September 9, 2008
Nothing Doings
Occasionally, people come across old Toestubber posts and – perhaps not realizing that we’ve been dormant almost a year with nary a peep on the site – they make contact to supply me with updates and/or additional insider info. It’s great when a pile of research falls into my lap, sparing me the effort. There are several such emails I’ve been holding back for the date when I’d be posting again.
Recently, Michael “Mickey Crash” Oakleaf was kind enough to write.
He was the drummer on the infamous The Nothing 45 which was reviewed here a couple of years back. The Nothing is one of those bands that’s been a big mystery to many learned scholars of early New York punk rock. As I mentioned in the old post, singer Trixz Sly had a tiny background role in the movie Driller Killer, their only record is impossibly rare (though it has been reissued on compilations, most notably the Killed By Death series)... and that’s about all the direct info I could find at the time. Let’s get the real scoop from Mickey Crash hisself:
“I was in touch with Trixz up until a few years ago when he passed away in Miami, Florida. I’m happy that people like the record after all these years. At the time it was made, we had a very hard time and ended up giving most of the 45s away to fans, etc. We were banned from Max’s and The Mudd Club. Most people thought Trixz was a troublemaker and no record companies were interested.
“There’s a video on YouTube of the band’s second incarnation (after Angel left to join the Rockats) playing at The Showplace in Dover NJ in early 1980… The keyboards were by Webster Smith (Rex Smith’s brother). He joined along with Phil after Angel left in February 1980. Eddie Spit (Fields) replaced Angel on guitar.” ...
... “The bass player, Phil Shoenfeldt, and I left to join Disturbed Furniture a few months after the video was shot by Al Zero. Bobby B. Wild (guitar) left in August of ‘79 shortly after the single was made.
“The record was recorded at Bernard Fox Studios in NYC by an engineer named George(?). An intern there named Judy DiBerardino adopted the band to record for her senior high school project. It was recorded in one afternoon, in July or August of 1979, and mixed a few days later by George and Trixz. The crazy tambourine part was overdubbed by Trixz, and the rest of the band wasn’t happy about it. I remember when we were recording that George used every pad available to cut down the hot mic levels, but all the meters were still pinned. He gave up and rolled the tape despite the distortion. 
“I went on to a career in audio, and currently manage Kampo Cultural Center which has several recording studios and an art gallery/performance space not far from where CBGB used to be. Before that I worked at Sony Studios. I’ve played in many other NYC bands and still play drums (most recently with Brett Smiley)... Angel and I have been talking about putting out a CD of the remastered 45 plus some unreleased tracks. With any luck it might happen before we kick the bucket too.”
The video (above) suffers a bit from poor technical fidelity (probably in part due to loud-as-fuckness), but to Nothing fans, it’s certainly worth seeing, for context and for some unheard tunes!
A very sincere thank you to Mick for taking the time to set the record (ahem) straight on this amazing artifact.
And here’s the music again, for a brief time…
Rick at 9:46 pm
2 CommentsÈ
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Hey Rick! Props to you man for sharing this amazing interview as not much was known about ‘em. That live in NJ is the ultimate punk experience. Hope more people would acknowledge the genius of this one of a kind band. Next to THE MAD, THE DOGS, ROCK BOTTOM AND THE SPYS, and THE STOOGES of cours, talking of pure raw merciless energy unleashed upon mankind. Cheers!
Comment by Malek Ñ October 22, 2008 @ 12:40 pm
Hey Rick, one of the very rare occasions a member of the NOTHING made
a roundup of his band in the public.Thanks to you and thanks to Mickey
Crash.Now if you find this record again,would you give it away again???
Cheers!
Comment by behjan Ñ October 26, 2008 @ 5:42 am