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Remembering Linda Bean Pardee and Babs O'Brien

Folks, this has been a rough stretch! We are still trying to come to grips with Jeff Conolly's death when Linda Bean Pardee and Babs O'Brien die in the same week. Just terrible.

Babs O'Brien was a fixture at all the key gigs since the early days of the scene. She was always sunny and friendly with everyone. We will all feel a huge empty space iin the audience now. On social media there have been a ton of photos of Babs posing with just about everyone, she was everyone's friends and every band's fan. But, that said, she was private in other ways and didn't talk much about her health issues. The benefit for her scheduled for September was planned but her name was not to be included for her privacy. But now she is gone, her death seemed to come so fast. RIP Babs. You will be so very missed!!

Joanie Lindstrom played a song for Babs on her 8/20 Late Risers Club show. It was from The Kaisers, Joanie remembers Babs was at that show at the Midway back in the nineties.  

Linda Bean Pardee made it known that she had cancer when her group went on a hiatus a while back. She seemed to be in remission and the band slipped into gear again but then she was back in the shit of it. The word came out that she passed 8/16. Linda, like Babs, was the subject of copious posts on social media sharing memories and photos that showed how deep she was loved in the Boston music scene. Linda was an amazingly talented song writer and musician, but also such a beautiful person. She was a great friend to so many and was open and honest and super sweet, a great Mom and supportive to everyone. And always smiling!

The Chelsea Curve was making exciting and fresh Mod music and the future looked bright. Tim Livingston played two Chelsea Curve songs in memory of Linda on his latest Radio Warfare show. He said he plans to do something in the future too.
Trash Flow Radio from Cincinnati did a remembrance of Linda on their 8/22 show. They played a Miles Dethmuffen and a Chelsea Curve song. You can hear it on Mixcloud at the 59 minute mark.
Sethyspice on The Elastic Glam show remembered Linda with her own music; there were three Chelsea Curve songs, a Miles Dethmuffen one, an Orbit tune and a Jam song. There were some short remarks by Michael Marotta, Smitt E. Smitty, Joanie Lynch (American Ocelot), Dan Kopko and Linda Viens. We have that below.

The Chelsea Curve are planning a memorial service for Linda in December.

Here is the BGN Chelsea Curve interview from 2021.

Along with Jeff , Linda and Babs show three facets of the scene. Jeff was one of the originators. He was on the scene at the beginning and his contribution to Boston music is now legendary. Linda was in many groups (Miles Deth Muffin/Permafrost, Orbit, Helicopter, Helicopter Frigate and with Ad Frank (video with Linda playing bass ) that established her as a major personage in the scene and kept things fresh. She also played bass for Gang of Four! Babs was the loyal scenster. One of the people that makes the whole thing work. Without the steadfast audience, there week after week, it all collapses.

We are all still reeling from this mega loss.

On radio Gorilla Got Me 8/7 dedicated the whole show to Jeff's musical world. It was DMZ, Lyres and groups that influenced them and music they covered. DJ Sara played some of the more hard to find Lyres singles on various labels.
Listening to "From Home" by the Troggs or The Wailers "Out Of Our Tree" we can hear the qualities that Jeff must have heard, but he had the ability to capture it and pass it on. Sara played the Lyres classics like "Help You Ann" and ""Don't Give It Up Now" that were released on Ace of Hearts in 1984.
That brings up the luck of Boston who not only had Jeff Conolly but Rick Harte who was able to record those classics.

Trash Flow Radio from Cincinnati played 14 Jeff Conolly songs. We talk about that in the podcast section below.

Joe Bonomo's Substack has some primo extended takes on current punk/garage shows and events that are very much worth reading. Bonomo wrote the excellent "Sweat: The Story of the Fleshtones, America's Garage Band". His latest entry is about the Fleshtones 50th Anniversary show in NYC at the Bowery Ballroom. Many people have shared the video moment when the group played "How Do You Know" in memory of Jeff Conolly. You can read the article on Joe's Substack The bit about the Lyres song and a memory of Zaremba's first night at the Rat seeing DMZ and The Real Kids.

L.B. Worm from Wormtown Underground has posted an audio of a Lyres show at Ralph's Diner from 4/19/13. LYRES LIVE He also has posted the DMZ reunion show at Church from 10/23/08.

Ugh...and more sad news ... Chris Spedding has lymphoma and there is a GoFundMe page set up to help with health costs. He's facing nine months of chemo when he won't be able to work. There are so many songs we think of with Chris in the mix. Seeing him at Once with Robert Gordon was special. The story on Yahoo News.

VIDEOS......

Camiches are a punk group from Mexico City that formed in 2012. Their new album is El Dolor de lo Irremediable ("The Grief of the Irreversible"). The video is for the song "Te Tengo Que Olvidar" ("I Have To Forget You"). We love the inflections in the voice, how it is very clear and rides above the instruments. It has its own quality. The video shows a nice close knit group of fans. It's all very appealing.

RADIO......

Skybar had Paper Tigers' Michael Medlock in the studio for his 8/11 Rising show. Their new album East Coaster is out now. We always associate Paper Tiger with the Covid period because we first saw them on a video from the Midway. In the interview they talk about after forming in 2019 they didn't let Covid restrictions stop them. They did videos, wrote songs and practiced so when things loosened up they were ready. Sure enough, soon after they ended up playing Boston Calling in 2022. Was that good? Michael said it was the best weekend of his life.

The band members found each other via Craigslist. Bjarki Gudmundsson is from Iceland and is there now and did the interview via phone. They explained how hard it is working with one member in Iceland. East Coaster took two years to finish.

The new material is identifiable immediately because of Medlock's vocals. He writes melody lines that fit his vocal intonation and that give it a dreamy aura (there is a song titled "Dreamin'") that stamps the songs. The music is now more electronic than the previous material but the final effect is very much the same - it's loud and kicks up a ruckus (they have a song titled "Cacophony"). We have the album embedded below.

Here is the interview.

The Rising show is on WMFO 91.5 FM on Tuesday at 7 to 9pm. To listen to past shows go to the WMFO webpage and hit the show listing on Tuesday 5/19 at 7pm and then hit 'archive'.

PODCASTS......

Blowing Smoke with Twisted Rico did the obvious and brought in Smitt E. Smitty a man who loves to tell a story. Steev Riccardo started right off with how did you get the name? And that's a story. He is actually Michael Smith and was looking for a more unique name in the era of computer searching.

Smitty grew up in Detroit and has a few stories from that. He was in a punk band by 1979. Eventually he joined Figures on a Beach. Smitty has a lot of stories of the band getting into the Boston club scene. One is that Sire Records called them when they had a gig at the Rat and invited them to sign on the label.

When Figures broke up Smitty ended up in Chainsuck for a while and is on their album Angelscore. There's a lot to take in with Smitty as he goes from Fireking to Little Billy Lost and then Smitt E. Smitty and the Fezztones.

On Al Quint's 8/17 Sonic Overload he played a song with an interesting message in the lyrics. The band, Baja Blatz, was a Boston band which makes it even more relevant. The song was "Joe Sly" It's a demo released in 2014. It's about basement shows and the fight to have them. It starts, "Boston Mass where the shows at?/ Ask a cop, where's the shows at." They make their point, "Fuck the venues, we don't want them." They go on, "There's a system in place to shut us down/To feed the venues and ruin our town." There's a whole subculture with basement shows but no one talks about it because that would be the end of it. We have the song below.

Quint played a neat punk set with Wayne County, 999 and Subs, a Scottish group that had one single on Stiff and broke up soon after. It is really good punk. You can read about them on the Punk '77 site and hear the song on the page. While you're at the site check out the DMZ page.

Another find was the group Deranged Diction. The 1983 song "Not Fair" sounds like an English punk song. The snarly vocals seal the deal. The surprise here is that this group from Montana included Jeff Ament (bass) later to join Pearl Jam! We have it embedded below.

That's just a few of the things we spotted. You can hear all the Sonic Overload past shows on the web blog. Al has logged all the shows since 2009.

On the 7/25 Punks in the Garage (from WAIF in Cincinnati) podcast the whole show focused on early Canadian punk. They were all pre-1982 except for a modern block of four bands that included The Gruesomes who played the Burren with Muck and the Mires two months ago. The groups you would know are Simply Saucer, Teenage Head and The Subhumans.

Most songs are neat punkers you probably don't know, and that's why you should listen. The spotlight group of the week was The Forgotten Rebels. "Surfin' on Heroin" off their This Ain't Hollywood album was played to death on WMBR in 1982. This was Punks in the Garage second Canada special the first was Episode #18.

On the Elastic Glam Show on 8/14 Rum Bar had artist Cindy Lawson. She's getting good airplay with "Reconning" and Sethyspice joined in that by starting his show with the song. There was more Rum Bar with The Hollywood Stars and The Amplifier Heads.

It's been too long since we heard Gene Dante and the Future Starlets. Sethyspice played "Love is For Suckers". A new glammer Spencer Southerland has a very Queen like song with "Somebody is Gonna Love Me". Pretty glamtastic (eventually we all are going to talk like Sethyspice), and check out the video too. We like Julez and the Rollerz more every time we hear them, in this show the song was "I Need Love". They are playing Deep Cuts on September 11.

On the 8/1 Trash Flow Radio podcast, from WAIF Cincinnati continued its memory of Jeff Conolly from last week. DJ Ken Katkin began the podcast with 14 songs of DMZ, Lyres and some original songs that Jeff covered. They played a real long set so you get the full effect of the music. Excellent.

They played "You're Gonna Miss Me" from the 13th Floor Elevators as well as the just released "Used To It" that Jeff recorded in 2015. They played Question Mark and the Mysterians' cover of the Lyres song "Don't Give It Up Now" which was done in 1999. Such a neat thing, an original garage group legend covering Lyres! That's how much Jeff was respected!

NEW MUSIC/CD's ......

Self-avowed 'dad band' Spiller has a new single to prove they roar like no other dad band. "Queen of May" has an inherent rumble of power at the center and being Spiller they didn't forget a nice melody. The lyrics go on about being the Queen of May and the Golden Child - don't know what that means.

Dave Fredette (Oysters, The Upper Crust) is officially in the band line up and is the singer on “Queen of May”. This was recorded at Mad Oak Studios in Allston. Spiller is slowly building up a catalog of quality songs and recordings since their 2024 debut. .

We got our wish. We heard a Preston Wayne 4 song titled "Slingshot" on the Wormtown Underground podcast and wished we could find out more about it. Now we find that Dino Records has released it. You can order it there. The album is Sounds of the Preston Wayne 4. Preston has an impressive history. He was in The Odds, The Time Beings and even the Lyres for a while. When we think of Worcester we think of Preston.

The album has 14 cuts. Six are from an earlier album Themes from Preston Manor (on Dino Records) and eight cuts recorded at the same time and not released till this. Wayne is playing surf, but not your daddy's surf music. He has weaponized the whammy bar. His playing is aggro to the max. Even a song titled "Lonely Sea" is not slow and moody, well it is slower than his other songs but moody does not describe the whammy gymnastics and the landslide of distorted riffage at the end of the song. The whole album is like that.

His version of the traditional "Kumbaya" leaves harmony and peace in the curb. It's surf, but when Wayne plays it sounds like the other surf guitarists are just sitting on their asses. "Oui" is another cut that is a wild musical excursion. Wayne gets into the Hot Rod sounds too with a few tunes. "Double A Fueler" has him riding his whammy to the finish line. All the playing is conveying speed, engine noise and excitement. The song we heard on Wormtown Underground "Slingshot" is probably the most straight ahead surf tune, but still a standout.

You can't go wrong with a power pop song driven with a 12 string guitar singing about love lost - it seems to us. Psychotic Youth from Sweden do exactly that with their latest single "Back to You". It's got the vocals full of yearning - check and mate. The song will be on their new album Ready Go which will be out soon. This band has a long string of quality pop and surf.

We were bonkers for The Bongos in the early 80s. We ate up Drums Along the Hudson and Numbers with Wings. Richard Barone, the leader of that group now has a new album with Glenn Mercer (of the Feelies) titled Hazy Cosmic Jive (which is from a line in "Starman by Bowie).

It's a salute to glam. There are covers of T. Rex, Bowie, Mott, Roxy Music and Brian Eno. Side one is in the studio and side two is live. The songs are familiar favorites like "Jeepster", "Suffragette City", "Babies on Fire" and "Vicious". There are two Iggy songs - "Funtime" and "Raw Power". There's a vinyl version limited to 250 copies from Pine Hill Records.

Also on Barone's Bandcamp page he has posted the song "I'm Only Human" from the Pete Ham of Badfinger tribute record. On that 22 cut album is Sharp Pins and Bill Lloyd. More info on the album on the Glass Onyon PR website.

There is an anniversary extended version of "My Aim Is True" by Elvis Costello, it's a 5 CD set with a 72 page booklet. It has 104 songs with 52 of them never released before. There are demo's, outtakes and live performances. One CD is Elvis playing the whole album with the studio band, Clover. It's the only time they played it live. There are single CD and vinyl versions too. Get it here at the Official Elvis Costello Shop.

Paul Johnson was in the group The Master Plan with Keith Streng of the Fleshtones. That was on Rum Bar Records. He also has recorded the Fleshtones and the Candy Snatchers now he is fronting his own group Electric Johnson. The album Magic Button is on Rum Bar Records. We get a teaser single "Magic Button" from the seven song album. It's tight with good production. It's a fun old school rock song that captures those summer songs that seemed a staple in the sixties.

The I Get Arounds are from Vancouver. They have a 13 cut album titled Going Out Tonight. There are mainly just two people recording the material but it sounds full and kicks. We like the song "Bones" that is a bit sparse and has a nice feeling to it. We have "Bones" embedded below. Hear the whole album on Bandcamp.

A few months ago we went to a Still Sedated show at The Jungle. We followed that up with a second one a few weeks later and were happily suffering from the BEST ear worms for weeks after...excellent old punk tunes we all love are Still Sedated specialty. The band is now looking for new members!! You like punk right? That's why you read the BGN. Play an instrument? KNow the old tunes?

Welll....here's a message from Still Sedated: We're an established and gigging Boston-area band (you've seen us featured here in BGN) that plays the greatest hits from the early punk era. And we're looking to grow by adding YOU to our line-up! The band is moving forward with a rotating cast for gigs. Think of it like a play - same plot but the actors may change over time. No big commitment other than learning a setlist (that we'll provide) of great punk songs and showing up for gigs ready to play them. We might have a practice first, but then again we might not. You might play a gig or two with us, or you might become a regular. Awesome songs, good people, fun gigs, low commitment. Interested? Email eaglebauer-at-gmail-dot-com. Some assembly required. Batteries not included.

Here's some good shows coming up ....

August 26, 2026 (Tuesday) TV Buddha, Adult Learners, Jarsch, Stirling Taylor Band at O'Brien's

August 28, 2026 (Friday) Andy California, and Coco at  Notch Brighton @ The Charles River Speedway  Early show at 5:30]

August 29, 2026 (Saturday) Kenne Highland's Air Force, The Stigmatics, Hambone Skinny at The Jungle 4:00 pm Matinee TIX HERE GG Allin's 70th Birthday!

August 29, 2026 (Saturday) Delusive Relics, Robert Bushinsky, A Fifth Column, Lucretia's Daggers at Underbones.

August 29, 2026 (Saturday) Lesser Devils, In the Meantime, C.E. Skidmore & The Damn Fine Band, Jeff Bousquet & The Raging Sea at Faces in Malden

August 29, 2026 (Saturday) Last Stand, Shady Roosters, The Dogmatics– Rescheduled Show at Independent Fermentations Brewing in Plymouth, MA. FB page for direction

August 29, 2026 (Saturday) Bleach the Sky, Endorphins, The Freqs at Koto Salem

August 30, 2026 (Sunday) The New Frustrations, The Wynotts, The Associates, The Spackles at The Midway - 3PM Matinee!

August 30, 2026 (Sunday) The Murder Junkies, Psycho, Frenzy Of Tongs, Typhoid Mary at Alchemy in Providence TICKETS!!

September 2, 2026 (Wednesday) Film & Gender. AFK. Abbatia. Dowsing Rod at O'Brien's

September 4, 2026 (Friday) Mayhem In Manchester III With WORM, Timmy Heist & the 4,5,6, War Graves, The Dolly Copps at Koto Salem - 21+ Doors @ 8pm $10 Adv tix $15@ door

September 4, 2026 (Friday) One Fall, Tension Scale, Static Friction at Koto Salem - 21+

September 5, 2026 (Saturday) Bootleg Dan presents Spectacle, Haymakers, Hotel Saturn at Under Bones, Davis Square - music starts at 8pm. $10 cover.

September 5, 2026 (Saturday) The Ultimate Pancake Challenge Returns - The winner will be declared when all but 1 of the competitors can no longer continue. with Witches Tears, Worm, Cry Havoc(CTHC), The Wax Skulls, The Rocket Gods at The C Note 21+ Doors @ 730pm 10$ Adv tix $15 @ the door FB page

September 5, 2026 (Saturday) Linnea's Garden, The Look Out Honeys, The Riffindots at the The Apohadion Theater 107 Hanover St, Portland, ME - all ages - music at 8PM FB page

September 6, 2026 (Sunday) Wreckless Wreck Chords Presents All Ages!!! Sunday Matinee (1:30PM) with Providence But on Fire, Working Poor USA, WORM, Cry Havoc, Give Up Hope at Alchemy Providence 10$ adv Tix $15 @ the doors TICKETS:

September 11, 2026 (Friday) Celebrating Alle gegen Alles. Punk@50 with the Geothe Institute- we have CAVA (feminist punk from Germany)

September 12, 2026 (Saturday) Big Pizza Fest Presents: Vicegrip, Aces High, Billy, Divorce Cake, Neponset Monastery at The Midway for a 3PM matinee

September 12, 2026 (Saturday) The 14th JP Music Festival!! Some great bands like Diablogato, Motel Black, Rick Berlin w/ The Nickel & Dime Band, Smitt E. Smitty & The Feztones, Walter Sickert And The Army Of Broken Toys - You can see the full line up here. Location - Pinebank on the northeast corner of Jamaica Pond. Take the T folks there's hardly any parking.

September 12, 2026 (Saturday) Putt Putt Punk at Starland Sportsplex & Fun Park in Hanover with The Stress Balls, Sean Griffin of the Ruffians, Junk Punk, Tommy Ready . Addy: 637 Washington St, Hanover, MA Show at 6PM, music at 7PM- and...your ticket gets you a full round of mini golf woven directly into the night’s mayhem.

September 12, 2026 (Saturday) The Lotts ( UK), The Lansburys at Faces Malden

September 19, 2026 (Saturday) BAABES (Album Release), Today Junior, Dr Vet and the Dead Pets at O'Brien's

September 20, 2026 (Sunday) Hot Slander,The Ghouls, In The Meantime, Mass Spy, Voice of Dissent at The Midway 3PM Matinee!

September 26, 2026 (Saturday) Platorum & Bootleg Dan Presents, White Dynamite, Muck and the Mires, Dogmatics, $20/$25 at Deep Cuts Medford

September 28, 2026 (Monday) The "Sex Pistols" at The Royale

September 30, 2026 (Saturday) Social Distortion, Descendents, The Chats at Road Runner TIX

October 1, 2026 (Thursday) Bootleg Dan presents The BickerSins, Girl With A Hawk, The Glimmer Stars (from LA) at The Parlour, Providence

October 2, 2026 (Friday) Bootleg Dan presents The Glimmer Stars, Girl With A Hawk, Peppermint Kicks at The Square Root

October 2 & 3, 2026 ( Friday & Saturday) The Amazing Royal Crowns along with Boss Fuel (reunited!) and Lenny Lashley's Gang Of One at Alchemy in Providence - 5PM doors!! TIX for Friday TIX for Saturday

October 10, 2026 (Saturday) Soraia, The Downhauls, Bad Idea USA at The Midway

October 14, 2026 (Wednesday) Roger Miller Release Show, Tanya Donelly + Chris Brokaw . at Deep Cuts, Medford, MA

October 16, 2026 (Friday) The Damned at The Royale

October 17, 2026 (Saturday) Bootleg Dan presents Cold Expectations, The Cynz, Stop Calling Me Frank at Under Bones, Davis Square

November 6, 2026 (Friday) Sweeping Promises (see review above!) at Deep Cuts

November 14, 2026 (Saturday) Bootleg Dan presents Glowbox, Girl With A Hawk. Anne Husick and Interstate Johnson at Under Bones, Davis Square

December 5, 2026 (Saturday) Bootleg Dan presents Tom Springer Band, Spackles, Amanda White Band at Under Bones, Davis Square

CONTACT US AT....misslynbgn@yahoo.com

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