Been having a lot of dreams of my old band days. I started playing guitar in bands when I was eighteen; this period of my life lasted a decade or so. I haven’t been on a stage in over fifteen years; same since I was in a recording studio. Heck, I haven’t even played an electric guitar in the past five years (I do have an acoustic that I strum every now and then).
But for some reason, I’ve been dreaming a lot about those days. I’m playing guitar, with my old bandmates, in a variety of situations. When I think about those days, I normally feel a mixture of ambivalence and melancholy. I lost many good friends over petty arguments and sheer acts of stupidity; others just drifted away from me for no good reason. However, when I have these dreams, I feel only confident, overflowing with excitement and enjoyment. It’s the kind of dream you don’t want to end, because you’re almost convinced it’s reality, and you’re having a whole lotta fun.
So, on the off-chance someone I played with or hung out with will do a google-search or something similar, here’s the names of some of the bands I was in. I don’t want to directly publish anyone’s name (mine included), so if you know anything about anything in this post, kindly email me here (click on my photo to the left to be taken to my contact info). Thanks!
1986 - The Outpatients
I don’t remember who came up with this name; we never really used it. Just needed to come up with a name for copywriting purposes. Some of the original tunes we were playing were: “Will and Won’t Care,” “Kicked in the Face,” “Backstabber,” “Lonely” (pleasant-sounding ditties, eh?), and “White Lightning.”
1987 - Pumpkinskum or Pumpkinscum
For Halloween, our singer’s brother filled our rehearsal studio with stolen pumpkins. After Halloween, he smashed them all, right there among our amps and instruments. Rather than cleaning everything up, we just laid down plywood and played on top of them. My lead guitarist cried out, “I’ve pumpkin scum on my wire!” and a name was born.
There may or may not have been umlauts involved in this name.
Songs from this time are “Cold Hell,” “Black on Pink,” “Do You Want Me?”
1988 - Free Reign
I played my first two live shows with this new line-up. I switched to bass guitar and surprisingly enjoyed it. We didn’t do a demo tape but we made a very high-quality rehearsal tape that I still listen to today. Some originals were simply titled “In Vain” and “She’s Mine.” However, I had more fun on the covers we played, such as “Down By the River,” and “Let It Rain.”
1990-92 - Subtle Hint
This is my one and only “successful” band, in that we played about two dozen gigs, played a couple of times in NYC, and made a couple of demo tapes to send out. The after-show parties kept getting larger and larger. Never made any money, and it was extremely hard work, but in retrospect, I had fun. Withered under a rather prolonged death when we decided to fire our singer and could not find an acceptable replacement.
Once, when booking a show, the promoter asked about our band name and the ubiquitous umlauts of those heady times. “You know,” he said, “maybe two dots over the U?” My singer said, “Nah. Just one dot over the I.”
There were a lot of fresh, exciting songs from this time. Unfortunately, I have no demos from this line-up, and the only new titles I can remember are “Endless Line” “Money” or “Power” (I forget which) and “Driving Me Crazy.”
After this, I played with some other guys for the next four or five years, in various permutations, but never attained the level of “success” of Subtle Hint. I think we were on the verge of playing a show and even had a name, but cold feet on the part of others killed it.
I quit, or was let go, I’m not sure exactly which, but it was welcomed. I was tired of it all. I put my Les Paul away. A few years later it was stolen, and I haven’t played an electric guitar since. Except, apparently, once or twice a week in my dreams.
But for some reason, I’ve been dreaming a lot about those days. I’m playing guitar, with my old bandmates, in a variety of situations. When I think about those days, I normally feel a mixture of ambivalence and melancholy. I lost many good friends over petty arguments and sheer acts of stupidity; others just drifted away from me for no good reason. However, when I have these dreams, I feel only confident, overflowing with excitement and enjoyment. It’s the kind of dream you don’t want to end, because you’re almost convinced it’s reality, and you’re having a whole lotta fun.
So, on the off-chance someone I played with or hung out with will do a google-search or something similar, here’s the names of some of the bands I was in. I don’t want to directly publish anyone’s name (mine included), so if you know anything about anything in this post, kindly email me here (click on my photo to the left to be taken to my contact info). Thanks!
1986 - The Outpatients
I don’t remember who came up with this name; we never really used it. Just needed to come up with a name for copywriting purposes. Some of the original tunes we were playing were: “Will and Won’t Care,” “Kicked in the Face,” “Backstabber,” “Lonely” (pleasant-sounding ditties, eh?), and “White Lightning.”
1987 - Pumpkinskum or Pumpkinscum
For Halloween, our singer’s brother filled our rehearsal studio with stolen pumpkins. After Halloween, he smashed them all, right there among our amps and instruments. Rather than cleaning everything up, we just laid down plywood and played on top of them. My lead guitarist cried out, “I’ve pumpkin scum on my wire!” and a name was born.
There may or may not have been umlauts involved in this name.
Songs from this time are “Cold Hell,” “Black on Pink,” “Do You Want Me?”
1988 - Free Reign
I played my first two live shows with this new line-up. I switched to bass guitar and surprisingly enjoyed it. We didn’t do a demo tape but we made a very high-quality rehearsal tape that I still listen to today. Some originals were simply titled “In Vain” and “She’s Mine.” However, I had more fun on the covers we played, such as “Down By the River,” and “Let It Rain.”
1990-92 - Subtle Hint
This is my one and only “successful” band, in that we played about two dozen gigs, played a couple of times in NYC, and made a couple of demo tapes to send out. The after-show parties kept getting larger and larger. Never made any money, and it was extremely hard work, but in retrospect, I had fun. Withered under a rather prolonged death when we decided to fire our singer and could not find an acceptable replacement.
Once, when booking a show, the promoter asked about our band name and the ubiquitous umlauts of those heady times. “You know,” he said, “maybe two dots over the U?” My singer said, “Nah. Just one dot over the I.”
There were a lot of fresh, exciting songs from this time. Unfortunately, I have no demos from this line-up, and the only new titles I can remember are “Endless Line” “Money” or “Power” (I forget which) and “Driving Me Crazy.”
After this, I played with some other guys for the next four or five years, in various permutations, but never attained the level of “success” of Subtle Hint. I think we were on the verge of playing a show and even had a name, but cold feet on the part of others killed it.
I quit, or was let go, I’m not sure exactly which, but it was welcomed. I was tired of it all. I put my Les Paul away. A few years later it was stolen, and I haven’t played an electric guitar since. Except, apparently, once or twice a week in my dreams.
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