Joey Plays Too Loud!â„¢

About Me

I am deadly dull as dishwater. If you've actually been to the trouble to come here, you probably know that already. Nothing good to tell. No secret porn career, no heroic acts performed, no tattoos on my ass (that I can see, anyway), nothin'. Never even had two chicks at the same time!
I watched Johnny Thunders shoot up once. That was about the wildest thing that ever happened to me.
Oh, and once I jammed with onstage John Cale of the Velvet Underground (1981 -- check the "pics" section for an old B&W photo!!) and recently with one of my hereoes, Walter "Waldo" Lure of The Heartbreakers (you can see video of that on the lower left).
But, honestly the musical experience I am proudest of is playing a gig as (temporarily) part of the Wreck'N'Crew in July of 2005. Playing with Wreckly, Primo and Bobcat -- that's pretty cool! But having to learn Earl's solos = hard!.
Not bad for some dork from Hudson County!
I went to Syracuse University in the early 80s, and was very lucky to get involved in some cool stuff -- most notably booking bands at Jabberwocky in the two years before its demise. It was an awesome experience I was very lucky to have. I still miss that stinky cockroach infested basement. My second night working there freshman year I got to get up onstage with John Cale and play "Pablo Picasso" with him. How lucky can you get?
Syracuse had some incredible musicians in those days and I saw them all up close. I also got to see Wynton Marsalis, Cyndi Lauper, Husker Du, Romeo Void, The Del Lords, Masters of Reality (their first gig I think) Jorma, Roger McGuinn, Funkadelic, and of course my big shoe, James Brown. It was an awesome time. Great local bands too: Screen Test, 1.4.5., Mr. Edd, The Works, S.F.B., Catatonics, Blotto, Dress Code, Raunchettes, 805 (too many notes!), and others. My own band, Penguin, wasn't in their league, but I got to play a lot of the other dives in 'Cuse also, opening for Screen Test and others. Met a lot of other great people who worked their ass off because they loved music. And I may be the only person in history who actually liked Ed Levine.
Nowadays I run a MicroISV in NYC, am married with two awesome kids and still squeeze in a gig when I can get to it. For the last 5 years i have been co-chair of the Punkgiving benefit in Cortland, which to date has raised over $10,000 for the local food bank! And in whiel we did it we rocked with Wreck'N'Crew, The Numbers, The Flashcubes, bnrain Sugeons with Albert Bouchard and Ross The Boss, and the awesome, unstoppable Waldos, with Walter Lure.
If you were there at Jab back in the day, drop me a line with your jab stories; I never get tired of them. In the meantime, here are some tunes I like for your enjoyment while you read...

My Interests

Any music with loud, badly played guitars, crappy TV, softcore porn, and developing the perfect hangover remedy.

I really like guitar gear also. Of all my guitars my favorites are my Frankenstrat, my '84 tele, and my '95 LP Standard, cherry sunburst. I also have a Martin acoustic, a couple of melody makers (love those, as I am a replacements freak!) a gibson SG, my original '74 strat hardtail, an ibanez archtop, '51 reissue p-bass, a buncha other guitars that never get out of the back of the closet, and the world's cheapest banjo, which I can't play worth a crap.

Ampwise I have a couple of Deluxe Reverbs (a '65 reissue and a REAL '65, which I never play) a crate 50 watter (which actually sounds pretty good), a few low watt practise amps which are mostly crap, and the greatest amp of all time, my Soldano SLO-100. I'll tell you, ya plug that LP Standard into the Soldano, turn it up a bit and you will SWEAR you are in Thin Lizzy! ;-)

Pedals and effects? Fuck those things! Although I have to admit I love my pod... sad but true.

Right now I am building a cigar box guitar, and it's coming out pretty well. I'll post pics when it is done.

I'd like to meet:

Lewis and Clark, Agamemnon, Christopher Cross, Colonel Sanders, That Guy With One Arm Who Drums For Def Leppard, Lee Harvey Osmond (the retarded Osmond, was never in the band), Donny Osmond, Marie Osmond, Mayor McCheese, former State Assemblyman Tarky Lombardi, Odin, Henry VII (he is so neglected!), and Barack Obama.

Actually, I have met lots of famous people, some were awesome, and some not so, but the only starfucking I'd like to do is I'd like to buy lunch for Debbie Harry. And just have lunch with her. Really.

Music:

What bands do I love? Firstly, and above all others, these fuckers here:

These days my favorite band is Wilco, which is really The Replacements For Old Farts (like me).

Also of critical importance:

RAMONES
The Clash
Velvets
Heartbreakers
Dolls
Iggy/Stooges
Mott
The Dictators
Dead Boys
Blondie
Pistols

...and you get the picture.

But I don't love all the bands of that era. I am one of the few who thinks Television is overrated tripe and that Patti Smith made about 5 great records and the rest was horrible arsty-fartsy overindulgence...

I think the Pixies ruined punk rock more than Malcolm McLaren did, and I think U2 and The Police are the worst bands ever. And yes I mean that.

I also have a soft spot for PowerPop, like The Jags, The Raspberries, The Records, Big Star, Cheap Trick, Groovies, and Syracuse's treasure, The Flashcubes.

Songwriting wise I worship Westerberg, Tweedy, and Costello, three guys who are masters of the craft.

And lastly, at age 42, I finally came to terms with the undeniable greatness of The Beatles. And Paul McCartney's bass playing.

Other stuff I like: Thin Lizzy (very underrated songwriting there! Listen again!) AC/DC, Steve Earle, Elvis C., Uncle Tupelo, Al Green, Elf, Del Lords, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Waldos, George Jones, Otis Rush, Parliament, The Enemies, Jason and the Scorchers, Jonathan Richman, Asleep At The Wheel, Commander Cody, They Might Be Giants (sorry!), The Yayhoos, and Wreck'N'Crew!

By the way, that insufferable racket you hear is my band doing "Brockway", a song I wrote. You can find a few more by us at Visit our The Majoras MySpace Page.

I've also got a country punk ("Cowpunk" if you wanna) band. Go visit us here: The Stoner Mountain Gospel Hour MySpace Page.

Right now I am playing bass with the power known as SAVAGE ROOSTER!. We've got some gigs coming up at The Lakeside Lounge and Otto's Shrunken Head. Come out and see us... if'n you dare. We're actually pretty good!

Check out my friends for links to more music I like. Trust me, my taste is impeccable. It's way better than yours!

Movies:

Bikini Carwash, Bikini Carwash II, (it answered all the un-answered questions, much better than Godfather II). The Great Bikini Offroad Adventure, Bikini Airways, Bikini Bistro, and Sophie's Choice.

Television:

Test Patterns and Monster House. And The Office, both versions.

And THIS

..

Holy crap, I also saw this recently... coolest thing ever. Too bad I don't stay up late enough top watch Conan. Youngsters, I present to you:
Rawk Guitar Playing 101:

Books:

Books? Are you serious?

Well in case you are, I like William Kennedy, Pete Dexter, Nick Tosches(damn he's good!), Peter Guralnick, Mark Leyner, Chester Himes, Doctorow, and most of all John Steinbeck.

But these days I read mostly history books and musicology books. I probably have the largest collection of punk rock books in the world, for whatever that is worth! Reading about punk rock is like singing about porno... but there ya go.

Heroes:

I only have one hero: Our Greatest Living American: ROBERT "BOBCAT" CATALANO.............

Ok, you all know that is a joke! My guitar idols are Johnny Thunders, Ross The Boss and Top Ten (it's like PB&J!) Warner Hodges, Bob Stinson, Ray Benson, Dave Feinstein, Cheetah Chrome, MALCOLM Young (yes malc is the real talent in AC/DC, just ask his brother!) and Earl Letiecq (The Effigies), who was the first truly great guitarist I ever saw.