Crib Notes

Sometimes things happen that just seem right, such as the decision to bring Rockabilly legend Wanda Jackson to Drive Invasion 2009. What better way to celebrate the Sunday before Labor Day than in a hot parking lot with over 3000 of your closest friends, a slew of fancy hot rod cars, AND the “Female Elvis”?  In a recent phone interview, Jackson says, “I think I played a drive in theater a few times in the 50s, and the stage was on the roof of the concession stand.”

Jackson is always a big hit at the many rockabilly revivals she participates in around the world. She sees the continued popularity of rockabilly as a unique phenomenon. “Rockabilly takes in a whole lifestyle,” she says. “It seems to take people back to a time when the music was fresh and simple, and for some reason they desire that simpler, slow paced lifestyle.” After many years as a Gospel singer, Jackson found an audience in Europe over 20 years ago that wanted her to revive her rockabilly songs. She noticed a big difference between European audiences and American audiences back then, but the gap has since closed. “I started playing rockabilly revival events in Scandinavia in 1985, and it seemed like it never died out over there like it did in the states. The Europeans were more appreciative and loyal to the music, and would ask me very detailed questions like ‘Who played lead guitar on that track?’… things I didn’t remember!” she laughs. “Now the young Americans are catching up, and paying attention to the details.”

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The Fleshtones’ frontman Peter Zaremba seems perfectly at ease when explaining that since forming the group in 1976, the members have always held strong Southern ties despite their New York roots.

“We’re Yankees who are very comfortable in the South,” he offers with a thick, Queens accent. From there he tells stories of passing through Georgia in the band’s early days and buddying up with the “boys” in Athens who later became R.E.M. “We played there a lot back in those days, and were a good influence on them.”

The Fleshtones 1981 debut Roman Gods put the group on the map as purveyors of what they call “super rock.” It’s an intense merger of punk and alternative meshed with ’60s soul, surf and garage. In the beginning, the press called them garage rock revivalists, but their songs transcend simple nostalgia.

Through acquaintances with such bands as the Cramps and Boston’s proto punks the Real Kids, the Fleshtones encountered various approaches to wistful rebellion and developed their own raucous sound. “When we saw the Real Kids it was an important moment for us,” Zaremba explains. “We said, ‘Alright, let’s not just love this music, let’s make this music.”

The group has remained remarkably consistent since 1990. Zaremba and original drummer Bill Milhizer, along with guitarist Keith Streng and bassist Ken Fox, round-out the Fleshtones’ line-up. After releasing scores of albums, such songs as “First Date (Are You Coming on to Me),” “Shiny Heinie” and the rollicking “Jet-Set Fleshtones” from last year’s Take A Good Look, reel with more energy and spontaneity than, frankly, anything throughout the Fleshtones’ catalogue. “We tortured ourselves when we made albums like Roman Gods,” Zaremba laughs. “It’s not like we’re in a studio trying to communicate ideas to an engineer who doesn’t understand; which was the case back then. Their lives were dedicated to taking raucousness out of recordings. Nowadays we just have fun.”

The Fleshtones play a free in-store at Criminal Records on Sat., Feb. 7th probably around 5 or 5:30 p.m. and then later with Anna Kramer & the Lost Cause at The Star Bar. $10. 9 p.m. 437 Moreland Ave. 404-681-9018.

(Photo by Anne Streng)

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Frontman and co-founder of the legendary American horror punk band the Cramps, Lux Interior died on Wed., Feb 4th, at the Glendale Memorial Hospital in Glendale, California. Born Erick Lee Purkhiser, Lux Interior was 62 years old at the time of his death. According to a press release issued by his wife and Cramps guitarist Kristy “Poison Ivy Rorschach” Wallace, a pre-existing heart condition is attributed as the cause of death.

Lux Interior and Poison Ivy were married for over 37 years and moved the group from Los Angeles to Akron Ohio to New York City where they gained notoriety amidst the backdrop of the seminal CBGB’s punk scene of New York in the 1970s and ’80s.

The Cramps made their debut with their 1979 EP, Gravest Hits. Later albums, such as 1981’s Psychedelic Jungle, and their mid-career retrospective, Bad Music For Bad People are iconic albums in the punk rock lexicon. The group’s merger of horror and sci-fi imagery laced with punk, rockabilly and garge rock sounds is often imitated, but has never been rivaled.

The press release sent out by Poison Ivy goes on to say that “Lux was a fearless frontman who transformed every stage he stepped on into a place of passion, abandon, and true freedom. He is a rare icon who will be missed dearly.”

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For this edition of Roll Call, we call out Atomic Boogie’s John Barton.

Who are you?
John Barton, guitar and vocals for the band Atomic Boogie

Describe yourself in three words.
Rockin’ guitar cat!

Who — dead or alive — would most you like to meet?
Jerry Lee Lewis

Who would you most like to slap in the face?
Britney Spears

What song do you wish you had written?
“I Walk the Line” by Johnny Cash

Elvis Presley or Elvis Costello?
Elvis Presley

LP, CD or MP3?
LP

If you could start one trend, what would it be?
I would like to start a trend of more rockabilly guitar players without the generic pompadour look!

If you could end one trend, what would it be?
I would like to end the “Country Pop Nashville Syndrome!”

With whom would you most like to play a game of spin the bottle?
Drew Barrymore — great lips!!

Atomic Boogie heads tonight’s roots/rockabilly lineup with Rat Rod & the Rusty Rebels, and King Daddy Polecats. $7. 10 p.m. Lenny’s, 486 Decatur St. 404-577-7721. Bring canned goods to support Atlanta Community Food Bank’s holiday drive.

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