporarily paralyzing him from the waist down. To fill the void, the Allens turned to drifting grifter Howard Chang to take over on bass. Although a sketchy character with a checkered past, Chang was one hell of a bass player, leaving Ryan and Scott little choice but to hire him. Next, the band turned to recently-crowned Mr. Oklahoma, Matt Rickle, to replace the departed Durgan on drums.
Following the tour, the band went their separate ways, with Ryan retreating to his Montana sanctuary to write the follow-up to “My Baby Loves Me.” In his months of seclusion, Ryan started taking alcohol and painkillers to help get through the songwriting process. After six months, the band went into the studio to record Justamustache, a collection of pop hooks unrivaled at the time. Again, they set out on a national tour.
This time, however, the tour was less than a success. Although met by huge crowds of star-struck fans, Ryan became more and more reclusive, while falling deeper into the throes of addiction. Chang’s conversion to Isalm and subsequent name change to Jabar Abal-Chang coupled with Scott’s arrest for soliciting an underage prostitute made the situation even more combustible.
Backstage at a show in Bethesda, MD, the situation came to a head. What began as a quibble between Ryan and Scott turned into a four-way, every man for himself brawl. Ryan left with a broken arm, Rickle with fourteen stitches above his left eye. The next day, the band decided to call it quits.
The band made their amends and reunited in for a 1985 world tour, but could never quite recapture the magic of Justamustache. Their time together may have been short, but the magic of their music is undeniable. The music of Thunderbirds are Now! will live on forever.
Included from their 1965 album Justamustache on Frenchkiss Records is the #1 single “Eat This City.”
Thunderbirds are Now!
Eat This City
Justamustache
© Frenchkiss Records
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
i am daylights edit:
i'm also posting one of the way-new thunderbirds demos. a way-good jam. here ya go:
thunderbirds are now!
make history
posted by margaret @ 9:12 AM
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