by mysterio2 » Fri Dec 21, 2012 5:07 am
Tileboy, thanks for those links. I had forgotten about the Neats.
The Boston music scene from the late 70's - mid 80's was an incredible hotbed of talent. Between the Rat, the Metro, the Channel, Spit, the Orpheum, and a few other places, you were almost guaranteed to be able to see somebody interesting any week.
There were so many good Boston area bands that WBCN held an annual 'Rock N Roll Rumble' at the Rat, and it wasn't always easy to pick a winner. Bands like the Lyres, the Neighborhoods, Private Lightning, HSR, the Nervous Eaters, Lou Miami, the Fools, Mission of Burma, and so many more that I thought deserved national attention, but didn't always get.
One on particular weekend, both Adam & the Ants and Black Flag were in town. Naturally, they somewhat competed for the same audience. The clever Black Flag camp had made small posters/hand bills that depicted a can of Blag Flag brand insecticide, and the saying on the poster was "Black Flag kills Ants on contact." It also included info on where they were playing. They posted those all over town, and it was one of the most clever, yet obvious, marketing campaigns that I remember from that era.
That's what a musical weekend in Boston was like at that time -- you often had to make hard choices on which great act you wanted to see more.
It was a magical time and place, full of such great memories.