thePULSEBy Heidi LaFleche
Deb Beaudry recalls her first rock show in Worcester ~ Billy Idol at the old E.M. Loew’s theater on Main Street. It was 1981, and she was 18. Some fans she met in line invited the Southbridge teen to Xit 13 on Millbury Street after the show. “I knew this was my new home,” she recalls.
Neither Beaudry, nor Wormtown, would ever be the same.
So began three decades of devoted, relentless fandom, with Beaudry an ever-present fixture on the Worcester punk and rock music scenes. To celebrate (and flip off) turning 50, Beaudry is throwing herself and the city a birthday concert Saturday, May 4, at Ralph’s Chadwick Square Diner, with performances by some of her favorite bands: The Missionarys, Thinner, Blackboard Nails and The Fleshtones.
Beaudry sat down and answered a few questions as she prepares to turn 50.
How has the Worcester music scene changed?
The scene was great back in the day. You used to be able to go to a club four nights a week ~ which I did ~ and always see something great and/or interesting. The punk scene was awesome, and we were all a merry band of misfits and it was great to be a part of it. I had become a journalist in high school and quickly found Fuzbrains, a local fanzine put out by Captain PJ and Reverend Joe [fellow Wormtown punk scene supporters].
So I started writing and editing for them, so I got to know a lot of people in the music scene from here, Boston, New York and everywhere. I would put touring bands up at my house in Southbridge, and my mom was very cool with it! Also, it was great to see bands that were on the verge of being “famous”… getting drunk with The Del Fuegos at Sir Morgan’s Cove one week and then seeing them in a beer commercial the next? Priceless!
What’s it like being in clubs at 50?
From my perspective, being older, there are still a tight knit group of bands who support one another, as it was in the past. But it’s harder to get out and see shows at this stage; everyone has much more responsibility, kids, etc. But there is still a great deal of original music out there that embodies the DIY spirit of the punk scene. I’m not sure about The Palladium shows because I’m not into that type of music; they call it punk and metal, but that’s not the old-school type that I enjoy. I used to help run that place in the early ’90s, and there was more variety there. I wish they would start booking more shows in an assortment of genres like we did, but I guess as long as the kids are having fun.
What’s kept you a fan for all these years?
I just love music, art and all things creative, and there’s a sense of community there still. Between writing about music, being a band manager (Black Rose Garden) and being in a band (groupaction) ~ it’s pretty much a part of my life. I received a Lifetime Achievement Award 10 years ago at the Wormtown 25th Anniversary show; that was a surprise…Yeah, it’s not “the Woo”…sheesh.
How did you meet your husband, New York rocker Rick Blaze?
I was working at Ralph’s Diner in the early ’90s and he came in on a visit from New York. He ordered a cheeseburger without the burger. He was a vegetarian at the time. We struck up a conversation and became friends and allies on the scene. We started dating months later when he moved to Worcester. We got married in 1999, and he died in 2011.
You’ve been a regular feature on the Worcester music scene for decades. What bands have you performed in (officially and otherwise)?
I guess I have to thank Scott Ricciutti, as lots of people have, for giving me my first real boost in that respect. [Ricciuti, a longtime Worcester musician, died in an auto accident in 2012.] I was a fan of his band, Childhood, from way back, and when he started Huck, he would pull me up to sing “The Partridge Family” or “Hot Child in the City” at Chet’s and elsewhere. I also sat in with The Ballbusters and The Balls and did vocals for the Monkees tribute night at The Lucky Dog and one of the Green Street Music Series. I started a band with some WPI students that lasted for one show, and I joined groupaction when I sat in on the recording of their CD and never left.
What else do you do in Worcester?
I am on the Performance Committee of StART on the Street, joining last year; I was in charge of the Scott Ricciutti Memorial Stage. That was great. I also sell my crap at the Ralph’s flea markets in the summer. I would love to start writing or performing again, but I’m just getting my life in order after a tough couple of years, so don’t count me out just yet! Putting this show together is a major undertaking for me, and I want everyone to have a great time and see some awesome talent.
Tell us about the bands you’re featuring for your birthday bash.
The Missionarys were big allies in the ’90s when I was managing Black Rose Garden. They were a part of my “Turkey Tour” in 1993, joining BRG and Bonehead and playing three shows around town in three nights and completely demolishing the old HoJo hotel at College Square in the process. Caroline Kirohn was one of the best (and only) frontwomen of her time and still is; crazy frenetic energy, she reminded me of a Nina Hagen-, Lene Lovich- type of performer, and the band was just dark and vulgar enough to appeal to my twisted sensibilities. Hard to describe… a gothpunk funky jam band from hell?
By the same token, Boston’s Eric Deneen, of The Blackboard Nails, stuck in my head as a great frontman when he was in Baby Strange, which, as I recall, was a glammy-rock outfit in the early 2000s. He still has that swagger with his new band, The Blackboard Nails. Great songs, classic instrumentation ~ just rock when rock had roll.
Thinner. What can I say about “Shorter, the Thinnest band in Worcester?” (That still cracks me up.) When Neil Lucey joined forces with my old pal Dan Rugburn (I still don’t know what his real name is) [McGee] in the late 1990s, I knew this would be interesting, but didn’t know that it would be gold. This three-piece powerhouse has everything ~ hooks, harmonies and balls-out attitude. And they are going to be releasing their new CD just in time for the party!
And what can I say about New York’s The Fleshtones? I was introduced by The Prefab Messiahs’ Mike Michaud in the early ’80s and they have been friends ever since. A more fun stage show you will never see, and they still bring it “All Around The World,” touring constantly since 1976.
Lead singer Peter Zaremba was the host of MTV’s “The Cutting Edge” back in the day, and their shows involve push-ups, shout outs, sing-alongs and parades! Hard to describe, harder to ignore. When I asked Peter if The Fleshtones would like to play my 50th birthday party he said, “I’d love to play for your 50th, but why wait 20 years?” So sweet…
Doors for Deb’s Birthday Gig open at 8 p.m. Saturday, May 4 at Ralph’s Chadwick Square Diner. Admission is $10 and the event is 21-plus. For more information, facebook.com/events/168294323321232/.
Flyer created by TimothyTucker.
