Moving Targets formed in the summer of 1982 with Pat Brady on drums, Pat Leonard on bass and Kenny Chambers on guitar . With a repertoire pushing
through the Punk Rock Songbook, they dragged their gear from there to
here. They Rocked right next to the keg. They played "The Greatest Song".
That Fall, two things happened that would forever change the group. The
dealer grew his first indoor batch of super-skunk hydro, and the Bad Brains
released the R.O.I.R. cassette. Band rehersals now began with a ritual errand
through the wooded back streets of Topsfield Ma, followed by a detailed study
of the Rastfarian's songcraft.
They dreamed of their first
real gig. They wrote their first original song, the long-forgotten "Phase out'.
Early December bought a phone call from Anthony from N.Y.C., manager of
the Bad Brains, whom the lads had met a couple of weeks before at an
all-ages show at the Living Room. They played for him over the phone, and
got a gig with the Brains at C.B.G.B.s for that coming Christmas eve. The
place was a real dump. full of weirdos, but they got a free case of beer and
were treated well. They opened up for D.C. band Scream and the Bad brains.
1983 brought them their first Boston shows and friendships with bands like
"Sorry", "Busted Statues", and "Dredd Foole and the din". Bands like
"Christmas and "D.Y.S." remained distant. They also met Gerard Cosloy and
Lou Giordano, Executive producer and producer of the "Bands that could
be God" l.p. That summer the trio recorded 8 songs with Lou at the
legendary Radio-Beat studio. That fall, the Dealer moved to Ohio, the Bad
Brains switched to an all-reggae set, and the Target's dis-banded amid the
noise and confusion.
The summer of 1984 saw the long-awaited release of Gerard's compilation,
featuring 3 songs by the band. The group re-formed and started working on
a new live show and dressing a bit differently. After a low-interest loan from
their good friend/one-time manager Kim Brookes, they made plans to enter
Whitedog studios with Lou once again at the helm. They layed down 15 tracks
between December and January of 1986/87. The band once again broke up
at it's completion.
August 1987 saw the bands first l.p. "Burning in water"
released to near universal critical praise. Sensing a quick buck, Emily Kaplan (Salem 66) booked a tour post haste.
Taking to the road with new bass player Chuck "roast" Freeman (Smash Pattern) in early
1987, the Targets made it as far as New Jersey before the Transmission blew
in Pat Brady's van. Live sound/producer/all around good guy Carl Plaster sprung for a rental on his mastercard, and the band made it to the next two gigs. After the van was repaired, the boys broke in the new transmission with
a 1200 mile ride strait to Miami, where their name was up in lights. The tour
ended quitely with a show in a North Carolina bicycle shop where the band
was asked to play obscure country songs at half volume. Canceling the next
show, they sped home with a re-newed vigor, only to break up the next day .
Kenny jumped ship to join 1 punk band Bullet LaVolta, who on their first European tour, was occasionally asked about "The Mooving Tahgets". Sensing a quick buck, TAANG! records threw the band some money
to enter the studio once again with Lou Giordano to record all the left-overs.
Pat Leonard was brought in to play bass on the songs Chuck deemed "not up to snuff" and they even played 2 gigs as a 4-piece with Roaster on guitar. Kenny continiued with LaVolta, Rocking throughout the land and opening for bands like the Butthole Surfers and Soundgarden. He bought a pair of black stretch jeans
in Baltimore, but he still missed the Targets.
Late 1989 saw the release of their next record "Brave noise"on TAANG! records.
A Targets tour was soon booked by the Paperclip agency in Holland and once
again, Chuck was on bass. The tour was awesome, just great fun. Lots of free food and drink. People really came out and showed their love. They broke
a lot of hearts in the process. Wolfy, Dino and Robert, you are not forgotten.
German drum store guy, it was a gas. The reality of life in the states hit the
band upon their return home. No more free food. After a final gig at Manray
with Buffalo Tom and Jones very, the Targets took another break.
In 1991 "Fall" The last recordings featuring Pat Brady, were released.
Kenny went to Berlin to record his first "solo" record. Upon it's release there was a European tour with Jeff Goddard on bass, Jamie Vanbremer on drums
and Ben Segal on guitar. They called it "Kenny Chambers and the Moving
Targets" and although they sounded great and played some memorable shows,
it wasn't the real deal. There was a final Targets release "Take this ride"
featuring original bass player Pat Leonard and J' Arcari on drums, but it wasn't the same. They toured Europe and the states to support the record, and called it quits soon after returning home.
The band played three reunion shows from the mid to late 90s. The last time
these guys have been in the same room was a scheduled show in 2000 at
T-T the bears that was canceled at the last minute due to flooding. Rumblings of a reunion of some sort, along with a show booked at the Abbey
on January 27th, with the also reunited Busted Statues have been confirmed for 2007. Hope it doesn't rain that night.
