About Me
The Next was conceived by Brittley Black in 1978 but was a labor of love by co-members myself, Jimmy Schmith, John San Filipo and Frank Ventura. Brittley was already a fixture in the San Francisco punk scene of 1977 as the second of three drummers for Crime. He also had a sense of fashion that positioned him from the other musicians and scenesters. Known for his Tony Curtis good looks and a big blue Cadillac, Brittley was a lady-killer and top-notch party animal. His very essence is what would drive The Next to the highs and lows of the local punk music food chain in 1978-79.Lawrence Black was the son of Dave Black, a renowned jazz drummer from Philadelphia who briefly played for Duke Ellington. Lawrence grew up in Alameda, playing in local rock bands in the sixties and seventies. The precursor to his arrival to Punk, Lawrence was in a "glam" band called The Circus Pimps with mates Bobby Death, Pat Ryan (later of the Nuns) and John San Filipo.Lawrence was self christened Brittley by the following encounter: One night while talking to a street drunk, the chap was trying to say "brightly lit" when the word Brittley came out of his mouth. Obviously a moment of discovery, Lawrence seized the name and made it his.Brittley was drumming for Crime in 1977, his superior playing elevated the band to new excitement as a counterpoint to the droning guitar and guttural vocals of Frankie Fix and Johnny Strike. At some point in late 1977 he was recruited out of Crime by local music critic Howie Klein to form a New Wave pop band with ex Avengers-bass player Jonathan Postal called The Readymades.I caught Brittley’s attention early in 1977 with my strange creation The Dix. I did an over the top performance as lead vocalist by abusing the audience, breaking a lot of long-neck Budweiser bottles against the rear wall of the stage and encouraged bizarre audience involvement.In early 1978 Brittley had been talking to me about forming a new kind of band. After watching the range of talent and styles gracing the Mabuhay Gardens, Brittley wanted to assemble a "Dixie-Mod" theme, combining Colonel Sanders and the Who and using my music. The band would dress sharp, often with the same outfits, play loud and fast, and provide some funny activities that would separate this group from the torn shirt/ heroin chic that was common at this time.In order to form The Next several things had to happen; Brittley would quit The Readymades. As it was, Brittley hated the music and the look of the band. Leaving The Readymades would be a coupe-de-tat for me and this new concept. I quit my current project, The Bomb Squad. To round out the line-up, Brittley conscripted ex-Circus Pimps bassist John San Filipo from the Bobby Death Band while I brought in guitarist Jimmy Schmith. Jimmy was also from Fremont, was a left handed guitar player who was a self made musical equipment technician/hairstylist and had worked with me in several previous rock bands.The band quickly gelled and on Halloween 1978 The Next played the Mabuhay as an opener for Crime. Much of the musical material were my songs, Jimmy and Brittley contributed to the writing as well. Jimmy stayed with the band until February 1978. At this point The Next was a power-trio, the band was unafraid to throw in a Jimi Hendrix or Who cover. Brittley relished the mod/psychedelic sound at 78 speed. Song sets would never exceed a half-hour; usually 15 tunes would be played quick and very loud. Brittley also would redesign the band’s look: black and white "Vegas" jackets, black slacks, southern style ties (like Colonel Sanders/ Kentucky Fried Chicken), cowboy hats and black leather Beatle boots. Eventually Brittley would mandate the colors pink and black as the official band look.Several memorable shows are noted. The Next did a special "New Years Party" on April Fools Day 1979; the band did a countdown to midnight, brought in several cases of champagne and proceeded to tear the room apart. In another Mabuhay performance, Brittley "dressed up" three chickens with top-hats, bow-ties and canes, releasing them on the final song of the set. As usual, chaos ensued with a chicken on Brittley’snare drum (probably too scared to move) and a chicken fleeing into the audience. At a show in a pizza parlor in Santa Cruz, The Next drew enough excitement that the sheriff’s department was called in to quell a small riot created by teenagers who couldn’t get in to see the band.The band continued to play regularly at The Mabuhay and around the bay area through the summer of 1978. John San Filipo left the group in July after doing a show with 60’s band Blue Cheer at Centennial Hall in Hayward. The story was John wanted to join the CIA. Whether this really happened or not is not as important as the story itself.John was replaced by Frank Ventura. Frank grew up in San Lorenzo and had most recently played for a synthsizer-based band called The Push-Ups. The Push-Ups claim to fame was vocalist Zory Zenith (Billy McCartney) from the legendary outer space band Zolar-X. Frank had a powerful bass sound, some new song ideas and added a boost to the image of the band.Like most things punk, the band lasted until December of 1979. At this point Brittley had lost interest in leading The Next, as members of Crime had enticed Brittley to return with the promise of recording and management by entrepreneurs opening a new club in Berkeley called the Berkeley Square. Interestingly enough they had also chosen pink and black for the club’s theme. I went into the studio in July 1980 to record most of the music played by The Next. Frank and Brittley assisted laying down tracks with sound engineer Charles "Ted" Oliphant assembling the final mixes.29 years later "Get Out of my Way" was released as part of a compilation "Best of the Mabuhay Volume 1" by Mabuhay Records. Yours truly, Jimmy, John and Frank remain alive and living in the Bay Area. Brittley Black left this life at the age of 51 in April 2004. His music and the music of The Next will live on...
