Punky Meadows

Lead guitar player from a group calledANGEL are recognized as being one of the most influential seventies Hard Rock bands. ANGEL were unfortunate enough to have constantly lived in the deep shadow of their more esteemed label mates KISS, despite developing from a gargantuan Pomp Rock dream into an androgynous looking, slick Pop Metal product. The seeds of ANGEL were undeniably sown the day the mother of a nine year old punk called Edwin Lionel Meadows was given a sound beating by his mother for having sneaked out of the family home against her wishes to go to see an ELVIS PRESLEY movie. But Rock n' Roll had bitten the kid family and friends knew as Punky and it wasn't long before this Maryland native had begun his own ascent to stardom by taking up the guitar and winding up in Washington DC's hip young things THE ENGLISH SETTERS. A band very much influenced by the imported sounds of mid-Sixties BritPop and the Carnaby Street fashions that evolved with them - all flower power make-up and John Lennon style granny glasses. Changing their monicker to the more acidic THE CHERRY PEOPLE, Meadows and his band mates found themselves signed to Heritage Records and the owners of a rather manufactured, eponymously titled debut album. Regardless, the band scored a bona fide hit single with 'Imagination' hitting number 45 on the national charts and 'Feelings' scraping in the Billboard rankings at number 134. Only two of the songs featured on the record were penned by band members and neither one featured a credit to Meadows. Perhaps contributing to Punky's relatively short stay in the ranks and his subsequent departure in order to team up with a Jazz influenced keyboard player from New Orleans by the name of Greg Giuffria. Meadows' liaison with Giuffria was short-lived, however. Seemingly Punky liked Greg but hated the group! Now in the early Seventies, Meadows teamed up with Washington DC native Mickey Jones to form DADDY WARBUCKS (said to be taken from the character in the hit musical 'Annie'), which was shortened soon after to the much easier to remember handle of BUX. The line-up also featured ex- CHERRY PEOPLE drummer Rocky Issac, James Newton on guitar and the gravel throated Ralph Morman on vocals. BUX soon became one of DC's biggest drawing attractions on the local club scene and competed heavily with the still buoyant THE CHERRY PEOPLE, attracting the attention of the mighty Capitol label to whom they signed and recorded an album, 'We Come To Play' in 1973. The album would remain unreleased until 1976, however, long after Meadows and Jones had quit the band, clearly unhappy at Capitol's lack of faith in BUX and seemingly irritated by their management and Ralph Morman's alleged alcoholism. The vocalist would, in later years, team up with wayward AEROSMITH guitarist Joe Perry to sing on the first JOE PERRY PROJECT album, fronted the Malibu club band CHAMELEON and, in the late Eighties, find himself fronting veteran English Blues Rockers SAVOY BROWN. Intent on putting a much more substantial package together, Meadows teamed up with Giuffria once more and, with Jones in tow, set to work looking for a suitable vocalist and drummer to complete this new dream team. Since his previous liaison with Meadows, Giuffria had also had dealings with Capitol Records through his tenure with DAVID AND THE GIANTS. Rumours have always persisted that Giuffria recorded an album and a few singles with this outfit and that the band had also featured the legendary Tommy Aldridge on drums, but the skinbasher claims to have never worked with Giuffria until much, much later in his illustrious career. Of the first vocalists Meadows and Co auditioned for their new project was Boston born Frank Dimino, but he is often reported to have turned down the chance to join this fledgling new group on the basis that they only had: three half-assed songs. Another candidate at this juncture was Eric Saeger of DESTONY. Continuing the search for a frontman following Dimino's rebuff, the trio found themselves in a bar one night to check out someone's recommendation they chance upon an extremely impressive drummer who wiped the floor with the guy they were rehearsing with at the time. And, as irony would have it, Punky and Mickey knew him! Barry Brandt had never played with Meadows previously (although he had played drums for THE CHERRY PEOPLE following Punky's departure), but had been a part of Jones' pre-BUX mob MAX. Proof just how incestuous the DC club circuit was at the time, MAX had also boasted the talents of Frank Dimino who, upon discovering Brandt's recruitment, quickly pledged allegiance to the cause. Initially utilizing SWEET MAMA FROM HEAVEN as their handle, the enterprising quintet soon adopted ANGEL as a band name, inspired by the JIMI HENDRIX number of the same title.-Dave Reynolds