The Bristols had to have been one of the most persistent and determined bands ever to come out of the Baked Bean city. Sadly, their years of hard work- although rewarded by local celebrity -were not to bring the big payoff in the form of a major label contract. Nonetheless these talented (and extremely lovely) ladies played with most of the legendary bands in town at one time or another, and left their mark in the form of opening the doors for other female-dominated outfits to be taken seriously in the boy's club of Boston rock and roll.

The Bristols held one of the more unique residencies in the local scene. Each year during the Boston Marathon they played an afternoon gig at the venerable Rat in Kenmore Square. Scads of marathon fans were first exposed to the soul-cleansing power of Boston rock in the dim light of that underground cavern as health-conscious runners flew by overhead, and we have the Bristols to thank.

The first time I met the Bristols was at an after-hours party of some sort following a Real kids gig at the Rat. Afterwards we had gone to their apartment to listen to records and have a few brewskis, and around 4 in the morning I availed myself of their hospitality and their sofa. The next morning was memorable for three things besides an enormous hang-over. First, I woke up and realized I was wearing a pair of British flag boxing shorts and nothing else, much to the apparent bemusement of Kim and Kelly and even more to my own embarrassment. Second, Kelly had played me the first Bangles records I'd ever heard in an attempt to give me an idea of where her own band was headed. Third, I found myself being driven across town in a small car packed impossibly tight with the Bristols, myself and a teenage wild-child named Dicky Barrett. Trying as I was to worm my way into the heart of one (or all) of the Bristols my first reaction was that of classic competitive male envy, especially when the ladies expressed admiration for Barrett. But as the ride progressed I had to admit that he was one funny sonofabitch, and well before we reached our destination I had developed an affection for Dicky that never diminished. Now that his role as lead singer of the Bosstones has shot him to the heights of skadulation, I should be envious again, but the only jealousy I feel is that I didn't get to play a song with the Count for Sesame Street's Elmopalooza special like Dicky and the big bad Bosstones did.

Kelly Knapp has one of the most powerful voices ever to cross the Charles River either way. In 1984 she was part of the crew that recorded at So-So Studios, my at-home predecessor to Fort Apache. Kelly joined me for a duet on a pop tune called "Like It" and a country number- "Riverboats". Years later her brother told her that he considered the latter song his favorite and her best performance. Sibling overstatement? Perhaps, but she sure could sing the living shit out of a country song and may have missed her calling playing in a rock band all those years. At any rate her performances are immortalized on "Buy American: the Year at So-So" (send me an email and I'll give you the address you can send six bux to and obtain a cassette of that unreleased lp, which also includes the original demo version of Felice's "Nothin' Pretty"). The Buy American stuff doesn't come close to any of the Bristols own recordings, of course. I was happy to engineer some 24-track Fort Apache North sessions for the band in October, 1989. The producer for those tracks was Mark Doyle, a talented cat that had spent some time honing his skills under audio master Bob Clearmountain before relocating to Boston. After we tracked at the Fort Mark bopped on up to Warren, Rhode Island and mixed the tunes at Normandy Studios, partnering with the ever-reliable Phil Greene. There's a Real Media sample of "In Harm's Way" and "Got No Heart" below (for info on getting the free Real Media player go to the Boston Rock Storybook Audio page). I bet there are ways to get your hands on one of the several other fine Bristols demos, too. I'll keep you posted as soon as I have some more info.

Kelly appeared at a number of venues that I booked, solo or as part of a duet. I was even lucky enough to play as half of a duo with her at some shows. She's played a few duet gigs with John Felice of the Real Kids, too, and those are always worth seeing. Theses days the Bristols are one of the bands that I miss seeing the most, not only for their musical prowess- nor merely for the fact that they are all so super-sexy 'n purdy (sexism rears it's ugly head), which they are - but also for the great attitude that they always kept through thick and thin. In that respect the Bristols could teach the boys a trick or two, and for that true team-spirited comaraderie they'll forever be a great rock band to me. Kim has yet, I believe, to play in any follow-up outfit, which is a shame because she is a way cool bass player. She certainly seems to have impressed a certain songwriter from New Jersey, whose band name rhymes with "dithereens". In the song "Wall of Sleep", his paean to Kim's ethereal beauty, he points out that she "holds her bass just like Bill Wyman"...and durned if she doesn't. Who knows how many other fine rock tunes have been inspired by one or another of the Bristols? And did I mention that I had a crush on at least one of them one of them at a time for, like, ten years?

I always loved the Bristols and asked them to play at our official opening at Fort Apache North. It was nice to have these old friends and veteran scene-sters around for an event that was so important to me. They played a great set, too.

If Kelly was the focal center of the Bristols, and Kim was the ingenue (smarter than Nico, too!), Michele Haber provided the true rock spirit for the band. Playing a Les Paul Junior through a Marshall half-stack, her guitar sound was the glue that held any Bristols song together. Michelle rocks, period. She's also what my mom would call "a hot shit"- a person with a great sense of humor, an indomitable spirit and a healthy sense of irreverance. Like a mischievous sister of the Norse God Loki, clad in her trademark short black leather jacket, there she'd be on stage grinning that little grin and edging the volume up, up, up until she was caught red-handed and had to back it down a notch. But never all the way back down! Love that Michele! The photos of Ms. Haber to the left and below were taken at the Middle East on August 12, '98, while we waited at the bar with Richie Parsons for the Jonathan Richman show to start (it never did- he got stuck at LaGuardia).

Michele Haber and Richie Parsons at the Middle East, August, 1998.

Recently I received this email message from a fan who had seeen the Boston Rock Storybook website:
"Just dropping a line to say I love what you have done to the site and just finished the story on the Bristols. I finally saw them after years of reading about them a few months ago at t.t.'s . They opened up for tommy stinson and were great!! One of the great travisties of boston rock lore is that they have never recorded a album!! I had seen Kelly Knapp sing on a local rock cable show 'rawk tawk with John Totaro' a few years back and she was great."