Willie Alexander and the Boom Boom Band, Live From Wormtown

 This is a real special one. We left wdoa.com in Wormtown to head to Gloucester to visit with Willie and the Boom Booms who were rehearsing for an upcoming reunion show at the Middle East in Cambridge. I've known Willie since 1978 and have interviewed him many times, but this was the only time I sat down with the entire band. Their careers together started mid to late 70's, playing around Boston and recorded the infamous "Sperm Bank Babies" album live on air at WERS.  Then they went onto record two LPs for MCA Records and tour the US with The Cars, and Elvis Costello. Willie's career goes all the back to the 1960's where he was a member of The Lost, The Bagetelle and even briefly with The Velvet Underground. He then hooked up with Billy Loosigian, Sev Grossman, and David McLean to form one of the Boston areas favorite bands of the early Punk era. They split shortly after the release of their second album but reunited in 2002 to record "Dog Bar Yacht Club" produced by David Minehan. Willie is still recording and releasing music now with his new band The Fishtones and his latest is available online on Bandcamp.

Willie Alexander and the Boom Boom Band, Live From Fishtown

Milltown #13

  Great afternoon spent at Hamilton Club in Sturbridge this past Saturday for the Thirteenth Edition of Lance Ferrels' Miltown Hot Rod Show. Weather was fine. Beer was cold and cheap. All the bands rocked the pavilion. Here's a sample of the action.  See you next year.

Kris Thompson from Prefab Messiahs Live From Wormtown

This week from 2003, as we prepared for the 25th Anniversary of Wormtown, Kris "Trip"Thompson stopped by wdoa.com to discuss the history and upcoming performance of The Prefab Messiahs. Formed at Clark University in 1982 with Xeth "Xerox" Feinberg and Mike "Doc" Michaud  they joined together to play an updated version of Psychedelic music for the 1980's. Along with their Casio unit called Ringo, they played gigs at Xit and Ralph's and live on the airwaves of WCUW for a fund drives. A recording of songs both live and in studio released on cassette quickly sold out at shows. Disbanding around 1983, the members all moved onto other careers. Then they returned with a vengeance in 2012 releasing an LP of recordings entitled "Peace, Love and Alienation". Catching the ear of Burger Records, they went on to release "Keep Your Stupid Dreams Alive" on 10" vinyl and CD in 2015 and "Psychsploitation Today " CD in 2017 to rave reviews. They also have a vast catalog of videos to accompany their recordings available on YouTube. They continue to record to this day and hopefully will have a new disc out soon.

Kris Thompson, Prefab Messiahs, Live From Wormtown 

Classic Ruins, Live From Wormtown

Legendary band Classic Ruins stopped by wdoa.com on May, 17th, 2003. One of the original Boston groups from the punk explosion of the late 70's, founder Frank Rowe on Guitar along with Carl Bianucci, on Bass, Jeff Crane, Guitar and James Matthew Burns, drums is the incarnation of the band in this meeting. The Ruins have a long and varied career as one of the longest lasting groups out of the scene, and are still active today. Their debut 45 on Ace of Hearts records is still in demand today as are their two LPs "Ruins Cafe" and "Lassie Eats Chicken".  They also released an LP on Italian label Rave Up Records "Room Starts Spinning"and re-released "Lassie" on CD with extra material. Also have played all over the US and Europe building a vast fan base. Along the way they have recruited local Worcester musicians Dave Kowalchek and Joe Sheehan to manage the drumming duties, and the aforementioned Jeff Crane, who has been interviewed on this show with three different bands. You can search the web to find copies of their recordings, and, by all means, go see them when they are in your town.

 Classic Ruins, Live From Wormtown

, by all means, go see them when they are in your town.

The Valentines, Live From Wormtown

This time wdoa.com went international with a group from Bologna, Italy. Rick Blaze invited them to the US after meeting them on tour of Europe. Members include JJ, Matt, Valentina and Mars Valentine. This was their first time playing in another country, and had gigs lined up at Lucky Dog, Ralph's, and live on WCUW. Formed around 2000, they went on to recording three CD's and played many shows and festivals in their homeland. Then, sadly in 2014, lead singer Valentina passed away unexpectedly leaving the rest of the band shocked and saddened. Their shows here were well attended leaving legendary memories behind. I am grateful to have had the chance to meet and talk to these folks, and pull the discs out every now and then to remember what a great talent Valentina was.


The Valentines, Live From Wormtown