Einstein's Riceboys - Milk Of Amnesia

A1. In Your Yard


A3. The Taung Child


A4. Water Me Down


B1. Soda Jerk


B2. Elevator Ride


Black Fag (From the Civil Rice LP)


EINSTEIN'S RICEBOYS (Milwaukee, WI)

Milk Of Amnesia
Pluto (ER 1633), 1981

Steve Wahlen grew up in Beaver Dam, WI during the golden age of the British Invasion. He got his musical start in a high school cover band that jammed Savoy Brown tunes and “Smoke On The Water” before absorbing the sounds of the Stooges, Velvet Underground, Joy Division, and Throbbing Gristle. He began school at the University of Wisconsin in Madison in 1977 when punk was first making its way to the state. He got to see the Ramones and the Jam and knew that’s what he wanted to do.

Sheldon and Todd Rusch grew up in Wauwatosa, the children of a sports coach. A neighbor turned them onto jazz at an early age. Todd would lock himself in the basement after school for hours on end practicing playing. The brothers ended up moving to Madison to attend school at UW where Todd shared a dorm with Steve Wahlen. During his second semester, Todd answered an ad placed by a funk band that was moving to Florida and needing players. He hooked up with them and relocated to the Keys where he was given a salary and housing for playing top 40 hits six nights a week.

Meanwhile, Steve introduced Sheldon to groups like the Clash and Joy Division. Before long they were writing songs of their own. They started sending tapes of the music they were creating to Todd and tried to get him to move back. After over a year of stable employment he finally returned to Wisconsin.

With Todd in the mix, Sheldon switched from guitar to keyboards and the three became known as Einstein’s Riceboys. Todd brought experience to the band and played both guitar and bass. Sheldon had a knack for lyrics and songwriting and Steve hammered the drums and sang. They spent a year endlessly rehearsing and by the time they emerged to play their first basement show they had developed their own unique sound.

The band moved to neighboring Milwaukee to join its vibrantly growing scene after Sheldon finished school. They played 6-10 gigs a month alongside bands like the Prosecutors and Oil Tasters. Todd did the legwork of designing posters and plastering them on telephone poles. They were able to save up enough money to record and self release an album, a feat that none of the other local groups had managed at that point. Even the most popular bands like the Shivvers and Haskels only released 7”s, not full length LPs.

The Riceboys spent a few hours on consecutives days in Breezeway Studios recording the nine songs that comprised Milk Of Amnesia. They were well rehearsed and able to do everything in one take, layering all the instruments and not doing too many overdubs. The 1,000 copies of the album that were pressed sold out quickly and they started seeing larger crowds at their shows.

It was decided they needed another member to help fill out their sound so they asked a high school senior named KT Rusch to join the band. KT had a wide variety of musical influences. She started playing guitar in middle school but moved over to bass to play in a punky power pop group called the Elevators with her brother. When the Riceboys gave her a copy of Milk Of Amnesia to check out, she loved what she heard and promptly joined the band.

Todd had made connections in South Florida with a couple of wealthy brothers who were looking for a band to test out a new direct-to-digital method of recording using the JVC DAS-90. The brothers expressed interest in doing the next Riceboys album so the band packed up and drove the van down to Miami to do a quick recording session with no overdubs in a practice space. They recorded three live takes of each song and then chose the best versions to assemble the Civil Rice LP. After a standard pressing was made, their record label, QL, did a special Japanese virgin vinyl pressing. They also offered it on chrome and metal cassette as well as compact disc.

The band stayed in Florida for a while to showcase their music to a new audience. Clubs wanted them to play three sets a night so they mixed a wide variety of cover material with their originals including songs by Gang Of Four, the English Beat, and Devo. They even worked up a ska version of “Get Off My Cloud” and threw in some Bowie to keep it interesting. The band made their own fanzine called Camp Six and each member had a column. They’d do reviews and advertise the band. There was a copy machine at the house they were staying at, so they stapled them together and would drop them at record stores.

Civil Rice charted on college stations in the summer of 1983, right around the time the Violent Femmes were breaking into the mainstream. Einstein's Riceboys moved back to Milwaukee to see how things were shaping up there. Soon after, Steve broke his arm in an accident and they had to get another drummer. He continued to sing but the band's progress was derailed. Soon after, the Riceboys ceased to be.

The Cyberphonics - Losers

A. Losers


B. All The Time


THE CYBERPHONICS (Irving, TX)
Losers b/w All The Time
Cyberecords (CYB 1001/1002), 1981

1979 saw the birth of a new Dallas-area band called The Cyberphonics. Drummer Paul Cox and guitar/keyboardist Mike Pierce began collaborating and then recruited their friend Steve Mentzer on guitar and Paul’s brother Glenn on bass. All self-taught musicians, they focused on writing original material.

Their first gig was part of a multiple band bill on March 14, 1980 called “Stars Over Texas,” which included The Telefones, The Doo, Quad Pi, Teenage Queers, and others. Glenn worked as a delivery driver for a local company and struck up a conversation about music with a dock worker named Scott Light. After mentioning the band, Scott asked if he could try out and soon landed the job as lead singer. The five-piece Cyberphonics began playing at punk and new wave spots like the Hot Klub and Metamorphosis.

In 1981, they went to Crystal Clear Studios in Dallas and self financed a quick session that produced two songs, “Losers” and “All The Time.” It took them several more months to come up with the funds to get records pressed. Paul worked in an office supply store so he was able to print the foldover covers and lyric inserts there. He also cut over-sized manila envelopes to house the sleeves and records in a promo package with rubber stamps on the front. Most of the promo packs were sent to labels or radio stations while the rest of the copies were given away to fans.

The band rehearsed five nights a week for hours on end. Tensions began to grow within the band and it was decided to move forward without Mike Pierce. They replaced him with guitarist/songwriter John Churchill who Scott knew from Jr. High. Scott moved over to keyboards and did some guitar parts while he and John shared lead vocals. They changed the name of the band to The Look but that only lasted for a single gig and then they played a couple more shows as The Nu-5. Ultimately, it was decided they could only be known as The Cyberphonics and they changed the name back again.

They acquired talent and business manager Bruce Stover & Associates and he took the band into the studio to record a four-song demo to shop to record companies. BSA told the band not to worry about gigs and concentrate on writing songs. Management eventually took the band to Los Angeles to play Madame Wongs in China Town, Gazzari’s on the Sunset strip, and the legendary Troubadour. On two separate occasions, the band opened for the Romantics. They even got their music to a rep at Geffen, but still, they never got their big break.

The band continued to practice but rarely played in public. BSA took the band into the studio three other times to record more demos, but no other records were released and no major labels came knocking. In 1984, BSA told the band the drumming was the reason they didn’t have a record contract so Paul was fired and replaced by David Lee. The chemistry was lost. John went back to school and before long the band had fully run its course.

Von Beat - Nuke Wave Music

A. Synthetic Environment


B. Of Course I Care


VON BEAT (Fort Worth, TX)
Synthetic Environment b/w Of Course I Care
VVV (008), 1981

Vaughan Bean joined Ralph Williams, Ray Kalvitz and Mike Winter at the start of 1980 to form the Ralphs. The band played many shows, did some recordings and even made it out to the west coast where they were able to get their demo played on the “new music” program on KROQ. But before the band released their sole single, Vaughan and Ray left and formed the Gigolos with Michael Gilbertson and Pat Conley, who had both been playing in a band called the Untouchables. Prior to that, Michael was in Blindate, a band that was featured on the Are We Too Late For The Trend compilation, and Pat had played in both Dot Vaeth Group and Blindate.

Vaughan was the original drummer for the Ralphs and wrote a couple of their songs. Being a multi-instrumentalist, he wished to do a solo project and release a couple of his new songs, “Synthetic Environment” and “Of Course I Care.” Enlisting the help of John Siebman and David Daniels from the Ft Worth Cats, the single was released under the pseudonym, Von Beat. Vaughan played guitar, bass, drums, synthesizers and did backing vocals on the session while John, who used the stage name Monte Cyclops, handled lead vocals and Farfisa organ. David contributed backing vocals and was credited as Kid on the sleeve.

The Fort Worth Cats and Ralphs had releases on VVV Records, a cooperative label formed by NCM’s Neal Caldwell. Vaughan’s association with them assured the Von Beat single a VVV release. The 7”, entitled Nuke Wave Music, was pressed in small numbers in 1981 and housed in a foldover sleeve. The session was recorded quickly at a 24 track studio in Dallas called TRAX and engineered by Bob Hickey, who had toured with many nationally known acts and later worked with Pink Floyd. Vaughan produced the record.

The single made its way into the jukeboxes of local clubs and saw airplay on KZEW, but never saw wide distribution. Vaughan never intended for that project to be an active unit or play shows. Instead, he focused his attention on the Gigolos who built a following around the Dallas and Fort Worth area for the next couple years. By 1984, he started going in a more blues direction. Today he is a member of the Nostradamus Society of America and has three books published under the name Victor Baines.

The Ralphs - Teddy Boy

A. Teddy Boy


Z. Mutating Man


THE RALPHS (Ft Worth, TX)
Teddy Boy b/w Mutating Man
VVV (011), 1982

When the Dallas/Ft Worth punk scene began taking shape, Ralph Williams would often go see his friend Michael Neal’s band the Fort Worth Cats play. They would sometimes call Ralph on stage to sing a David Byrne or Elvis Costello song with them. Michael knew Ralph wanted to get his own band started, so he introduced him to a guitar player named Ray Kalvitz and then bassist Mike Winter who had moved down from Ohio to go to music school at North Texas State. With a drummer named Vaughan Bean added to the mix from an ad he posted in the paper looking to form an all original band, the Ralphs had their first practice on New Years day, 1980.

Ralph had grown up on blues music which is what got him started playing guitar. But for this, his first band, Ralph transitioned into learning synth and only played guitar on some of the songs. He wrote the majority of the bands original material, though Ray and Vaughan also contributed some compositions. The band worked a couple covers like “Jail Guitar Doors” by the Clash or “You Drive Me Ape” from the Dickies into their set as well.

The Ralphs became an active live unit, regularly playing local spots like the Hot Klub, Zeros and DJs, while occasionally venturing down to Raul’s and other clubs in Austin. They even made it out to Los Angeles once where they played the Hong Kong Cafe. While in LA, they got Rodney Bingenheimer to play their demo tape on the air during his Rodney on the Roq show.

The owners of a venue in Ft Worth called the Speakeasy caught wind of the Ralphs and approached them about doing a regular Wednesday punk rock night. They came up with a scheme and instead of being billed as the Ralphs, they'd play in disguise as the Hoods. The band went on stage wearing fabric hoods with holes for eyes and did their bit. Vaughan thought it was a crazy idea, refused to continue the act, and quit. Ray lasted two weeks as a Hood and then quit as well. The two of them then formed a new group called the Gigolos. Meanwhile, the Townsend brothers, David and Doug, who had previously played in the Dot Vaeth Group and Superman's Girlfriend came in to fill the vacant spots so the Ralphs could continue.

Ralph had a little recording experience. Following an accident on his construction job in the seventies where he broke his ankle, he wanted to pick up a new trade and went to recording school. He never pursued it as a career, but after sharing a couple gigs with a fresh young group called the Ejectors, he offered to produce a record for them which they readily accepted. The resulting “Hydro-Head” single was released on VVV Records.

The small independent label, which was an offshoot of the VVV record store, was owned by Neal Caldwell of NCM. Ralph shopped at the store from its inception in 1979, so when it was time to do a Ralphs single at the end of '81, he naturally asked Neal if it could be released on his label. 500 copies of the record were pressed on VVV but it got a lukewarm reception. Two more songs were recorded during the same session and were slated to be released as a follow-up single, but the finances weren’t there and it never made it past a few test press copies in September '82.

Ralph took on a job as an employee in a vintage clothing boutique. He started focusing more of his attention into that and eventually the band dissolved. By 1984 he had relocated to England and opened up his own clothing store, achieving much success over there for the better part of a decade. Ralph is now living back in Texas and is still operating his own store, Hollywood 5 & Dime.

David had a stint in the Barry Kooda Combo before focusing on his family life. His brother Doug passed away in 2006. Vaughan took on the identity of Von Beat and released a solo single on VVV in '81. He's still playing music but mostly in blues bands.

The Ralphs have played a couple reunion gigs over the years. Their other vinyl offerings include “Drug Induced State” on the Live At The Hot Klub LP and then “Neurotic” on 2006’s Staring Down The Barrel compilation. The same year, Existential Vacuum released an entire album of Ralphs material entitled Zeros - No Ones which has early recordings from the original line-up.

It's interesting to note that despite the Teddy Boy single having a 1980 date on the label, test pressings for the record are dated 12/1/81. Also, the proposed second Neurotic single, which is dated 9/3/82 on the test pressing was given the same catalog number as Teddy Boy: VVV-011.








 

Terminal Mind - I Want To Die Young

A1. I Want To Die Young

A2. Refugee

B1. Sense Of Rhythm

B2. Zombieland


TERMINAL MIND (Austin, TX)
I Want To Die Young EP
No Records (TM-1), 1979

Steve Marsh was introduced to brothers Greg and Doug Murray in early 1978 at a party. After discovering the twins had been playing guitar and drums for a while, Steve, who had previously only played piano and guitar, picked up a borrowed bass so they could start a band. At the time, Steve was a big fan of glam music while the Murray's leaned more towards Led Zeppelin and prog rock. In fact, the earliest carnation of the band was called Red, named after a King Crimson instrumental that they were covering.

The band played their first gig at the Texas Union Ballroom on October 10th with The Huns. The show also marked the debut of Standing Waves (who were billed as Latent Homos). The name Red only lasted a few shows before Greg came up with the name Diamond Mind, which Steve promptly altered to Terminal Mind.

They developed an energetic stage show, which later incorporated props and other entertaining tactics. During one show at Raul's, they had all their friends lend them television sets which they lined up along the stage. Killing all the lights in the room, they set the TVs to test patterns to illuminate the stage.

Besides Raul's, they played all the usual spots around Austin (Duke's, Club Foot, Continental, etc) and sometimes ventured into Dallas, as well as Houston on occasion. By late 1979, they made it into a studio to recorded four songs, which they self released on a 7". 500 copies of the record were pressed and sold out. Atleast two different photo inserts were divided amongst the copies (both shown below).

Shortly after the release of the record, Steve met Jack Crow, who played synthesizer. Adding this new dynamic to the band was the first step leading to the demise of the group. Personality clashes amongst members was another key factor. By mid 1980, Steve and Jack had started a new project together that took them in a different direction, while Greg took over drum duties for the Big Boys after Steve Collier left and started Doctors Mob. Greg and his brother Doug later joined Jesse Sublett in a late version of the Skunks that released an LP, which some refer to as The Purple Album.

It's interesting to note that in 1979, Steve filled in on bass for The Next for a short while after original bassist Manny left the group and before they found longtime stay, Lee Shupp. Steve recorded bass tracks for the band's Make It Quick EP, which may have been re-recorded by Lee before the record was released (there are several conflicting stories about this). However, Steve's backing vocals do remain on the record.

Terminal Mind can also be heard on the Live At Raul's compilation LP.