If you didn't know the Mad Daddys, you didn't know the last two decades of New Jersey rock 'n roll. Year after year, the one constant in an erratic and ever-changing scene was the Mad Daddys. There was a long parade of guitarists, bass players, and drummers over the years, but the driving force behind it all was the man known to friends and fans around the world as Stinky Sonobuoni, the one and only Fred Kreiss of Perth Amboy, NJ - a frontman for the ages, one of the greatest showmen who ever walked the earth.
Stinky started hanging around the New York underground somewhere in the mid-1970's and learned by watching the best crop of local bands ever at joints like Max's Kansas City, CBGB's, and the Dirt Club. Then one day, the hand of god reached down, touched him, and suddenly it was clear, "I know I can sing better than Stiv Bators!" With this life-defining vision fresh in hand, Freddy & the Hubcaps were born. Riding the punkabilly wave that was engulfing the New York scene at the time, they quickly became one of the hottest small-time bands on the circuit, and by 1984 they were the Mad Daddys, had a debut record under their belts produced by Lux and Ivy of the Cramps, and were well on their way to becoming, well, one of the hottest small-time bands ever.
The Mad Daddys never made it "big" per-se in their years and years of sweat, beer, broken glass and blood, but with fans around the globe, a bunch of records on some of the coolest indie labels around, and permanent legend status in their adopted hometown of New Brunswick, NJ, they nonetheless carved out a niche in the mammoth world of rock 'n roll that is very special for everyone involved.
Sadly, the Mad Daddys story came to an end in June, 2006, when Freddy passed away following a long bout with cancer at age 47. In an article in his hometown newspaper, the Central Jersey Home News-Tribune, WRSU DJ and former Mad Daddys manager Bryan Bruden, who, not incedentally, was the guy who introduced me to Stinky both musically and personally, summed up the feelings of so many when he said, "This is a very black day for rock 'n' roll. Personally, I lost one of my mentors in not only rock 'n' roll but also life. He taught me how to be cool but also how to be a nice person."
This site is dedicated to "The King of the Wild Frontier", our friend, Freddy Kreiss. They say that in the afterlife, Hell's got the better band, but Rock 'n Roll Heaven finally got themselves a great frontman.
