Lenny Kaye & Friends play Nuggets at The 100 Club London, Thursday April 4th 2024

Lenny Kaye with Marty Love on drums

Lenny Kaye, the New York based musical historian, journalist, author and of course, guitarist with the Patti Smith Group for an impressive 50 years, has another equally impressive entry on his CV, and that’s as the compiler of what must be one of the most influential albums of all time. "Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968" released on Elektra Records in 1972, was Lenny’s painstaking labour of love, a compilation of obscure 60's American Garage Rock and Psych bands. Often these teen trash bands were one local hit wonders that might have only just made it out from their garage rehearsal to a nearby recording studio or High School gig before disappearing from view for good. However, some of the featured bands would end up clicking with lovers of raw power Rock ‘n Roll for generations to follow. The Seeds, The Sonics and The Music Machine to name but three, inspired countless Garage Punk bands all over the world. The influence of the California based Love in particular, would resonant hugely with the city of Liverpool, not just back in the 80’s with Liverpudlian Post Punk bands such as Echo & The Bunnymen and The Teardrop Explodes but on into the 90’s when songwriting genius Mick Head’s Shack ended up as Arthur Lee’s backing band on his UK tour and then later still with local bands such as The Coral. Well over half the bands I've featured on Retro Man Blog and Retrosonic Podcast owe a huge debt to Nuggets in some way or other - just check out some of our favourite contemporary acts from all over the globe such as Las Aspiradoras from Spain, The Satelliters from Germany, The Hangees from Sardinia, Vic & The Sect from Mexico, Frowning Clouds from Australia, Stompin’ Riff Raffs from Japan and The In-Fuzzed from France are just some great examples.

 

Lenny Kaye with Jim Jones

Lenny Kaye with Jon King from Gang of Four

Lenny with Moana Santana & Helene de Joie

Lenny decided to play some shows in America to celebrate the belated 50^th anniversary of the release of “Nuggets”, gathering together a stellar cast of musicians such as Peter Buck from R.E.M., Peter Zaremba from The Fleshtones, Kathy Valentine from The Go-Go's along with surviving members of some of the original bands like The Seeds, The Electric Prunes, The Leaves, The Chocolate Watchband and Johnny Echols of Love. Then came the announcement of a London show and Lenny, together with promoter Joe De Lorenzo, assembled an equally impressive Transatlantic cast for a night at the legendary 100 Club on Thursday April 4^th. Due to the huge demand, a second date on Friday 5^th was quickly added and that too sold out in lightning time, so we were grateful for the quick action in securing tickets for the Thursday, it was something I just could not have missed as the line-up looked amazing. Lenny took centre stage on guitar and vocals and it struck me that it looks like he's barely changed over the years, he’s relaxed and cheerful and looks genuinely chuffed to bits to be able to share his passion for good time Rock & Roll with us. There’s a core band backing Lenny, featuring bassist Dave Treganna of Sham 69 and Lords of The New Church, Jim Jones of Thee Hypnotics and Jim Jones All Stars on guitars and vocals, drumming duties were shared between Rat Scabies of The Damned and Marty Love of Wingmen and the Johnny Moped Band. The other ever presents were Derek Cruz from the Jesse Malin band on Guitars, Harmonica and Percussion and Greg Rice on the keyboards who both did a superb job considering they were in for the long haul. 

Lenny Kaye with Cheetah Chrome of The Dead Boys

Rat Scabies of The Damned

Lenny with Clive Jackson from Dr & The Medics

 

 

Various special guest vocalists joined in the fun - Clive 'The Doctor' Jackson of Dr. & The Medics, Jon King from Gang of Four, Alan Clayton of The Dirty Strangers, Peter Coyne of The Godfathers and Anita Chellamah from Cherry Bombz. They were joined buy the UK based New Yorker Roxanne Fontana and the New York based Amanda Cross who both have new records of their own out now. Then we had the guest guitarists, Cheetah Chrome from CBGB's legends Dead Boys, Japanese guitarist Tsuyoshi Kitagawa otherwise known as Go Ohgami, Brian James of The Damned, Billy Shinbone from The Sinclairs and Guy Griffin of The Quireboys. If that wasn't enough, former Clash compatriot DJ Barry 'Scratchy' Myers warmed up the crowd perfectly and Go-Go dancers Moana Santana and Helene de Joie provided some suitably 60's style atmosphere. We certainly got our ticket money's worth. The only disappointment was that Dave Vanian, Paul Gray and Captain Sensible of The Damned had to pull out as did Deb O'Nair, the original organ player with The Fuzztones. It was a big shame as both bands were pivotal in introducing me to Nuggets and The Fuzztones classic "Lysergic Emanations" is still one of my all-time favourites albums. I was hoping that we would see half of Naz Nomad reunited along with that classic Black Album/Strawberries (and praise be, also the current…) line-up of The Damned.

Cheetah Chrome of The Dead Boys

Rat Scabies, Jim Jones, Helene de Joie & Derek Cruz

Lenny with Alan Clayton of Dirty Strangers

Personally, I first got drawn to 60’s Nuggets mainly thanks to The Damned’s alter-ego Naz Nomad & The Nightmares and their soundtrack to an imaginary Swinging 60’s teen exploitation movie “Give Daddy the Knife Cindy”, which featured covers of prime Nuggets material. The 60's Garage Psych influence on the Damned’s superb "Strawberries" album was apparent and in the mid-80’s I could see The Fuzztones and Dr & The Medics thanks to The Damned inviting them on tour as support bands. Around that time, I also saw Australia's Scientists and Hoodoo Gurus and lapped up the Trash scene of the Klub Foot at The Clarendon in Hammersmith where The Prisoners with their Hammond organ (pretty rare at the time) conjured up not only Small Faces but Question Mark & The Mysterians iconic "96 Tears". The Tall Boys, Milkshakes, and my favourites The Playn Jayn, all mined the 60's Garage Rock and Psych sound and 1984-86 was an absolute blast of groovy sounds, yeah baby! In fact, I interviewed Dr & The Medics for my fanzine Out of Step just before they themselves became one-hit wonders and topped the charts with the now ubiquitous "Spirit in the Sky". However, before this brush with the mainstream, they were a pretty cool band, a superb live act and were responsible for running the Alice in Wonderland nightclub in London. Check out their early releases and demos, they are well worth a listen. But the disappointment of Dave, Paul, the Captain, and Deb not being able to make it was soon put to one side when you consider the quality of the assembled special guests who did appear.

Dave Treganna of Sham 69, The Doctor & Moana Santana

Peter Coyne of The Godfathers, Rat Scabies, Jim Jones & Derek Cruz

Lenny with Rat Scabies

 

 

In an immense set that stretched to well over two hours, the packed out 100 Club crowd were treated to an astonishing 33 songs including such Nuggets classics as “Dirty Water”, “Little Red Book”, “Sometimes Good Guys Don’t Wear White”, “Pushing Too Hard”, “The Witch” and “Strychnine” , “Action Woman”, “Nobody But Me”, “You’re Gonna Miss Me”, “Wooly Bully” and of course “Louie Louie”. Lenny also made the decision to include some non-Nuggets crowd favourites to suit the guests and keep it varied and there were so many highlights, it’s hard and probably a bit unfair to pick out specific moments. But if pushed I must mention Peter Coyne’s visceral attack on The Creation’s “How Does It Feel To Feel” which took me back to the blistering early days of The Godfathers. Billy Shinbone’s extraordinary guitar wig-out on Pink Floyd’s “Interstellar Overdrive” even had Lenny staring open-mouthed in awe. Roxanne Fontana in a fetching mask and outfit took on Velvet Underground’s “Venus In Furs” and Alan Clayton’s Bluesy swagger on the Small Faces “Whatcha Gonna Do About It” was ace. Amanda Cross put in a stunning performance of Bo Diddley’s “Roadrunner” and Jim Jones in bug-eyed shades was the epitome of Rock ‘n’ Roll cool personified and his version of “99^th Floor” by The Moving Sidewalks was superb.

Dave Treganna, Roxanne Fontana, Marty Love & Lenny Kaye

Anita Chellamah & Helen de Joie

Lenny Kaye with Clive Jackson of Dr & The Medics

 

The Doctor took to the stage to croon through Love’s “My Little Red Book” and The Sonics “Strychnine”, which saw the crowd going crazy. Then there was Lenny Kaye’s own obscure Nugget, a great Garage Country Rock track “Crazy Like A Fox” from his pre-Patti Smith days in Link Cromwell & The Zoo. Everyone played their part – credit to Dave Treganna on bass as he had to play on all the songs throughout the evening and he kept everything ticking over perfectly. Behind the drums, Rat Scabies was immense as was Martin ‘Marty Love’ Parrott from Wingmen, another one of our favourite surprise collaborations. Things got wild towards the end of the set with the introduction of Cheetah Chrome from The Dead Boys and Brian James of The Damned – and they powered their way through MC5’s “Looking At You” and “Kick Out The Jams” before Lenny took off his shirt and announced “I’m gonna do this Iggy style” and I unconsciously sucked my stomach in as he was so fit and lean, putting me to shame, he looks amazing for 77! The familiar guitar riff to “I Wanna Be Your Dog” started off, and in true Iggy style, Lenny dives headlong off the stage for some crowd-surfing action, it’s a great moment. For the last song, all the special guests take to the stage for a massive singalong of “Gloria” and it’s over. What an amazing night, this will live long in the memory for sure. Massive congratulations to Joe De Lorenzo and whoever else helped to make this happen – a truly special Rock ‘n’ Roll happening that sums up the wonderful power of unabashed joyful music played by people who were having as much of a good time  on the stage as we were in the crowd.

Lenny takes a break to read a passage from his excellent book "Lightning Striking" before chanelling his inner-Iggy!

Check out our Retromanblog65 YouTube channel for more videos from the show. Also, please do take the time to click on the highlighted links throughout the feature to discover what else the wonderful special guests are up to! All photos and videos copyright Retro Man Blog.

 

 

Here's some pages from Issue 4 of my old fanzine Out of Step published in September 1985...

The Godfathers - Live at Guildford G-Live

The Godfathers - Photo by Steve Worrall

The Godfathers are back with a bang! The brand new album "Jukebox Fury" is stuffed full of top tunes and riffs and positively bristles with all their classic trademarks; Peter Coyne's sneering delivery and world-weary cynicism, the stinging guitar riffs and powerhouse rhythm section, it's all here. Original Sid Presley Experience guitarist Del Bartle is back with his old colleagues, the Coyne brothers again and contributes some mighty fine songs to the album. Live he covers what was always a twin-guitar assault on his own, and although the band are lacking a bit of the Dollimore/Gibson-era stage visuals, musically Del covers remarkably well.

Peter Coyne - Photo by Steve Worrall

The band have been supporting long time pals The Stranglers on their lengthy "Feel It Live" Tour and this, along with overseas dates earlier this year, has seen the band tighten up considerably since the last time I saw them back at the Valentine's Day Massacre gig in February last year. Tonight, the band are allowed a generous 40 minute set despite being the support act, and they take full advantage, playing a perfectly balanced set of old classics and tracks from the new album. Peter goads the audience into letting loose, winding up the attentive but quiet crowd until they relax and join in the singing on some of the more familiar numbers. And there are a lot of familiar numbers to enjoy, kicking off with a three song blast from the past "She Gives Me Love", the first single to be taken from "More Songs About Love & Hate" and then two numbers from their faultless second album "Birth, School, Work, Death", the storming "'Cause I Said So", and "If I Only Had Time", two of my favourite Godfather's tracks.

The Godfathers - Photo by Steve Worrall

Next up is "I Can't Sleep Tonight" from the new album, a melodic bubble-gum Punk song which Peter introduces as their tribute to the Ramones. Then it's "Back Into The Future", the first of the new album tracks that originally saw the light of day way back in 2011. It's built around a Stooges-heavy guitar riff from Del, and Peter Coyne snarls every line with relish, twisting every syllable up and spitting them out with pure venom. It's a fantastic track, that proves that time has not dulled their South London gangster-chic aggression in the slightest. One of their best ever singles "Love Is Dead" is followed by "If I Only Could" from the new album, which should be earmarked for a future single, no mistake. We then get a real treat with "Public Enemy No. 1" the instrumental classic from The Sid Presley Experience. It takes me right back to those dark days of the mid to late '80's, that musical wasteland where only The Sid Presley Experience and later The Godfathers, were keeping that raw Rock 'n' Roll spirit alive for me.

The Godfathers - Photo by Steve Worrall

The band have always grabbed their influences, embraced them and then given them a mighty slap round the head, and tonight their cover of Lennon's "Cold Turkey" is just immense. Another new song from "Jukebox Fury" is next entitled "Primitive Man", which has brilliantly witty lyrics and a stick-in-your-head-for-days chorus. "Walking Talking Johnny Cash Blues" with it's Dr. Feelgood Wilko Johnson style choppy rhythm, gets a fair few more people dancing along and it's into another Sid Presley song. The familiar military drum beat heralds probably The Presley's finest moment "Hup 2-3-4", which they once performed live on the much-missed TV show The Tube. Then it's the only track from their debut "Hit By Hit", but what a track it is, "I Want Everything" is The Godfather's at their very best, and it perks the crowd up for the last song, the anthemic "Birth, School, Work, Death", a brilliant way to close the show. 

Chris Coyne - Photo by Steve Worrall

Credit to The Stranglers for letting The Godfathers support them, many less able bands might have been quaking in their boots to have to follow such an impressive set. Anyway, please make sure you check out the brilliant new album "Jukebox Fury", it is a stunning record and after a few patchy releases such as "Unreal World", the "Orange" album and "Afterlife", The Godfathers are now back where we came in, with a bang! You can read the review of The Godfathers 2012 Valentine's Day Massacre gig along with some excellent and exclusive Paul Slattery photographs, by checking out the earlier Blog feature here.

Del Bartle - Photo by Steve Worrall

Peter Coyne - Photo by Steve Worrall

The Godfathers - Photo by Steve Worrall

We also picked our favourite Godfathers track in the very first Pilot Episode of Retrosonic Podcast, find out which one we went for here...although, please bear in mind this is the Pilot, our very first attempt at a Podcast, so it is a bit rough top say the least...

The Godfathers - New Album "Jukebox Fury" Out Now! Catch the Band on Tour with The Stranglers

Retro Man Blog favourites, The Godfathers, finally release their long-awaited new album "Jukebox Fury" today, March 04th, on their own Godfathers Recordings label via Cargo Records.  "Jukebox Fury" has already been favourably reviewed in Q, Vive Le Rock and Classic Rock magazines, and features twelve tracks including the two storming singles "Back Into The Future" and "The Outsider". The album is available for sale from Cargo Records, iTunes and all the usual retailers. The band are currently out on tour as support to The Stranglers on their "Feel It Live Tour", in what promises to be one of the best double-bills for many a year, so check the poster below for dates near you. Retro Man Blog will be going along to at least one of the dates and we'll be sure to bring you a review of the procedings!

You can read a report on last year's blistering "Valentine's Day Massacre" gig including some excellent, and exclusive, Paul Slattery Photos on the Blog here.

The Godfathers - Photo by Paul Slattery

The Godfathers were a unanimous choice for our very first "Pilot Episode" of the Retrosonic Podcast, check out which song we chose at the Soundcloud site. Although, be warned this is the Pilot/Test Episode and not quite as "polished" and "professional" (ahem...) as the more recent shows...!

Retrosonic Podcast Episode 1: The Pilot Episode by Retrosonic Podcast

Review: The Godfathers "Valentine's Day Massacre" + The Len Price 3 + Lone Sharks live Islington Academy Feb 14th

The Godfathers backstage, Islington Academy - Photo by Paul Slattery

It was a real thrill to be spending Valentine's Day in the company of The Godfathers once more. Who needs, chocolates, roses and fine dining when you can treat your loved-one to a feast of raw and primal rock 'n' roll? The last time I saw The Godfathers live was back in 1990 supporting The Stranglers at The Alexandra Palace, in what turned out to be Hugh Cornwell's last gig with the band. In a strange twist, shortly after the gig last Tuesday, the Godfathers' vocalist, Peter Coyne released a statement mentioning his intent to leave the band following their next round of touring and recording commitments. 

Peter Coyne - Photo by Paul Slattery

This has come as a bit of a shock, well maybe I should say a huge disappointment rather than a shock, as there was a bit of tension on stage at one point just before the encore. But I do sincerely hope they can sort out their differences and get the long awaited new album released, as it was shaping up to be very promising indeed, if the new songs they played tonight were anything to go by. As we discussed in the Pilot Episode of the Retrosonic Podcast, The Godfathers were hugely important to us lovers of guitar-fuelled loud and honest Rock - they blazed a burning, aggressive path through the barren musical wastelands of the late 80's and early 90's. So, it was great to have the chance to see the band back together with the original guitarist of The Sid Presley Experience, Del Bartle alongside brothers Chris and Peter Coyne and drummer Grant Nicholas. There was a big buzz in the crowd as the band took the stage, and launched into a trio of faultless classics - "She Gives me Love", "I Want Everything" and their anthem, "Birth, School, Work, Death". I always thought Peter Coyne was one of Rock's great vocalists, oozing a menace that makes you involuntary duck when he picks up his mic stand and raises it above his head. 

Grant & Del - Photo by Paul Slattery

He has a snarl that seems to wrap around every lyric in a way reminiscent of John Lydon. Bassist Chris Coyne and guitarist Del Bartle are ice cool behind their shades, and there's an underlying tension that crackles and spits in their spiky, cynical songs. The great tracks come thick and fast, "Lonely Man", "Love Is Dead" amongst many others culled mainly from their first three albums. There is a lot of pushing and shoving in the mosh-pit, resulting in a couple of near casualties as the dancing gets a little too energetic.Whilst there isn't quite the all out visual assualt of the Kris Dollimore/Mike Gibson line-up, musically, Del covers the old two guitar attack extremely well on his own. The band end on a cover of Ramone's classic "Blitzkrieg Bop" and then it's over. Let's hope it's just this gig that finished abruptly and not the band itself!

Chris Coyne - Photo by Paul Slattery

Peter Coyne - Photo by Paul Slattery

The Godfathers - Peter, Del, Grant & Chris - Photo by Paul Slattery

Before The Godfathers, The Len Price 3 got a well deserved encore for their thunderous set of well-honed, melodic Garage Rock. Space restrictions meant that drummer Neil Fromow was pushed centre stage and his moment in the spotlight was not wasted. 

This was Neil's best performance of all The Len Price 3 gigs I've seen, his backing vocal harmonies are a crucial part of the band's appeal, lifting the songs to another level of insistently catchy gems. He resembles Keith Moon, not just in appearance but also in the way he drums and immerses himself in the music. He's flanked by bassist Steve Huggins, Steve has no regard for his own safety or for that of the audience as he careers around the stage. His bass is a weapon of mass destruction, and I'm not joking, as I've nearly been decapitated by it..!! On Neil's other side is livewire vocalist and guitarist Glenn Page, who is also a hyperactive performer, leaping into the crowd during their cover of "Comanche". As a band they are a blur of energy, and the audience certainly took to them and were rewarded by the encore of "Shirley Crabtree".

The Len Price 3 - All photos by Paul Slattery

First band of the night were The Lone Sharks from Bristol. I only caught a bit of their sound check and one song unfortunately, and from what I heard they were good too and I'd certainly like to see them again. Their album "Supply & Demand" is really great, a mixture of good time Punk Rock & Roll that brings to mind The Buzzcocks and New York Dolls. Worth checking out indeed...

The Godfathers confirm The Len Price 3 for Saint Valentine's Day Massacre February 14th Islington Academy

 

Great news..! The Godfathers have confirmed The Len Price 3 as support at their Saint Valentine's Day Massacre show at the Islington Academy gig on February 14th. They will be joining Punk Rock riffers The Lone Sharks in what is shaping up to be one of the not-to-be-missed gigs of 2012. 

If you love raw Rock 'n' Roll, Garage Rock and Power Pop harmonies then this is a dream line-up. 

Be sure to get your tickets HERE quickly as this is a sure fire sell out show! 

The Len Price 3 in action - Photo by Steve Worrall

The Godfathers - St. Valentine's Day Massacre live in London February 14th 2012

The Godfathers will play their regular legendary Saint Valentine's Day Massacre gig at the 02 Academy Islington in London on Tuesday February 14th 2012.

Tickets available from the Box Office 0844 477 2000 or from Ticketweb.

The late '80's and early '90's was not a good time for me musically, I just didn't click with a lot of the British bands around at the time. The shoe-gazing and grebo things went over my head and it was all a bit bland for those of us needing our fix of raw rock 'n' roll. Luckily some bands including The Screaming Blue Messiahs, still carried the torch, taking over from The Prisoners, The Playn Jayn Billy Childish's Milkshakes. The Sid Presley Experience too who, of course evolved into The Godfathers. It's hard to believe now just how out of step The Godfathers were with the majority of their so-called Indie band contemporaries. Mean, sharp-suited coolness personified with their two guitar attack and aggressive live act, at odds with the shambling, charisma-free zones of most bands they had to share stages with.

My ticket for The Godfathers 1989 Valentine's Day Massacre

Singer Peter Coyne sneered his songs of mis-trust and cynicism from centre stage whilst around him was a blur of flailing guitars, courtesy of the live-wire Kris Dollimore and Mike Gibson. Bassist Chris Coyne was all coolness and calmness whilst the excellent drummer George Mazur kept the beat going. A direct link from the best of mean edged rock, from early garage punk to The Creation, The Who, Johnny Cash, to Dr. Feelgood and The Sex Pistols, The Godfathers took that musical lineage and spat it out in classic tracks of their own such as "I Want Everything", "This Damn Nation" and the anthemic "Birth, School, Work, Death". It didn't stretch your imagination too much to picture their guitar cases being fitted with compartments for baseball bats and machine guns!
 

And one from the 1990 gig at the Kilburn National

So The Godfathers are back and since 2009 have been playing with the Coyne brothers, drummer Grant Nicholas and original Sid Presley guitarist Del Bartle, this year releasing two stunning download singles "Back Into The Future" and "The Outsider".  I am already looking forward to next Valentine's Day to get the chance to show my appreciation to the band that helped me through those barren musical years with my dose of rhythm and booze flavoured rock 'n roll!

The Godfathers - "Outside, NOW!!"....New Single "The Outsider" released on Secret Records/iTunes

The Godfathers - "The Outsider" out now on Secret Records/iTunes

The Godfathers, the legendary sharp-suited guitar gangsters, are back with a superb new single "The Outsider" released on Secret Records and up on iTunes now.

The release of another single earlier in the year, "Back Into The Future", reminded me just how great the band were. Here was a classic slice of raw R&B riffing rock, up there with the best of their classic songs. It transported me back to the late 80's/early 90's when The Godfathers were one of the best live bands on the circuit, and nobody wanted to miss their St. Valentine's Day Massacre gigs.

"The Outsider" is not so typical of their sound as "Back Into The Future", it's a menacing, slow burner which starts off with a repetitive guitar riff, eerie Hammond organ flourishes niggle away in the background and the song increases in tension with sudden bursts of Arabic style strings. Singer Peter Coyne has lost none of his trademark vitriol as he gleefully spits out lyrics of alienation and mistrust, and I feel this is one of his best vocal performances. 

Patti Smith once sang about being "outside of society" and The Godfathers have certainly taken this mantra to heart, they seem to revel in the "Outsider" tag and they might have just written their own anthem.