Only Three Lads - Classic Alternative Music Podcast E316 - Rousers' Jerid O'Connell - Top 5 '70s NYC Punk Obscurities
Ramones. Blondie. Television. Talking Heads. Patti Smith. New York Dolls. Everyone knows the big names that made New York City THE epicenter of American punk rock in the 1970s. But that's only a part of the story...
For every band that "made it" in some way, there were hundreds of bands who either faded into obscurity or never got the break they deserved. They shared the same stages at legendary clubs like CBGB and Max's Kansas City. And their stories are essential to the NYC punk revolution of the era.
One of those bands was Manhattan's The Rousers, whose drummer, Jerid O'Connell, joins us as Third Lad today! Rousers 1979 Sire Session is out now on Left For Dead Records on both black and translucent white individually numbered 12” LP vinyl and 2 x CD set (with bonus tracks).
Inspired by the New York Dolls, Ramones and such immortal ‘50s rockers as twangy guitar hero Duane Eddy, the Rousers were woefully under-documented in their prime. A few major labels sniffed around, including RCA and Warner Bros. subdivision Sire. But no one committed them to vinyl until their single “Party Boy” b/w “Don’t Let The Band Stop Playing” 45 (produced by Wayne Kramer of the MC5) via Jimboco in 1981.
This oversight is corrected with the release of the demos that the original Rousers lineup cut for Sire in the label’s basement studio on New York’s Upper West Side in 1979. Never before released, the tapes sat shelved in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s Sire archives for decades, digitized and restored in 2024. This is not a footnote. It’s a rescue mission. Tracked to tape under the sharp ear of Ed Stasium, hot off sessions with the Ramones and Talking Heads, the 1979 Sire demos are raw, radiant, and long overdue for release. They captured the Rousers in full dragstrip ignition mode: dueling Gibson guitars plugged into Fender amps for maximum punk twang, hiccupping Elvis/Buddy Holly vocal inflections, and a rhythm section built for backseat makeouts and beer-splashed dance floors.
We celebrate the true underground of NYC punk this week, including Jerid's incredible stories ranging from hanging out with Sid Vicious the week before his death to the Rousers' neighbor Madonna opening for them.
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