Be patient. They load slowly.
The Buzzcocks need no introduction. Here they are doing “What Do I Get?” at the Bradford Hotel Ballroom, Boston, 1980. Here. I was a senior in high school and I saw this show. I think I can see my younger self in the crowd, actually, which is pretty funny.
The legendary Neighborhoods featuring the incredible David Minehan doing “Monday Morning”, 1979. Here. The way the people are dancing is very much the Boston pre-hardcore punk rock style. It takes me back.
I cannot begin to tell you how unbelievably great these guys were in their prime. Minehan is one of the unsung heroes of rock. David Bowie is reported to have said that Minehan was the best live performer he ever saw. It is plausible. I saw them at a bunch of all ages shows back circa 1979-83 and they were as good as anybody I have ever seen. They opened for the Ramones at Taunton High School and it was tough to say who was better. There is not much on the Net about them, though this is pretty good: Here’s a quote: “The club was tiny, about the size of the loft upstairs at the RAT, and despite the absence of a crowd the Neighborhoods played a torrid set, impassioned vocals and fiery solos and the works.” Yes. I saw the ‘Hoods play like they were at Wembley Stadium opening for the Who, like their lives were at stake, for maybe 12 teenage kids, including me, at a crappy bar at the Westgate Mall in Brockton — the Massachusetts equivalent of the butt-end of nowhere. My heroes. It was about the rock, and about the fans, and all in attendance were soaked with sweat by the time the bar made them stop playing … .
Life has had its good moments.
Ah, the Buzzcocks and the ‘Hoods. Nice taste, man.