jfotoman pictures website

It's hard to imagine the 1980s/90s Columbus music scene without the photography of Jay Brown, better known as "jfotoman." Hundreds of photos capture plenty of Columbus bands, like Pica Huss, Gaunt, Monster Truck Five and many more, but also the touring bands that played at places like Stache's including Nirvana, Laughing Hyenas, White Zombie, Urge Overkill and more.

Jay now has the photos for sale on this website here.

Video: Gaunt Live @ Stache's 1994

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!

Short North Gazette: Michael "Micky" Bletz

Back in 20008 the Short North Gazette covered the death of "hard rockin’ rock and roller Michael “Micky” Bletz" of The Burners. Here is part of that:

He was one of those guys who was the most memorable characters in your life,” Barnes said. “He was one of the most generous people you’re ever going to meet, one of the most loyal people you’re ever going to meet. I feel like in my life I’ve had a few relationships like that, and Michael was one of them.” 

Between his Jackie Cupid and Baffoos days, Bletz played for other bands, including The Gangsters and The Burners, local stars in the mid-1980s. 

“He was a great rock and roll performer,” remembers Dan Dougan, former owner of Stache’s (later Little Brother’s), where The Burners played. “He was a real slick dresser, too. Really natty. He really knew how to style.” 

The Burners gave a Fourth of July performance in 1986 in the Park of Roses that turned a community get-together into an event to remember. 

“Way back in the day, that band rocked,” said Bryan Wolfe, an acquaintance of Bletz’s. “When they backed Bo Diddley at what I thought would be a neighborhood picnic, there was a show going on there that was way out of proportion from what you’d expect at a holiday picnic. The music was coming hard and fast. It was a great show.”
Passion was Bletz’s musical trademark. 

“He was able to feel a song, not just play the song, but feel the meaning of the song and understand what the song was trying to say and stir in a person,” Scranton said. “And he could put his signature on that. He could make a song that you’ve heard all your life and make it sound familiar, but make it sound different.”

Columbus Guardian: Route 66 (1994)

Not much out there on the interwebs about Miss May '66, but I did find this over at Anne Spurgeon's page from the 1994 Columbus Guardian:

A mesmerizing quartet, Miss May 66, is turning brains on the campus circuit. Four women-drummer Tera Stockdale, bassist Kari Murphy, singer Yalan Weasner and Anne Spurgeon (sister of the Greenhorn Spurgeons) have filled their calendars with a pocket of good gigs. Wednesday, June 22 , Miss May opens for the Laughing Hyenas at Stache's. They play Bernie's (with Econothugs and the Lovin' Mouthful) on the 24th and, also that weekend, Comfest. Miss May-an outfit with rhythm, distortion and aggression-has been together only a few months. Stockdale and Murphy just started fooling around on the Econothugs gear. Neither knew what they were doing. 'When we go back and listen to our first tapes,' says Stockdale, 'that's when we realize we actually have come a really long way...We had no idea how to write a song or how to play.' Catch them soon. Murphy leaves for San Francisco later this summer; Stockdale promises the band will forge on after they locate a replacement.

The Lantern: Stache’s to play its last tune

In 1997, legendary bar Stache's was shuttered and Dan Dougan would spend the next ten years operating Little Brother's in the Short North. Here's a piece the The Lantern did on the closing:

The current and final owner of Stache’s, Dan Dougan, paces behind the bar answering a slew of phone calls about an upcoming show. Behind him hang pictures, clippings, letters and notes. The memories fill the wall, camouflaging the row of liquor bottles. Considering the bar’s history, which dates back to around 1970, there are many memories that Dougan will be able to hold onto once the bar closes its door for good on March 31, 1997. The bar was first called Stache’s and Little Brother’s after the two owners. One of the owners, Stache, had a mustache, while the other, Little Brother, was shorter than his mustachioed partner, Dougan said. Dougan began frequenting the 200 capacity bar in the early 1980s. By this time Stache’s was owned by Shelly and Mike Young, Dougan said. In 1988 Dougan made the leap from patron to owner.

Video: Belreve Live @ Stache's 3/5/1994