The core members of the Screamers were Tomata du Plenty (lead vocals, d. 2000), Tommy Gear (Arp synth, vocals), KK Barrett (drums), and Paul Roessler (Fender Rhodes synth). In 1978, Paul replaced Jeff McGregor who briefly replaced the band's original Fender Rhodes keyboardist David Braun. As the band's live shows became more and more theatrical, Sheila Edwards was added to the group as Tomata's foil briefly before its disbanding in summer 1981.
I made contact today with Paul Roessler through his website (www.myspace.com/paulroessler) and KK Barrett through the website of his wife. Tommy Gear still remains elusive. A memorial website for Tomata du Plenty can be found at www.myspace.com/tomataduplenty.
Thanks to Cake Nunez and Not For Hire magazine writer/publisher Kim Buresh (via Bill Lopez) for the leads.
Showing posts with label Bill Lopez. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bill Lopez. Show all posts
Monday, July 9, 2007
Cake Nunez
I was contacted by Carlos "Cake" Nunez (www.myspace.com/cakeflip), the friend of Bill Lopez (see June 22, 2007) who used to write for Flipside. We exchanged some emails about the Screamers and the demo tapes:
Which Screamers demo tape did you find there? The 1977/1978 demos, by any chance? I know that it's out on both LP and CD (bootleg) already. I know KK Barrett and Paul Roessler and met Tomata before he passed (hung out with him at Mr. T's Bowl when Nudist Priest played some years back).
- Cake
The demos I found in Toronto may be the same as those already floating around: Peer Pressure, Punish or Be Damned and Eva Braun.
Peer Pressure and Punish or Be Damned may very well be from the First Screamers demo session (7-7-77 on a TEAC 2340 4-Track) produced by Pat Garrett (which appeared on the Scuzzy the Death Cone Clown vinyl AND the Trying To Be Like Jesus bootleg CD), but I can't say for sure since I haven't heard either to compare. They're definitely not live recordings, which in the case of Punish or Be Damned rules out the Target Video soundtrack.
I'm pretty sure they're not the 1978 demos produced by Geza X because there's no presence of an "audible whine" , which these demos reportedly have.
The third song is Eva Braun and this may be the Geza X version that shows up on Trying To Be Like Jesus bootleg OR it may be the soundtrack extracted from the (unknown?) video for the song. The version I found doesn't have the "whine" present in the Geza X recordings, so I'm guessing it's from another source. I haven't heard the video soundtrack, so on that I can't say.
It would be great to compare the demos found in Toronto -- let's call them the Crash & Burn Demos after the punk venue where they were submitted in '78-- to those produced by Garret ('77) and Geza X ('78). Do you have a copy of either of these recordings or know someone who might?
- Craig
I went through my collection of Screamers stuff and couldn't locate those three tracks, so you most certainly have some rarities on you there! I would love to hear those tracks someday!
- Cake
Which Screamers demo tape did you find there? The 1977/1978 demos, by any chance? I know that it's out on both LP and CD (bootleg) already. I know KK Barrett and Paul Roessler and met Tomata before he passed (hung out with him at Mr. T's Bowl when Nudist Priest played some years back).
- Cake
The demos I found in Toronto may be the same as those already floating around: Peer Pressure, Punish or Be Damned and Eva Braun.
Peer Pressure and Punish or Be Damned may very well be from the First Screamers demo session (7-7-77 on a TEAC 2340 4-Track) produced by Pat Garrett (which appeared on the Scuzzy the Death Cone Clown vinyl AND the Trying To Be Like Jesus bootleg CD), but I can't say for sure since I haven't heard either to compare. They're definitely not live recordings, which in the case of Punish or Be Damned rules out the Target Video soundtrack.
I'm pretty sure they're not the 1978 demos produced by Geza X because there's no presence of an "audible whine" , which these demos reportedly have.
The third song is Eva Braun and this may be the Geza X version that shows up on Trying To Be Like Jesus bootleg OR it may be the soundtrack extracted from the (unknown?) video for the song. The version I found doesn't have the "whine" present in the Geza X recordings, so I'm guessing it's from another source. I haven't heard the video soundtrack, so on that I can't say.
It would be great to compare the demos found in Toronto -- let's call them the Crash & Burn Demos after the punk venue where they were submitted in '78-- to those produced by Garret ('77) and Geza X ('78). Do you have a copy of either of these recordings or know someone who might?
- Craig
I went through my collection of Screamers stuff and couldn't locate those three tracks, so you most certainly have some rarities on you there! I would love to hear those tracks someday!
- Cake
Monday, June 25, 2007
The Neutron Bomb
While carrying a copy of We Got the Neutron Bomb: The Untold Story of L.A. Punk by Marc Spitz and Brendan Mullen, I was stopped on the corner of Arcadia and Alameda by a man named Bill Lopez. He was keen to chat since he was deeply involved in the LA punk scene in the 70's and 80's. I asked him if he knew the whereabouts of any of the former members of the Screamers. He didn't, but he took my contact information and said he would put me in touch with a former contributor to Flipside Fanzine (1977-84) who might.
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