by John Hanrattie
issued on 99th Floor #7
Fall '85 - Winter '86
Now that almost a year has passed since the breakup of the Gravedigger V and all that remains is misplaced sales figures, scattered radio airplay,
a few dedicated fans and a small amount of paling memories that lay upon the broken shards of
time.
The Gravediggers started when Leighton Koizumi, Ted Friedman and I went to see some band, I
forgot who, it could have been the Pandoras, when we decided anyone could do this. So we formed
the band. Contrary to popular belief, we formed about the same time as our cross-town rivals
the Tell-Tale Hearts. We weren't inspired nor influenced by them.
They were into their thing whatever it is and we were into trying to learn how to play Gloria
and Wild
Thing
.
Practices were held in our original bass player, Chris Gast's house,
in the garage. It was at these practices that we developed many of our originals, such as the
infamous It's Spooky
. I could never believe that people liked
this tune and it was many fans' favorite! It was simply an adlibbed
joke! Every time we played it, the words changed since Leighton never wrote down the lyrics.
The recorded version on Battle of the Garages 3
was perhaps the most outlandish version
we ever did. There is a bootleg tape of an early practice circulating that has made it as far
as Australia and Europe according to Livin' End's
Dean Mittlehauser. If it's the same tape I remember, it's pathetic! You can hear us play our own originals wrong!
This lack of musical skill on the part of the band members (Ted was the only one proficient on
his instrument) showed up at our first live gig at a party in San Diego. The Unclaimed's Shelly Ganz, who was in attendance, reportedly said, "That's the first band I've seen get the chords
wrong to Wild Thing!" I don't know
if that was true or not but I find it hard to believe we were that bad.
This brings up an important point. We did improve but always retained our rawness on purpose.
All the people on the California garage scene say how much they dig garage music and understand
it and all that, but when it comes down to it, they want to see a band like Yes or Journey. If
the singer doesn't have the vocal range of Nat King Cole or Frankie
Vallie, it is assumed they suck. More than once Ted and I were approached by idiots who said
we'd be a better band if we got rid of Leighton. One member of a
rival band suggested to Ted that they drop me. Ted told me and we had a good laugh. Some people
didn't and still don't understand.
Everyone knows the rest of the Gravedigger V story as documented
on the back cover of our All Black & Hairy
album as well as Goldmine magazine's article on the "Garage Sale!" bands. The breakup came about mainly because of boredom. Ted and
Leighton had a new band, the Morlochs, and the Gravediggers had gotten as far as they were
going to go. (I disagree! The amount of surprisingly positive LP reviews
as well as the enthusiasm behind plans for a reunion show and live album showed the band was
off to a great start. Leighton & Ted refused these ideas so that was that - Editor Ron
Rimsite). Rumors that Leighton had seven toes on one foot and only three on the other and was
only able to sing unless he held onto the mike stand are unfounded… thus far.
Anyway the Morlochs continue on and I have pretty much dropped out of the band scene for now.
Since the Gravedigger V days I've
noticed the scene has gotten a lot larger and more negative in many respects. Los Angeles has
turned into a giant fashion show of people in paisley shirts and beatle boots who know or care
little about the music other than the latest Bomp reissue. They strive to be seen with Greg "People Magazine" Shaw or whatever
band happens to be "cool" that
weekend. Long gone are the days when girls used to really scream at the Crawdaddys (Why - did
they get a close-up look at their faces or something? - Editor) not because it was the thing
to do but because they wanted to. There are a lot of people around who still know what it's about, the ones who've been into the music
since they were twelve. They know how ridiculous the little "Cavern
crowd" is (the Cavern Club is Greg Shaw and Larry Lazar's Hollywood sixties "revival" club where the girls pretend they are Edie Sedgewick and the boys
pretend they are Lee Joseph! - Editor) and jokes are frequently made, often right to these
people's faces and still they don't
understand.
And it continues to get worse! Now there is a little gossip sheet passed out courtesy of the
Voxx Records contingent that serves no purpose other than to say how cool some people are and
how uncool others are. I never knew the scene was about someone's
"Teenage hair"! What the fuck
has that got to do with anything?
I guess it would be OK if it was just gossip because I'm sure the
rivalry between bands in the sixties was quite intense. This shit however stretches itself to
new levels of hypocrisy and fuckheadedness when it took to knocking Ron Rimsite! (What did those
shitheads say?! Of course those dimwitted faggots had to wait till I was 3,000 miles away!!!
Pussys!! - Editor). I don't know which Cavern groupie writes that
shit but they should realize that Ron has always been the scene's
biggest supporter and has done a lot of work for the Pandoras, Tell-Tale Hearts and Gravediggers
to name a few (and Greg's bank account in turn! - Editor). It really
is a shame that the whole Voxx-Cavern crowd has to show off their stupidity and petty jealousies
by insulting and alienating people instead of working to build the scene and make it stronger.
I'm sure when this article is read in L.A. all
the people I've offended will hate me and I'm
GLAD!! I know who my friends are - real honest people who genuinely care about the music and
not just trying to fit in with these immature cliques.
I'd like to conclude this piece by thanking everyone who has helped
or supported the Gravedigger V during our short career and
recognize the difference between garage music and opportunistic revivalism and fashion trending.
Now I've gotta split and watch MTV to see if the Cavern crowd is
on the latest "psychedelic" Prince
video.