the
LYRES
by Joe Harvard
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In conversations at the Middle East in October of '98, Jeff discussed the band and his disappointments regarding the lack of record company recognition when the band was at its' height, which he reckons as being around 1985. "We had a great two-year run when we toured all the time, and I was able to support myself completely from that". Just as the conversation was getting good, however, Jeff went for a "look Ma, no hands" trip to the restaurant's floor, the results of which may be seen in the photo in the Around Town section.
Trouser Press sums up Jeff Connolly's monaural odyssey quite neatly, I think: "Once an imitator of his heroes, Conolly's talent and devotion made him nearly their equal, and the Lyres' four-song debut (a 12-inch EP also known as Buried Alive, after its lead track) showcases a tough, spirited brand of rock'n'roll that sets the standard to which all other contemporary nostalgic grungophiles must be compared...On Fyre is simply the genre's apotheosis, an articulate explosion of colorful organ playing, surging guitars and precisely inexact singing".
One thing that has to be noted is that the band was fortunate in finding -- or being found by -- Rick Harte's Ace of Hearts label. Harte was, and remains, an uncompromising producer who would do whatever it took to get the best performance from his bands. The polar opposite of a clock watcher, Harte would wait as long as it took for the magic to get going, and he deserves bigtime credit for documenting a number bands whose importance to the Boston scene can hardly be exaggerated. This was at a time when most studio outings resulted in lame-o, wholly unimpressive facscimiles of groups whose blistering live performances could barely be imagined listening to the records. Harte qualifies for hero status for making sure this fate would not befall the Neighborhoods, Mission of Burma, and the Lyres among others. Founded 1980 Original
Lineup Subsequent
members Lyres
Links! Visit
these other sites for bands in the Lyres family tree:
(This is a tough one, as there have been so many people in the band...) DMZ ... Turbines... Real Kids... Barrence Whitfield |
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The
Lyres are one of the all-time most popular Boston rock acts, largely due
to the stewardship of scene mega-veteran Jeff "Mono Man" Connelly. Jeff
fronted the punk-era powerhouse DMZ during their journey from Live
at the Rat! to a strong but mismanaged MCA outing. From the
ashes of DMZ Jeff arose like the Phoenix (the mythical creature, not the
Boston paper) to heights of retro-rock perfection- or something like that
anyway. Jim Moran, perhaps one of the world's biggest Lyres fans, has
agreed to pen an article on these true sons of Beantown, which should
be done sometime in the next five years judging by his continued postponements
(Editor's Note, Jan. 2004 ... okay, it's been 6 years so far!!). I hope
to arrange an interview with Jeff and another with former Turbines
axemeister Jack Hickey, the penultimate Lyres guitarist in the opinion
of many observers in the know who followed the band through it's fifteen
or so incarnations. Until then here's a few ads and some album covers
to provide visual stimulus for all you eager readers... 
Keeping
track of all the versions of the Lyres throughout the years is a task
for the sort of writers who write autobiographies of Churchill or Stalin...not
for rock guitarists moonlighting as webmasters. Luckily, Lyres veteran
Dan McCormack took pity on my pathetically inadequate archival efforts,
and sent me the following list of Lyres line-ups. It contradicts the family
tree in the A Promise Is A Promise LP, compiled by Rock Family
Tree guy Pete Frame, which Danny figures "may be approx 70%
correct". Former band members have pointed out that Frame garnered 100%
of his data straight from Jeff'- and they cite this as the primary reason
that it's not quite all there. One thing that every single former member
of the band I've spoken to agreed on- with the notable exception of Howie
Ferguson -is that working under Jeff was a shitload of work, mostly based
on the blend of total autocracy and beer-fueled chaos that Mono Man used
to run the band. Hey, noone said it was going to be easy!
Lineup
#1 Rick Carmel: Guitar Rick Coraccio: Bass, BG Vocals Paul Murphy: Drums
Shit For Brains: Organ, Lead Vocals, overall pain in the ass. Lineup
#2 Alex Kronos: Guitar Scott Parmenter: Bass Bob Mackenzie: Guitar SFB:
See above Lineup #3 Frank Rowe: Guitar Tony Cagnita: Guitar Unknown
Bass & Drums - only saw this lineup once up in Beverly! SFB: See Above
Lineup #4 Peter Greenberg: Guitar, BG Vocals Mike Lewis: Bass, BG Vocals
Howie Ferguson: Drums: SFB: See Above Lineup#4 Same as #3 but with the
guy who played bass in 21-645 (forget his name) Lineup#5 Me: Guitar
Rick Coraccio: Bass, BG Vocals Paul Murphy: Drums SFB: See Above Lineup#6
Me: Guitar Rick Coraccio: Bass, BG Vocals Johnny Bernardo: Drums SFB:
See Above Lineup#6 Me: Guitar Johnny Bernardo: Drums Matt Miklos: Bass
SFB: See Above At this point there was an attempted coup d'etat by SFB
to replace me with Aram Heller, wich was summarily foiled by the hicks
from Ohio. From this day forward, Mr. Heller would be branded as a "scab"
by yours truly. I wasn't quite done pissing Jeff off yet! Lineup#7 Jack
Hickey: Guitar Johnny Bernardo: Drums Matt Miklos: Bass SFB: See Above
I stopped keeping track after that, save for the current lineup wich
is: Steve Aquino: Guitar Rick Coraccio: Bass, BG Vocals Paul Murphy:
Drums SFB: See Above 
