Sinatras
SINATRAS "TEDDY CRASHES BLOND DIES / SOME OTHER BOYS" 7" (NEW YORK CITY- CONGRESSIONAL, 1979)
Here's a catchy one from late 70's Noo Yawk City- nothing over the top here, but a very solid, somewhat melodic, mid-paced record from this four-piece unit. The opening guitar riff on "Teddy Crashes Blond Dies" pulls you right in and leads into some solid drumming and PROPER use of handclapping. I say "proper" because handclapping in songs got VERY played out in 1979 and 1980 but here I think it totally gels with the song and what they're trying to achieve. The guitar playing gets loud and "in-yo-face" in all the right places too. I describe it as a kind of sing-along-to-it-on-the-jukebox-at-the-bar-while-you're-shooting-pool ditty, because over the years I have found myself repeating the chorus, even humming it while I simultaneously tap the drum pattern: "Yeah, the night before; lying on the kitchen floor, her death was all in fun..." and the whole "Bought some TV time" line they repeat several times.
After 10+ years of digging "Teddy" on the A-side I finally was able to hear the B-side ("Some Other Boys") just a few weeks ago thanks to B.C. (via J.L.). And I was not really let down, although I have to admit I was a little scared that I would be given the KBD rule about horrible B-sides. It did take me a few listens to get into it- it's paced a bit slower than the A-side but it has some great Dolls-ish guitar breaks that have grown on me. And it's a total sing-along song number too that I've gotten stuck in my head this past week. Both sides clock in at just under or over the 2 minute mark which always makes for a pleasurable experience for punk fans who demand and expect short songs that do not linger around longer than the 2:36 maximum length.
Teddy Crashes Blond Dies.mp3
Some Other Boys.mp3
ENDNOTES
Information about the band on the information superhighway is scant. Er... as you see on the sleeve the band had four members. Um... this was their only record. It is rather rare and must not come up for sale much- I could not find any old auction listings on Popsike or aggregate sites of that ilk. The band was "rediscovered" in the late 90s'- "Teddy Crashes" first appeared on the solid Hyped To Death #2 comp CD in 2000 (that's where I first heard it) and then got comped again in the Summer of 2001 on the wonderful No One Left To Blame LP. The liner notes of the latter gave some brief info- it said that the band got "lost in the shuffle" of the large New York City scene but made it out of town to Boston at some point. Said compiler must have either heard that info second-hand, or maybe dug around and found some reference to the band in some old obscure fanzine (?).
Ten years later, even with a broad range of information at our fingertips with the internet, I still found next to nothing about the Sinatras: the best I could do was a random, non-music website that had a forum about Edward Kennedy. One of the people who posted a comment was a woman who happened to mention that her Dad was in the Sinatras and that they did a song about Senator Kennedy. The forum had no contact information so this lead hit a dead end since I couldn't contact the person offline and ask more questions in my informational gathering mission. Oh well.
Perhaps I should have waited until July 18th to post this record since that would be the 42nd anniversary of the incident that inspired the Sinatras to record "Teddy Crashes". Now-deceased Senator Edward Kennedy had a wild night on July 18, 1969 partying on Chappaquiddick Island near Massachusetts. The night unfortunately ended in the death of a 28-year old woman named Mary Jo Kopechne after Ted's car crashed with her in it. Much has been written over the years about this incident, so here's one 2009 article about it here if you care to read more. Maybe the Sinatras spent the 70's stewing around ol' Ted's exploits because their 7" didn't come out until 10 years after the incident. In 1979 Ted Kennedy was kinda sorta trying to beat Jimmy Carter for the 1980 Democratic presidential nomination, so maybe the band got so worked up about it and decided to put out their 7" as a reaction. I don't know, you tell me.
Here's a catchy one from late 70's Noo Yawk City- nothing over the top here, but a very solid, somewhat melodic, mid-paced record from this four-piece unit. The opening guitar riff on "Teddy Crashes Blond Dies" pulls you right in and leads into some solid drumming and PROPER use of handclapping. I say "proper" because handclapping in songs got VERY played out in 1979 and 1980 but here I think it totally gels with the song and what they're trying to achieve. The guitar playing gets loud and "in-yo-face" in all the right places too. I describe it as a kind of sing-along-to-it-on-the-jukebox-at-the-bar-while-you're-shooting-pool ditty, because over the years I have found myself repeating the chorus, even humming it while I simultaneously tap the drum pattern: "Yeah, the night before; lying on the kitchen floor, her death was all in fun..." and the whole "Bought some TV time" line they repeat several times.
After 10+ years of digging "Teddy" on the A-side I finally was able to hear the B-side ("Some Other Boys") just a few weeks ago thanks to B.C. (via J.L.). And I was not really let down, although I have to admit I was a little scared that I would be given the KBD rule about horrible B-sides. It did take me a few listens to get into it- it's paced a bit slower than the A-side but it has some great Dolls-ish guitar breaks that have grown on me. And it's a total sing-along song number too that I've gotten stuck in my head this past week. Both sides clock in at just under or over the 2 minute mark which always makes for a pleasurable experience for punk fans who demand and expect short songs that do not linger around longer than the 2:36 maximum length.
Teddy Crashes Blond Dies.mp3
Some Other Boys.mp3
ENDNOTES
Information about the band on the information superhighway is scant. Er... as you see on the sleeve the band had four members. Um... this was their only record. It is rather rare and must not come up for sale much- I could not find any old auction listings on Popsike or aggregate sites of that ilk. The band was "rediscovered" in the late 90s'- "Teddy Crashes" first appeared on the solid Hyped To Death #2 comp CD in 2000 (that's where I first heard it) and then got comped again in the Summer of 2001 on the wonderful No One Left To Blame LP. The liner notes of the latter gave some brief info- it said that the band got "lost in the shuffle" of the large New York City scene but made it out of town to Boston at some point. Said compiler must have either heard that info second-hand, or maybe dug around and found some reference to the band in some old obscure fanzine (?).
Ten years later, even with a broad range of information at our fingertips with the internet, I still found next to nothing about the Sinatras: the best I could do was a random, non-music website that had a forum about Edward Kennedy. One of the people who posted a comment was a woman who happened to mention that her Dad was in the Sinatras and that they did a song about Senator Kennedy. The forum had no contact information so this lead hit a dead end since I couldn't contact the person offline and ask more questions in my informational gathering mission. Oh well.
Perhaps I should have waited until July 18th to post this record since that would be the 42nd anniversary of the incident that inspired the Sinatras to record "Teddy Crashes". Now-deceased Senator Edward Kennedy had a wild night on July 18, 1969 partying on Chappaquiddick Island near Massachusetts. The night unfortunately ended in the death of a 28-year old woman named Mary Jo Kopechne after Ted's car crashed with her in it. Much has been written over the years about this incident, so here's one 2009 article about it here if you care to read more. Maybe the Sinatras spent the 70's stewing around ol' Ted's exploits because their 7" didn't come out until 10 years after the incident. In 1979 Ted Kennedy was kinda sorta trying to beat Jimmy Carter for the 1980 Democratic presidential nomination, so maybe the band got so worked up about it and decided to put out their 7" as a reaction. I don't know, you tell me.
I think I've may have tracked em down. I will get back.
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Let me know!
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I will ome back when i get replies.
In the mean time, this is the band they became after Sinatras, called Fun/No Fun. Someone posted this on Myspace and claim that they where a London band for some reason.
http://www.myspace.com/pistolsofcommerce
Four songs as the Fun/No Fun on there. From 1990.
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Thanks a lot for the info!
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Message from one of them on Facebook.
PRESS RELEASE:
The Sinatras have just inked a deal to release their long awaited album this September on Rave-Up-Records. It will have 10 original tunes written by The Sinatras in the late 1970's. The album will include their smash hit "Teddy Crashes Blonde Dies". 4 of the tunes were recorded live at Max's Kansas City in Manhattan. Put on your helmets and strap yourselves in 'cause this is gonna be a wild ride!!
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This sounds great, thanks again for the info! Somehow I missed this during my "research".
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holy moly, this record rules the roost! full-tilt NYC punk R'nR...bring it on brutha!
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Glad you enjoyed it!
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Hopefully Calvin will come here and write something soon. He just accepted me as a friend on FB.
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Yes you found us and thank you, it's nice that you noticed. The Sinatras had several bass players, the first was Glen Cahill who was in the Slander Band before us and who rocks on the 45. Harold is Calvin B Sreets the Brooklyn Bluesman and is about to release his 2nd album. Nicky & I played together from the day we met, first in the Slumlords (with Rentapunk who is Andy Towns) and in Fun/No Fun with Steve Wishnia of the False Prophets and many other musical concepts to this very day. I am making an album myself, with help from Bill Stevenson of the Descendants and Black Flag. Bill owns a studio called the Blasting Room in Fort Collins, CO where I live and we are having fun. You can hear a few new songs on reverbnation.com. Are you guys familiar with rocknrolltribe.com?
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BTW, I think the myspace page is somebody's art project. I don't wanna name any names although the image of Nicky with Johnny Thunders is a tipoff of sorts... The pictures are mostly the Slumlords, the songs Fun/No Fun. Fun/No Fun recorded a good 25 songs including covers. I should post them somewhere.
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The Sinatras were bold and original. Two things that set us apart from the beginning. Till this day, Nicky is the best drummer I've played with.
From the beginning Gene and I hit it off and knew when to cut loose and hang back. From Max's to CBGB's to The Electric Circus and
The Stickball Club/Club 88...We did play from New York to Boston to New Jersey to Philadelphia..We played The Rat in Harvard Square alot and opened for Wendy O'Williams. The van rides were legendary as were the motel stays. We played Charlie Revson's 21st B-Day pool party in a condo-high rise on 2nd Avenue. Chuck Wepner caught our show regularly as did JT himself!!! Backstage at Max's was the university of punk rock and The Sinatra's graduated Punk-Beta-Cappa!!!!Hit me up on facebook if you have any other questions. Calvin B. Streets
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