Third Rail

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Richard Nolan was and still is the principal singer/songwriter and front man of this rock & roll band, THIRD RAIL, which has been a driving force in the Boston rock scene beginning in March of 1975.
When Richard had graduated from Boston College and also from New England Institute of Embalming, he decided to form a new rock & roll band with Gary Soprano which would allow him to showcase songs he had been composing for years since high school. We called the new band WHITE HEAT and the group performed in small venues west of Boston for about a year. The group was somewhat heavy metal and they dressed in black and white. At one point early in 1975, the group had to change its name after discovering that disco crooner Barry White had a band named WHITE HEAT. Within three weeks, THIRD RAIL was reborn in guitarist Gary Soprano ’s basement recording studio in Newton, Massachusetts in 1975.
The newly formed original version of Richard Nolan and Gary Soprano’s Third Rail moved into a vacant hardware store basement on Main Street in Waltham, MA. It was there that the band performed shows for up to twenty guests on a weekly basis until they began playing in a legitimate venue, The Boston Club at 969 Commonwealth Ave in Boston. Third Rail was hired to perform every Thursday night on a balcony in the front lounge of what is today The Paradise Rock Club & Lounge, then called The Boston Club.
Third Rail played on the front-lounge balcony in between wrestling matches that were held on Thursday nights in the bigger back-room. Sometimes the matches were quite original in nature, such as women wrestling in chocolate pudding or Jell-O. A vast diversity in patrons began to develop on Thursday nights until the situation climaxed on August 8, 1975. That hot night, as Third Rail was playing before a packed lounge with various types of "naked female" patrons dancing on stage, a nasty fight broke out on the floor beneath the band. Instead of stopping the show, Third Rail continued performing as chairs were being thrown and patrons were punching each other. Soon the Boston Police showed up after the brawl had spread out the front door and onto the trolley tracks on Commonwealth Ave. The police escorted Third Rail band members to their vehicles and closed the Boston Club for good that night. The venue was vacant for a few weeks and then re-opened as Dummies and Third Rail went back and played often on weekends in the big room.
Jim Harold, owner of The Rathskeller in Kenmore Square, saw Third Rail performing at The Boston Club and hired the band to play in his hip basement room called "The Rat" which was beneath The Rathskeller. Third Rail performed many weekend shows at The Rat over a period of several years and was one of Bostons original premier punk rock bands. The group went on to play all over New England and in Manhattan, sometimes on a bill with legendary rockers like Ramones, The Cars, Talking Heads, Dead Boys and Mink DeVille. In New York City, Third Rail performed at CBGB, Maxs Kansas City and The Ritz. From 1975 until 1985, there was a number of musicians in Third Rail. The last performances during those middle years were in 1985. Third Rail’s parting Boston show was on Saturday, September 14 at Jumpin Jack Flash near Fenway Park.
In 2005, Nolan contacted a few former Third Rail band members and decided it was time to re-unite for a 30th Anniversary Tour. The first performance of this long-awaited series of shows began on Saturday, March 5 before a sellout crowd at Kirkland Cafe in Somerville, MA.
Richard Nolan, along with Gary Soprano and drummer David Birmingham are currently in David Minehan’s Woolly Mammoth recording studio cutting new tracks. Watch for upcoming shows in 2007 on the Third Rail website and here on myspace.com.
Included here for your listening pleasure is the classic (and rare and raunchy) RONDEY RUSH, and IT’S OVER NOW and DARK AGES both produced by Ric Ocasek of The Cars.
Also, check out The Boston Phoenix Band Guide for more music from Third Rail!
Third Rail supports the Ovations for the Cure of ovarian cancer foundation, which is dedicated to the relentless pursuit of a cure for ovarian cancer through awareness of ovarian cancer risk factors and its subtle warning signs, and through the continued support of new and ongoing ovarian cancer research and treatment initiatives. Please support this great cause.