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Rock ’n’ roll hearts
In the garage with Little Steven andthe Coffin Lids
BY BRETT MILANO


More than 20 years ago, Joey Ramone asked a pertinent musical question: "Do You Remember Rock ’n’ Roll Radio?" The real problem nowadays, however, is that rock-and-roll radio doesn’t remember Joey Ramone. When the Ramones recorded that song in 1980, they were frustrated that a band that lived and breathed for rock-and-roll couldn’t get on any commercial playlists. And it’s hard to say that things have changed that much.

That’s where a guy like E Street Band guitarist Little Steven Van Zandt comes in. When Van Zandt announced two years ago that he was launching a syndicated radio show devoted to garage rock, few people in Boston seemed too excited. After all, this town has been steeped in garage rock for the better part of four decades: we had the Lost and the Remains in the ’60s; we’ve had the Lyres and the Real Kids since the ’70s, and now we’ve got enough garage-y bands to fill the Abbey Lounge every weekend. Did we really need some rock star coming in and showing us how it’s done?

Maybe not, but that doesn’t keep "Little Steven’s Underground Garage" (carried here Sundays on WROR, 105.7 FM, from 10 p.m. to midnight) from being one of the greatest things on commercial radio — hell, it’s about the only place where you can hear from a raving music fan with a good sense of history. Though he’s spun obvious garage heroes like the Sonics, Fleshtones, Swingin’ Neckbreakers, and most of the Boston bands mentioned above, it’s become more of a catchall rock-and-roll show, even down to classic artists like Little Richard and yeah, the Ramones — the ones who should be all over the dial but aren’t. And he’s constantly throwing in tracks that only someone with a good record collection would know about: a recent Australia-themed show included obvious choices like the Vines and Hoodoo Gurus, but went back to ’70s punkers Radio Birdman and further back to pre-disco Bee Gees.

The show’s also pumped up the careers of modern revivalists like the Hives and the White Stripes; if it didn’t break those bands single-handedly, it certainly didn’t hurt. And it’s those segues from past to present and across a wide variety of what can be called "garage" that make the show the only thing on the air comparable to the free-form days of early FM. (A 24-hour version of "Underground Garage" is also in the works for the SIRIUS satellite radio network.) As for Little Steven, he’s already got two of the best jobs in the world — playing guitar with Springsteen and playing Silvio Dante, the closest thing to a nice guy on The Sopranos — so the show has "labor of love" written all over it.

For that reason, it’s easy to get behind the nationwide battle of the bands that Van Zandt’s show is sponsoring, even though we’re not sure exactly what’s going to happen when the event launches next Thursday, the 15th, running through the weekend at the new Matrix club below the Roxy. It’s the first night of a national series that’s running through the summer. The final night of preliminaries happens at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park in July, with each city’s winners going on to battle each other later. There’s no word yet on who’ll be performing in Boston, but it’s open only to unsigned bands, so most of the better-known garage bands (Downbeat 5, Dents, Charms, Muck & the Mires) likely won’t be playing. Still, it couldn’t be a Boston garage event without the Lyres, who are to play a guest set on Saturday the 17th.

Reached by phone last week, Van Zandt admitted that he hasn’t been able to plow through all the tape and CD submissions himself. "I will be checking in as we go, though. Everybody is going to have a different definition of garage, but we try to draw the line at hard rock — otherwise, it’s something that you know when you hear it. The classic garage era is the post-Beatle years, from ’66 to ’69, before the line was drawn by Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. And to that I’d add the punk years in the ’70s. We’re looking for the bands who most reflect the spirit of those years."

There’s no faulting Van Zandt’s credentials as a music fan: When I say I’m from Boston, he gives exactly the reaction I’m looking for. "Man, you cats have been inspiring us for years. You’ve got the Lyres, one of the great bands of all time. The Charms, this new Boston band we’ve been playing; they’re terrific. The Crybabies as well; they’re from your neighborhood [actually, from Worcester]. There was the Del Fuegos, the Nervous Eaters. Peter Wolf has continued to make terrific music, and of course you should be proud of Aerosmith — they’re one of the only rock-and-roll bands left standing."

I ask why so little of Van Zandt’s favorite music is on most commercial stations. "I wish I could give you the answer. It’s a weird set of circumstances that’s gone down, relating to corporate mergers and limiting playlists. The bottom line is probably lower than it used to be in terms of profits, but they don’t even mind as long as it’s consistent. The truth is, we have a format for everything in America except rock and roll. You can hear hard rock, you can hear hip-hop, or you can hear pop. And that’s it — rock-and-roll is gone. The ’50s are gone, because oldies radio has eliminated Eddie Cochran and Jerry Lee Lewis. Surf instrumentals are long gone, so is Ronnie Spector and all the girl-group stuff. So people are saying I’m a genius for doing this, but all I’m doing is playing the things nobody else will."

Playing devil’s advocate for a moment, I suggest that the current incarnation of the E Street Band is a long way from the simplicity of garage rock. "Well, yeah — we’ve evolved in a lot of directions, and some of it’s a long way from that. As long as you have a band with two keyboards, you’re out of garage territory, but it’s part of where we come from. You only hear the garage sound coming through in the encores, and on the second disc of that Tracks compilation. Speaking as a fan, I’d say that it’s become a complete history of Americana at this point; virtually every genre is there in Bruce Springsteen’s music. And garage will always be a part of that."

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Issue Date: April 9 - 15, 2004
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