Mike Luoma's History of Burlington Music

WIZN's assistant program director Mike Luoma continues his walk down memory lane. In this issue, Mike becomes Music Director at WIZN and introduces Phish at Battery Park.

Welcome back for more fuzzy memories, recollections and subjective truth -- I found out how subjective last time -- Ninja Custodian didn't win the 1990 Rumble as I remembered. My house mate Tim pointed this out after the last issue. As he put it -- "Remember? Ninja got all fucked up the night of the finals and just kinda sloppily schlepped through their set?"

Oh, yeah. Who won?

"Brave New World . . . don't you remember?"

I think I was partying with Ninja . . . I kinda remember. Now.

So Brave New World won the Rumble in 1990. And, by the way, it was "opium spy thriller," the Ninja tune, not "theatre," editors! Had to get that out of my system. So now onward!

The late '80's, early '90's were a great time for music in Burlington. There was Nectars': always a band, never a cover. Border upstairs, The Front, Sam's -- then, later, KD Churchill's, Club Metronome, and many private parties with bands all over town. There was a great underground buzz among the musicians making music and fans willing to pay a couple bucks to drink and listen.

I've reached 1991 in my recollections. It was a weird year for me personally, so some of my recollections are colored in weird tones and skewed hues. I even stopped going out for a couple months in '91 -- highly unusual for yours truly -- but I was experiencing the aftermath of a relationship whose breakup I handled badly . . . but, there, I've told you more than you wanted/needed to know...

Early 1991. Twin Peaks was on TV. Phish were touring like crazy. I'm looking at a "Phish update" from "Apr/May 1991" -- they're in California, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio, New York, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine, then, finally, back at the Front May 12th and 13th, a Sunday and Monday. Their home shows were getting fewer and further between. I was rooted here doing overnights, but I can understand the urge to tour to follow the band and see as many shows as possible.

Overnight radio -- my week began Sunday night, Monday morning -- and then Sunday/Monday home shows were killing me -- I always had to leave in the middle of the second set! I was psyched for the band, though, glad to see them succeeding, because I really knew they could -- even if throughout '91 I couldn't convince the powers-that-then-were at WIZN to put them in rotation! I could see that they were still succeeding on their own terms, and I kept trying to get them on the radio.

April 1991 also brought the next Rumble at the Front -- where I first heard a great band -- The Chainsaws of Babylon! Quirky but melodic, I was hooked -- it was powerful stuff. Something like They Might Be Giants except drunk and on acid. More twisted.

I got to be a judge again that year, but the bar privileges were curtailed a bit (probably thanks to Ninja the year before!)

Motel Brown won the Rumble that year -- their high-energy party music won over the crowd completely, kinda reggae-ish rock, not as much so as in later days. Back then they rocked harder, with a rawer sound. They were the crowd favorite, but there were so many quality bands that year: The Jalapeno Brothers, The Mighty Loons, Blue Chromosomes, Plan B, and some fun bands, too, maybe not great, but great guys, like Spice. Chin Ho! made their appearance that year as well. If I remember right, Andrew had half his head shaved, the other long, and he flailed a lot. Gotta be careful, writing about the editor and publisher of this thing!

Zero Gravity appeared again, too. They were always such incredibly talented musicians, funky, and technically brilliant. I loved some of their originals, but always loved to hear them rip into a Steely Dan cover, executed flawlessly. They'd usually only get into those when I saw them at Nectar's, playing those long sets that they needed to fill 9:30 pm to 2 am.

The Jalapeno Brothers put out a cassette that year -- Ride The Blends. I was getting into seeing them perform in '91, too -- but memory grows fuzzy as I search for specifies...

In the summer of 1991 I was back in the swing of things, loving life again and seeing bands -- and there were two definite highlights. 

Phish were finally asked to do the Battery Park Concert Series and agreed to do it. That was a wild time. The Rainbow gathering had taken place earlier, and many of the new-hippie freaks were in Burlington with their drums, dogs and dreads. It made for an interesting crowd -- local Phish-heads and Rainbow-ers from around the country.

I was psyched, personally, because WIZN was sponsoring the concert series, and I was the emcee -- I'm still on the bootlegs! (I only got a copy for myself a couple years ago -- it was funny to hear a younger self intro the band!) I remember being a little embarrassed because I still hadn't gotten the station to play the band, officially, and I hadn't seen the guys in a while. So I took a little heat, but not that much. A magic night!

The other highlight that summer was the first appearance in town of the Tragically Hip. WOW! What a band! On a WIZN Blues Cruise, on an LCT Ferry on the middle of Lake Champlain -- they performed MAGIC. Intense, creative, vital rock. A friend of mine bootlegged the show -- I kept getting him beers, so I got a copy of the tape -- it's still one of my favorites!

The Hip made an indelible impression on everyone on that cruise. To this day, people talk about it, and I swear more people claim to have been on board than actually were, really. That cruise made the Tragically Hip a part of Burlington's musical fabric, woven in inextricably. 

The end of 1991 was the end of an era, as Ninja Custodian packed up and left for LA, and Brave New World left for Boston. Motel Brown also seemed to disappear . . . but they'd be back. Ninja would return too, but only on an ill-fated northeast tour (in '95, if I recall...)

But the party scene around town was picking up -- more people were having kegs and bands in their basements. The winter of '91/'92 seemed to be full of parties on the weekends, with bands sweating and playing for drunk/receptive audiences. I remember a party place called the "Brokedown Palace" -- and I think it was about time I first saw a band there called the Blue Chromosomes, a great band with a great guitar player. I didn't get to know the band, but I later came to know the guitarist, Jake Lloyd. He was memorable, at first because his mic stand was made out of an upside-down crutch -- eye-catching!

It's kind of bittersweet to write about Jake; he was killed in an accident -- a motorcycle accident -- a couple of years ago out in LA where he'd gone to study and perfect his craft.

It wasn't until later that I got to know Jake, when he was with his new band, Baby Jesus and The Sheepherders. They'd play at the "Brokedown Palace" and at Nectar's, among other places. I think that was in '92, but, then again, things can get fuzzy.

Ninety-two was a good year. All Phish's negotiations paid off -- they were signed to Elektra, and had an album they recorded at White Crow in the summer of '91 coming out on a "major label" in February. Finally, I got WIZN to add "Fee" into playable rotation -- since Phish were going to be on a "major label," now.

A Picture Of Nectar came out in February of 1992. The radio station started playing "Chalkdust Torture". The band came in and did "What's New" with then-Music Director Tom Van Sant -- and only a week later, he was gone -- and they gave me his job!

Yee-ha! Phish had a major label release, I was music director -- life was good! My Program Director, Steve Cormier, was a complete control freak, but he taught me a lot and let me have my way occasionally, and he let me run with Phish -- and more local music as well.

I was still doing overnights, and would for another year, but I got Phish on the radio and other bands I cared about, as well. Plus, I was able to write comments for the radio trade magazines that they'd print each week -- and the local music scene.

Not only were Phish in rotation, WIZN also were playing the Dog Catchers a bunch, a little Chin Ho! from their release Drink, like "Dance of Hers", we were still playing Ninja Custodian, and had other local music we'd include at night. If I remember right, Peg Tassey came out with "Sex Is Good" in '92, which would have to make any Best Of Burlington Compilation I put together.

Phish played the Flynn early in '92 -- since I was now "connected," I was able to give tickets away in front of the theater that night, extra tickets the record company promo dude brought with him. That summer, Phish was on tour with Santana -- and one of the highlights was their show together at the Stowe Mountain Performing Arts Center.

Before the gentrified, vacation-home owning populace of Stowe managed to close the venue (they didn't like the undesirable element that came to see rock concerts). The Stowe Mountain Performing Arts Center was a great summer show venue, christened by Crosby, Stills and Nash in early summer, 1992. I wish it could have lasted.

What a beautiful setting for a show in the heart of the Mansfield range.

Phish opened for Santana, but Carlos came out and played on Phish's last three songs, "You Enjoy Myself," "Llama," and "Funky Bitch." I was transported, on the same mystical land, it was so amazing! Up to this point I had never collected a Phish bootleg -- but I had to have a copy of this set!

Shows at Stowe were sweet; It was destined to be short-lived, but in the summer of '92 we enjoyed ourselves there a lot!

In town, things were a little grimmer. The Front closed, was renovated, and became the Ski Rack. Sam's was long gone; The Border closed... but Border became Metronome, and KD Churchill's opened where Texas and Reflections had been, and Nectar's soldiered on. KD Churchill's went for more of the hair-bands, '80's sound, but Metronome seemed to still try to program local bands -- but by the end of '92, the scene had chilled a lot.

The scene in Burlington always goes through phases, up and down, good and bad. And '92 was the beginning of a lull. There weren't as many house-parties in the summer -- after all, noise carries further when people have all their windows open, but there were a few, and bands were still trying to do their own thing, which was healthy.

Now, I first started writing this series because I was shooting my mouth off over what I thought should be on a Best of Burlington Compilation. Looking back over '91 and '92, there are certainly a few tracks I'd have to include.

From Phish's "major label" debut, Picture Of Nectar , I'd have to have "Stash" -- always my favorite song on the CD. If I could also include their live jam on "You Enjoy Myself" with Carlos Santana, I would. So much of my musical life was occupied by Phish at this time that I'd have to include a few of their tunes. Maybe even something off their '91 show at Battery Park. 

I'd like to include a Chainsaws of Babylon song too, although I'm not sure I know enough of what they did by name. If I remember right, they had a tune called "1000 Days" that rocked my world. I never did get any kind of official release from those guys.

I'd want to include Zero Gravity's "Socrates," although last time I opted for the Christmas-version. And Chin Ho!'s "Hippy Girl" became such a staple of their live shows, I should probably include their original version off Drink. 

I think I'd wait to include a Jalapeno Brothers' song -- their best stuff was yet to come. But I would include Peg Tassey's "Sex Is Good" -- to me, it was refreshingly honest at a time when you really couldn't expect that from a lot of musicians. And the Dog Catchers deserve another track too, probably "Blue Poodle" off their cassette Barking Up The Wrong Tree, which came out back in '92.

The subjectivity of this series always strikes me -- what would you want to include? Let us know. Because, one of these days, you know I will put out these CDs -- what do you think should be on them?

Mike Luoma is the Assistant Program Director at WIZN-FM. You can write to him at WIZN, PO Box 1067, Burlington Vermont 05402.