The Forkes Report

Tim's Favorite Blogs

The Weather
Ruffle Your Shuffle
Eschew Obfuscation
IM Earthling
Kaki West
Silk Road
The Huffington Post
Talking Points Memo
American Progress
Citizens For Ethics
Crooks And Liars
Common Cause

Media Matters

Blog Directories

Saturday, January 28. 2012

The Milwaukee I Knew

There was something else written that was supposed to be posted yesterday, but it just didn’t pass the smell test and believe me, it gets pretty smelly in this room! It had to do with Saul Alinsky, the obscure reference New Gingrich uses to criticize President Obama. One sentence about Saul Alinsky: He was a good guy who was neither a communist or socialist and were I to be compared to Saul Alinsky it would be a great compliment.

Instead, this morning, after being awakened by my digestive tract, I logged on to Facebook, that world-wide, possibly galaxy-wide, social networking phenomenon just to catch up and see what people I know — or know of — ramble on about their lives.
 Did you know: due to the recent IPO Facebook is now estimated to be worth $100,000,000,000? That’s 100 billion, if you just got dizzy. I should have been a software engineer.

My niece posted a YouTube video about gay rights that was pretty interesting. We’ve overturned Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, now it’s time to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act. My primary reason for serving in the U.S. Marine Corps was to defend our Civil Rights (the Bill of Rights). Ensuring all of us enjoy equal rights under the law is long past overdue.

My other reason for joining the Marines was to be the baddest motherfucker in the valley. Turns out there were about 150,000 other Marines who were badder motherfuckers than me. Oh well.

Then there was this new group, relatively new … new to me anyway, about the deceased icons of the Milwaukee Music Scene. Lots of pictures from that era and names of people who have left this Mortal Coil. That brought back some memories. Someone posted a link to an On Milwaukee Article about the 21 best bars/nightclubs that no longer exist and that was a trip.

It brought back a lot of memories, not just of the bands on the list, but many others. The Electric Ballroom, The Palms, the Odd Rock and Unicorn, Café Mélange, Century Hall — saw Pinetop Perkins there with Muddy Waters’ band — The Factory, Jabberwocky, the Up-n-Under — just Brady Street in general — Zak’s; a lot of places where a person could have a nice drink and listen to some great live music. Ironically, my best memories are from the time after I stopped drinking and drugging.

A fire took out Century Hall, arguably the best nightclub ever in Milwaukee. Shank Hall burned, but relocated. That was after I left Milwaukee. Then there was the Murray Tap. That was an awesome bar with live blues bands twice a week. Who can forget Hooligans? Across the street from Hooligans was the old Oriental Drugs. Arguably the best lunch counter ever in Milwaukee. I had many a breakfast or lunch with some of Milwaukee’s finest musicians there.

Down the street from the Oriental was Ma Fischer’s. Damn big omelets! In between them were the Landmark Lanes. Besides a bowling alley, the place had a nightclub that featured live music and then poetry readings and slams. When we were in high school we’d get in to hear the George Pritchett Trio. The drinking age was 18 so getting carded was never a problem.

The last time I was in Milwaukee seven years ago, both the Oriental and Ma Fischer’s were gone, but Landmark Lanes was still open. It was such a disappointment. I so wanted to have lunch at the Oriental and see if there was anyone I knew. They say you can’t go back and it’s so true, especially if the places you loved are no longer there.

One of my favorite bands in the 1980’s was the Rollins Band, fronted by Henry Rollins. One of the best live acts ever, I never missed a chance to see their shows. I’d love to get another RB, “I Am a Hard Volume Experience” T-shirt. Anyone remember those? It came out with their Hard Volume CD and tour.

Saw a bunch of bands there local and otherwise. It was one of the few clubs that featured local bands playing their own music. Here’s a shoutout to Johnny and the Losers!

One year the Odd Rock had G.G. Allin throwing his poo at the audience. True story: I was writing for the Shepherd Express at the time and the Odd Rock’s proprietor Jack Koshick called me and asked for a favor. No kidding. He wanted me to drive to Chicago to pick up G.G. Allin and bring him to the gig because his band didn’t want to make the trip in the same van with the guy. Shut the Fuck Up!

Why the hell would I want to spend two hours in my car with a guy who wasn’t even welcome by his own band? There was something seriously wrong with that guy beyond the drug addiction. He died in the mid-90’s in Michigan from an overdose.

Then there was the time the Odd Rock had Flock of Seagulls, minus the weird hair. I didn’t stay past the first song. Does anyone remember the free show Pearl Jam did at the Varsity Theater?

They tell me Shank Hall still exists. A lot of great bands played there, like the Forkestra. We opened for Michael McClure and Ray Manzarek. So many bands rolled through there, most of them local bands. Anyone looking for a place to play would try to get booked at Shank Hall. Shortly before leaving Milwaukee some locals organized what became an annual event: a benefit concert in honor of John Lennon. A bunch of bands would play Lennon songs all night and all the proceeds from the door would go to a gun control cause. I forget the name of the benefit, who put it on and the organization that got the money, but it was a cool event.

There were so many shows at Shank, but I can’t remember any specific, other than Rollins Band played there and just wave after wave of good to excellent local bands. Usually I would start out sitting at the bar and if the band caught my attention I’d move closer to the stage.

Okay, Monks of Doom played there, Masters of the Universe with Ginger Baker on drums, Brian Ritchie’s band, don’t know if it had a name, but it was great music. I just read he now lives in Australia and is going to become a citizen down under. Brian Ritchie, if you don’t know, is the bass player for the Violent Femmes. It’s hard to remember all the bands of national or international note who played there or anywhere.

The Unicorn. Easily my favorite nightclub. In the basement of Sidney Hih. It was the place where Johnny and the Losers most often played. No matter which room the bands played in, the audience was crushed up to what was considered the stage. Once in a while they would have bands playing on both rooms. That was a sonic meltdown. Was the proprietor’s name Joe? He once corrected me and said he was Persian, not Iranian. He had no use for that current regime.

He also had a Mexican restaurant in the same building.

Don’t know why I have Johnny and the Losers on the brain lately. Maybe because they were the Milwaukee band most like Rollins Band. And the guitarist, *Tim Detzer, could and would shred. I think it was Tim, but one night we got to talking about Ozzy Osbourne’s Tribute to Randy Rhodes and then the band Rush. The drummer, can’t remember his name, reminded me of Neil Peart of Rush.

One thing I always believed was that Milwaukee grew great guitarists like corn. Every band had a great guitar player. Most, if not all, could shred, whether the music featured shredding or not. They just could. Most musicians back then could literally play anything. I’d be listening to a band playing some really cool original music, pick a genre, and then between songs the guitarist would wail a lick and I’d think, Really?
 This thing can’t go without mentioning Greg Koch. But then I’d have to remember Al Ek and Jim Eannelli and then the finger’s out of the dike and the this thing gets flooded with names.

But it wasn’t all metal and hardcore. Hell, I was a Deadhead too. Don’t get me started. This thing has gone on long enough as it is and I’m still thinking about getting some sleep — at 6:19 a.m.

So many other clubs that didn’t get mentioned, but if you want, Click This Link and read the article. They have a far better list than what’s on this page. It’s time to put this thing to bed.

Rest in Peace Jerome Brish.
•••• •••• ••••• •••• ••••
*Originally I had said Chris Tischler had played guitar for Johnny and the Losers. he just contacted me and gave the correction. He played bass and sang, Tim Detzer was on guitar and Jason Hendricksen was the great drummer. He always reminded me of Neil Peart from Rush.

Posted by Tim Forkes in The Arts at 09:01 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

(Page 1 of 1, totaling 1 entries)