Growing Old With Rock & Roll Blog (2013) - The Ballad of Willie Phoenix, part one - Romantic Noise and The Buttons, 1978-1980

Growing Old With Rock & Roll Blog (2013)
The Ballad of Willie Phoenix, part one - Romantic Noise and The Buttons, 1978-1980

Romantic Noise was stunning.  Willie wrote virtually all of the songs, played strictly rhythm guitar (he didn't start playing lead guitar until The Shadowlords in 1983) and sang about 65% of lead vocals.  Bass player extraordinaire Greg Glasgow contributed the remainder of the original tunes (of which there was a mind-boggling number & variety, which we may deal with in a later appendix) and sang lead on about a third of the Romantic Noise repertoire.  Lead guitarist John Ballor only sang about three leads - the aforementioned "I Feel New,"  "Holly," and an early raver maybe called "Politician, Politician" - but Willie generously handed him off some truly killer songs to sing.  When original drummer David Machnicki (who employed a rather Ringo Starr-inspired style of playing) was replaced by madman Keith Moon-styled smasher Dee Hunt - the pride of Beckley, West Virginia - the Romantic Noise line-up was complete.  (And Dee was height-compatible to fit in with the rather diminutive Small Faces-styled Romantic Noise than the too-tall Machniki.)

Know Yer Band: Romantic Noise

Band: Romantic Noise

Members
Guitar/Vocals - Willie Phoenix
Lead Guitar/Vocals - Jon Ballor
Bass/Vocals - Greg Glasgow
Drums/Percussion - Dee Hunt

Releases
1977 - I Fell In Love With A Baby / Dead Flowers (In My Yard) 7" single (Not On Label)
1978 - '78 Affair 7" single (Not On Label)

Willi Phoenix Tribute Machine

Back in 2015, a group of notable Columbus musicians got together to pay tribute to Columbus legend Willie Phoenix. Featuring Sam Brown (Drums), Colin Gawel (Vocals, Guitar), Andy Harrison (Guitar, Vocals), and Matt Reber (Bass), the group recorded a pair of covers and posted them to Bandcamp.

Video: Willie Phoenix " Gloria " July 17 , 2010 , LC , Columbus Ohio , Wing Zing

Columbus Monthly: Rise Up - The Unstoppable, Unknowable Willie Phoenix

Back in 2015, Columbus Monthly profile Willie Phoenix. Here is part of the article:

Musician Willie Phoenix seems to have an infinite supply of creative energy that, over the decades, has been poured into bands, recordings, riveting performances and a brush with big-time fame that ended with disappointment. These days, he’s playing dive bars for audiences that measure by the dozen, though he’s ever the entertainer, ever the rock star. Could a new album and fresh energy send him soaring skyward again? 

It’s Halloween night, and High Street is teeming with Ohio State students scurrying to and from bars and nearby rentals. I’m headed to Bernie’s, a basement deli and concert venue that opened in the ’70s, to catch a set by Blues Hippy and the Soul Underground-aka Columbus rocker Willie Phoenix, whose musical history in this town goes back as far as Bernie’s does. 

The show is running about an hour behind schedule, so Phoenix doesn’t take the stage until after midnight, following sets by two lackluster opening bands that draw only a handful of onlookers to this dark, dank room. One band spills beer onstage and pesters the bartender for more. The sparse crowd, which trends a couple decades older than the students on the sidewalks above, talks over the music and mills around the scattered bar stools and tables. Toward the back of the room, near the bathrooms and the sound man reading his book with a penlight, LPs and 45s by ’90s Columbus bands like Gaunt decorate the wall. 

Twenty years ago, there would have been a line out the door to see Phoenix perform at Bernie’s. Tonight, no more than 20 people have ventured in, but they all crowd the area in front of the stage when Phoenix walks to the mic. One middle-aged man is wearing a wig of black dreadlocks. “I’m 1985 Willie Phoenix,” he says. A woman grabs her friend’s arm and begins hopping in place, saying: “I get to see Willie Phoenix tonight! I get to see Willie Phoenix tonight!”

New Additions: Willie Phoenix 1982 self-titled debut album

If you're going to start with an artist you are not all that familiar with, it's not a bad idea to start at the beginning. In this case, it's the 1982 self-titled album released on A&M Records. Now, but this point Willie Phoenix was an established artist, having started with Eric in high school, and playing with a variety of folks in a number of different projects. This is Willie out front, and it's a good sound for him, midwestern rock with touches of power pop, psychedelia and more.

Know Yer Artist: Willie Phoenix

Artist: Willie Phoenix

Bands
Eric
Magical Soul
The Boppers
The Buttons
Romantic Noise
Willie Phoenix And The Shadowlords
Willie Phoenix And The True Soul Rockers
Willie Phoenix And The Voodooz
Willie Phoenix And The Soul Underground

Solo Releases
1982 - Self Titled album (A&M Records)
1988 - Flower Machine album (Not On Label)
1999 - Have You Seen My Tambourine? album (Not On Label)
2000 - Eight Track Spider album (Not On Label)
2000 - A Zillion Miles Gone album (Not On Label)
2004 - Blues Reaction album (Junkyard Cat Recordings)
2005 - Quick N' Dirty album (Not On Label)
2007 - Plastic Blues And Grooves album (Junkyard Cat Recordings)
2009 - Revolution In The Basement album (Junkyard Cat Recordings)
2011 - Blues Hippy album (Orange Mono Music)
2011 - Magic Black Umbrella album (Junkyard Cat Recordings)

The Q-FM 96 Hometown Compilations

As mentioned in a few previous posts, Q-FM 96 put out a number of "Hometown" compilations throughout the 1980s featuring an interesting variety of artists over the years. Q-FM keeps a Q-Seum page of their history and includes some screenshots. Nine total compilations were released between 1980 and 1988 - eight on vinyl and the last on cassette.

A lot of the material is expectedly radio friendly 80s AOR, pop and singer/songwriter. Occasionally, some more diverse material made the cut, such as the Willie Phoenix band The Buttons (Vol. 1), Rosie and The Jetboys (Vol. 3), Oswald And The Herringbones (Vol. 5), as well as discoveries like The Guise (Vol. 3) and Columbus (Vol. 4).

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: