Every year, in the summertime, the Annual WBCN Rock 'n Roll Rumble makes its appearance. There's always loads of ballyhoo in the press, gobs of self promotion on BCN's part, and tons of bitching and complaining, both before and after. The complaints come from bands who weren't included, purists who see the whole thing as a bloated artifact, and fans who are pissed off that their fave groups didn't win. Some say: 'Twas ever thus. Those who attended the first two or three Rumbles remember different.
When BCN stepped in it gave the Rumble a much-needed mainstream legitimacy. The event these days is well attended, offers marvie prizes and generous guarantees for the participating bands, and puts bands in front of large audiences in big rooms with good P.A.'s. Some of the bands will make more that night than they have all year- put together! The fact is, that's a sad comment on the fiscal state of original music, but that isn't the point. Kudos must go to WBCN for giving a shitload of bands at least one night a year when they'll actually hear the monitors, and don't have to "pay to play". In the process, though, the event has gone from being "our" Rumble to being "BCN's" Rumble.
The first Rumbles had a very different vibe. Even the first "official" Rumble, when BCN became involved, had a grass-roots legitimacy, now lost. That was the '79 Rumble at the Rat, won by the Neighborhoods. The semi-final, between David Minnehan and Co. and LaPeste, was probably the last time that the bands most-loved by local fans coincided with the bands who made it to the finals. And what a finals it was! Both bands turned in performances which translated an era into sounds, like trapping a fly in amber, catching each group at its' arguable prime. A few years ago I bought a cassette of the 'Hoods set from a cat in front of Cambridge's Hubba Hubba. It convinced me that my memories of the quality of the night's performances weren't just maudlin nostalgia- the 'Hoods rocked the joint! You can feel the heat in the room, smell the ozone of crackling energy, sense the excitement even on a crappy bootleg recording (this was of course before the period when the Rat began making deafness a mandatory requirement for their soundmen, so the recording quality is surprisingly good). The two bands also played two sets each...anyone remember the two bands-four sets standard which was then the norm? When the Neighborhoods won, the place went absolutely shithouse.
The Rumble which I'll always hold closest to my heart, however, is the first event, held in '78 at the Inn Square Men's Bar. Those who remember the Inn Square inevitably do so with great fondness. Marshall, the proprietor, treated bands well, and his hiring was among the most diverse and open that the city has ever seen. All this in a room so narrow that you could leap from the stage to the top of the bar- and I did! That year I was fortunate enough to participate as bass player for Unnatural Axe- a position I held for a few gigs (I became second guitarist for an equally short period, and officially quit the night the Axe opened for the Police at the Rat- poor foresite on my part as they became a much loved punk institution). The field represented a cross-section of all the styles and approaches which had developed in the wide-open DIY period following Punk, and which would blend in the melting pot to create the beautiful noise recognizable as the Boston sound.
Somewhere there's a photo of Richie Parsons, Unnatural Axe's leader and vocalist (now a regional manager of Newbury Comics), and yours truly. I'm wearing a Hawaian shirt, leather bell-bottoms about three inches too short, and playing a gorgeous '66 metallic red Fender Jazz bass. What you can't see is the mirrors behind the bar rattling from the Sunn Colisseum amp I had set "all knobs on ten", or my utter cluelessness as to what was happening around me. Punk was happening, and I simply didn't get it (oh yeah, plus I didn't really know how to play bass too well...that was why I had this monster amp cranked all the way up- I figured I'd hide my lack of skill in the din). But there were members of other bands who sucked way worse than I did, and were even more clueless, possibly. Noone cared, though. There was a joy just to being there, and everyone seemed to have a blast. It was more like a party. As I recall, there wasn't even much concern about who won the thing. The excitement came from the fact that WE were doing it, playing in a club that wasn't the Rat or Cantone's, maybe even being taken seriously. This messy bunch of misfits were actually moving from semi-joke status to some sort of legitimate musical standing. With free beers to boot!
I don't recall any sponsor at the first Rumble- or, more accurately, Rumble Zero. Noone that I know won anything, except bragging rights. The Axe lost to Marc Thor, of the punk coloring book fame, while Nazi Nola glared at us throughout our set- but we had no hard feelings. Even the various cliches and factions seemed less far apart. Reddy Teddy-era rockers and pogomaniacs partied together afterwards with suburban Thundertrain metalheads and "dyke" bands (not my term). Sure, the club was small. The crowds were tiny compared to today's Rumbles. But nobody was there by accident (because, say, they always went to Axis on Thursday), and the line between fans and band members was slim. I guess it's like giving an annual party: at first, the crowd is small but you know all the guests; later, the party's are crowded, but you don't know most of your guests anymore. Such is the price of being a succesful host, and the cost of turning the Indie scene into an "Alternative" bin at Tower Records.
Oh, yeah. LaPeste won Rumble Zero, which was good because they had the best songs. The Hoods lost, but they got to win the next year at the Rat- that was before the "no-second-chance" rule barred bands from participating in consecutive Rumbles. The other bands, including Richard Nolan's Third Rail went on to obscurity or fruitful careers. Me, I was happy that I got to play "They Saved Hitler's Brain", real, real loud. I just wish I still had that red Jazz bass.