I met Willie Phoenix 45 years ago today – February 3rd, 1978 – when his first Columbus band, Romantic Noise played Drake Union on campus. It was the week after the Great Blizzard of 1978 and that Friday night was the first time me & my West Side rocker buddies could dig ourselves out of our houses and go out prowling for some rock & roll.
(By the way; at that exact point Colin was 8 years old and probably already listening to KISS.)
We had read in Focus magazine (Columbus’ rock weekly of the time) that this Romantic Noise outfit had a song called “I Need A Review” asking Focus and Teenage Rampage - my punk fanzine of the time - to come out & see them and give ‘em some press. I brought along my little dawn-of-time portable Panasonic cassette recorder to in case I got a chance to interview the band and also wound up getting their first set on tape.
Romantic Noise had it ALL; they dressed great, the songs were (mostly) loud, hard & fast but featured actual melodies, hooks galore, killer harmonies and guitar solos that would have made Mike Parks perk his ears up. Plus they featured THREE lead singers (Willie, Greg Glasgow & John Ballor), a concept that had been lost sometime around the end of the 1960’s when record companies execs said, “Guys, you need ONE LEAD SINGER so you don’t confuse the kids out in the Midwest.”
At one point amidst the power-pop-punk pandemonium of “Strike Up The Band” you can hear me shouting over the music to one of my friends, “This is like the 1910 Fruitgum Company crossed with The Ramones,” and I stand by that comment to this day.
Then, seven songs into the set, the band played a sparkly folk-rock (!) tune called “I Feel New” (written by Willie, sung by John Ballor) and I was DONE, JACK! I had found my new favorite Columbus band.
It was during the interview segment with the band between the first and second sets that I discovered Willie & I were born a month apart, and essentially had all the same musical influences and loves up to that point in our lives. It was - as Humphrey Bogart would say - the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
The Last Word: I happened to run across a YouTube video of John Lydon from The Sex Pistols on that T.V. show The Masked Singer. You think Mr. Rotten performed on that debacle of a “music” show as some kind of Art Statement? You think he had some Burning Desire to essay Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out” on American television? No, he did it for a Quick Buck from Fox Productions.
Meanwhile, Willie Phoenix plays Eldorado’s in the Graceland Shopping Center for a fraction of what he’s worth. Why? Because posers like Lydon pose; and players like Willie PLAY.
45 years on. (And that’s just the time I’ve known Willie; he was playin’ in Marion, Ohio for maybe ten years before that.)
Willie, I salute you, my brother. - Ricki C. / January 31st, 2023
The following links are from Growing Old With Rock & Roll, Ricki’s blog from 2012-2013. The Ballad of Willie Phoenix, 1978-2013 was a five-part series that capped off the first incarnation of that blog. If you have ANY interest in the R&R Phenomenon that IS Willie Phoenix, you might wanna check ‘em out.
The Ballad of Willie Phoenix, part one - Romantic Noise and The Buttons, 1978-1980
The Ballad of Willie Phoenix, part two - the A&M Band, 1981-1982
The Ballad of Willie Phoenix, part three - The Shadowlords and The Flower Machine, 1983-1989
The Ballad of Willie Phoenix, part four - The True Soul Rockers & beyond, 1990-2013
extras
Willie Phoenix & the True Soul Rockers vs. Frat-Boy Friday Night
When We Was Kids: Willie Phoenix and Me In 1978
LATER YEARS
Willie’s best post-True Soul Rockers band, The Soul Underground (featuring the dearly missed Kim Crawford on guitar, Myke Rock on bass, and Willie stalwart Jim Johnson on drums) rockin’ the LC Pavilion with signature tune “Gloria” in 2015. (George Golding - Willie’s longest-serving guitar tech EVER - enters the fray at the 5:30 mark, Ricki C. (on loan for the night from Watershed) roadies in around 6:30.)
The dedication ceremony for Willie Phoenix Way in 2020. And be sure to check out this Joel Oliphint link at Columbus Alive.
Ricki C. turned 70 years old sometime last summer. He has been involved professionally in rock & roll in some capacity - performer, roadie, rock writer - since 1968 when he sang his first song for pay in public; “Magic Carpet Ride” by Steppenwolf at a classmate’s basement birthday party.