Facebook Group: Crazy Mama's

Of all the venues that have come and gone, few have maintained a fanbase and active community like Crazy Mama's on Facebook. Plenty of nostalgia to revisit, but also updates on current activities in the scene from a variety of folks.

Crazy Mama's 40th Anniversary Show at Skully's on October 4th, 2019

Not too long ago, Bruce Nutt announced the 40th Anniversary show celebrating the legendary club Crazy Mama's with an all-star show. Nutt, who used to co-own the venue in the 1980s with his brother Charlie, provided the following update the Crazy Mama's Facebook page:

its' happening, crazy mamas 40th anniversary reunion show is now set for Friday October 4th at Skullys. What a night we are going to have. Live bands include the kings of Garage rock from new york The Fleshtones, The reunion of the hottest rockabilly band in the midwest The flyin' Saucers, Jack Neat will reunite with Nikki Wonder, Matt Newman and company, and central ohio music legend Willie Phoenix will tear it up with the soul underground. We have original mamas djs spinning throughout the night including Mary Margret, Darrell Sheehan, Tim Anstaett, Charley Wonder, and others. 

We will have vintage video and photos  and many surprises. The most important part of the evening will be seeing all of you come together one more time, cause we gonna ball till the walls fall. 

Looking at 7pm doors and 8pm showtime, will have more info as we get closer to the show.  Wanna see  all of the children of the night reunite.

Tickets are available via Ticketfly. Here's a vintage Crazy Mama's commercial for your enjoyment:

Wex Q&A - Matt Reber of New Bomb Turks interviews Amy Fusselman of The Bread Group

New Bomb Turks bassist and Wexner Center Store Manager Matt Reber interviewed writer/author/publisher Amy Fusselman last year for the Wex website, and dug deep into one of the lesser known Columbus bands of the 1980s, The Bread Group. Here is some of the interview:

Amy FusseIman was the guitarist in The Bread Group. I have been familiar with her writing since the Pharmacist’s Mate was published by McSweeney’s in 2001. Eventually, a thread on the Facebook page “Columbus Music Scene 1975-1985” led to our connecting, and to the reading and book signing coming up.  

What year did The Bread Group form and how long did you play together? 
I graduated from OSU in 1986 so it must have been a couple years before that. Our band was me, vocalist Frank Snider, lead guitarist Richie Athy, bassist Patrick Roetzel, and drummer Andy Izold. I played rhythm guitar. Patrick, Frank and I were all undergrads in the English department and the band stayed together until we graduated. We played mostly at a place called the IP Lounge, which was a bar on High Street run by a Greek gentleman named Louie. He also sold one-dollar gyro sandwiches which were the source of much morning remorse for me.  

What were your perceptions of the OSU/Columbus, Ohio scene at the time?
I was obsessed with music at OSU. That was my real focus of study. I was a DJ at the OSU radio station along with Frank, who was then my boyfriend and is now my husband. We saw bands constantly, mostly at Stache’s. Some of the most important audience-member experiences of my life were at Stache’s: The Butthole Surfers, Big Black, Pussy Galore, Agent Orange … I also vividly remember seeing The Cramps and X at The Newport and The Gun Club at a little bar called Crazy Mama’s. I was so lucky to see those shows!! 

I didn’t really appreciate how rich the scene was at the time. It was just people I knew doing interesting things. I saw Scrawl come into their power and that was really important for me to witness. I saw The Great Plains and The Gibson Brothers develop. Frank and I still quote Gibson Brothers lyrics: Big Pine Boogie!