Wormtown 20th Anniversary

This week we revisit a show 20 years ago at Ralph's Chadwick Square Diner, and this time it's LIVE video thanks to Mike Malone, head honcho over at WURN.net, our still functioning radio platform.
It features The Commandos, The Crybabies, The Time Beings, The Blue Moon Band, The Odds and The Prefab Messiahs, who, by the way are now back with a brand new album you can buy on their website!!! Although somewhat crude, the video it is nonetheless an important window into the scene as it was in 1998. So sit back, grab a beer and spend a few hours with these goodies.

Wormtown Anniversary Festival 1993

Today installment in the History of Wormtown comes from a Benefit show for WICN 90.5fm held at Tammany Hall on Pleasant St. celebrating 15 years of the scene. Two of the bands at that time featured husband and wife teams along with Dave Kowalchek on drums. The band that started it all, The Blue Moon Band, Featured Bob and Cathy Peters (aka nowadays Cah). Next up were The Surreal McCoys, Jeff and Cheryl Cranes outfit,  then The Link Bros, who featured Paul and Steve Aquino, their set is short due to the original file missing, and lastly the "Wormtown" debut of Angry Johnny and the Killbillies, who had played Worcester before at WAG I think, before we knew of him. The night ended with a bang and a boom as the Killbillies tore up the stage and could not play an encore. Follow the links below to experience it for yourself.

The Blue Moon Band
The Surreal McCoys
The Link Bros.
Angry Johnny and the Killbillies

The Nebuas Live

Another lost tape transmogrified for your enjoyment. The Nebulas were on the scene in the early 80's in Wormtown and soon built a loyal following wherever they played. This tape comes via a friend who thought he was recording one of my early WICN shows, but was actually tuned to Brian Goslows'  "Wormtown on the Rocks"show on 91.3fm. A happy accident that allows us the opportunity listen to this wonderful group all these years later.

Listen Here

Boom Boom Ga Ga!

It was forty years ago when I first met Willie Alexander. I was heading to The Rat in Kenmore Square when he approached us looking for some spare change. "But you just came off tour for your MCA debut album!" I stated. "Yeah, but we already spent all the advance money." Willie replied. How could that be, I thought. When you get signed to a major label, you made it to the big time. That's when I began to learn about the major music business and why punk rock was needed. Things had to change. Over the years I saw Willie change too. From The Boom Boom Band, to playing with The Neighborhoods and Confessions backing him, and his solo recordings, he was the Godfather of Boston Rock n Roll for a reason. Now all these years later he still a vital artist who has maintained his cool throughout. Last weekend we saw a reunited Boom Boom Band performing in Beverly, MA for the screening of "Boys From Nowhere; The Story of Boston's Garage and Punk Uprising" by BFN Film and Chris Parcellin. Although the theater posted signs everywhere saying "No Video", I had to sneak in a couple, otherwise I wouldn't be me. That's part of the reason I was there as I contributed some Real Kids footage to the film. So, here you go. Enjoy!!!

Radio The Way it Used to Be

While going through archives of Wormtown related things collected over the past 40 years, I came across this article published in The Echo, the Wachusett Regional High School newspaper, where a student visited the studios of WICN radio back in May of 1992 for a visit with Mike Malone during his broadcast. Also present for the interview were Myself, Mike Marley, and Joe Provo. An interesting look back at a time when WICN had a full staff of rock programmers seven days a week.