 You'd never know
it to visit, but New Hampshire has always been a seething hotbed of seditious
rock. Prove it? OK. I only have to use two words: the Queers (and "the"
hardly counts). Like Aerosmith, Dinosuar, Jr. and a number other Boston
noteables the Queers began their story in the place we Mass natives lovingly
call Cow Hampshire. It was 1982 and Joe King led the original Queers crew
through half a dozen or so shows that summer. Whatever effects those gigs
had on the local psycho-social structure I can't say...the ripples failed
to reach my world. It wasn't until four years later- it took Joe almost
that long to start a new band -that I heard about the band. I knew Hugh
O'Neill from my days as a Real Kids roadie, when he was I believe road managing
the band (it's all such a blur), and I had shared some great times playing
mutual fan to J.J. Rassler's post-DMZ outfit, a no-bullshit rock
band called the Bad Habits. So when I heard those guys were in this
crazy new group I went down to Chet's Last Call to see what it was
all about. As the story goes I was not to be disappointed. They were cool
as a friggin moose.
 The
Queers came into Fort Apache not long after that, did a mess of demo tunes
with Sean Slade engineering. Shit that ripped your head off in the old-timey
way, very soul satisfying. So straight ahead and so Boston and so real
that I assumed they would die a slow death like all the other great bands
from thisaway that shared those traits. When I stopped paying attention
and moved to Ohio and then began hearing all this through-the-hypevine
stuff about a band called the Queers I figured it was ANOTHER band called
the Queers. Life just doesn't work that way, it is not so righteously
guided. I asked a fellow degenerate-junkie-musician-in-the-know who'd
done a show with them if this guy or that guy were in the group, and he
answered "Yes" when I got to the name Joe- except he insisted it wasn't
"Joe King" but "Joe Queer". Hmmm, I wondered. Then he pulled out a cassette
and played me ten seconds of a song and I said "Oh, yeah, that's the same
band all right". Sweet. The news that some part of the band had persevered
for 8 years (at that time) and gotten some well deserved recognition made
my whole day- shit, it made my whole week. I went to dig out my Queers
records and demos and have an old-time's sake listening party only- of
course -to discover my informative dope fiend pal had stolen the lot.
Somehow it all made perfect sense.
So it's 1998 now.
I'm reading all this neat stuff about the band being together again and
Joe getting ready to tour maybe, and I'm 3 years clean-on-a-clinic (that
counts as clean in my world) so maybe I'll actually get to one of those
shows! And if anyone close to Joe or JJ or Hugh reads this tell em to
use the phone number or email on the home page and get in touch. I'd love
to do an interview or just shoot the shit. In the meantime here's a bit
of bio on the band for all you avid readers. The Lookout Records 1997
catalogue has included a helpful history of the band, and rather than
plagiarize it outright- even though that should be cool for a Punkrock
label, raging against the world corporate machine and all - I am quoting
it at length below:
 He
(Joe) hadn't the nerve to sing in the first version of the Queers, but
the man who possesses one of the most instantly recognizable voices in
punk rock was finally persuaded to take over the microphone when J. J.
Rassler, of the seminal Boston band DMZ, came to audition and ended up
telling Joe, "Hey man, you're a way better singer than me. Why don't you
just do it yourself?"
J. J. stuck around
to play guitar and co-write some of the classic Queers tunes with Joe.
By then Joe had also recruited drummer Hugh O'Neill, Jr., who he claims
to have discovered drinking in a somewhat notorious North Boston dive
called Chet's Last Call. Over the next two years, Joe, along with J. J.,
Hugh and a revolving cast of musicians, alleged musicians, and various
ne'er-do-wells played occasional shows and gradually recorded the songs
that would make up their first album. It was during that same time, at
a Social Distortion show, that Joe met B-Face, a kid just out of high
school, who would become the Queers' permanent bassist.
The record, called
"Grow Up", was released in 1990 on a tiny English label called Shakin'
Street, which commemorated the occasion by immediately going out of business.
Only 1000 copies were pressed, and until it was re-released on Lookout
Records in 1994, was almost impossible to find. But one copy of the record
somehow made its way to the turntable of punk rock legend and Maximum
Rocknroll columnist Ben Weasel, and that was to make all the difference.
Ben began singing praises of The Queers in his MRR column, and simultaneously
began bugging Lookout Records head Larry Livermore to give the Queers
a listen. Livermore, notoriously slow to listen to anyone's advise but
his own, finally agreed to check out a 16 song demo that Weasel had sent
him, and, for perhaps the first time in their several year acquaintance,
freely admitted that Weasel was right. The two of them met the Queers
at Mass Giorgini's studio in Lafayette, Indiana, where the 19 bleary and
beer-fueled hours produced the classic "Love Songs For The Retarded,"
releases in 1993.
The following year
Weasel took the boys back into the studio where he produced "Beat Off,"
and Livermore took his turn with the "Surf Goddess" EP. In 1995 the Queers
re-united with Mass Giorgini to record "Move Back Home".Through those
years a mind-boggling number of second guitarists came and went, including
Danny Vapid of Screeching Weasel, but except for a brief stint when Dan
Panic, also of Screeching Weasel, filled in on drums, the core lineup
of the Queers has been Joe on guitar and vocals, B-Face on bass and Hugh
on drums. But when it came time to record their fifth album, Joe hooked
up again ith J. J. Rassler to co-write and arrange some of the songs.
Rassler also came into the studio as co-producer with Mass Giorgini.
The King-Rassler
duo came up with some of the catchiest, poppiest tunes The Queers have
ever done. Both guys share a love of the Beach Boys, and it shows, not
just on the brilliant cover of "Don't Back Down" which gave the album
its name, but in the hooks and harmonies that permeate most of the songs.
True, there are still some of the balls-out and just plain rude punk blasts
that The Queers have always been know for, but Joe says, "I could never
understand why people can't love Black Flag and the Beach Boys and Lesley
Gore."
The Queers have
toured relentlessly the past few years, despite numerous personal and
financial disasters, ever since the day Joe closed the doors to his New
Hampshire restaurant called, poetically enough, Joe's Place, and told
his long-suffering father, "Dad, I'm gonna have a fuckin' nervous breakdown
if I stay here." While Joe's decision cause a short term crisis among
New Hampshire's otherwise unemployable punk rock busboys, it was welcomed
by punk rock fans across the country. Plus, at least so far, Joe hasn't
had that nervous breakdown he was worried about. As he once put it, "The
Queers are a mental version of the Outward Bound program." (That's the
one where they take misfits and juvenile delinquents, dump them out in
the wilderness, and tell them it will build their character to find their
way back.) Yep, that about sums it up.
Huge thanks to Lookout
Records for the above history of the Queers. I also got a shout out from
Greg Urbaitis (Yerbassist) who had this to say:
"Just wanted to say your website is totally chinese! I was in Boston
from 78-80 & 83-89, and even though I left the fear of snow for Calif,
I realize how much I miss it all, which makes having this good self-indulgent
fun. I was never on the "in" of the scene, though I did get to play with
The Swinging E's, the Queers for a couple of years (I think I played most
of the bass parts on Grow Up), and, my fav - Playing with Tiny Tim at
the Rat. But even though, it WAS my life too, so, again, thanks!! (And
keep adding more junk!) Greg Urbaitis (Yerbassist)
UPDATE,
2001:
Well, it was bound
to happen. J.J. stumbled upon this web site, and in January of '99 I opened
my email box to find a message with the somewhat startling subject line:
"I used to buy drugs from ya at Harvard".
His message, a ready-for-Hollywood, rock and roll story if ever there
was one, continues...
"...That
was in 73 or 74. Always remembered your laugh. I was workin my way through
glitter rock and hangin at the Grog sellin your lids at the Mott
the Hoople show at the Stadium. I saved enough to buy a Gretsch, Chet
Atkins Anniversary Model (slightly warm at $125. ) and turned around and
traded it to a Berkeley student for a 68 sunburst Les Paul and learned
"One of the Boys". I used to go to the Catacombs. Saw lots of bands
then. Modern Lovers and a group I dug called Dazzle. Started
workin at BCN doing schlep stuff but mainly bein Maxanne (ED.:Sartori,
legendary DJ and prime mover)'s
roadie and all around boy Friday. In winter 75 I met a guy at the Patti
Smith show at the Jazz Workshop. The night John Cale
tore the ceiling down with his bass. Me and this guy, Peter Greenberg,
decided to start a band then and there and it became DMZ. When
Willie (ED.:
"Loco" Alexander)'s
"Mass Ave" was released, we knew it was the start of something. I'd seen
this band the Mezz open for Television at this place called
Plymouth Rock (down the street from where the Paradise is
now, just about where In Your Ear is) and I remember their drummer
(Pearly Gates) fallen off his stool. The other guys went and picked
him up and inched away slowly so he wouldn't fall again. He fell again.
I thought, damn, I can do that. Me and Peter saw that the Mezz were playin
at the Rathskellar in Kenmore Sq. I said if they can play there,
it's our kinda place. Our first couple gigs there we had to wheel our
gear over there from rehearsal in a shopping basket, we had no car and
we practised in a frat house next to Al Capones Pizza. We started
makin friends with other bands that were heedin the call and we got tight
with the Real Kids. One night I saw a guy with them and I thought
he looked like you (ED.:It
WAS me!).
I laughed and thought about trying to find you. 10 years later I'd gone
from DMZ, was with Bad Habits, started the Odds then became
a Queer. Me and Hugh O'Neil -from the late great MattMa's (ED.:Reddy
Teddy gtr. god Matthew MacKenzie) band
the Millionaires -
went over to a loft in Roxbury to play with what was left of the Queers
(Joe King and Kevin Kecy) and by the time we wiped the drool
from our chin we were a band. We went into the studio (Ft Apache)
and there you were. The guy who fronted me the pot to earn the money to
buy my first axe. Funny how shit is. Within months we were savin each
others spot in line at Chets and I thought the more shit changes
the more it stays the same. The last time I saw you (9-10 years ago) I
borrowed a bio on Brian Jones from you. Then you moved. I heard
you were back, thought you might be lookin for the book. I'm almost through
with it... Love the website Joe.
Brilliant. One very
funny thing. My old band, the long-suffering bones, actually did
at least two shows with the Bad Habits...a Cantones gig, and a booze cruise
that I somehow booked where I got to pick the opening band. I had loved
the Bad Habits when we played together, so I called them to play the cruise-
I think I went through their bass player, Jon Shriver "the Driver".
It's a testimony to the sheer toxicity of our early 80's recreational habits
that J.J. didn't realize it was me until he saw me again 4 years later at
the Fort. As for me, in those days I was generally so 'recreated' hardly
recognized myself. Ah, the life of a sportsman, it isn't as easy as it looks.
By the way, J.J., if you're reading this...you can keep the book. I think
Brian would have wanted it that way. And as for that first guitar of yours...hey,
don't blame ME!
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