on the record with...
Frank Secich
David Steinberg-Quinton
Stiv Bators Band
By Christopher Duda
(SugarBuzz Toronto)
SugarBuzz Magazine
After the unfortunate demise of the thunderous Dead Boys- Stiv Bators elected to release a solo LP showcasing his powerpop styling and nod to some cherished 60’s Garage Fuzz. The under-rated LP “Disconnected” was released in 1980. At the time it might have had some of The Dead Boys fans scratching their heads longing for Youngston, Ohio’s wild man. Alas like a fine wine this LP has aged well and showcases Stiv and band in fine form displaying that Stiv had many aces up his sleeve.
Frank Secich (bass) and David Steinberg-Quinton (drums) recount the experience of recording the LP with the well-loved Stiv and other projects they were involved with before and after “Disconnected” was released.
1. How did you initially meet Stiv Bators?
Frank- I met Stiv when I was 15 years old in Youngstown. We used to go to the same teen clubs, dances and parties to see bands. A girl that I knew introduced me to him and we became very good friends. I was the first person to bring him on stage to sing.
David- Stiv was in Toronto visiting with Cynthia Ross from the B-Girls. He came to see ‘The Mods’ at the Turning Point. That night, Stiv and Steve Leckie from the Viletones both jumped onstage to join us for a rendition of “Tell Me”. Stiv then came out to another Mods gig in January ‘79. He was stumbling and slurring and said “I’m doing an album in L.A. with Cook, Jones, Thunders and Nolan and I want you on it too…”. Then I never heard from him again until that summer when he suddenly called and offered me a plane ticket to L.A. Of course, Cook, Jones, etc. were not there…but Stiv, Frank and I recorded a bunch of material (which has all since been released) and my life was never really the same after that.
2. Coming from Youngstown, Ohio were you involved with the early scene that spawned bands like Rocket From the Tombs and later Frankenstein?
Frank- I played in the original Mother Goose Band 1968-69 and when I quit in 1969 to form Blue Ash, Stiv became my replacement. Mother Goose was a good band and opened many shows for Blue Ash in the first half of the 1970's. Stiv then went on to Frankenstein and a brief stint in Rocket From The Tombs then the Dead Boys.
3.How did the band initially form for the recording of “Disconnected”?
Frank- The Disconnected band came out of the last formation of the Dead Boys in the spring and summer of 1980. That line-up included me, Stiv, Jimmy Zero, David"Quinton" Steinberg and George Cabaniss. We had a summer tour going and Jimmy left the band during that tour. After that we continued on to the west coast where Greg Shaw had set the recording dates for Stiv's solo album for August and September of 1980.
David- I recorded with Stiv and Frank in the summer of 1979 on some of Stiv’s solo singles. I was only 18 years old at the time. After the summer, I returned to my band ‘The Mods’ and Stiv and Frank carried on with the Dead Boys. A few months later, George Cabaniss replaced Cheetah Chrome in the Dead Boys and I replaced Johnny Blitz. When Jimmy Zero finally left the band, the remaining members of what was left of the Dead Boys became the “Disconnected” band. In my view, the group of us brought together a unique combination of attitude, experience, aggression, pop and punk, anger and humor…
4. Was this material ever performed live? If so, how many gigs did you do and where primarily did you showcase the material?
Frank- Yes, we did almost everything from that album live at the time we were touring that summer. We also showcased the material at the Starwood in LA while we were recording it. When it was released in December 1980 we did a 3-week tour of the northeast U.S. with Brian James in the band. We played Philadelphia, NY, New Jersey, Long Island, Connecticut and Boston.
David- We actually toured quite a bit in 1980/1981. We played in many cities including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Houston, Vancouver, Boston and Detroit in all kinds of venues. We probably did about 30 gigs - and I remember them well…Bators always left an impression. We always did a combination of Dead Boys songs with the “Disconnected” stuff and other Stiv solo material, like ‘Circumstantial Evidence’ and ‘Not that Way Anymore’
5. Any memories and or stories of these gigs?
Frank- Great memories of that summer tour but 75% of them I can't tell you. (Laughing) Stiv could always crack me up on stage. During that tour, which was the "Urgh! The Music War" west coast tour, we were on the same bill as Pere Ubu, Magazine and the Members. In San Francisco after the first song Stiv told the crowd "Thank you, it's always great to be back in the city of brotherly love". We went to visit the People's Temple in SF too, right after they all offed themselves in Jonestown, Guiana. I also knocked him out cold on stage in Seattle, I think. He was writhing on the ground and I turned around then swung my bass around. At that very moment he leaped out of nowhere and I caught him square in the back of the head with my bass. He was out cold! Also, we were right there when Mt.St.Helens blew up too...but we had nothing to do with it.
David- There are way too many to mention, but some of personal favorites were the gigs that featured special guests - Dee Dee Ramone with us at The Whiskey A-Go-Go in L.A., Cheetah Chrome playing with us at The Ritz in New York, Ross the Boss (from the Dictators) joining us in Connecticut and, of course, that night at Club Heat in N.Y. when Johnny Thunders joined us and didn’t want to get off the stage…Another personal fave was our gig at the Santa Monica Civic in L.A. on the URGH tour, which was covered by Rolling Stone magazine. I really liked it when Brian James from the Damned came from England to join us in December 1980...and he did his first gig with us without having had any rehearsal! He and Stiv later formed Lords of the New Church.
You never knew what Bators was going to do onstage. I have never been involved in such a spontaneous and reckless environment in any other band that I played with. At times, it was absolutely perfect in all of its twisted glory - and at other times, it fell apart into spirited cacophony. I enjoyed it all. I have often thought that watching Stiv from behind the drums was just as entertaining as it would have been from out in the audience.
6. What previous bands did members play in and what future projects/bands did members form?
Frank- George Cabaniss played in the Hammer Damage Band from Akron. David "Quinton" Steinberg played in Toronto's Mods and after Disconnected put out a great solo album on Bomb Records in Canada. Both that album and the Mods have been reissued. Before playing with the Stiv Bators Band, I was in Blue Ash and before stints with Stiv. I now play in the Deadbeat Poets from Youngstown, Ohio. The band members are John Koury, Pete Drivere, Terry Hartman and myself.
David- Well…let’s see. Stiv played in Mother Goose, Frankenstein and the Dead Boys. After ‘Disconnected‘, he played with the Wanderers and, of course, Lord of the New Church. Frank came from Blue Ash and I believe also played with Stiv in Mother Goose at some point. After some Blue Ash reformations - one of which included both George and me - Frank did all sorts of things and now has a great band called The Deadbeat Poets. Georgie came from a great band called Hammer Damage and after ‘Disconnected‘ had a cool band called Color Me Gone. All the guys were from Ohio, except for me. I’m from Toronto. I came from a power pop punk band called The Mods and, after playing with Stiv, recorded a solo album and played with The Jitters, Strange Advance and Lost & Profound.
7. Were friendships kept after the project was finished?
Frank- David Steinberg and I have remained great friends over the years and get together at least once a year. I consider him my little brother. George Cabaniss and I have stayed in touch too. George went on the 80's to from "Color Me Gone" with Marti Jones and they put out a great album on A&M records. Jimmy Zero and I are still good friends and talk to each other often. We played together in "Club Wow" in the mid-80's.
David- The last time I saw Stiv was in 1983 in Toronto while he was with the Lords. I spent the day with Stiv and Brian and we had a fun time. The last communication I had with Stiv was the receipt of a “chain letter” that he sent me in 1988 - with the stamp placed upside down on the envelope (as was his trade mark). I miss Stiv and look forward to seeing him again in the “other place”.
I’ve seen George a few times since 1981. Regardless of the passage of time and the physical space between Akron and Toronto, I consider him to be a very good friend. He’s an honest and brilliant person.
I’ve recently seen a lot of Frank, and it’s amazing. He’s my big brother - even now. He’s an awesome songwriter and a loyal friend. I still worry about his insomnia and I’d go through a wall for him…
8. What was the process of recording Disconnected like? Did it differ from other recordings that members had previously done?
Frank- We did most of the basic tracks on a basketball court that was adjacent to the studio. I think that gives "Disconnected" its unique bouncy sound. We then did all of the overdubs in the studio proper. I think it was the first record Thom Wilson ever produced. He went on to become a world-famous record producer.
Well, for me very much so.” Disconnected" had a very spontaneous feel to it. Lots of it was improvised in the studio and we had some funny effects like dropping a twin reverb amp off a ladder for the explosion sound on "Too Much To Dream". We had a very open attitude to recording on that album. We experimented a lot and got some great drum sounds in my opinion.
David- We recorded the album in Sun Valley, California at Perspective Studios. Most of the bed tracks were recorded on a basketball court that was connected to the studio. Loud, ambient with lots of distance microphones. We generally slept through the days and worked through the night. The whole process took about 2 weeks. There wasn’t a lot of planning or pre-production. Decisions on arrangements and overdubs were made quickly on the spot and the mood was usually upbeat. I only remember a few moments when we didn’t get along and I’d say that drugs and alcohol were to blame. What the fuck else is new? I doubt that any of us recorded anything before or after ‘Disconnected’ that was done in the same way.
9. In terms of the cover songs on the LP were these Stiv’s choices or did band members have their input?
Frank- "I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night)" was actually my idea. Right before recorded "Disconnected" I heard it on the radio one night while I was driving around LA. I thought that sounds just like Stiv singing. I mentioned to Greg Shaw and Stiv that I'd like to cover it and they loved the idea. I don't recall anyone else who had covered it before. "It's Cold Outside" was definitely Stiv's idea as was "I Stand Accused".
David- We were a group in every sense. However, in every group, there are leadership dynamics. Because of their close friendship and common points of reference, I would have to say that Stiv and Frank were the leaders - the Gutter Twins. George always had a very “quiet” but powerful influence over the band. I was just a kid, but that never kept me from mouthing off. I suspect that Stiv and Frank chose the covers, but if George and I had reacted violently to any choice, I think we would have been heard. I recall that both of us liked “Too Much To Dream”.
10. Talking to an old friend of Stiv’s recently she stated that “Stiv had a big heart and held his friends close; however, he was also a practical joker” Were you ever the target of his practical jokes?
Frank- No, I think he knew better than to do that to me! I had too much on him. (Laughing)
David- Oh my God, yes. His practical jokes ranged from totally hilarious to incredibly demented. I was particularly fond of one of his pranks - he used to tell girls backstage that I was a 17-year-old virgin. This yielded a number of interesting results.
11. How did you see Stiv as a person and where would you predict he would be today musically?
Frank- Stiv was one of my best friends ever. He was always a sincere and generous friend. I think about him every day. It's hard to believe but he was a thoughtful and kind person. We had a lot of laughs and good times, which I wouldn't trade for anything. I miss him a lot. As for where he would be today musically, I think Stiv would be in my new band the Deadbeat Poets and claiming co-writer credits for "The Stiv Bators Ghost.
David- That’s a very complicated question…Stiv was the following things: totally unpredictable, very smart, somewhat private, completely blind without his prescription sunglasses, a media manipulator, somewhat quiet offstage, spontaneously funny as hell, terribly misbehaved when something set him off (which could have been anything), sometimes dangerous to himself and unlike anyone else I’ve ever met.
We will never know for sure, but if Stiv were still residing on this planet, I think he would be enjoying the resurgence of the class of ’77. I bet he’d be playing with the Dead Boys right now and recording side projects with different people - maybe even us (“Reconnected“?).
12. Why was Bomp! Records chosen as the label to release “Disconnected”?
Frank- We really liked Greg Shaw and the Bomp set-up. He gave us all the freedom in the world. So putting that album out on Bomp was an easy choice for us.
David- Stiv and Frank had a good relationship with Greg Shaw before I came on board. All I know is that Greg totally understood what we were trying to do and he was very supportive. Bomp was the perfect label for “Disconnected”. I still speak with Suzy Shaw from time to time and we had lunch a few years in L.A. She is lovely.
Why did this line up not continue after the recording of this LP?
David- We did not continue for a number of reasons - most of which are private. The bottom line is that we weren’t’t really seeing eye to eye in early 1981 and all needed a change. In part, I think that Stiv was going through a difficult period and needed to be surrounded by a different breed of people. He knew he couldn’t’t fool Frank - they knew each other far too well - and he needed people around him that could fool…
Frank- After the recording, Stiv went to Baltimore to film "Polyester" and then to England (without our knowledge) to record with the Wanderers who had a recording contract in England with Polydor. Stiv wanted to be in both bands at the same time but that didn't go down well with either band. We ended up the Disconnected band in early 1981.
13. Besides the Disconnected LP did you ever record anything else with Stiv?
Frank- Yes, I did the two Bomp singles in 1979-80. "It's Cold Outside" b/w "The Last Year" & "Not That Way Anymore"b/w "Circumstantial Evidence" and also some outtakes that have been released under the Dead Boys recently as "Buried Gems".
David- Yes. I played on ‘Circumstantial Evidence’, ‘Not That Way Anymore’, ‘I’ll Be Alright’, ‘I Stand Accused’, ’L.A, L.A.’ and a collection of live tracks that have been released over the years on vinyl and CD. I’m proud of it all.
14. In your opinion how influential was 60’s garage music on the whole punk scene as a whole?
Frank- I would say 60's garage was punk's biggest influence. The music of the Ramones, Dead Boys, Sex Pistols, Dictators and even the Clash are permeated with 60's American garage sounds.
David- I have a very different view of punk and how this so-called style came together. There is a natural tendency to compare punk to 60’s garage music because both styles were rough and ragged around the edges. However, I think the first wave of punk incorporated a lot more influences than 60’s garage music. There was a heavy glam influence - The Sweet, T Rex, New York Dolls, Mott The Hoople, and Alice Cooper etc. There was a mod/pop influence - The Who, Kinks, Small Faces, Creation, The Move, etc. There was the Detroit influence - MC5, Stooges, etc. And, perhaps more importantly, there was an “experimental” influence that came through Captain Beefheart, Can, Velvet Underground and assorted psychedelic bands. Just ask John Lydon. He’ll tell you.
15. How did the Deadbeat Poets form?
Frank-In the spring of 2005, Patrick Boissel of Bomp Records asked me if I would get a bunch of Ohio musicians together to record a track for a tribute album to Greg Shaw. (The album and book will be released in November 2007. It's called "He Put The Bomp!" I got together a lot of my old friends: Pete Drivere and John Koury from the Infidels, Jimmy Zero (Dead Boys), Dave Swanson (Rainy Day Saints), Billy Sullivan (Raspberries reunion band), George Cabaniss and David"Quinton" Steinberg from the Stiv Bators Band and Bill Bartolin and myself from Blue Ash. I picked Him Or Me (What's It Gonna Be?) by Paul Revere & The Raiders to record for Greg's tribute. Pete, John, Bill and I played on the track. All the rest of us sang on it. Everyone did a line or two and Billy and Jimmy did the choruses. It came off very well.
Anyway, I really loved the sound we made. I thought if I decide to record my new songs that this would be the band I'd use. I also decided that if I record again I'd want my old friend Terry Hartman in the band. So the band kind of accidentally formed. John Koury on drums, Terry Hartman on rhythm guitar, Pete Drivere on lead guitar & me on bass guitar. I think Terry is one
of the best songwriters to ever come out of Ohio but few people know of him. That will soon change. So we got together and started recording in 2006.
16. Who is in the Deadbeat Poets and what previous bands did they play in?
Frank- The Deadbeat Poets are Terry Hartman-rhythm guitar from the Backdoor Men, Napoleon In Rags, John Koury- drums from the Infidels and Slackjaw, Pete Drivere- lead guitar from the Infidels and Pretty Demons and me from Blue Ash, Stiv Bators Band & Club Wow.
17. I understand that the Deadbeat Poets will be doing a tour soon. Where and when will this be happening?
Frank- We're playing the New York IPO on November 10th and the Toronto IPO on November Around those dates we'll be playing Cleveland, Philadelphia, Harrisburg and some New Jersey dates and possibly Boston dates too. We'll start off small and see how it goes.
18. How does your approach to your current band differ from previous ones?
Frank-Terry and I are very lyric oriented songwriters and we love melody. Our songs are the stars of Deadbeat Poets and that is very different from any other band I've ever been in. Our songs have a definite 60's slant but I think our lyrics and production give them an entire different and modern edge. We have a lot of fun being Deadbeat Poets because we mostly play and write the music for ourselves.
19. How did you initially get into playing music? Was Blue Ash the first band you were in?
Frank-After being inspired by the Beatles and Rolling Stones in 1964 & 1965 I started playing guitar. I started my first band "The City Jail" with Jim Kendzor in 1966. Jeff Rozniata the future Blue Ash drummer was also in this band. We were pretty much a British Invasion cover band. We did covers of the Kinks, Yardbirds, Animals &Rolling Stones mostly. We even did oddball songs like "Don't Stop" by the Hullabaloos, who we actually met when they toured through here. The City Jail did a few originals "He's Was Poor" and "Let Me Go". As "The City Jail" fizzled out, I joined a psychedelic band called "The Great Hibiscus" playing rhythm guitar. The Great Hibiscus begat "The Mother Goose Band" and we played all summer of 1968 at a teen club called "The Electric Zoo" at Geneva-On-The-Lake, Ohio, which is a vacation resort.
I left Mother Goose in 1969 because I wanted to start a band that did our own music. I asked Jim Kendzor to start Blue Ash with me in 1969.
20. Is Blue Ash available on cd?
Frank- Yes, there's a 2 CD set called "Around Again" on Not Lame Records. There are also various Blue Ash songs on compilation CD's around the world too. "No More, No Less" which was our first album on Mercury Records has never been released on CD.
21. Looking back on your past recorded catalogue would there be anything that you wish was never released?
Frank- There's one record and that would definitely be Blue Ash's second LP "Front Page News". It is a horrible piece of shit!
None of us were there for the mixes or overdubs and I have always thoroughly repudiated it. I hated the strings and horns that were added. I'm not even on half the tracks. I was finally glad when "Around Again" was released so people could hear how some of those songs on FPN should have been done. I have nothing more to say on that.
Other than Blue Ash, The Deadbeat Poets and The Stiv Bators band what other musical projects have you done?
Frank-I produced 2 albums and many singles and EP's by the Infidels in the 1980's. I also produced the Dead Boys 1987 reunion single "All The Way Down". I also played in the group Club Wow in the 1980's with Jimmy Zero, Jeff West and Billy Sullivan. I left the music business 1n 1990 and did not play again until 2004.
http://www.myspace.com/frank_secich
http://www.myspace.com/davidquintonsteinberg
http://www.myspace.com/deadbeatpoets