Saturday, May 27, 2017

THE TIGHT FITS



"The Tight Fits - Full Frontal Attack" 2017 


San Francisco in 1995 was a hot spot for the trashiest, silliest, goofiest bands you could ever wish for and The Tight Fitz were no exception. With Shane White (The Rip Offs, Spoiled Brats, Loose Lips, The Infections, The Fingers, The Vaticans) on guitar, his brother Jason White (Cheap Dates, The Rip Offs, The Fingers) on vocals, Chantal Monte on bass and Kyo "Lawless" Ito on drums, this quirky quartet last about a year and put out two 7" singles in their wake. 

Shane's punk garage label Pure Filth Records put out a 7" on his label featuring the ever scrumptious and voluptuous Ms. Tina "Boom Boom" Lucchesi on the front cover. Their recipe of glam-punk was captured in  "Full Frontal Attack" on the A side and "Bulldozer" on the flip side. The follow up 7" featured "All Balls" and "Pink Cake" on Seattle's garage punk Rat City Records

These shots remind me of the San Francisco I used to know, when being in a band wasn't about "making it" or even really knowing how to play your instrument. It was all about having a great time with friends, a few drink tickets and a free pass to get into a gig.

If the tight fits, wear it!

Julie Green
May 27, 2017



"The Tight Fits - Pink Cake" 2017




Saturday, May 20, 2017

BLAG DAHLIA!


"Everybodies Girl - Blag Dahlia No. 1" 2017

Continuing to dig through my archives from 1995, I unearthed this image I shot of the one and only Blag Dahlia, the lead singer extrordinaire for the seminal San Francisco punk rock band The Dwarves! I think the original black and white image lends itself nicely to my new technique of color and text overlay.

I was shooting for Sunny (Andersen) Chanel's magazine Girlyhead at the time. This image was part of story we did to illustrate an article on french kissing featuring Blag and Tina "Boom-Boom" Lucchassi. Needless to say the whole experience was filled with fun and tongues!

I recently got in touch with Blag for a brief interview. It was great to once again experience his quick wit and sarcasm.

That's why he's "Everybodies Girl",

Julie Green
May 20, 2017


Julie Green:  I remember seeing you for the first time in a red smoking jacket at the Mabuhay Gardens in the mid-8T's. You must have been in The Suburban Nightmare at the time. What made you guys move from Chicago to SF?

Blag Dahlia: Wow, the Mab! We were rehearsing there when they shut the doors for good.  Back then we were a 60’s garage kind of band and there really wasn’t a rock scene of any consequence in Chicago.  We also thought California girls would be thinner and more easily accessed than the Illinois variety.

JG:  Have you always been so shy?

BD: I like long walks on the beach, kittens and Planned Parenthood.

JG: What song would you offer Trump these days?

BD: Dos Vadanya, Asshole!

JG: Everybodies Girl from the classic "The Dwarves are Young and Good Looking" has always been one of my favorite Dwarves songs. I see you're gonna run down the whole album at The Bowery Electric, NYC in June. Is this the first time you guys are gonna play it in its entirety?

BD: We’re also doing Young & Good Looking in Chicago the week before. It’s always been a popular record with our fans and those songs have held up well over the years.  My only regret is the intentional misspelling of ‘Everybodies Girl’.  It keeps me up nights!  (That and having sex on cocaine.)

JG: Tell us more about #BLAGLIVESMATTER

BD: I’m just glad people came around to understanding that I merited my own hashtag.  I really do matter more than everybody else!

Saturday, May 13, 2017

THE VULCANEERS!


"Do the Vulcan - The Vulcaneers No. 1" 2017

As I began to go through my archives from 1995, I came across a show I shot at the Purple Onion with The Vulcaneers along with Tokyo sensations The Titans. I remember it being a typically crazy night and most shots on the roll contain beer being chucked around the room in front of my lens. Luckily I captured a couple of shots of the bands without the swill!

I contacted Lars recently and he graciously gave us the low down on the history and line up of the band. I'm happy to share with you today some posterized versions I created for this blog. If there was one thing this band shared with the rest of the goof rock brigade, it's that they knew how to have a good time.

Do the Vulcan!

Julie Green
May 13, 2017


"Vulcan Tide - The Vulcaneers No. 2" 2017


Lars Nylander:


Starting around 1994 in Los Gatos. five lo-talents got together to try and do for themselves what so many before them had achieved. Creating a crappy 60’s frat /garage outfit. Suck-cess! After many drunken listenings to Pebbles, Back From the Grave comps, Mummies, Supercharger, etc…we began to “write songs” with “Star Trek Red Shirt bites the dust, Booze, Green Space Chicks” themes. 

Shit rock at it’s worst! 

The Vulc’s consisted of Shannon Smith on Bass, Dan Dresti on Lead Guitar, Lars Nylander on Farfisa Organ, Eric Jenson on “Drums”, and Gerry Lundquist on Rhythm guitar!  And damn if we weren’t right crap from the get-go! We practiced a lot at Gerry’s living room in Castro Valley (Russell Quan’s hometown…he even graced us with his presence at a couple practices, which was great!).   

We did a few gigs at Stanford at a couple frats and played KZSU with Johnny “Mags” Maguire manning the helm. Good times! Darin Rafaelli soon followed suit and put a couple 45’s out for us around ‘94-‘95 on his legendary Radio X label.  Michael Lucas also was foolhearty enough to put out our full length “Beat Me Off Scotty!” in ’96 on his great Repent label.  

We still have a few copies left btw…hee hee! We played for about a year and a half or so at many great gigs, including the famous Purple Onion in SF owned by Tom Guido, esq. The Hofbrau Haus gig in Oakland was also nuts. Them’s were crazy gigs as anyone who was there can attest! It was all about how drunk we could get before “playing” and how much fun we could have with audience. Heckling was expected and damn how we loved it.

Bands that members were in:

Eric Jenson – The Vulcaneers!
Shannon Smith – No Gimmick, Ocean’s 11,  New Latter Day Saints, Ye Olde English, Kegsmen
Dan Dresti – The Boars and New Latter Day Saints
Lars Nylander – No Gimmick, Skankin’ Pickle, Impalers, New Latter Day Saints, The Boars, Titan Ups and The 78rpm's
Gerry Lundquist – Skankin’ Pickle, MU330



Saturday, May 6, 2017

GUITAR WOLF!

"Jet Generation - Guitar Wolf No. 1" 2017


I realized looking at my blog I have woefully neglected the Tones department in Patterns and Tones. I have been so concentrated on making Patterns, that I haven't featured any images of musicians this year! So for the next few weeks I plan on digging through my archives for some of my favorite shots I've taken of my favorite bands over the years and apply my new technique to the images.

Today I start with one of the greatest garage-punk bands I've ever seen, GUITAR WOLF! This trio from Japan has been going strong since the late 80's and I have been fortunate enough to get to know them over the years. Seiji, Toru and Billy (RIP) would stay with us in San Francisco and we were always delighted to be in their company.

This shot from 1995 sums up the raw power of Jet rock 'n' roll. The title of their 4th album Jet Generation on Matador is an explosion of sound full of angst, lust and rebellion. I'm happy to see they will be swinging by the west coast on their "Yojouhan Strikes Back Tour" this summer and can't wait to see them on the stage once again.

It's a Jet Generation!

Julie Green
May 6, 2017