I can’t remember where or when I first heard the Weirdos, although I do remember being very pleased with myself when I found a copy of their second single, ‘Solitary Confinement’ for sale in Notting Hill, sometime back in the early Eighties. For any fan of The Damned, The Dickies or the Ramones, the Weirdos were a band that you needed to hear ! Soon after, I tracked down a copy of ‘Destroy All Music’ and my enthusiasm continued to grow. What I couldn’t understand was why they were not more popular in the UK and why they had never toured over here ? Eventually, I also found copies of the ‘Who? What? When? Where? Why?’ and ‘Action Design’ EPs. Maybe not as awesome as the first two singles, but still great stuff. However, it wasn’t until 1990 that the band came out of hibernation to record their first full length album, ‘Condor’. To my ears, it was another fine record, perhaps let down by the weak production, but still full of great songs. Unfortunately, the generally mixed reaction it received meant that a rumoured European tour failed to materialise, but at least I knew the band were active again.
It was some time later that I managed to take a trip to Los Angeles and discovered (through that new-fangled internet thing) that the Weirdos were due to play a show in town while I would be there ! I was really excited about this, all the way across the Atlantic, until, on my first morning there, I discovered the gig had been cancelled. Okay, okay, I’ll get to see them another time, I thought… But it was another ten years or so before the chance appeared again. In an inspired move, The Damned invited the Weirdos to join them on a UK tour ! Great, perfect, what a line-up ! But, before it even started, the band had to cancel their trip due to personal circumstances. At this point, I’m beginning to think there’s a conspiracy…
So, finally, this year, the line-up for Rebellion is announced and I’m pleased to see that the Weirdos are on the bill ! Fingers-crossed they’ll be playing a show in London as well ? A few days later, it’s confirmed, but after the previous occasions, I’m still keeping my fingers crossed, just in case.
As the date approaches, I get in touch with singer John Denney via facebook and he agrees to an interview before the gig, so everything seems to be going according to plan. On the afternoon, I head down to the Underworld to find the three support bands (JFA, Reagan Youth and Naked Aggression – another great line-up !) swapping around their equipment onstage and running through their soundchecks. The Weirdos, however, are ominously absent. No problem, I’m sure they’re on their way. But as time goes on, I start to get a bit worried. The venue opens its’ doors and the Weirdos still haven’t arrived. I end up talking to Kirsten from Naked Aggression and she hasn’t heard what’s happening with the headliners, although as far as she knows, they’re still definitely playing. So I just decide to enjoy the rest of the bands and hope that the interview will still go ahead after the show.
It was some time later that I managed to take a trip to Los Angeles and discovered (through that new-fangled internet thing) that the Weirdos were due to play a show in town while I would be there ! I was really excited about this, all the way across the Atlantic, until, on my first morning there, I discovered the gig had been cancelled. Okay, okay, I’ll get to see them another time, I thought… But it was another ten years or so before the chance appeared again. In an inspired move, The Damned invited the Weirdos to join them on a UK tour ! Great, perfect, what a line-up ! But, before it even started, the band had to cancel their trip due to personal circumstances. At this point, I’m beginning to think there’s a conspiracy…
So, finally, this year, the line-up for Rebellion is announced and I’m pleased to see that the Weirdos are on the bill ! Fingers-crossed they’ll be playing a show in London as well ? A few days later, it’s confirmed, but after the previous occasions, I’m still keeping my fingers crossed, just in case.
As the date approaches, I get in touch with singer John Denney via facebook and he agrees to an interview before the gig, so everything seems to be going according to plan. On the afternoon, I head down to the Underworld to find the three support bands (JFA, Reagan Youth and Naked Aggression – another great line-up !) swapping around their equipment onstage and running through their soundchecks. The Weirdos, however, are ominously absent. No problem, I’m sure they’re on their way. But as time goes on, I start to get a bit worried. The venue opens its’ doors and the Weirdos still haven’t arrived. I end up talking to Kirsten from Naked Aggression and she hasn’t heard what’s happening with the headliners, although as far as she knows, they’re still definitely playing. So I just decide to enjoy the rest of the bands and hope that the interview will still go ahead after the show.
. Naked Aggression are first onstage. It’s the first time I’ve seen them and they’re really good. Kirsten is a compelling front-woman and the band as a whole are tight, powerful and never lacking a good tune. After seeing this set, I will definitely be checking out their back catalogue. In the meantime, if you haven’t already seen it, you can check them out in the ‘Decline of Western Civilisation, Part 3’.
Much that I like the original Reagan Youth records, I have to say I was rather disappointed with this version of the band, which features only Paul Cripple from the original line-up. I don’t know what was going on, but they just didn’t seem very together at all, squabbling onstage and generally looking as if they weren’t enjoying themselves. The bassist, Tibbie, seemed to be the only one really making an effort. It was a shame, as I would have loved to have seen them play a great set, but something wasn’t right.
At this point, I wandered back to the bar area and, at last, I spot someone setting up a table with Weirdos merch. They must be here ! Turns out that the guy with the merch is bass player Bruce Moreland, so I have a quick chat and mention the interview, which he thinks will be fine, before purchasing some goodies.
Feeling much more confident now, I head back to the stage to see JFA. In contrast to Reagan Youth, they play a really tight, impressive set, just what you would want to see from a band like this. Their records were good, their live performance is great. As with Naked Aggression, this was the sort of set that made me want to go out and listen to their records all over again.
So, time for the Weirdos. The band walk out onstage and launch into ‘It Means Nothing’. After a few bars, John Denney joins them onstage and I’m finally watching the Weirdos ! They sound great, it’s just a shame that there isn’t a bigger audience here for them (many who would have been here have already travelled up to Blackpool for Rebellion…) Regardless, those in attendance are appropriately enthusiastic and the band deliver the songs with total dedication. John prowls the stage and snarls-out the lyrics, while his brother, Dix, rips out the chords as effectively as they deserve to be. ‘Message From The Underworld’, ‘Life of Crime’, and, of course, ‘We Got the Neutron Bomb’, live up to all of my expectations, while later tracks like ‘Fort USA’ and ‘Happy People’ are so much more powerful than their recorded versions. Indeed, one of the highlights of the set is the excellent version of ‘Jungle Rock’. I loved the Hank Mizell original, so I remember being disappointed that the Weirdos’ recorded version didn’t sound as great as it should have been. But live, they really tear it up. ‘Solitary Confinement’ is perfect while ‘Helium Bar’ is another track that really takes on a life of its’ own when unleashed live. The encore inevitably ends with ‘Destroy All Music’, the perfect climax to a superb set. I would have been happy for them to play every song over again, but time constrictions also mean that my potential for an interview is now rather limited, so I give the band some time to recover and then sneak backstage to catch up with John Denney.
Much that I like the original Reagan Youth records, I have to say I was rather disappointed with this version of the band, which features only Paul Cripple from the original line-up. I don’t know what was going on, but they just didn’t seem very together at all, squabbling onstage and generally looking as if they weren’t enjoying themselves. The bassist, Tibbie, seemed to be the only one really making an effort. It was a shame, as I would have loved to have seen them play a great set, but something wasn’t right.
At this point, I wandered back to the bar area and, at last, I spot someone setting up a table with Weirdos merch. They must be here ! Turns out that the guy with the merch is bass player Bruce Moreland, so I have a quick chat and mention the interview, which he thinks will be fine, before purchasing some goodies.
Feeling much more confident now, I head back to the stage to see JFA. In contrast to Reagan Youth, they play a really tight, impressive set, just what you would want to see from a band like this. Their records were good, their live performance is great. As with Naked Aggression, this was the sort of set that made me want to go out and listen to their records all over again.
So, time for the Weirdos. The band walk out onstage and launch into ‘It Means Nothing’. After a few bars, John Denney joins them onstage and I’m finally watching the Weirdos ! They sound great, it’s just a shame that there isn’t a bigger audience here for them (many who would have been here have already travelled up to Blackpool for Rebellion…) Regardless, those in attendance are appropriately enthusiastic and the band deliver the songs with total dedication. John prowls the stage and snarls-out the lyrics, while his brother, Dix, rips out the chords as effectively as they deserve to be. ‘Message From The Underworld’, ‘Life of Crime’, and, of course, ‘We Got the Neutron Bomb’, live up to all of my expectations, while later tracks like ‘Fort USA’ and ‘Happy People’ are so much more powerful than their recorded versions. Indeed, one of the highlights of the set is the excellent version of ‘Jungle Rock’. I loved the Hank Mizell original, so I remember being disappointed that the Weirdos’ recorded version didn’t sound as great as it should have been. But live, they really tear it up. ‘Solitary Confinement’ is perfect while ‘Helium Bar’ is another track that really takes on a life of its’ own when unleashed live. The encore inevitably ends with ‘Destroy All Music’, the perfect climax to a superb set. I would have been happy for them to play every song over again, but time constrictions also mean that my potential for an interview is now rather limited, so I give the band some time to recover and then sneak backstage to catch up with John Denney.
As it turns out, they’re also on quite a tight schedule so this turns into something of a high speed interview. I would have preferred to take more time and got into further detail, but in the event, we covered pretty much all of what I wanted to ask about. John’s a really friendly, unassuming guy, so hopefully I’ll get a chance to interview him again sometime, perhaps on the back of a brand new album, even…
I’d read that the Weirdos had gradually evolved from several other bands that the various members had been involved with ?
‘Yeah, but they were really only bands in our minds ! We fantasised for several years while we were leading up towards the Weirdos. I think that’s par for the course with a lot of bands. We talked about it and maybe even rehearsed but we never actually got up and played. Talk is cheap, you know. But in late ’76, we eventually started writing our own songs, just the three of us, and in early ’77 we got an offer to do a show. First of all, we were excited about it and thought, great ! But then we started to get nervous because this was real. I mean, we didn’t even have a drummer at that point, but we decided to do it anyway. There were no bands like us in Los Angeles at the time, so we decided that we should just seize the moment and went out with no drummer. We were an abomination, I’m sure, but we’d jumped-in feet-first and we may never have done it at all if we hadn’t made that initial movement. Luckily for us, the timing was just right, because it was two weeks before The Screamers played their first show. They were the only other local band that were trying to do something different at the time, but we became known as the first. After that, a few other bands gradually started to appear, but we can always say we were the first and there was never anyone else that was quite like us.’
What were your original influences ?
‘Well, the Ramones were our main catalyst. They’d already played in Los Angeles in ’76, and like so many other bands, we had heard their first album and just thought, Wow ! It was akin to what we wanted to be doing, because we were very much into rockabilly, surf and rock’n’roll. We liked guitars and fast rock’n’roll, so the Ramones were a real eye-opener for us. We realised that what they were doing was close to want we wanted to do, so maybe we could do it as well. But going back even before them, we’d been listening to the New York Dolls, Iggy & the Stooges, you know, pretty much all the same influences that The Damned, the Pistols and The Clash would cite. That’s why we always thought of ourselves as contemporaries to the first wave of British Punk Rock, although those early British bands were also a huge catalyst for us. To some extent, we were almost a send-up of British Punk Rock, but that was because we had our own Hollywood-spin on the whole thing. Initially we said that we weren’t a Punk Rock band. For the first six months, we just told people that we were the Weirdos from Hollywood and we were nothing to do with what’s going on in London and New York… We were trying to start our own Weirdo-movement, because we thought it was a bit pretentious to claim that we were Punk Rock. But we were kind of thrown into it, and eventually we succumbed to that.’
I’d read that the Weirdos had gradually evolved from several other bands that the various members had been involved with ?
‘Yeah, but they were really only bands in our minds ! We fantasised for several years while we were leading up towards the Weirdos. I think that’s par for the course with a lot of bands. We talked about it and maybe even rehearsed but we never actually got up and played. Talk is cheap, you know. But in late ’76, we eventually started writing our own songs, just the three of us, and in early ’77 we got an offer to do a show. First of all, we were excited about it and thought, great ! But then we started to get nervous because this was real. I mean, we didn’t even have a drummer at that point, but we decided to do it anyway. There were no bands like us in Los Angeles at the time, so we decided that we should just seize the moment and went out with no drummer. We were an abomination, I’m sure, but we’d jumped-in feet-first and we may never have done it at all if we hadn’t made that initial movement. Luckily for us, the timing was just right, because it was two weeks before The Screamers played their first show. They were the only other local band that were trying to do something different at the time, but we became known as the first. After that, a few other bands gradually started to appear, but we can always say we were the first and there was never anyone else that was quite like us.’
What were your original influences ?
‘Well, the Ramones were our main catalyst. They’d already played in Los Angeles in ’76, and like so many other bands, we had heard their first album and just thought, Wow ! It was akin to what we wanted to be doing, because we were very much into rockabilly, surf and rock’n’roll. We liked guitars and fast rock’n’roll, so the Ramones were a real eye-opener for us. We realised that what they were doing was close to want we wanted to do, so maybe we could do it as well. But going back even before them, we’d been listening to the New York Dolls, Iggy & the Stooges, you know, pretty much all the same influences that The Damned, the Pistols and The Clash would cite. That’s why we always thought of ourselves as contemporaries to the first wave of British Punk Rock, although those early British bands were also a huge catalyst for us. To some extent, we were almost a send-up of British Punk Rock, but that was because we had our own Hollywood-spin on the whole thing. Initially we said that we weren’t a Punk Rock band. For the first six months, we just told people that we were the Weirdos from Hollywood and we were nothing to do with what’s going on in London and New York… We were trying to start our own Weirdo-movement, because we thought it was a bit pretentious to claim that we were Punk Rock. But we were kind of thrown into it, and eventually we succumbed to that.’
It is strange that, although the big argument still lingers whether Punk Rock started in New York or London, there were actually bands spontaneously starting-up all around the world during that period. You guys were starting to play in Hollywood, The Saints were playing in Australia…
‘Yeah, that’s right. And not to sound like I’m trying to boast, but we hadn’t even heard the Sex Pistols before we started playing. We had only seen their pictures in the music magazines and read a few reviews. We had no real idea of what they sounded like, but by then we were already writing our own songs, probably influenced more by the Ramones than anything else.’
When The Damned came to Los Angeles and played at the Starwood in April ’77, they also came to see the Weirdos at the Orpheum theatre on the following night…
‘Yes, they did, and Captain Sensible even came up and joined us for our last song, which was a version of ‘Pushin’ Too Hard’ by The Seeds. I think there were a lot of parallels between us and them, both musically and the way they looked. Me and my buddy Cliff Roman started the Weirdos, along with a guy called Dave Trout, but even as early as bout 1972, we had chopped our hair off. We were like a two-man new wave movement even back then, or so we thought to ourselves, and people thought we were really weird just for cutting off our hair. We’d had these gorgeous shags, you know, like Rod Stewart… we loved The Faces back then ! But when we chopped our hair-off, people thought we were out of our minds. We were the Weirdos to everyone else, so we just tried to live up to the name. But in terms of the look that the band actually adopted, we were already on that kind of path by the time we saw The Damned. They just sort of validated it for us, but we were already trying to be a band, writing our own songs and rehearsing in ’76. We would read all the British music papers, like NME and Sounds, because we were all anglophiles and we loved Bowie and all the Glam stuff, pre-Punk… So when we started to read the press about the Sex Pistols we were really taken aback, because we already had chopped-up, spiky hair. Not as fashionable and stylish as the Pistols and The Clash, maybe, but it was enough to make us think that maybe we were on a parallel to this. But we always had our own Hollywood take on plastic-consumerism insanity and we’d use everything but the kitchen sink to make our point.’
‘Yeah, that’s right. And not to sound like I’m trying to boast, but we hadn’t even heard the Sex Pistols before we started playing. We had only seen their pictures in the music magazines and read a few reviews. We had no real idea of what they sounded like, but by then we were already writing our own songs, probably influenced more by the Ramones than anything else.’
When The Damned came to Los Angeles and played at the Starwood in April ’77, they also came to see the Weirdos at the Orpheum theatre on the following night…
‘Yes, they did, and Captain Sensible even came up and joined us for our last song, which was a version of ‘Pushin’ Too Hard’ by The Seeds. I think there were a lot of parallels between us and them, both musically and the way they looked. Me and my buddy Cliff Roman started the Weirdos, along with a guy called Dave Trout, but even as early as bout 1972, we had chopped our hair off. We were like a two-man new wave movement even back then, or so we thought to ourselves, and people thought we were really weird just for cutting off our hair. We’d had these gorgeous shags, you know, like Rod Stewart… we loved The Faces back then ! But when we chopped our hair-off, people thought we were out of our minds. We were the Weirdos to everyone else, so we just tried to live up to the name. But in terms of the look that the band actually adopted, we were already on that kind of path by the time we saw The Damned. They just sort of validated it for us, but we were already trying to be a band, writing our own songs and rehearsing in ’76. We would read all the British music papers, like NME and Sounds, because we were all anglophiles and we loved Bowie and all the Glam stuff, pre-Punk… So when we started to read the press about the Sex Pistols we were really taken aback, because we already had chopped-up, spiky hair. Not as fashionable and stylish as the Pistols and The Clash, maybe, but it was enough to make us think that maybe we were on a parallel to this. But we always had our own Hollywood take on plastic-consumerism insanity and we’d use everything but the kitchen sink to make our point.’
Another similarity with The Damned was that, although you took your music very seriously, you also had a healthy sense of humour about what you were doing...
‘Absolutely. Our tongues were firmly in our cheeks. When we were singing ‘Destroy All Music’, we didn’t literally mean it, because we loved music. But at the same time, it had to be said. We were making fun of everything, including Punk Rock. It was all up for grabs.’
That show at the Orpheum also marked the first live appearance of The Germs…
‘We had gone to an instore appearance by The Damned at Bomp Records a few days earlier, mainly to hand out flyers for our show. These kids were there who were saying they were in a band called The Germs, so one of us said to them, we need another opening band at our show, why don’t you come down and play ? But they weren’t really a band at that point. They were actually wearing t-shirts with their bands’ name on them before they had even played a note, let alone rehearsed ! We didn’t realise that when we met them and asked them to come along and play. But they actually proved to be the perfect foil for us, because they really couldn’t play ! We weren’t so great at that point, but we had some chops and a bit of musicality, while they just smeared peanut butter all over themselves and the stage. We actually had to go up there and remove them before they made so much of a mess that we wouldn’t have been able to play our set. That being said, Pat Smear became a really formidable guitar player later on and when Don Bolles joined them on drums, they could be really good. The other thing that we didn’t realise it at the time was that Darby was quite the poet. When we finally got to read the words – because you could never hear what he was singing – it turned out that he had been writing some really profound stuff.’
You also played with Devo when they first came out to Los Angeles. I can imagine there was also an affinity between the two bands, at least at that stage. Musically, you were quite distinct, but the ideas you were both singing about certainly crossed-over…
‘Initially, yeah. They opened for us several times, and they even landed their deal with Warner Brothers at one of our shows, when they played with us at The Whisky. That was very unnerving to us, because they parlayed that into a very nice deal for themselves and the rest is history. Warners passed on us, even though most of the audience were coming to see us. But, yeah, I think the aesthetics they were dealing with were very similar to what we were doing, even if the music was kind of different.’
‘Absolutely. Our tongues were firmly in our cheeks. When we were singing ‘Destroy All Music’, we didn’t literally mean it, because we loved music. But at the same time, it had to be said. We were making fun of everything, including Punk Rock. It was all up for grabs.’
That show at the Orpheum also marked the first live appearance of The Germs…
‘We had gone to an instore appearance by The Damned at Bomp Records a few days earlier, mainly to hand out flyers for our show. These kids were there who were saying they were in a band called The Germs, so one of us said to them, we need another opening band at our show, why don’t you come down and play ? But they weren’t really a band at that point. They were actually wearing t-shirts with their bands’ name on them before they had even played a note, let alone rehearsed ! We didn’t realise that when we met them and asked them to come along and play. But they actually proved to be the perfect foil for us, because they really couldn’t play ! We weren’t so great at that point, but we had some chops and a bit of musicality, while they just smeared peanut butter all over themselves and the stage. We actually had to go up there and remove them before they made so much of a mess that we wouldn’t have been able to play our set. That being said, Pat Smear became a really formidable guitar player later on and when Don Bolles joined them on drums, they could be really good. The other thing that we didn’t realise it at the time was that Darby was quite the poet. When we finally got to read the words – because you could never hear what he was singing – it turned out that he had been writing some really profound stuff.’
You also played with Devo when they first came out to Los Angeles. I can imagine there was also an affinity between the two bands, at least at that stage. Musically, you were quite distinct, but the ideas you were both singing about certainly crossed-over…
‘Initially, yeah. They opened for us several times, and they even landed their deal with Warner Brothers at one of our shows, when they played with us at The Whisky. That was very unnerving to us, because they parlayed that into a very nice deal for themselves and the rest is history. Warners passed on us, even though most of the audience were coming to see us. But, yeah, I think the aesthetics they were dealing with were very similar to what we were doing, even if the music was kind of different.’
Bomp Records released your first single, ‘Destroy All Music’, later in 1977. How important was it to get a record out there ?
‘It was hugely important, you know, just for someone to step forward and want to record us. It was something amazing, which no-one was really expecting. We were totally unprepared and really didn’t know what we were doing, but Greg Shaw was very charitable and stepped-up for us. For a while we’d actually been deluded enough to think that we might land a record deal, as we had started to become quite popular, locally, and had even been headlining at The Whisky. So we started to think, well, things are going good for us, perhaps we could make a career for ourselves. But it quickly became abundantly-clear that the record industry wanted nothing to do with us. In Los Angeles, the record labels were far less interested or supportive of the new bands than they were in London or even New York. The old record industry / Hippy elite wanted absolutely nothing to do with us or any of the new bands. When we became aware that we weren’t going to land a deal, we decided to find another way to release our music.’
Your next single, ‘We Got the Neutron Bomb’ / ‘Solitary Confinement’, was one of the early releases on the legendary Dangerhouse label. How important do you think that label was to the Hollywood scene ?
‘They were a very tiny label, but very sympathetic and supportive. At least, that’s how we found them to be and I’ve never really heard any complaints from any of the other bands that worked with them. They let us do whatever we wanted and I think they really helped to define a particular graphic style and look. They were a great bunch of guys.’
Although those two early singles have always been highly respected, you never got to record and release an album during that period. Looking back, do you think that was one of the things that held you back ?
‘Yeah, that was the big mistake. Well, not a mistake as such, but it was just something that never happened for us. We were so close to doing it and we really should have just hunkered down and recorded an album, but it never happened. As a result of that, we were never really able to tour, apart from going up the West Coast as far as Seattle, and a few dates eastwards in Arizona. We were pretty destitute and starving at the time, so we just never really got our shit together. We had no label to support or advise us and being entrepreneurial was probably the furthest thing from our minds. Of course, now, that sort of thing is just part of the landscape for new bands, but it wasn’t something that we had any ideas about dealing with. I wish we could have made it over to the UK in ’77 or ’78, as I think people here would have really got what we were doing, but as we hadn’t released an album it just wasn’t going to happen.’
‘It was hugely important, you know, just for someone to step forward and want to record us. It was something amazing, which no-one was really expecting. We were totally unprepared and really didn’t know what we were doing, but Greg Shaw was very charitable and stepped-up for us. For a while we’d actually been deluded enough to think that we might land a record deal, as we had started to become quite popular, locally, and had even been headlining at The Whisky. So we started to think, well, things are going good for us, perhaps we could make a career for ourselves. But it quickly became abundantly-clear that the record industry wanted nothing to do with us. In Los Angeles, the record labels were far less interested or supportive of the new bands than they were in London or even New York. The old record industry / Hippy elite wanted absolutely nothing to do with us or any of the new bands. When we became aware that we weren’t going to land a deal, we decided to find another way to release our music.’
Your next single, ‘We Got the Neutron Bomb’ / ‘Solitary Confinement’, was one of the early releases on the legendary Dangerhouse label. How important do you think that label was to the Hollywood scene ?
‘They were a very tiny label, but very sympathetic and supportive. At least, that’s how we found them to be and I’ve never really heard any complaints from any of the other bands that worked with them. They let us do whatever we wanted and I think they really helped to define a particular graphic style and look. They were a great bunch of guys.’
Although those two early singles have always been highly respected, you never got to record and release an album during that period. Looking back, do you think that was one of the things that held you back ?
‘Yeah, that was the big mistake. Well, not a mistake as such, but it was just something that never happened for us. We were so close to doing it and we really should have just hunkered down and recorded an album, but it never happened. As a result of that, we were never really able to tour, apart from going up the West Coast as far as Seattle, and a few dates eastwards in Arizona. We were pretty destitute and starving at the time, so we just never really got our shit together. We had no label to support or advise us and being entrepreneurial was probably the furthest thing from our minds. Of course, now, that sort of thing is just part of the landscape for new bands, but it wasn’t something that we had any ideas about dealing with. I wish we could have made it over to the UK in ’77 or ’78, as I think people here would have really got what we were doing, but as we hadn’t released an album it just wasn’t going to happen.’
Your next record was the ‘Skateboards to Hell’ single in 1979 (credited to ‘Dix Denney and John Denney’.) It was certainly very different to the Weirdo’s material…
‘We wanted to try something a bit more avant garde, I suppose. We were just thumbing our noses at the record industry because they wanted nothing to do with us. It was more of a stunt than anything… You know, just trying to say, we can make our own record, we don’t need you. And not only that, it was obnoxious ! But also rather tedious, I’m afraid… A complete departure from what the Weirdos were doing.’
But however different or obnoxious that may have been, you also released the ‘Who? What? When? Where? Why’ record around the same time, and quickly followed it up with the ‘Action Design’ EP, both of which included some of the Weirdos’ best songs…
‘Yeah, but I think they were both let down by the production. It was a little flat and cumbersome. I have to admit it’s a little tough for me to listen to some of our recorded material. I can be our own worst critic and I’ve always thought that playing live is what we’re really about. To me, most of the records are strange because they never seem to sound the way that I hear them when we’re writing or playing them. The only ones that I’ve really been happy with were the first couple of singles.’
The ‘Action Design’ EP included a cover of The Doors’ classic ‘Break On Through’. Why did you choose to record a version of that particular song ?
‘I think the song itself is one of their faster tunes and we thought that we could adapt it to our sound. But again, I think the recording came out as a bit of a dud. I hate to be so negative about it because I still like the song, but in my opinion, I just don’t think that the recording worked for us.’
Although you, your brother Dix and Cliff Roman were consistent in the original line-up, you did seem to have a frequently-changing rhythm section. Do you think that was one of the problems that kept you from really establishing the band ?
‘Well, only myself and my brother have been consistent members in the band, although Cliff was with us on all of the original records and there are a few people that have been involved a lot more than others. But I try not to look back on those sort of things, or try to second-guess them. You know, all that kind of ‘shoulda-woulda-coulda’ stuff. All we’ve really got is the here and now, so that’s what I try to focus on.’
‘We wanted to try something a bit more avant garde, I suppose. We were just thumbing our noses at the record industry because they wanted nothing to do with us. It was more of a stunt than anything… You know, just trying to say, we can make our own record, we don’t need you. And not only that, it was obnoxious ! But also rather tedious, I’m afraid… A complete departure from what the Weirdos were doing.’
But however different or obnoxious that may have been, you also released the ‘Who? What? When? Where? Why’ record around the same time, and quickly followed it up with the ‘Action Design’ EP, both of which included some of the Weirdos’ best songs…
‘Yeah, but I think they were both let down by the production. It was a little flat and cumbersome. I have to admit it’s a little tough for me to listen to some of our recorded material. I can be our own worst critic and I’ve always thought that playing live is what we’re really about. To me, most of the records are strange because they never seem to sound the way that I hear them when we’re writing or playing them. The only ones that I’ve really been happy with were the first couple of singles.’
The ‘Action Design’ EP included a cover of The Doors’ classic ‘Break On Through’. Why did you choose to record a version of that particular song ?
‘I think the song itself is one of their faster tunes and we thought that we could adapt it to our sound. But again, I think the recording came out as a bit of a dud. I hate to be so negative about it because I still like the song, but in my opinion, I just don’t think that the recording worked for us.’
Although you, your brother Dix and Cliff Roman were consistent in the original line-up, you did seem to have a frequently-changing rhythm section. Do you think that was one of the problems that kept you from really establishing the band ?
‘Well, only myself and my brother have been consistent members in the band, although Cliff was with us on all of the original records and there are a few people that have been involved a lot more than others. But I try not to look back on those sort of things, or try to second-guess them. You know, all that kind of ‘shoulda-woulda-coulda’ stuff. All we’ve really got is the here and now, so that’s what I try to focus on.’
The Weirdos originally split-up in 1981, but in 1982, Dix, Willy Williams and Cliff Martinez played together on Lydia Lunch’s ’13:13’ album. Again, not something you’d necessarily expect from members of the Weirdos, but it was certainly a great album in its’ own right…
‘Yes, in fact it was basically the final Weirdo’s line-up before we broke-up, just without yours-truly. I had jumped-ship, but the remnants of the band hooked-up with Lydia and made what I think is a classic album. I’m not really sure how it actually came together, but I think it was probably Willy and Lydia that made the arrangements. I always thought Cliff Martinez was an outstanding drummer. Strangely enough, he’s now a successful film score composer.’
The Weirdos themselves didn’t reform until 1990, when you recorded the ‘Condor’ album. I’ve always enjoyed that record and thought that it was very under-rated, even though at the time it received a mixed-response. In some ways, it just came out at the wrong time, during a period when people just didn’t seem interested in the kind of rock’n’roll that the Weirdos play. But when you hear it now, it certainly has some great songs on there…
‘Yeah, but again, I have some mixed-emotions about it. I think we were over-our-heads in the studio, especially as technology had changed so much since the last time we were recording, so we didn’t really capture the energy of the songs. It sounds a little too constrained and, as I was saying, I think that’s the case with most of our recordings. I can only really listen to the first two singles now, because they really capture that moment in all of its’ glory, which is what we were about. But the subsequent recordings never managed to do that for us. The studios just kind of stifled the spirit and bombast of what we were doing, and I think that particularly happened with ‘Condor’. As you can probably tell by now, I’m not much of a promoter of our recorded works, hahaha ! I’s not that I want to be negative about those records, it’s just that I know they could have sounded so much better.’
You were intending to come over to the UK in 2005, to support The Damned on tour , but you had to cancel at short notice. I know quite a few people were disappointed about that, but I also heard that it was quite unavoidable ?
‘Yeah, we had to go home because our mother passed-away just before we were due to start the tour. It was sad that we had to bail-out, because it was going to be our first time in the UK and it was a beautiful tour for us, but obviously we had to go home. Our Mom had already been unwell for a while but she had told us that she didn’t want us to cancel the tour. But when that happened, we didn’t have a choice. I’m just hoping that we can catch up with The Damned again while we’re over here and perhaps we may get a chance to do something else with them in the future. I still love those guys !’
‘Yes, in fact it was basically the final Weirdo’s line-up before we broke-up, just without yours-truly. I had jumped-ship, but the remnants of the band hooked-up with Lydia and made what I think is a classic album. I’m not really sure how it actually came together, but I think it was probably Willy and Lydia that made the arrangements. I always thought Cliff Martinez was an outstanding drummer. Strangely enough, he’s now a successful film score composer.’
The Weirdos themselves didn’t reform until 1990, when you recorded the ‘Condor’ album. I’ve always enjoyed that record and thought that it was very under-rated, even though at the time it received a mixed-response. In some ways, it just came out at the wrong time, during a period when people just didn’t seem interested in the kind of rock’n’roll that the Weirdos play. But when you hear it now, it certainly has some great songs on there…
‘Yeah, but again, I have some mixed-emotions about it. I think we were over-our-heads in the studio, especially as technology had changed so much since the last time we were recording, so we didn’t really capture the energy of the songs. It sounds a little too constrained and, as I was saying, I think that’s the case with most of our recordings. I can only really listen to the first two singles now, because they really capture that moment in all of its’ glory, which is what we were about. But the subsequent recordings never managed to do that for us. The studios just kind of stifled the spirit and bombast of what we were doing, and I think that particularly happened with ‘Condor’. As you can probably tell by now, I’m not much of a promoter of our recorded works, hahaha ! I’s not that I want to be negative about those records, it’s just that I know they could have sounded so much better.’
You were intending to come over to the UK in 2005, to support The Damned on tour , but you had to cancel at short notice. I know quite a few people were disappointed about that, but I also heard that it was quite unavoidable ?
‘Yeah, we had to go home because our mother passed-away just before we were due to start the tour. It was sad that we had to bail-out, because it was going to be our first time in the UK and it was a beautiful tour for us, but obviously we had to go home. Our Mom had already been unwell for a while but she had told us that she didn’t want us to cancel the tour. But when that happened, we didn’t have a choice. I’m just hoping that we can catch up with The Damned again while we’re over here and perhaps we may get a chance to do something else with them in the future. I still love those guys !’
The Weirdos have continued to play live, albeit on a more irregular basis, but you haven’t recorded anything new since the ‘Condor’ album. Is there any chance that you may work on some new material in the near future ?
‘Yes, in fact we’re kicking some ideas around right now. I think the demand is there and we’re constantly being asked if we’re going to record some new material, so I guess it’s getting to the point that we need to either put-up or shut-up ! As I said earlier, talk is cheap, but it’s definitely something we want to do. The only thing that makes it a bit more difficult now is that I’m living in New Orleans these days, while the rest of the band are still in LA, so I will have to arrange to go back to LA to allow us to be able to work together on some new material. But this time, we really want to make sure that we know what we want to do and get it right so that we capture what we’re doing.’
It does seem that, over time, more and more people have caught up to what you were doing and really appreciate it now. Whenever you see or read any retrospectives of the early Los Angeles punk rock scene, the Weirdos are always paid a lot of respect…
‘Yeah, and it’s amazing to me that, all these years later, people are still showing interest in what we did back then and what we’re doing now. We’re very grateful for that. I mean, the music press were saying at the time that the whole punk thing was only going to last six months, and when the Pistols broke-up, we got really mad about it because it gave the press an excuse to say that this was it, punk rock was all over. But the scene that we were part of, in California, wasn’t having it because, for us, the whole thing was still blazing.’
Well, to end on the subject of respect, there was a recent, limited edition single featuring two original tracks by the Weirdos, released to promote a Bourbon whisky that was going to be named after the band ! That’s a pretty damn cool tribute !
‘Oh, yes ! The company released a series of spirits named after various LA punk bands… I think there was a Gin named after the Adolescents and Absinthe named after Christian Death ! I don’t know how they arrived at Bourbon for us, but I was happy to take it ! And the vinyl was even Bourbon-coloured, so it was really put together nicely. It was really just a promotional thing, but we were flattered. There aren’t too many bands who get to have a whisky named after them !’
‘Yes, in fact we’re kicking some ideas around right now. I think the demand is there and we’re constantly being asked if we’re going to record some new material, so I guess it’s getting to the point that we need to either put-up or shut-up ! As I said earlier, talk is cheap, but it’s definitely something we want to do. The only thing that makes it a bit more difficult now is that I’m living in New Orleans these days, while the rest of the band are still in LA, so I will have to arrange to go back to LA to allow us to be able to work together on some new material. But this time, we really want to make sure that we know what we want to do and get it right so that we capture what we’re doing.’
It does seem that, over time, more and more people have caught up to what you were doing and really appreciate it now. Whenever you see or read any retrospectives of the early Los Angeles punk rock scene, the Weirdos are always paid a lot of respect…
‘Yeah, and it’s amazing to me that, all these years later, people are still showing interest in what we did back then and what we’re doing now. We’re very grateful for that. I mean, the music press were saying at the time that the whole punk thing was only going to last six months, and when the Pistols broke-up, we got really mad about it because it gave the press an excuse to say that this was it, punk rock was all over. But the scene that we were part of, in California, wasn’t having it because, for us, the whole thing was still blazing.’
Well, to end on the subject of respect, there was a recent, limited edition single featuring two original tracks by the Weirdos, released to promote a Bourbon whisky that was going to be named after the band ! That’s a pretty damn cool tribute !
‘Oh, yes ! The company released a series of spirits named after various LA punk bands… I think there was a Gin named after the Adolescents and Absinthe named after Christian Death ! I don’t know how they arrived at Bourbon for us, but I was happy to take it ! And the vinyl was even Bourbon-coloured, so it was really put together nicely. It was really just a promotional thing, but we were flattered. There aren’t too many bands who get to have a whisky named after them !’
I am so glad that I finally managed to see this band, and even happier that they were as great as I hoped they would be. By all accounts, their set was very well received at Rebellion, so I’m hoping this means they will be back again and we won’t have to wait so long, this time. That tour with The Damned still needs to happen so let’s hope that it does ! In the meantime, be sure to hear their records. Their website doesn’t seem to be available at the moment, but Frontier Records have several great compilations of their music available that I heartily recommend –
www.frontierrecords.com/weirdos.html
www.frontierrecords.com/weirdos.html
