Boys from Nowhere: The Story of Boston’s Garage Punk Uprising

We take a look at the great documentary Boys from Nowhere: The Story of Boston’s Garage Punk Uprising, with some photos from Robert Barry Francos.

When it came to the sounds coming out of the clubs in the 1970s and ‘80s, there was a bit of a competition been New York and Boston, be it CBGBs or the Rathskellar (aka the Rat). However, they had more concurrent and complimentary bands helping charge each other rather than tearing down.

After a brief opening with a brief historical video of ex-WBCN radio DJ Oedipus (he is also interviewed in the heart of the film), who was both loved and hated by those on the scene for various reasons, Boys from Nowhere: The Story of Boston’s Garage Punk Uprising jumps ahead full volume. In this documentary, the chronology of which band or what club came first in Boston isn’t as important. For example, if it were presented that way, the Modern Lovers and Willie “Loco” Alexander would have been right off Yaz’s bat (why do I even know about Carl Yastrzemski?), since they were at the forefront as the period unfolded. However, the Real Kids start off the focus.

I first learned about the Real Kids via their abbreviated masterpiece single ‘All Kindsa Girls’ / ‘Common at Noon’ (the full version would be released after), and then by their album on Red Star Records. The album is phenomenal, even though I like the single version of the two songs more. Using recent and archival footage, all the members of the band are heard from, including lead singer John Felice (who I saw at the Rat in his post-RK group, the Primevals), Alan ‘Alpo’ Paulino (d. 2006), and Billy Borgioli (d. 2015).

The Real Kids were quite spectacular, with high-energy performances both live and on disk, and top notch songwriting, both of which are discussed here, by the likes of Jonathan Richman. This is key, considering Felice was in the Modern Lovers as a scene newbie. I’m happy to say that the film does not shy away from some of the negatives in the band, such as Felice’s contention about the album, their more-than-recreational use of substances, and the firing of Borgioli, whose guitar was the backbone of the album. In my opinion, they never really recovered from that loss, though an obviously modified version of the band still plays today.

Again, not worrying about order, next up is the introduction of the Rat, the seminal locus of the scene at its start (closing 1997, where a luxury hotel replaced it), presenting the groups that would help change the world, is discussed through its originator, Jim Harold. He is an important hub to Boston, and yet as I am not from the area, I know so little about him. I appreciate the info.

This leads to DMZ, a band that would be led by Jeff “Monoman” Conolly, who I would later see numerous times in his next band, the more garage-based Lyres. I didn’t realize that he was the last to join the group, rather than it forming around him. DMZ was another that signed to a major label (Sire), yet never clicked with the larger audience. They were divided by egos; their LP is fun, even though it honestly didn’t really represent the band as they were live. They rest this squarely on the shoulders of their producers, Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan (aka Flo and Eddie, aka the Turtles). Honestly, I never thought about how bad and misrepresenting the cover of their album was before, but they dissect it quite nicely here. It was, however, DMZ’s final hurrah. Oh, and as a point of interest, Monoman wrote the song whose title was used for this film.

Next up is Willie “Boom Boom” Alexander, the godfather of the Boston underground. The section opens with the sludgy guitar of “Hit Her Wid Da Ax” (being “penis” rather than “hatchet” in this case), which was immediately identifiable. I may not agree with Willie’s politics, but as a musician, I’m a fan. With his Boom Boom Band, he actually does my favorite version of “You Lost That Lovin’ Feeling,” that he made his own. Saw him play twice in the ‘80s, including once at the Paradise, where I had the opportunity to hang out with him a short while before the show. Both performances were excellent, of course. Willie’s newest album, by the way, has just been released.

Folded into this chapter is also Jonathan Richman, who would form the Modern Lovers. Most people today seem to know him as “the Troubadour” from the film There’s Something About Mary (1998), but his work has been consistently off-center, which makes him a perfect person to run concurrently with Willie in this piece. There are other similarities other than off-beat vocal styles. For one, both started solo and had a band join them after, but more importantly, both had a relationship with the Velvet Underground. For Richman, he was a mega-fan (as Morrissey was for the Dolls) and friend of the VU, and Willie actually replaced Reed after Lou quit the group, to tour with the Underground in Europe. Both are unique and yet led to the beginning of that period of Boston garage punk. I’ve seen Richman a few times, including with a version of the Modern Lovers in 1977, and once with the Rankin Family opening. It is rightly pointed out here that his version of ‘Roadrunner’ exemplifies Boston, but I would add that it is just as much as Willie’s ‘At the Rat’ is about the particular scene. However, to me, the best version of ‘Roadrunner’ is from the Beserkley Spitballs compilation, rather than the eponymous Modern Lovers first album.

Next up is the Nervous Eaters, probably the band I know the least about on this documentary, even though I do have their album with the Elektra “chewed” cover. Again, a fun band with a non-representative release that did not help their career, even with one of the Paley Brothers, Jonathan, as a member. Their sound was more metalish than the other bands mentioned above, sort of like a dirty cross between the MC5, the joyful sloppiness and attitude of the New York Dolls, and that Willie A. way of going up and down the vocal scale on songs in a modified hiccupping way. But like so many of the bands before and after them, and even many on this documentary, they had one shot to record an album, and it never reached its potential either in sound or sales.

Then there is the amazing power trio, the Neighborhoods. The lead singer/guitarist, Dave Minehan, was a powerhouse onstage and off, and has become an important studio producer over the years. I first came familiar with them through their amazing singles on Ace of Hearts Records, such as ‘Prettiest Girl.’ Though they sold over 10,000 records on a relatively small indie label, the Neighborhoods are probably the least known of all the bands here, which is criminal.

After a brief rundown of what some of the musicians are up to now (mostly recording with Rick Harte, it seems), there is a clip of Peter Wolf of the J. Geils Band sharing the stage with Willie Alexander and the Boom Boom Band singing Willie’s classic ‘Mass Ave’ at Willie’s 70th birthday celebration in Somerville (of course). This makes sense since there is a phenomenal amount of music that runs throughout, including rare live clips and recordings.

There are lots of interviews with band members, but also of front-line scenesters, such as Lyn Cardinal (aka Ms. Lyn), the publisher of the most important local fanzine (now Webzine), The Boston Groupie News, Paul Lovell (aka Blowfish), who put out some topically hysterically funny EPs in the day, and scene regular and comedian Dennis Leary.

By using black and white footage for present day interviews, the historical still pictures and live footage meld together well, making the whole zeitgeist a timeless document that works collectively, rather than putting them into segregated, isolating moments, even with individual chapters for each band. This concept doesn’t always work elsewhere, but Parcellin nails it from the first to last frame. Plus there are some beautifully shot photos that are presented throughout, many from Robert Post.

My biggest (and probably only) problem with this film is that I wanted it to include all the musicians and bands I liked from there, without losing any of the details that’s already included, which would have made this probably at least three times as long, which is of course totally unrealistic. Just off the top of my head and in no particular order (though I’ve seen most of them) there is Kenne Highland, the Thrills, Salem 66, Boys Life, Mission of Burma, Unnatural Axe and Fox Pass, to name just a few. That’s not even bringing up some of the great bands past this period, like the Bristols, the Outlets and the Dogmatics.

Live pictures © Robert Barry Francos

Boys from Nowhere: The Story of Boston’s Garage Punk Uprising

Directed by Chris Parcellin

BFN Films

77 minutes, 2016

www.facebook.com/bfnfilms

Tags: boston punk, Boys from Nowhere: The Story of Boston’s Garage Punk Uprising, documentary, music, punk

About the Author

Robert Barry Francos has lived in Saskatoon for over a decade, having spent most of his life in New York City. Part of the New York punk scene from nearly its inception, he has been known to hang out with musicians, artists and theatrical types. His fanzine, FFanzeen, was published from 1977 through 1988, giving him opportunity to see now famous bands in their early stages. Media, writing and photography have been a core interest for most of his life, leading to a Masters in Media Ecology from New York University. This has led to travel to Mexico, England, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Israel and Egypt, and recently he taught a university class in media theory in China.