Tomata du Plenty and David Lee Roth

As you would expect in David Lee Roth’s Crazy From the Heat (1997 ed.), there are not many references to punk, though in an amusing conflation he oddly and belatedly hands the year 1978 over to Van Halen, the Sex Pistols and the Bee Gees. All three get a passing nod. There is also a passing reference to Henry Rollins and to LA scenester Tequila Mockingbird. I know that Pleasant has thought that David Lee Roth was an investor in the Zero Zero gallery as you can read here. There are also references to the club in the excellent Peter Ivers bio In Heaven Everything is Fine. In Crazy From the Heat, Roth confirms that he was in fact a partner, and was where he had his initial meeting with Steve Vai “actually after a police raid at the local Zero One Gallery, an after hours spot where I was a partner. We got busted every three months: there is supposedly no after-hours in L.A.” Arguably the better anecdote and one that has only somewhat recently been brought to my attention is that DLR and Tomata du Plenty knew each other and that the Zero Zero was the common denominator.

Rodney Bingenheimer's Bed with Debbie, Chris and Flame/Did John Cassavetes Film Bobby Pyn? [repost]

Although it may only start with John Holt's "Ali Baba," and you may take a turn to Dr. Alimantado's "I Killed the Barber," then on to the good doctor and Jah Stitch on motorbikes on "The Barber Feel It" and then Stitch's "Bury the Barber" you will return to whence it came. Dizzyingly you end up full circle back at the Paragons. Yes, back on a Saturday morning over coffee and "The Tide is High." Who knew it would end up like that. It is amazing how many times Blondie played in LA in the early years of 1976-1979. Given their time in LA it was no surprise that they had such a rabid fan base, including Jeffrey Lee Pierce and Pleasant. They were also one of the early phone guests on Rodney on the Roq on KROQ and where I first them before they became part of the regular rotation on the station. I just missed Blondie here and wished I had gone . . . Let's see the dates laid out:

• February 9-12, 1977 at the Whiskey a Go Go (with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) - any discussion backstage that there already was band called the Heartbreakers back in NYC since 1975 and who were just on the "Anarchy in the UK" tour in December 1976?

•  February 16-20, 1977 at the Whiskey a Go Go with the Ramones 

• April 15, 1977 at the Santa Monica Civic opening for Iggy Pop

•  April 20-23, 1977 at the Whiskey a Go Go with Deaf School. According to the Blondie gig guide, on the 23rd, Joan Jett joined Blondie for an encore of "Anarchy in the UK" and "I Wanna Be Your Dog" with Joan on guitar, Rodney Bingenheimer on keyboards and Tony and Hunt Sales, and also Clem on lead vocals and Debbie as "the dog."

• September 23, 1977 at the Hollywood Palladium with Devo! 

•  September 28, 1977 at the Golden Bear (Huntington Beach) with Ala Carte 

• September 29, 1977- October 3, 1977 at the Whiskey a Go Go. Advertised for all shows except the awesome last one as with the Canuck band Max Webster who apparently took time off from heavy touring and jamming with Rush (!???) to play with Blondie.  As seen below, for the last show the LA Times lists "Blondie/Devo/The Germs" (at 4pm) and "Blondie and Devo" (at 9pm and 11:30pm).  Incredible.  What is also incredible about this particular stand of Blondie at the Whiskey is that John Cassavetes filmed a large portion of it.  Cassavetes, Bobby Pyn Debbie, Jeffrey Lee Pierce, Kid Congo and Devo all together - a classic 70's moment if there ever was one.  To think I was only a half hour away . . . 

• April 25-26, 1978 at the Starwood

• November 21, 1978 at the Santa Monica Civic

•  August 15-16, 1979 at the Greek Theater with Rockpile! and

• October 4, 1979 filming the Midnight Special in LA

Rodney Bingenheimer's Bed with Debbie, Chris and Flame/Did John Cassavetes Film Bobby Pyn?

Although it may only start with John Holt's "Ali Baba," and you may take a turn to Dr. Alimantado's "I Killed the Barber," then on to the good doctor and Jah Stitch on motorbikes on "The Barber Feel It" and then Stitch's "Bury the Barber" you will return to whence it came. Dizzyingly you end up full circle back at the Paragons. Yes, back on a Saturday morning over coffee and "The Tide is High." Who knew it would end up like that. It is amazing how many times Blondie played in LA in the early years of 1976-1979. Given their time in LA it was no surprise that they had such a rabid fan base, including Jeffrey Lee Pierce and Pleasant. They were also one of the early phone guests on Rodney on the Roq on KROQ and where I first them before they became part of the regular rotation on the station. I just missed Blondie here and wished I had gone . . . Let's see the dates laid out:

• February 9-12, 1977 at the Whiskey a Go Go (with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) - any discussion backstage that there already was band called the Heartbreakers back in NYC since 1975 and who were just on the "Anarchy in the UK" tour in December 1976?

•  February 16-20, 1977 at the Whiskey a Go Go with the Ramones 

• April 15, 1977 at the Santa Monica Civic opening for Iggy Pop

•  April 20-23, 1977 at the Whiskey a Go Go with Deaf School. According to the Blondie gig guide, on the 23rd, Joan Jett joined Blondie for an encore of "Anarchy in the UK" and "I Wanna Be Your Dog" with Joan on guitar, Rodney Bingenheimer on keyboards and Tony and Hunt Sales, and also Clem on lead vocals and Debbie as "the dog."

• September 23, 1977 at the Hollywood Palladium with Devo! 

•  September 28, 1977 at the Golden Bear (Huntington Beach) with Ala Carte 

• September 29, 1977- October 3, 1977 at the Whiskey a Go Go. Advertised for all shows except the awesome last one as with the Canuck band Max Webster who apparently took time off from heavy touring and jamming with Rush (!???) to play with Blondie.  As seen below, for the last show the LA Times lists "Blondie/Devo/The Germs" (at 4pm) and "Blondie and Devo" (at 9pm and 11:30pm).  Incredible.  What is also incredible about this particular stand of Blondie at the Whiskey is that John Cassavetes filmed a large portion of it.  Cassavetes, Bobby Pyn Debbie, Jeffrey Lee Pierce, Kid Congo and Devo all together - a classic 70's moment if there ever was one.  To think I was only a half hour away . . . 

• April 25-26, 1978 at the Starwood

• November 21, 1978 at the Santa Monica Civic

•  August 15-16, 1979 at the Greek Theater with Rockpile! and

• October 4, 1979 filming the Midnight Special in LA

Blondie & Pleasant/A Small Circle of Friends/The Non-Beatles Paul and George/Spider - "America's REAL Rock n' Roll Magazine"

Pleasant Gehman always loomed large as I was getting into music as a teenager, firstly from her association with the Germs and Go-Go's, then from her LA Weekly by-lines and performances with the Screamin' Sirens. By the time I became aware of who she was, Lobotomy magazine was long gone. She features in so many iconic images of the era, mostly shot by Jenny Lens but I am sure Donna Santisi has quite a few we haven't seen yet. She was as much the "it" girl of the early LA punk scene as Trudie Plunger or Alice Bag. Pleasant was a great link between the NYC bands of the era and LA, whether it be visits by the Ramones, the underrated Mumps (who need their own post), or case in point here, Blondie. Was Jeffrey Lee Pierce still the president of the Blondie Fan Club as late as July/August 1979? Man, those early shows in LA by the NYC bands would have been amazing. The handful of folks at that first LA Ramones show included people like John and Dix Denney of the Weirdos, Brian Tristan (aka "Kid Congo Powers"), Phast Phreddie, Plez and who else? Did Iggy show up with an "appearance" like on Patti Smith's "Teenage Perversity" bootleg at the Roxy in early 1976. Blondie and Tom Petty would have been quite a show as Pleasant recounts. Did Dwight Twilley attend that show? Sometime in late 1978, Pleasant and Kid Congo moved to NYC for six months and lived with Teenage Jesus drummer Bradly Field and Kristian Hoffman of the Mumps.

Pleasant came to LA in 1975 from New York and landed at Uni High where she fell right in with Paul and George before they became Bobby and Pat. Plez's dad was a "new journalism" guy as well as penning liners for jazz records. Hep, no? Ditching school to attend Runaways rehearsals always seemed like a good idea. Hanging out with Belinda after she drove into Hollywood from the DEEP valley (Newbury Park) unlike the Denney Bros. original sojourn from North Hollywood over the hill. Maybe the genesis for the Blondie profile kicked in while Plez was living in NYC and seeing how big Blondie had by then gotten? In any event, no last name is given for the article but it only makes sense that it is Ms. Gehman. Bangs' quickie book was from around this same time. We wait for Pleasant's memoir if she takes enough time off from belly dancing. We offer our services to edit.

As to Spider, it came from of all places Ventura. Not exactly an epicenter for high energy rock and roll until Grady's Record Refuge opened - unless board sports is your thing. Mea culpa, I saw the Dead a number of times in Ventura and I swear I saw Ginn at a show but I may be wrong! I love the fact that it bills itself as "America's REAL Rock 'n' Roll Magazine." The coverage is a-ok for the time though Slash it ain't. Spider was really a photo magazine, given that Spider took photos and published others by Donna Santisi and David Arnoff. Anyone know how long Spider ran for and if they can locate the other issues for me. The editing could have been tighter (spell check, etc), but hey, it's mostly about the photos.