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Inaugural gig at the Children of Paradise farewell performance:
one good band dies, another great band is born.
Like
the ad above says, "from the ashes of the Flies and the Turbines"
Nat Freedberg built a new band called the Titanics. Like another hard
rocking outfit whose name came from a prediction of their chances
of success ("it should take off like a lead zeppelin", they were told),
the Titanics began life with a moniker that was not exactly brimming
with optimism. Despite the doomed-to-sink name of the band, however,
the new group did fine, and quickly carved out a niche for themselves
in the local scene. Fans of the band's antecedents were not disappointed.
They shared the straight-ahead, rock-til-you-drop approach of the
Turbines, while maintaining the wry, well-crafted songwriting that
set the Flies apart from most of their peers.
Nat Freedberg can
definitely write the shit out of a song. Strong melodies float above a
sea of big guitars, and those who actually pay attention to the words
are rewarded with compelling tales of mayhem, lust, and other great American
values. Nat has a great sense of humor, all the more appreciable because
that's such a rarity among proponents of the huge-guitar-and-drums school
of rocking. Don't tell anyone I told you so, but Nat Freedberg is an extremely
intelligent guy, and that intelligence is mirrored- albeit often camouflaged
-in the lyrics of the songs that he writes. The quality of the titanics
material is such that, upon hearing how record companies were passing
on the band- despite digging the demos they were hearing -because they
couldn't quite figure out what category the titanics could be marketed
in, I became once and for all time convinced that all record companies
are run by shitheads and beancounting yes men without a speck of imagination.
Nat seemed about to join many other fine boston bands whose label signings
never materialized because they were too original. What a sorry
industry the music business is. What has happened to or for the Titanics
in the past three years since this page was written (it is summer, 2001
as I type these words) I'm not sure. I do know that they continue to play
shows now and again, but it seems that Nat's main musical pursuit is now
the Upper Crust, the tongue-in-cheek band of elitist aristocrats, powdered
wigs and all.
To think that we
all be denied the pleasures of the Titanic song list is to suffer twice
over; the first blow came when the Flies broke up before their 1985 Fort
Apache-recorded LP could be released. While I think the Upper Crust are
a hoot and a half, I think that the more subtle irony and submerged humor
of the Flies and the Titanics lyrics are more artful, in that you have
to dig around a bit to get the full effect; Upper Crust songs, for all
their wit, are more a case of having them handed to you on a silver platter-
which in their case is, of course, entirely appropriate... no aristocrat
worth his snuff would be found rooting about in the plebian stanzas of
mere rock lyrics, particularly when the Upper Crust are willing and ready
to "Let Them Eat Rocque". For us working class heroes, however,
it just plain sucks that Nat has never caught the label break that his
talents- and his songs -deserve. "High on Drugs", "Right
Side of Satan"...these are the songs we long to grow old listening
to. Fuck the tax break, why couldn't George Dubya raid the Social Security
coffers to fund a Titanics deal? I'd gladly give back my $300 for that
(if the IRS hadn't already taken it back to cover monies owed).
These following
photos were taken at a Titanics show in August, 1998, at the Green Street
Grille in Cambridge. I got to open the show as a solo act, and it was
a blast. Of course, it's always a hell of a lot more fun going
on before these guys than it is to go on after them!
Jay doing his four string thing.
Having broken strings on all his guitars, Dave stands patiently awaiting
the end of the song. What a stoic...what a sweaty shirt! Lovely super-fan
Kathy Duff looks on.
The many faces of Fred Nazarro. Fred and I shared a common stomping
ground in our younger days, back in Jeffries Point, East Boston.
Two shots of Dave Fredette putting his Firebird through its paces.
Nat and Jay, formerly bandmates in the Flies, get together again
in the latter day Titanics.
Dave breaks out his beautiful Les Paul TV model.
Fred puts the pedal to the metal during the ever-popular "Fuck You Up".
How low can you go?
Stand by your man: Nat flanked by his lovely cohort, Jenny, well known
around town for her frenetic work as a go-go dancer for the Band
That Time Forgot. Mambo, anyone?
Another night at the Rat: the Titanics headline with Live Skull and
the Lemonheads opening.
Lily Dennison's biz card, circa 1988
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