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1981-1982 |
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SONGLIST: SUNBABIES THERE, THERE ABUSE ATTENTION: PRESSURE, PAIN LOVE / HATE SINGLE SCENE ATTAKEN ZIE NAULBIN! CHERRY BABY WHAT? CANDLELITE WOMEN SHE'S HANGIN' UP PEOPLE IN THE 80'S SYSTEMATIC YOU LOOK SO INNOCENT THE BRUISE ANIMATED CARTOONS WHERE'D THEY GO? MUST SEE TO APPRECIATE I HATE CATS I LIKE TO TALK JUST LIKE YOU SHORT FOR THE RIDE I'M NOT ON DRUGS SO SOPHISTICATED BIG CITY I DON'T WANNA FEEL HOOKS IN ME 2ND FLOOR JAM ___________________________ UPDATE On Count Joe Viglione: I have recently been in touch with Joe... Check out the links section for info on Count Joe Viglione and the Boston music scene, plus the links listed below... http://jvlinernotes.blogspot.com http://saltwatersummers.blog-city.com ___________________________ Gig Notices for THE FACTS
Live Pics of THE FACTS
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Band Bio: In The fall of 1981 I had just spent what would be the last summer of my life on the New Jersey Shore. I had just graduated high school and was still 17 years old & trying to put together a band with my friend bassist Todd Mossholder. We had briefly started a band with another friend from school, Gene Conway (guitars) and a guitarist named Dave Smith we found in an ad. It was going to be a power pop-punk band. It never got off the ground & didn't even have a name, so I just refer to it as "Doomed"!!. Gene was moving to California & Dave just kind of lost interest. In the midst of trying to get that band back together, I got a call from a guy named Mike Wright who was on tour with a punk / new wave band called "The FACTS". He had wandered into the record store I was working in looking for a drummer & one of the employees there gave him my number. He explained that they were from Detroit & in the middle of an east coast tour supporting their single "Sunbabies" when their drummer up & quit. They were in a bind because they had gigs booked and had done the last one with a very loud "click" track! We met, I listened to their single & a live tape of them. I was impressed. They were kind of like a punk version of "Cheap Trick" in look & sounded like a cross between "Gang Of Four", Elvis Costello" & "The Ramones". Being a huge fan of all those bands, I took the tape and learned all their songs (about 30 of them) in a week. All the songs were between a minute & a half and three minutes long. They were as impressed with me as I was with them, so I joined the band in time to do their Philadelphia show at the East Side Club. In early 1982 I had just turned 18 and I informed my shocked parents that I was moving to Boston! Of course we had to finish the tour & it just happened to wind up in Boston at a club called "Cantone's". We moved into a house in Woburn that we shared with another band called "The Count" led by Count Joe Viglione - Check Links & see the left side of this page for more on Joe. It was there in the 2 upstairs bedrooms & bathroom that we recorded virtually every song in our set list on a 4 track reel to reel & I think it sounds pretty damn good! I also sat in on the mixing of one song that "The Count" was doing & got my first taste of producing music on a track called "Moving Forward". We then booked shows at "The Club" in Cambridge and the legendary "Paradise" club in Boston. It's always at this point when a band member decides to leave! This time it was Tom Mich... I never really understood why, but I missed his great guitar playing. We briefly replaced him with Bostonian Steve Cahill, but that ended when we decided to move the band back to Detroit. So around late spring 1982 we left Steve, Tom and Boston behind and headed back to Detroit. As soon as we were all settled into places to live we started auditioning (groan!) guitarists and brought in a really nice guy named Pat Butler, we rehearsed & were back on the club circuit in June. This band really got around & played. Detroit (Freestyle), Boston (Paradise), Philly (East Side Club), New York (CBGB's), Minneapolis (where "Purple Rain" was filmed), Cleveland, Milwaukee, Raleigh, Baltimore & even in Canada...I could go on & on. The problem was we just weren't getting anywhere. A lot of work & nothing was happening. We were staving. We slept in the van & waited until fast food restaurants were closing & ate the leftovers they threw away. I couldn't find a job & had to borrow money from my parents (God bless them!) to live. At the end of that summer I walked into rehearsal, which was in my own house, to find that a good 50% of my drums had been taken down & packed away and that I was now in a "minimalist" band and was going to be "told" what to play... You can imagine how I reacted to that! No money, No job, No music prospects & now I wasn't even enjoying the band I was in. So, the inevitable happened, I informed them in early fall 1982 that I was leaving the band. I left Detroit and moved back to Philly and had exactly 67 cents n my pocket when I pulled up to my parents house... The Facts stayed together long enough to record an 8 song EP and do another "unfunded" tour. When they came through Philly in 1984 I went to see them and we had a blast. I know that guitarist Dan Spica played on the "Sunbabies / There There" single and did some live shows, so, if I can remember the 2 other drummers that played with the band I will add their names to this site.... Side Note: What did I learn from this band? 1) How to tour and not die! 2) Don't tour unfunded, EVER! 3) A band is made up of 4-5 people, NOT one who calls the shots... 4) It ain't over till it's over! If you have any info or pictures of The Facts, send them on over & I'll post them . |
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ROB LOMBARDI: Drums, Background Vocals, Songwriter, Producer This was my first "real" band. I added the "Ramones" feel to their sound. I learned a lot from these guys and it was a gamble for them to take a 17 year old in the band! No regrets!!
MIKE WRIGHT: Bass, Lead & Background Vocals, Songwriter Mike was the "Gang Of Four" influence in the band. A very talented, rhythmic bassist & intricate songwriter. Really quiet with a dry sense of humor, which is why his songs sound like they do.
JOE KIMMEL: Lead & Background Vocals, Guitar, Songwriter. Joe was the "Elvis Costello" influence here. Also very talented. Catchy hooks with a "tortured by love" feel to the lyrics, but done in a punk / new wave style that was unique.
TOM MICH: Lead & Rhythm Guitars, Background Vocals Tom was more of a "rock" guitarist than a "punk" guitarist. That's probably why I liked his style so much. I heard he eventually moved back to Detroit, but I never saw him after we left Boston
PAT BUTLER: Lead & Rhythm Guitars, Background Vocals Pat was a party guy... He joined the band & we hit it off and hung out together in Greek Town all the time or went to the lake in the summer. Really talented guitarist and great onstage.
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