Posted on 08/05/2004 12:04:46 AM PDT by weegee
Most of us have a skeleton some where in the closet. John Kerry has a whole band - his other band of brothers.
His garage band. The Electras.
And just in time to cash in on the presidential campaign, they've escaped from the garage, or the closet. A golden blast from out of the past.
Kerry played bass in the group, which he started in 1961 with six high school friends. Prep school, actually - he was at St. Paul's School in New Hampshire while George W. Bush was at Phillips Andover Academy in Massachusetts.
The group lasted about two years, not a bad run for high school, and "popular demand" from dances led them to record an album in the school band room.
Because only 500 copies were pressed, and most are presumed lost or destroyed, one of them fetched more than $2,500 in February on eBay.com - less a reflection on the music than the album's value as a collectible, though Kerry isn't the first serious presidential candidate with musical inclinations.
Bill Clinton plays sax, of course, but Warren G. Harding was a horn player, too. Calvin Coolidge played harmonica. Thomas Jefferson played the violin, and John Adams was a flutist.
Harry Truman played the piano. So did Richard Nixon, who also played the violin and clarinet and, reportedly, the accordion, as does two-time presidential candidate Ross Perot. Chester A. Arthur, who once said, "I may be president, but my private life's nobody's damned business," played the banjo.
Which reminds me of an old joke: What's perfect pitch? When you throw an accordion at a garbage can and hit a banjo.
Another one: Guy wanted to get rid of an accordion. Couldn't sell it or give it away, so he left it in an unlocked car with the windows open. When he came back, there were two accordions in the car.
But I digress.
While Kerry isn't the first musically inclined presidential candidate, he is the first who recorded a rock album. (We'll give an asterisk to self-taught musician Charles Dawes, who was vice president in the second Coolidge administration. "It's All in the Game," which has been recorded by many artists and was a No. 1 hit for Tommy Edwards in 1958, was based on the wordless "Melody in A major" Dawes composed in 1912.)
With Kerry's presidential run driving up interest in the Electras - not to mention bids on remaining albums - other members of the band, who include two Republicans, retrieved the original tape from RCA archives. Remastered by sound engineer Bob Ludwig, it has been reissued on CD. It should be in stores soon, and it's available for $14 at The ElectrasRockandRollBand.com.
All but two of its 13 tracks, "Summertime Blues" and "Ya Ya," are, wisely, instrumentals. The group sounds a lot like the Ventures, a hot sound in the pre-Beatles era, and they give a reasonably good accounting of themselves.
I asked a disc jockey and a current garage band to check it out. Make it or break it. Play it or slay it. Vote for more or out the door. Their comments:
"Surf band!"
"It's real raw garage rock and roll - good beat to dance to. Roadhouse boogie-woogie meets preppie rock and roll."
"Obvious influences: the Ventures, Duane Eddy, Dick Dale, Little Richard."
"The drummer could use a metronome."
"Kerry was a root note bassist - pretty simple, but that's what you're supposed to do with that style."
"Electric bass was pretty new then, it was only invented in 1951."
"Wow - I don't want to hear anybody accusing US of stealing chord progressions."
"I'd pay to see a national tour - in small clubs - with these guys jamming."
The CD's liner notes do mention "rumors of a reunion performance between now and November 2004," but the idea fell apart because of squabbling about royalties.
More concerned with carrying states than carrying tunes, Kerry has stayed out of the dispute. It's just as well.
The Electras have left the garage. Putting them on the road might be Kerrying things too far.
I've heard part of the CD online. Mediocre at best. Nowhere near the same league as The Ventures (at their prime or more watered down years).
The Democrats are really drinking to kool aid to rave about John Kerry being a "rocker" in a prep school band.
(John) Kerry's revived rock songs spark partisan projects (2 former Electras are Republicans)
The Democrat-voting band members wanted to send the profits to the Kerry campaign while the two Republicans in the group, Mr. Radcliffe and Mr. Gagarin, disagreed, refusing to contribute their portion to politics."If the proceeds from my songs go to the Democratic National Convention, I'll be worked up," said former SouthCoast resident Mr. Radcliffe.
The other website that ACTUALLY PAYS THE PERFORMERS is here:
johnkerryandtheelectras.com (supposed to be online now but does not appear to be loading)
This Boston Herald article is the only one I saw to mention the other site by name:
Pshaw. Banjo pickers can play faster than speed metal guitarists.
Also, here is a REAL garage rock band composed of American GI's who served fighting commies (stationed in Berlin around the time of the Cuban missile crisis).
www.the-monks.com A PUNK band (in every sense of the word) that used a banjo...
Rock and Roll PING! email Weegee to get on/off this list (or grab it yourself to PING the rest)
Here is the (reportedly) DNC funding version of this website.
http://theelectrasrockandrollband.com/
I see nothing to indicate that the proceeds go to a political party or anything to say that foreign purchases could not be made (legally).
Anyone want to contact the FEC?
Here is the Republican members' site (now online):
http://www.johnkerryandtheelectras.com/
thanks for the pings
as usual your music lore puts mine to shame.
and i think i know some stuff.
i have not heard any of the electras yet but i would probably buy the c.d. just for the novelty.
It's Black Monk Time!
Unbelievable. That Vegas gig sounds amazing. Might have to 'round up the boys...
I bet Los Straitjackets blow them out of the water, too.
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