My continuation...
It was in the mid 80's,a local club called Rooftops where I had seen Johnny Winter & Twisted Sister w/Queensryche went through a name change after being closed for a bit. The new name was called The Salty Dog & myself & some friends were heading up there on one of its early days. The band playing was Teenage Head & before I even heard the band I bought a pin for a buck that said "F@#K the Rest...Heads the Best". It was a pretty wild show with lead singer Frankie Venom looking & acting super cool as they rocked in an almost punk/rockabilly style & I've been a fan since seeing their performance. I seen them shortly after a rock club called Cougars & opening the show from Cleveland was a band called Club Wow which featured guitarist Billy Sullivan(who currently plays in Herman's Hermits but at the time I was familiar with his work in the Paul Pope Band),Frank Secich(Blue Ash), &...Jimmy Zero of the Deadboys. Great Stuff!
While those 2 shows featured Punk Bands,the clubs were more so Rock Clubs so I still didn't know what a Punk Club was...Until February 25, 1986
On February 25,1986 things would really change the world of punk for me. I had been a fan of Johnny Thunders & now he was coming to Buffalo. I had seen videos of punk shows but "Wow" when I walked into the Continental it was unreal seeing the hair styles, safety pins, big boots, ripped shirts, ripped jeans, & of course leather. I was there with 9 friends & at one point I went to the bar & sitting at the end of the bar was this really short guy all decked out in a ruffled shirt & a velvet jacket. He had the hair style of Ronnie Wood & kind of looked like him. We said a couple of words to each other as I waited for the bartender. Later that night I found out it was my hero Johnny Thunders(I can't believe how small he was!). Anyway,Green Jello opened the show & it was wild. I think there were at least 7 people in the band but 2 or 3 were playing cardboard guitars. They referred to themselves as the Kenmore Dolls for that evening & just played classic rock covers (even "Freebird").At one point the singer dove into the crowd & his boot caught one of the girls we were with in the face.She went down & a couple of other girls we were with dragged her to the ladies room. She was okay & stayed for the whole show. Meanwhile Green Jello started playing "Personality Crisis" & one of my friends jumped up onstage & took over lead vocals after that they played "Sympathy for the Devil" & I was pulled up onstage to sing the "Hooo Hooo's".
I was pretty blitzed by that time & soon Thunders took the stage. We Were right in the front row & I started to get pissed at this guy next to me. He kept throwing himself into me. All I kept thinking was that I'd push back & then probably get thrown out & miss the show. Finally I couldn't take it so lept into his side & it was at that point I realized I was slam dancing & had a riot the rest of the evening.
I really enjoyed the club & a few weeks later I went to see the Cherry Bombz which featured ex Hanoi Rocks members & drummer Terry Chimes who played in the Clash & the Heartbreakers for a short time. I used to see the Goo Goo Dolls there frequently & they were wild back then playing revved up Punk versions of "Gimme Shelter,"My Girl", "Don't Fear The Reaper", & "Born to be Wild" while running around barefoot on a stage of broken bottles. My niece had turned 18 years old & they had an all ages show at the Continental featuring the Goo Goo Dolls & headlining was the Forgotten Rebels whom I had never heard.My niece loved the place & the Goo Goo Dolls. I had no idea what the Forgotten Rebels would be like & I loved them as they played mostly originals but did cover "I'm Eighteen" while I was there. I decided to leave because lead singer Mickey DeSadist was telling the world's dirtiest fithiest jokes which were hilarious but I was a bit uncomfortable with my niece with me. I hardly ever missed a Forgotten Rebels show in Buffalo after that & they still are one of my Favorite punk bands of all-time. Their shows are always a riot & Mickey is one hell of an entertainer. One great show I seen in St. Catherines, ON was the Rebels opening for the Ramones. It was shortly after the death of Johnny Thunders & my three friends & I said that when the Ramones played "Chinese Rocks" (a tune both the Ramones & Johnny Thunders played) we were going to jump in the pit(by then it was 1991 & my Slam Dancing days were done!). Sure enough near the end of their set they played "Chinese Rocks" & we dove in the center of things & it got way out of control as the lighting rig came down on the crowd. Great fun!!
I became a regular at the Continental & the place was unreal. They used to have a door which led to an alleyway out in back of the club which was away from the main street & was fenced off.Back there was a show in itself. The brick wall of the building was covered in grafitti with any band names you could think of. People were always smoking up out there,you'd see people sitting on the ground or on the fire escape shooting up whatever, & to top it off their was an old guy with a hot dog wagon selling hot dogs. I used to go see some cool bands there. The Quakes were from Buffalo & did very well over in Japan. They were what they referred to as "Psychobilly". They were similar to the Stray Cats except much harder. They were a 3 piece band with a guitarist/singer, Upright Bassist, & a 3 piece drum kit. They would wear ripped up jeans with fishnet stockings & they would paint their faces up like skulls. The Rain was a great crossover between punk & hair metal & featured Buffalo's Queen of Punk, Pauline DiGati who played in a few popular Buffalo bands.In fact their drummer Howard Wilson works with Ian Gillan a lot. Their were so many local punk bands i'd seen but the greatest was the Fems. You had to be at one of their shows to understand but they were great. Their guitarist Mark Freeland could be a story by himself. Unfortunately he passed away from cancer a couple of years ago but that guy did so much for the local music scene & was one of the greatest guitarists I've ever heard. The fems had a minor hit among the college crowd in the early 80's called "Go to a Party & act Like an Asshole". Freeland was an artist also & played in a bunch of different bands. You never knew what to expect from him or even if he would show up for a gig. Their singer was hilarious as he was this skinny little guy who was missing his front teeth. Most of the show he would just stare into the crowd with his arms folded & when he did move it was hilarious but the band's style was similar to the Sex Pistols,Stooges,MC5...etc
