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