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UNDER-APPRECIATED ROCK BAND OF THE MONTH FOR JULY 2010: THE EYES
THE EYES date from the earliest days of punk rock in Los Angeles. I ran across their first recordings on a 1998 compilation album of releases on What Records? called What? Stuff, on Bomp! Records, that I just picked up. The first two bands listed on the cover, the Germs and the Dils are fairly well known as these things go; I had some of their songs already elsewhere, with “I Hate the Rich” by the Dils being a particular favorite. The third band on the list was the Eyes; predictably, despite what the liner notes describe as their “all-star lineup”, Wikipedia has nothing about them. In Allmusic and also in Wikipedia, there is a short article on a mid-1960’s Mod band from London called the Eyes, along with references to several other bands of that name; of the punk band though, there is nothing at all, except that the cover for one of their 45’s is mistakenly included on the Mod band’s Allmusic page.
What Records? is a good example of the Do-It-Yourself spirit that brought punk to life in the first place: By the mid-1970’s, the technology was good enough and vinyl was cheap enough that bands could put their own records together without going through the corporate record labels; and there were enough independent record stores around that getting shelf space was also doable. In this case, Chris Ashford was a friend of members of the Germs; in the great 1970’s tradition, they had just made a crude two-track recording of a song called “Forming” in the guitarist’s garage, so Ashford released it as a 45 and distributed it all by himself. The release date of July 1977 – 7/77 – would resonate with those of us in a casino area like Biloxi. The B-side, “Sex Boy” was a live performance made during the filming of the first Cheech and Chong movie Up in Smoke (which had a great cast by the way – Edie Adams, Strother Martin, Stacy Keach and Tom Skerritt). Somewhat surprisingly, this disk is regarded as the very first punk rock single to come out of LA, even though it was released nearly 18 months after the landmark first album by Ramones came out on the other coast.
Chris Ashford then set out to record the other bands that were performing at the city’s first punk club, the Masque. The Eyes were one of these bands, with a sound that was described on the liner notes of What? Stuff as “poppy but hard edged”. “Don’t Talk to Me”, featuring vocals by Charlotte Caffey came out on the third What Records? release; the flip side actually had two songs: “Victims” by the Skulls plus the wonderful “Neutron Bomb” by the Controllers (which was also released as the A side on What 04). Another song by the Eyes with an equally compelling beat is also included on the compilation album, called “Kill Your Parents”. (I want to say it was tongue in cheek, but honestly, I can’t tell for sure!).
Charlotte Caffey left the band shortly afterward to become one of the founding members of the Go-Go’s (one of my all time favorites); she was bass player in the Eyes but became lead guitarist in her new band. Despite their girl-next-door rep and cheerleader-good-looks, this most successful of the all-female rock bands was well rooted in LA’s punk rock scene: The other two founding members, lead vocalist Belinda Carlisle and guitarist Jane Wiedlin were numbered among the back-up singers called the Blackettes that performed with Black Randy and the Metrosquad.
Drummer DJ Bonebrake also left the band to become the last of the founding members of one of the biggest LA punk bands, X (having a rich sound that could almost be described as post-punk despite their 1977 founding date). Exene Cervenka was yet another Blackette; her name – a riff on her real name Christene, with “Ex” replacing “Christ” (a la X-mas) – probably inspired the band’s name.
A 1996 compilation album documenting a 1977 live show that I don’t have, Live from the Masque, Volume 3 opens with six songs by the Eyes with bizarre titles like “Take a Quaalude Now” and “The Happy Song”; it also features what is regarded as their best known song “Disneyland”.
The last original bandmember in the Eyes, Joe Ramirez kept the band going a while longer and got several more 45’s released on Dangerhouse Records. He was also among the rotating lineup in Black Randy and the Metrosquad and released a song with the Brat. Reportedly (under a different name), he later joined the thrash metal band Slayer.
(July 2010)
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Flashback: The Under-Appreciated Rock Band of the Month for July 2010 – THE EYES
The Eyes is a first-wave punk rock band with an all-star line-up: Bass player and vocalist Charlotte Caffey later was lead guitarist for the Go-Go’s, while DJ Bonebrake became the drummer for X. My earlier article on the Eyes mentioned that members of the Go-Go’s had deep roots in the Los Angeles punk rock scene, but I didn’t know the half of it. I recently picked up an LP called Germicide (oh, yes, they are still making new LP’s – I get them all the time) of the first live concert in June 1977 by the Germs (I also mentioned that band in the article); their first single on What Records?, “Forming” b/w “Sex Boy” is regarded as the very first punk rock record that was released in LA. The woman introducing the band at the beginning of the concert was “Belinda”; and sure enough, I was able to pin that down as being Belinda Carlisle, the lead singer of the Go-Go’s.
There are some original singles on YouTube, but the real treat for me was a 2007 reunion at the Masque with a live performance of “Don’t Talk to Me” (though the vocals are not very clear) by the band’s original line-up: Charlotte Caffey, DJ Bonebrake and Joe Ramirez: www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6VYFCf54AA . Their best known song, “Disneyland” can be heard at www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOc2Q42t3k8 .
(July 2012)
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Photo Gallery: The Under-Appreciated Rock Band of the Month for July 2010 – THE EYES
I have already mentioned the London Mod band called the Eyes in the discussion about the Klubs. There is also a lesser-known Liverpool band called the Eyes – they were active only from 1964 to early 1965 – and evidently, a heavy metal band called the Eyes has recently formed. The UARB is yet another band called the Eyes and is a first-wave LA punk band that includes future members of the Go-Go’s and X.
This is a poster of one of the Eyes shows at the early L.A. punk club, the Masque:
This is the first single by the Eyes on What Records? (also known as What? Records). “Don’t Talk to Me” (actually the “B” side has songs by other bands):
Here is a promotional photograph of the Eyes from back in the day (that’s future Go-Go’s lead guitarist Charlotte Caffey sitting up front):
This photograph shows the reunited Eyes in performance at the 30th anniversary of the Masque:
(July 2013)
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It was about a year ago that I started my series on Under-Appreciated Rock Bands of the Month (including one Under-Appreciated Rock Artist of the Month), to celebrate the more obscure albums and bands in my record collection that had not yet been profiled in Wikipedia. The list shows a wide-ranging list of types of music I think:
July 2010 – THE EYES, 1970’s punk rock band (several singles)
October 2010 – THE PILTDOWN MEN, 1960’s instrumental rock band (several singles; retrospective album)
(Year 1 Review)
