November 4, 1978 - Eddie & the Otters at Ellis School

This was the first of three performances at Ellis School (two dances in the cafeteria and one morning concert in the gym). This was the first show that wasn't taped, but I do remember playing some songs twice, like "I Fought the Law", because our repertoire wasn't enough to cover three or four sets.

Audio - no, Video - no, Pictures - no (at least none that I know of)

Catching Up, part 3 (November 3)

November 3, 1978 - Eddie & the Otters at Phase III (opening for Diamond Reo)

This was a significant show for us, because we were start to build an actual following, and there were a lot of our new fans in the audience for this show. Notables included Karen and Fuji (and that noisemaker thing they always brought to shows - they gave it a name, but damned if I can remember it) and photographer Larry Rippel, who kept requesting Lou Reed songs. We actually played two short sets as the opening act and were followed by Diamond Reo, who were celebrating the release of their "Ruff Cuts" LP. Jim B. and I were now Diamond Reo fans, and so we were particularly thrilled to be on the bill with them.

We debuted two songs at this show - "So You Want To Be A Rock & Roll Star" and "I Fought The Law", both of which went on to be among our most favorite and often played. In fact, we played "... Rock and Roll Star" twice at this show, opening the first set and repeating it as an encore.

The picture below of Eddie holding the beer bottle was used for a feature article on us that appeared shortly afterwards in PMM (Pittsburgh Music Magazine).

1st set

1) So You Want to Be a Rock & Roll Star
2) Get Off My Cloud
3) Roll Over Beethoven
4) Riot in Cell Block #9
5) Runaway
6) Hound Dog
7) Brown-Eyed Girl
8) I Saw Her Standing There
9) break song

2nd set

1) Little Girl
2) Louie Louie
3) Secret Agent Man
4) Shout
5) Gloria
6) You Really Got Me
7) I Fought the Law
8) We Gotta Get Out of This Place
9) So You Want to Be a Rock & Roll Star (encore)

Catching Up, part 2 (October 31)

October 31, 1981 - Eddie & the Otters at The Decade (with the Rumblestrips)

A big night at The Decade. I remember the club being packed and in a particularly festive mood. In addition to it being Halloween, I think there'd been a football game of some significance that day (Penn State suffering an upset loss sticks in my mind). As I recall, there was one guy who got a little too festive and was dancing naked off to the side of the stage in a particularly alcohol-enhanced state of mind. I think Eddie was the only band member in costume (see pictures below).

The Rumblestrips played a great opening set, starting out with a new song called "Spy vs. Spy". Hank Lawhead and Mark Gaudio provided the p.a. and did a great job, and Hank sat in with the Rumblestrips (is it possible that he sat in with us, too?) Unfortunately there's no recording of the Otters portion of the show due to a malfunction of the cassette deck, but there is a soundboard tape of the Rumblestrips.

I imagine our set was pretty typical for the period, but I seem to remember us also learning and playing "Monster Mash" for this occasion.

Catching Up, part 1 (October 30)

October 30, 1981 - Eddie & the Otters at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary

Another evening at the Hungry I-Thou Lounge during Eddie's second year (?) of studies at the Seminary. The only memories I have of this show are what are provided by the pictures and recording. There was a group from Kentucky State University (or some college in Kentucky) at the Seminary that week and they attended the dance, taking over the stage for a rap and some spirituals before joining us for a version of "Shout" to close the show. There's a picture of Jesse Hunter playing guitar, so he must have played with us at some point, but I don't have a record of which songs. And we were still hyping our newly-released 7" EP, as you can see from the picture below of Doug signing autographs. The recording offers an interesting mix of newer additions to our repertoire, songs resurrected from the toga party era, and the only performance of "All Along the Watchtower", which leads into "Gloria".

1st set

1) Dizzy Miss Lizzy
2) Summertime Blues
3) Hide & Seek
4) Pipeline
5) Love Me Two Times
6) Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby
7) For Your Love
8) Rock & Roll Music
9) Black Slacks
10) Love Potion #9
11) Little Girl
12) 19th Nervous Breakdown
13) Day Tripper
14) break song

2nd set

1) Shakin' All Over
2) Hippy Hippy Shake
3) (In the) Midnight Hour
4) Brown-Eyed Girl
5) Jailhouse Rock
6) You Really Got Me
7) You Baby
8) Get Off My Cloud
9) I Think We're Alone Now
10) I Fought the Law
11) break song

3rd set

1) Up Against the Wall Red Neck Mother
2) Bad News Travels Fast
3) Roll Over Beethoven
4) Ticket to Ride
5) So You Want to Be a Rock & Roll Star
6) Angel Baby
7) Riot in Cell Block #9
8) Shama Lama Ding Dong
9) This Ol' House
10) Rock Around the Clock
11) Break on Through
12) break song

4th set

1) Feel a Whole Lot Better
2) Crossroads
3) Good Lovin'
4) Tossin' & Turnin'
5) Twistin' the Night Away
6) All Along the Watchtower/Gloria
7) (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
8) Red Hot
9) Kentucky State choir rap
10) Kentucky State choir spirituals
11) Shout

Audio - yes (soundboard recording by MK), Video - no, Pictures - yes

October 25, 1981 - Eddie & the Otters at the BBC (British Bicycle Club)

When Decade owner Dom DiSilvio got remarried, he asked us to play at his wedding reception, held at a private club in downtown Pittsburgh. I don't remember much about this performance except that Bryan Bassett (brother of the bride) sat in on guitar for "Johnny B. Goode". Bryan was the guitarist with T. Dice and had previously played in Wild Cherry (post "Play That Funky Music") and various lineups of Airborne, Tumbling Dice, Scarab, Rhode Apple, and other Pittsburgh bands. He later joined the Silencers in their last year or two and went on to play with Molly Hatchet. For many years now he's been the lead guitarist with Foghat.

No tapes, no pictures, no video, no other memories.


October 25, 1979 - The night after we all went to the Otters' debut at The Decade, Jim (B.), Jean, Janet Kabosky and I went to see Jethro Tull and U.K. at the Civic Arena. We got there late, near the end of U.K.'s set, because I had a mid-term exam in an evening class I was taking at Pitt. We ended up sitting behind the stage because our tickets were for seats directly behind the mixing board.

October 24, 1978 - Eddie & the Otters at Phase III with the Human Switchboard

This was our first bar gig, and I guess you could say our first step towards becoming a "real" band. We performed "Little Girl" for the first time at this show, included a short drum solo in "Gloria", and played our first genuine encore - "Hang On Sloopy". This was also my first bar gig ever, and I remember what a thrill it was to drive past the club on my way to Pitt that day and see our name on the marquee, then see an ad with our name posted on campus and in the Pittsburgh Press.

Audio - yes (only "Gloria"), Video - no, Pictures - yes (only the marquee as far as I know)

October 24, 1979 - The Otters at The Decade

The Otters (Jim S., Doug, Jonathan Newhouse, Diane Ford) made their debut at The Decade. Jim B. and I were there - can't remember if Eddie was or not. I certainly went with an attitude and was all set to not like them, but they weren't bad. They played a mix of new material (including some originals) and standards from the Otters repertoire. One particular memory is of Jean (Thompson, Jim's girlfriend) crying when they played "Brown-Eyed Girl", which Eddie had always (or usually) sung for her.

I recorded the show, and the following is a list of the songs (I don't have any information on sets, and it isn't the complete show):

(In The) Midnight Hour

Brown-Eyed Girl

Chance In A Million (Spitznagel)

Dirty Water

Fire (Springsteen)

Gloria (a reggae version that included "Lively Up Yourself")

Heat Wave

I Am A Book (Gebhard)

I Knew The Bride

Lies

Listen To Her Heart

Little Girl

One Way Or Another

and possibly...

Born Lucky (Newhouse)

Hanging On The Telephone

Paperback Writer

Shakin' All Over

Starry Eyes

The Last Time

They Called It Rock

October 20, 1993 - Eddie & the Otters at The Decade

This was the last time we played at The Decade. It was opening night of their 20th anniversary celebration that also saw reunions of Diamond Reo, the Silencers, and probably the Iron City Houserockers. The occasion was documented with commemorative T-shirts and posters that listed all of the national acts and some of the significant local acts that played there. Eddie & the Otters were listed. The Hell Band was not.

Unfortunately, there was no advertising for the show until AFTER we had already played, so attendance was sparse to the say the least. In fact, Dom wasn't even there - at the last minute someone got him tickets to the Phillies - Blue Jays World Series game in Philadelphia that night, so he blew us off.

We played three sets for the few faithful that night, as noted:

1st set

1) Pipeline
2) I Saw Her Standing There
3) Get Off My Cloud
4) Love Me Two Times
5) Summertime Blues
6) Secret Agent Man
7) Mystery Dance
8) I Fought the Law
9) Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby
10) Brown-Eyed Girl
11) Riot in Cell Block #9
12) Shakin' All Over
13) Hippy Hippy Shake
14) Slow Down

2nd set

1) drum solo
2) So You Want to Be a Rock & Roll Star
3) Feel a Whole Lot Better
4) Little Girl
5) Tossin' & Turnin'
6) Roll Over Beethoven
7) Good Lovin'
8) I Think We're Alone Now
9) Fire
10) You Really Got Me
11) Grand Larceny
12) Angel Baby
13) Paint It Black
14) Day Tripper

3rd set

1) Tales of Brave Ulysses
2) Break on Through
3) Rock & Roll Music
4) Shama Lama Ding Dong
5) Gloria/drum solo/Rockin' in the Free World
6) Runaway
7) I Knew the Bride
8) (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
9) Red Hot
10) We Gotta Get Out of This Place

"Day Tripper" may or may not have been the last song of the 2nd set - it's the last song on the board tape that soundman Ed Smith recorded for me.

"We Gotta Get Out of This Place" was used for the "Otterbiography" CD.

Doug graciously (?) suggested that I start the second set with a drum solo, so I did. Unfortunately, the rest of the band was too busy socializing and I got hung out to dry long after I was done soloing and ready to go into the next song. Thanks guys.

Catching up on a few things I missed...

October 18, 1981 - Eddie & the Otters (sans Doug) and the Spuds at Waverly Church

Short sets by both bands for an open house. For whatever reason Doug couldn't make the gig so we played as a 4-piece, the only time we did a gig with Ramone but not Doug.

I have tapes of both sets, but don't have the information handy to post. Maybe someday.

October 12, 1978 - The Psychotic Petunias 45 went on sale for the first time at Jim's Records. The next night Jim B., Jim. S, and I (and Doug??) went to Phase III to see Richard Hell with Diamond Reo as the opening act. I think the next day (the 14th) Hell did an in-store at Jim's then played at the Phase again, but I didn't go. That was the first time I went to Phase III.

October 9, 1982 - Jim B., Eddie, and I sit in with the Flashcats at the Blarney Stone in Etna, at my and Lynda's wedding reception.

October 9, 1987 - I played my first gig with the Cynics at the Electric Banana, alternating sets with the Beatnik Flies (from Washington DC). The next night we played at the Underground Railroad in Morgantown with the Beatnik Flies again, and on the 11th we opened for the Celibate Rifles at The Decade. On the 15th we were back at The Decade opening for the Membranes.

October 9, 1994 - Mon Gumbo opened for Buckwheat Zydeco at The Decade, the last time Jim B. and I played there.

Happy 25th Anniversary Jim & Jean!

October 1, 1983 - Jim Bird and Jean Thompson were married at Waverly Church with the newly ordained Rev. Eddie Townsend officiating (I was the best man). The reception was held at the University Club on the Pitt campus, with entertainment provided by Endless Summer. Eddie, Jim, Steve Fisher, and I performed "Coat From The Cold" and "I Knew The Bride", fittingly enough.

September 30, 1978 - Eddie & the Otters at the Chatham College cafeteria.

This was the first performance using the name "Eddie" & the Otters, after Eddie decided he didn't want to be known as Otis. And who could blame him? I don't think this show was advertised (except maybe on the Chatham campus) so it must have been word of mouth that drew the large, appreciative audience. Besides Chatham girls, there were a lot of students from Pitt and CMU as well as assorted friends and relatives. Lots of new material was introduced, most notably Beatles and Rolling Stones songs. We also added our "break song", which sort of morphed out of "Rock Around the Clock". At one point Eddie was trying to introduce the band and forgot Jim Bird's name - he turned to the rest of us and yelled off-mic "What the fuck's his name??" I think we played much better than at the toga party, and things really took off near the end of the third set when we strung together "Shout", "You Really Got Me", and "Gloria", three songs that would usually make up the end of all our shows. I've never seen any pictures from this show, but I did record it (with mixed results) on reel-to-reel.

1) This Boy (soundcheck)
2) We Gotta Get Out of This Place (soundcheck)

1st set

1) Rock Around the Clock
2) I Saw Her Standing There
3) Long Tall Sally *
4) Louie Louie
5) Twistin' the Night Away
6) Tossin' & Turnin'
7) Let's Dance
8) This Boy *
9) Shama Lama Ding Dong
10) Money
11) Johnny B. Goode
12) Hound Dog
13) Shout
14) break song

2nd set

1) Secret Agent Man
2) We Gotta Get Out of This Place
3) You Really Got Me
4) The Locomotion (acapella, while changing a broken guitar string) *
5) Roll Over Beethoven
6) Summertime Blues
7) Good Golly Miss Molly *
8) Twist & Shout
9) Blue Suede Shoes
10) Time Is on My Side
11) introduction
12) (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
13) Brown-Eyed Girl
14) Jailhouse Rock
15) Runaway
16) break song

3rd set

1) Johnny B. Goode
2) Shout
3) You Really Got Me
4) Gloria
5) Hang on Sloopy
6) Rock Around the Clock
7) Money

* - only performed at this show (although "Good Golly Miss Molly" was part of the Detroit Medley, which we started playing about 7 months later)



September 30, 1983 - Eddie & the Otters at The Decade with the Spuds, the Hank Band, and the Crazy Aces

This show was Jim's bachelor party, and it was the first time we'd played a full night at The Decade since January, 1982.

The Spuds opened the show. There were some people in the audience who had come expecting the much better known Lawrenceville band S.P.U.D.S. - it's not known whether they left disappointed or stayed for the frivolity. I think this was a six-piece lineup of the Spuds, with Eddie, Jim B., Steve Fisher, Ken Thompson, Phil Skomra, and myself.

The Otters followed with a short three-song set to accompany the strippers Quentin and Noel. Many great drummers got their start backing strippers and that's something I had always wanted to do.

The Hank Band played next - Hank, Jim B., Mark Gaudio, Greg Anthony, and myself.

The Crazy Aces followed - Doug, Keith Yanda, Gary Hoffman, and Kip (Doug, help me out - what was his last name? I remember he had previously played with the Roadhogs).

The Otters played again to close out the night, with members of the Crazy Aces joining in on vocals for "We Gotta Get Out Of This Place". For the encore of "Louie Louie", Jim played drums and I played rhythm guitar.

Most of the show was recorded off the board by Hank and Mark Gaudio, who provided the p.a. Jean took pictures, although they came out kind of dark.

The Spuds set -

1) Rock & Roll Music
2) Good Lovin'
3) Break on Through
4) I Really Love You
5) Tutti Frutti
6) California Sun
7) I Need You
8) Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby
9) Come a Little Bit Closer
10) Red Neck Mother
11) Red Hot

Eddie & the Otters "stripper set" -

1) Rock Around the Clock
(introduction of Quentin and Noel)
2) (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
3) You Really Got Me

The Hank Band's set (incomplete) -

1) I Wish We Were Older
2) I'm Missing You
3) I Can't Say No
4) Never Change Your Mind
5) Going to the Beach

(the opening song was probably "She's So Far Above Me", and we may or may not have played "(My Baby's In) Prep School".)

The Crazy Aces set -

1) (instrumental)
2) Double Talkin' Baby
3) Back in the U.S.A.
4) Lucille
5) Rockabilly Boogie
6) Twenty Flight Rock
7) Flying Saucers Rock & Roll
8) Choo Choo Ch'Boogie
9) Route 66
10) Justine
11) Brown Sugar
12) All Night Long

Eddie & the Otters main set (possibly incomplete, or did we run out of time?) -

1) Little Girl
2) So You Want to Be a Rock & Roll Star
3) Shout
4) We Gotta Get Out of This Place
5) Louie Louie (encore)
6) Secret Agent Man (encore)
7) Roll Over Beethoven (encore)

Holy Sheetz!

This morning I stopped at a Sheetz convenience store in Monroeville to indulge my addiction to Diet Dr. Pepper, and what should be playing on the canned background music (I hesitate to call it Muzak) but Nick Lowe doing "Heart of the City" (the studio version). I must admit that I haven't been this surprised since I heard an orchestrated version of Moby Grape's "8:05" at Giant Eagle a few years ago.

September 25, 1982 - The Spuds played a pasture party in a field outside of Uniontown. We set up on a trailer, and I presume power was supplied from a generator. For this gig we learned a number of country and country/rock tunes to try to appeal to more of the people there. If you can imagine mixing "On the Road Again" (Willie Nelson), "Margueritaville" (with Jim provided a vocal simulation of the steel drums), and "Six Days On The Road" with "Shakin' All Over" and "Gloria". Weird. Besides Eddie, Jim, Steve, and me, the band included Phil Skomra on guitar and Janine Kupets on vocals. And yes, there's a tape and some pictures.

Hey, is this Delta House?

September 16, 1978 - Otis & the Otters play their first gig at a toga party at Chatham College's REA House

This was it - our first gig. Oddly, I don't have any specific memories about things that happened, except that the police (or campus security) showed up during the second set, and Wayno came dressed as Otter, complete with a set of golf clubs. And this was the only time we ever played "Ain't That A Shame".

There are plenty of pictures from this show, some of which are included below (the black & white ones are courtesy of Craig Match). In addition to the main five members, Steve Fisher played bass for part of the second set, and vocal support was offered by Gary Noftz, Craig, and Rich (can anyone tell me his last name??) Who would have thought that we'd still be talking about this 30 years later?

1st set

1) Louie Louie

2) Twistin' the Night Away
3) Tossin' & Turnin'
4) Wipe Out
5) Shama Lama Ding Dong
6) Let's Dance
7) Money
8) Shout
9) Johnny B. Goode

2nd set

1) '69
2) Secret Agent Man
3) Peter Gunn
4) Ain't That a Shame*
5) Hound Dog*
6) Blue Suede Shoes*
7) Runaway*
8) Jailhouse Rock*
9) Twist & Shout
10) Gloria

(* Steve Fisher - bass)

3rd set

1) Louie Louie
2) Twistin' the Night Away
3) Tossin' & Turnin'
4) Shama Lama Ding Dong
5) Let's Dance
6) Money
7) Johnny B. Goode
8) Shout

September 12, 1981 - The Rumblestrips opened for the Flashcats at The Decade. I got a partial audio recording of this show from Carl Grefenstette years ago, and I must have been at the show because at one point Jim S. says something to me and Lynda from the stage. My guess is that this was the first Rumblestrips gig.

September 8, 1980 - The Made In Pittsburgh show at the King's Court Theatre, featuring Eddie & the Otters, the Hornets, the Rockin' Ravens, the Flashcats, Empire, Leslie Smith, and the Walk & Roll Brothers. Derf was the Master of Ceremonies.

We got the band back together to play a one-off show at the King's Court to help promote the Made In Pittsburgh Vol. 1 LP. Ramone refused to play with us because he was dedicated to playing with the Hornets, so Steve Fisher joined us on bass. Doug also performed with Leslie Smith's band. I was living in Detroit and reported off work sick for a total of three days because of this show (more on that later). There were two shows, and each band was permitted to play for only 15-20 minutes.

Otters first show - Little Girl / Grand Larceny / I Knew the Bride / Shakin' All Over / Hippy Hippy Shake

Hornets first show - I'm Missing You / Bad News Travels Fast / Girls Don't Change / Magazine Smile / (My Baby's in) Prep School

Otters second show - Red Hot / Grand Larceny / Gloria

Hornets second show - Resort Waitress / The Beach Song / Pipeline / Go Little Honda / Going to the Beach / (My Baby's in) Prep School

We also sang "Happy Birthday" to Linda Spitznagel.

I remember being really psyched to do this show, mostly because I was depressed living in Detroit and I missed playing in the band and I missed everyone. I believe this was the beginning of the decision process which led me to quit my job and move back home by the end of the year. The show was on a Monday night, I think, and so I reported off work Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, returning to Detroit Wednesday night. It was tough to go back.

Most of the bands were friendly and hanging out together, particularly the Otters, Hornets, and Flashcats. The Rockin' Ravens kept to themselves, huddled in the corner smoking dope, then went out and blew all the other bands off the stage.

Audio - yes, Video - no, Photos - yes (hopefully to be posted later)


September 8, 1979 - I played my second gig with Chuck Owston after the Otters broke up, at some sort of festival in West Park on the North Side. We went on after the Ozanam Strings, a children's orchestra. While I was moving my drums to the stage following their performance, a young boy who was in the orchestra approached me and said, "Hey, Skip, didn't you used to play with Eddie & the Otters?" Naturally I was completely dumbfounded. It turns out that he was Fugi's younger brother. She'd snuck him into The Decade to see the Ramones, and he actually remembered me from our opening set, and recognized me a year and a half later in a different band. Go figure.

Keith Moon Dies

September 7, 1978 - I went to Jim's Records after class only to learn that Keith Moon had died that day. At the time he was favorite drummer, and it was quite a shock.

September 7, 2008 - Happy birthday to my dad (89) and MC5 drummer Dennis "Machine Gun" Thompson (60).

September 5, 1981 - Eddie & the Otters at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary

I don't remember much about this show, but I think Doug was going to be late for some reason so Kenny Thompson filled in for part of the show. However, I have Kenny listed as playing on 5-9 and 15. Who played on 1-4, Doug? Only Jim B.? The pictures also indicate that Eddie, Kenny, and Jim B. played an acoustic set, but I don't think it was recorded. Also, Ramone is playing a Fender bass that looks suspiciously like Steve Fisher's, but I don't have any record of Steve being there. Can anyone explain this? I'll listen to the tape and update this if I needed.

1) Dizzy Miss Lizzy
2) I Only Want to Be With You
3) You Baby
4) Love Potion #9
5) Rock & Roll Music
6) I Knew the Bride
7) Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby
8) California Sun
9) Red Hot
10) This Ol' House
11) Black Slacks
12) Break on Through
13) Day Tripper
14) 19th Nervous Breakdown
15) I Really Love You
16) Good Lovin'
17) Everytime You Walk in the Room
18) Heart of the City
19) I Fought the Law
20) Shakin' All Over
21) Hippy Hippy Shake
22) You Really Got Me
23) So You Want to Be a Rock & Roll Star

September 4, 1981 - Eddie & the Otters at The Decade


This was a sort of "comeback" show in that we intended to start playing regularly again. I suppose we were energized by the release of our EP on Jim's Public Records label, and we realized we still had fun playing together. I remember this show as being the most we were ever paid by The Decade - $500. We played three sets, including a lot of new material as well as songs from the "Billy Jett" era of April-May, 1980 that I hadn't played before and songs from the Spuds' repertoire.

This was the only time we performed Doug's song "Mr. Hollywood".

The p.a. was provided and run by Gregg Kostelich, who at the time was playing in Prototype (or was it still The Jetsons?) Less than three years later he would form The Cynics, and I played drums with them in 1987 and 1988. This show was the first time I met him, but I didn't really get to know him until a year or two later when he was working at Eide's on Federal St.

We started the second set by lip-syncing to our studio recording of "Grand Larceny" which was playing over the p.a. Mid-way through there was the sound of a needle being dragged across the record and we started playing live. Greg Matecko recalls getting into a heated argument with a girl in the audience who took exception to his hysterics while we were lip-syncing. She was convinced that we were really playing, and he was jealous and trying to belittle us. It wasn't until we really started playing that she realized what was happening, and she was properly mortified.

Pat Politano joined us on backing vocals for "We Gotta Get Out of This Place".



1st set

1) Rock & Roll Music
2) Dizzy Miss Lizzy
3) Little Girl
4) Get Off My Cloud
5) Mystery Dance
6) Hound Dog
7) You Can't Do That
8) I Knew the Bride
9) Love Potion #9
10) Secret Agent Man
11) Break on Through
12) Brown-Eyed Girl
13) For Your Love

2nd set

1) taped intro/Grand Larceny
2) This Ol' House
3) Mr. Hollywood
4) Tossin' & Turnin'
5) You Baby
6) Good Lovin'
7) Bad News Travels Fast
8) Black Slacks
9) Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby
10) 19th Nervous Breakdown
11) Love Me Two Times
12) Ticket to Ride
13) Chance in a Million
14) Roll Over Beethoven
15) Detroit Medley
16) Slow Down


3rd set

1) The Kids Are Alright
2) Angel Baby
3) (In The) Midnight Hour
4) Shakin' All Over ->
5) Hippy Hippy Shake
6) So You Want to Be a Rock & Roll Star ->
7) drum solo ->
8) Heart of the City
9) (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
10) We Gotta Get Out of This Place


Audio: Yes. There are two recordings of the show - the second and third sets were taped off the board by Gregg (portions were subsequently used for the limited edition CD "Live At The Decade"), while Phil Skomra recorded the show from the audience, fortunately capturing the missing first set as well as the infamous taped intro to "Grand Larceny" leading off the second set.


Video: No


Photos: Yes, there are several pictures of the show taken by my then-fiance Lynda (see below).

August 30, 2000 - Eddie and the Otters (sort of) at R.J.'s Lounge in North Versailles

Eddie was visiting the Pittsburgh area, and we were able to get together to play. After originally planning to play at Waverly Church, we opted for R.J.'s because of the beer. R.J.'s was (and is) owned by Bob Fedor, a friend of mine (and Jim B.'s) going back to the 2nd grade, and Jim and I had played there a couple of times with Mon Gumbo. Doug was still living in Pittsburgh at the time and brought along a friend of his who played trumpet, and Steve Fisher played bass. Needless to say things were a little rough, with lots of forgotten arrangements, blown chord changes, and the inappropriate trumpet.

Audio - yes, Video - no, Photos - no

August 29, 1981 - Eddie & the Otters at Fat City opening for Norm Nardini & the Tigers

In the late summer, Jim released the four song we'd recorded in March 1980 as an EP ("Journey Through Time and Space"?) on his Public Records label, and we decided to get the band back together to play more regularly, I suppose in the interest of promoting it. We had upcoming dates in early September at The Decade and Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, so we were rehearsing, working in a lot of new material. I don't remember how this gig came about, but either Norman called us while we were rehearsing (at Waverly Church? That doesn't seem likely) or Eddie called Norman, but we went straight from a rehearsal to open for Norman and the Tigers at Fat City, only the second time we'd played there. Obviously this wasn't our crowd, although I guess we went over OK. I don't have a tape of the show, but I definitely remember playing "This Ol' House", one of the tunes we'd just learned. We probably also played "Black Slacks" for the first time here.

Late August, 1978 - Otis & the Otters formed.

Earlier in August I took an acetate of the Psychotic Petunias 45 to Jim's Records. Jim and Doug were planning to put a band together to play at a toga party at Chatham College's REA House. As I recall, Jim had asked or was going to ask his friend Micah Clarke to be the drummer, but after hearing the Petunias 45 he asked me if I was interested. I, in turn, got Jim "Surfin'" Bird into the band because they needed a lead guitarist. We rehearsed at REA House maybe twice (?) The first one was the first time Jim (Bird) and I met Eddie. I remember introducing myself to him and adding, "I'm the drummer" to which he replied with typical dry sarcasm (after looking at my car loaded with drums) "No kidding." At the first rehearsal, Craig Match was there to play piano and sing, but he changed his mind pretty quickly (probably because the drums were too loud.) We started learning songs from the "Animal House" soundtrack which made up the bulk of our early repertoire - "Louie Louie", "Money", "Let's Dance", "Tossin' & Turnin'", "Shama Lama Ding Dong", and, of course, "Shout". We also rehearsed "Hey Paula" but it didn't make the cut. Initially I think the expectation was that we'd do the one gig for the fun of it, and that would be it.

August 27, 1980 - The Hornets at The Decade. Maybe the opening act for the Flashcats? I got a partial tape of this set from Carl Grefenstette years ago, including "Julia So Far Away", "Route 66", and "(My Baby's In) Prep School",

August 25, 1979 - Eddie & the Otters' farewell show at The Decade with The Hell Band.

For obvious reasons, this was one of the most memorable shows we ever did, at least for me. With Eddie preparing to move to Uniontown, this was our last show. I had a hard time dealing with it - this was the first band I was in that was really successful, and I felt like a large part of my identity was tied to being an Otter. Anyway, we went out with a bang, playing one of our best shows ever.

In honor of the occasion, the Hell Band graciously agreed to open for us (for once). We did all of our "A" material and played two long sets. Several memories stand out:

- As we started our third song, "I Saw Her Standing There", Ramone broke a bass string on his Ripper and had to borrow Dave Rusnak's Rickenbacker for the rest of the night.

- In "I Fought The Law", instead of doing the "six gun" rim shots, I grabbed a vocal mic and yelled, "SIX GUN AAUUGGHH!!!" for my only vocal performance ever with the Otters

- During "Love Me Two Times" in the second set, Kim Honath and Diane Ford jumped on stage and ripped Eddie's jeans off. Fortunately Eddie was wearing underwear for once (very stylish plaid boxers).

- When we took our bows after "We Gotta Get Out Of This Place", the machine head on Jim's bass smacked me in the nose. It hurt like hell but there was no blood and the emotion of the moment kind of helped me block the pain.

- The Decade management wanted to stop the show after our first encore ("Kick Out The Jams") because it was after 2 a.m., so I went out to tell the audience, insiting them to yell for more in the process. They finally agreed to let us do a second encore, "Louie Louie", but half-way through the p.a. was turned off. The audience sang along for the last verse and chorus.

We got a good tape of the show thanks to Jean (as usual) and I ended up using a lot of songs for "Otterbiography".

1st set

1) Little Girl
2) Get Off My Cloud
3) I Saw Her Standing There (inc. false start with broken bass string)
4) I Think We're Alone Now
5) I Fought the Law
6) Brown-Eyed Girl
7) Tossin' & Turnin'
8) I Got a Line on You
9) Peter Gunn Theme
10) Secret Agent Man
11) Angel Baby
12) Riot in Cell Block #9
13) Day Tripper
14) Roll Over Beethoven
15) Slow Down

2nd set

1) The Kids Are Alright
2) Mystery Dance
3) Hound Dog
4) Best Friend's Girl
5) Grand Larceny
6) (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
7) I Knew the Bride
8) Love Me Two Times (Eddie gets de-pants'd)
9) Feel a Whole Lot Better
10) So You Want to Be a Rock & Roll Star
11) Fire
12) You Really Got Me
13) Gloria
14) Shout
15) We Gotta Get Out of This Place
16) Kick Out the Jams (1st encore)
17) Louie Louie (2nd encore)

Sorry I didn't add any photos to this post. For some reason I don't have any scanned, but I'll get some up eventually.

Audio - yes, Video - no, Photos - yes

August 23, 1979 - Eddie & the Otters at The Decade. This was the last show we played at The Decade by ourselves before the first breakup. For several reasons, this was a more memorable show. Two of the sets featured guest introductions, one by Derf and one by Wayno. At the end of the show I kicked over my drums (two bass drums, no less) and Jim smashed his guitar (his first electric guitar, purchased at Clabers many years earlier).

I had a potential scheduling conflict once again because I was scheduled to work 3-11 shift at the Duquesne Works, but I arranged for the girl working 11-7 to come in early so I could make the show. At lunchtime I went to The Decade and set my drums up so I wouldn't have to worry about taking time to set them up. Obviously I was very trusting that they'd still be there that night! I decide to use both bass drums (visual effect only since I could play them particularly well) and I also used my Synare electronic drum for a "ray gun" effect on "I Fought the Law".

During the encore, Jim switched guitars after "You Really Got Me". He hadn't told anyone except me that he planned to smash a guitar, and apparently a few people were freaked out because they thought it was his Strat because both guitars had sunburst finishes. Unfortunately, the Clabers guitar was horribly out of tune and Jim desperately tried to tune it during Eddie's spoken intro to "Kick Out the Jams". When it was time to start the song he wasn't done, but in order to preserve some momentum, I started playing after trying to buy him a couple of more seconds. As a result, the guitar is still badly out of tune throughout.

There are a fair number of pictures from this show because my friend Rob came to take pictures of the band, and Wayno took some pictures of the equipment trashing with my camera. The audio tape came out pretty good, too, and I used "I Fought the Law" and "Do the Otter" for the "Otterbiography" CD in 1999.

1st set

1) Wayno introduction - Little Girl

2) Get Off My Cloud

3) Open My Eyes

4) Summertime Blues

5) Tossin' & Turnin'

6) Let's Dance

7) Twistin' the Night Away

8) Best Friend's Girl

9) They Called It Rock

10) Ticket to Ride

11) Roll Over Beethoven

12) Detroit Medley

2nd set

1) The Kids Are Alright

2) I Think We're Alone Now

3) Riot in Cell Block #9

4) Peter Gunn Theme

5) Secret Agent Man

6) Brown-Eyed Girl

7) I Saw Her Standing There

8) You Can't Do That

9) I Hear You Knockin'

10) Last Train to Clarksville

11) I Got a Line on You

12) The Last Time

13) Like a Rolling Stone

14) (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction

15) Don't Come Close

16) I Fought the Law

17) Grand Larceny

18) Slow Down

3rd set

1) Derf introduction - Mystery Dance

2) Hound Dog

3) 19th Nervous Breakdown

4) Sky Pilot

5) Louie Louie

6) So You Want to Be a Rock & Roll Star

7) Day Tripper

8) Feel a Whole Lot Better

9) Love Me Two Times

10) Yummy Yummy Yummy

11) Sweet Little Sixteen/Surfin' U.S.A.

12) I Knew the Bride

13) Do the Otter

14) Shout

15) Gloria (with drum solo)

16) We Gotta Get Out of This Place

(encore)

17) You Really Got Me

18) Kick Out the Jams (equipment trashing at the end)

Audio - yes, Video - no, Photos - yes (2 sources)