Concrete Witchdoctors were a band unlike any other, in or out of the mid-'80s Queens, NY punk scene from which they sprang. While other local alternative acts stuck to a single style or imitated a specific band such as R.E.M. or Misfits, the Witchdoctors truly threw in everything (an indescribable melange of pop, punk, metal, noise, blues, goth, surf, and beyond)---including the kitchen sink! As drummer "Dr. Ed" Rapacki stated with tongue firmly in cheek: "We get our influences from dropping acid and watching natural disasters."
Frank N's punk-pop crooning and Iggy Pop-ish roars perfectly set off the goth-metal crunchings of guitar wiz Michael Grimes. In other corners sat bassist and occasional lead singer Joe "Average" Orr, with his British-inflected songs (see "In a Dark Room") and folk/blues background; and Rapacki, the veteran of wedding bands and Yes tribute acts turned industrial-noise merchant. This constant battle of egos and influences produced something unusual and beholden to no one genre or style. Yet (most importantly) their music rocked hard and never failed to surprise. Filled with cutting black humor (as Frank N noted: "Other people sing about love, fast cars. We...reflect on things," while Rapacki added "Our themes reflect life under the shadow of the bomb"), unusual themes (songs such as "Dead Animal Zoo" speak for themselves), gritty energy, and unexpected spurts of melodicism, the Witchdoctors had the cure for what ailed the bored listener.
This indefinable band's formation lies in the simmering summer of 1985, when four young men from Queens (eating refried beans), all students at St. John's University, came together at the legendary and now defunct punk/goth club Subway in Rego Park, NY: vocalist N (ex- The Oppressed / Outcry /The Cave), guitarist Grimes, bassist Orr (ex-The Cave), and drum master (and Subway manager) Rapacki.
Their first gig on August 3, 1985 (at Subway, using the interim name Shadowland, supporting The Naked and the Dead ) came after only two rehearsals, but immediately won the quirky quartet a bemused following among NYC's alternative crowd. From day one the band's diversity was key, with primary influences ranging from N's punk and pop, Grimes' metal and noise-rock; Orr's blues, and Rapacki's jazz and funk. If these weren't contrary enough, the band's amoeba-like ability to absorb ideas expanded to include goth-rock ("Footsteps") and surf ("Party on Horror Beach") on two of three songs comprising their first demo tape, recorded by supporter Bob (Hasbros) Hanophy on November 29, 1985 at local Queens studio Bizarreland. The tape quickly led to airplay on college stations WFDU and WSJU, and "Party on Horror Beach" reached 4 on WRHU Hofstra's Top 35. The latter station's "Lip Service" show featured an extensive Witchdoctors interview in December '85.
Following a short hiatus, the band reconvened in 1986, leading to a new batch of songs (such as their second one-song demo, the squalidly intense "Public Flesh"), a feature article in St. John's newspaper "The Torch," glowing reviews in "Heaven Down Here" and "The Big Takeover," the classic "Voodoo for the Nuclear Age" logo (created by Joe Sena), and a bevy of exciting gigs (including the final October 16, 1986 show with Brain Eaters at CBGB, from which the live mp3s are culled), before splintering in different directions.
N and Grimes formed Razor Chamber in late 1986 (joined for a time by Chris "Jack" Natz and Patrick Blank, the rhythm section of NYC punk legends The Undead) and unleashed the Goatblood Sacrifice project in March 1987 (with Greg Fasolino, ex-The Naked and the Dead, on synth).
In May 1987, Grimes, N, and Rapacki helped concoct the experimental industrial project Pump (with ex-Naked and the Dead members Fasolino and Lorianne Oakley).
Grimes also played with bassist Larry (Springhouse/Blue Man Group) Heinemann in an unnamed project during 1987.
Orr went solo, while Rapacki guested with Fasolino's band Rawhead in early summer 1987 before forming the killer noise-rock outfit God later that year with former Horror Planet yowler Party Frank. Orr was the original bassist, but was soon succeeded by Grimes. After God split in summer 1988, Rapacki played in Sea of Fur with Orr and Fasolino. The latter two also dabbled with Lusting for the Cheetah.
Following his stint on bass in God, Grimes reverted back to his natural position at guitar, and joined forces with vocalist Robert Conroy (ex-Burning Rome/The Children’s Zoo) to form 99 Stellavista.
Following Stellavista's dissolution, Conroy and Grimes continued as a songwriting duo with the band Sisterboy, who issued an eponymous CD in 1996.
Michael Grimes played for Zenen in the early '00s, and occasionally subbed on bass for NYC punk legends Kraut. As
Graygun Sound System , he records, remixes, and DJs regularly in NYC.
Frank N left music behind until 2006, when he took part in a reunion of his first band, Queens punks The Oppressed. Subsequent attempts to start a new band with ex-Betrayed leader Dave Vogt and former Oppressed members Paul "Goph" Grabowski and Chris Piccione began promisingly but fizzled out.
Orr began using his middle name Peter, and relocated to New Orleans in the early '90s, where he rejuvenated his musical career. "Sneaky Pete" Orr and his band The Fens released their debut CD "Nobody Likes Sneaky Pete" on UTR Records in 2003, to much acclaim.
In 2001, Concrete Witchdoctors' farewell CBGB gig was remixed by MJM Creative Services, and their utterly unique sonic crunch began to posthumously reach the diverse audience it was meant for.
GIGOGRAPHY
08-03-1985 - Subway, Rego Park, NY
10-10-1985 - Bizarreland Studio, Middle Village, NY
07-27-1986 - CBGB, New York, NY
09-09-1986 - KJ Donovan's, Jamaica, NY
10-16-1986 - CBGB, New York, NY
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