We decided to take
our act downtown and secured an audition at CBGB/OMFUG (Country, Blue Grass,
Blues and Other Music For Unusual Gastronomics). A couple of years earlier,
Richard Hell talked owner Hilly Krystal into letting them perform at what was a
rundown biker bar. His band Television began appearing regularly and was soon
followed by Patti Smith and the Ramones. Soon word got out and bands were
coming out of the woodwork to play there. They had a big showcase that summer
and I was considering going down with Spoiler VI but we had enough on our
plate, as you saw, and I didn’t think much of the whole scene at the time. As
it turned out, the Village Voice began headlining the Next Big Thing and,
suddenly, we found ourselves at the end of the line.
I was working to
improve our stage act because I knew, with all the work-in-progress songs and
volume problems (that would plague us throughout my NYC career), it was our
ace-in-the-hole regardless of where we played. I introduced the Smoking Skull
at Max’s, which was a skull propped on a stand into which I inserted a colored
smoke bomb that had a great effect. We played our first open mic in Bay Ridge
where I tossed my first fireball. It barely missed Alma’s head, which created
an even bigger impact. Together with my gymnastics and the dancing girls, we
made quite a spectacle wherever we went.
My parents
actually came out to our CBGB debut, the first of five appearances there. Our
first show was on the small stage, actually a platform about the size of a
wrestling ring. I was psyched up and half-cocked, and I made a bigger spectacle
of myself than at Max’s. Lou Cazucci later said that I was not only his
favorite rock singer, but the only person he’d ever played with who he had lost
sight of during the show with all my lunging about. Nevertheless, Krystal’s
bookers decided we weren’t quite ready and offered a rematch.
Somewhere along
the line we lost our vision, due to a number of reasons. Louie and I were
having philosophical differences, largely because he was focusing on musical
development while my priority was the stage show. His relationship with Al was
also deteriorating, largely because Al resented Lou’s superior ability. It
would come to a head with the Ducky Boys years later when Al took over on
guitar and would not make room for Lou. Anyway, Lou was expanding his horizons
and was not only making new connections in Bay Ridge but in Manhattan as well.
Lou was looking towards the door again, but I did not suspect he would be gone
for good as a Spoiler. In the meantime, I had been researching 60’s metal and
began channeling Robert Plant, of all people. Somehow Spoiler VII morphed into
Spoiler VIII, and the Cazucci Era was soon to come to an end.
Mondo Acido was perhaps the first
documented proof of the level of achievement we had finally reached. We copied
it from reel-to-reel to an 8-track tape which I am sure is in safekeeping
somewhere. It featured what constitutes a lost world of Spoiler music, most
half-baked but none without promise that may yet be recovered one day. “I Wish
She Was Waiting For Me” was what Louie and I would be our first commercial hit.
Isn’t ignorance blissful! There were also the aforementioned “Barbarella” and
“Yolanda Told Me”, as well as “Monday Morning Push On”, another MOR
(*media-oriented radio) hopeful, “Smash That Child” (a song against child abuse),
and “Jamaican Vacation”, a song in which Louie structured three exotic bridges
between verses. It was no wonder that Louie and I were so starry-eyed. Ours was
a magic relationship and we were churning out quality songs at a level
unmatched until Spoiler Y2K. Looking back, it is astounding that no one ever
discovered what we were accomplishing in that small apartment. But, as you will
see, my life has been a series of tales to astonish.
John Momo was a
Bay Ridge kid who made friends with Louie and eventually became the first
‘sorcerer’s apprentice’, debuting in Spoiler VIII as our new bassist. Momo
would resurface as Johnny B. Zyklon and set his mark as the greatest Spoiler
guitarist, second only to Louie Cazucci. Yet it was the arrival of the Di Bernardo
brothers that would make the biggest impact since Sherry and Zing.
Eddie Polito was
the younger of the two, a powerhouse drummer wearing a big Afro which made him
look like Dictators’ singer Handsome Dick Manitoba with glasses. After blowing
our CBGB’s showcase debut, we scheduled our rematch with Eddie on drums and Momo
on bass. I felt like I blew the show by altering my BT Superstar image, coming
off with my new Robert Plant look replete with wrist bandanas, a no-no in an
anti-hippie punk club. Yet we were all shocked when Eddie’s throne collapsed,
causing him to walk offstage in the middle of a song to get a new chair! When
his brother Frankie came around, bragging he was the one who taught Eddie to
play, we fired Eddie and hired Frankie forthwith.
Once again, Louie
once again decided to pull up stakes, but this time it was a life change that
took him out of Brooklyn on into Manhattan. Frankie next went on hiatus,
leaving me with no inkling of what to do next. That left me picking up the
pieces, which constituted three failed Spoiler projects in the space of one
year. There were plenty of candidates around but I had to find a way to make
the band hold together and keep the campaign going. As they say, crisis brings
opportunity, just as the converse often holds true. I would learn this lesson
well when Benny Rock climbed aboard.
(To be continued...)
