They were a garage band from upstate New York (I can't remember if they were from Buffalo or Rochester).  I first saw them several years ago at the 31st Street Pub here in Pittsburgh, PA, and I really liked them, especially their lead singer who reminded me a lot of Michael Kastelic.  They recorded two albums with Garage Pop Records, and then they signed to Get Hip and put out one more album.  I recently asked Barbara Kostelich about them, and she told me they broke up.  

Anyway, I was just wondering if anyone else here ever saw them or heard of them.  

The Chesterfield Kings are a great band, but it doesn't surprise me that they can be pricks.  I've never met Gregg Prevost, but I can tell from looking at him that he just lives in his own world.

 

I too subscribe to Sirius:)  I love Handsome Dick Manitoba, and I like Kim Fowley too, even though he comes off as such a creep.

Rob Filardo said:

i don't hate the UG, i just still have some bitterness b/c of that whole Kings Krap.. Little Steven has the right idea, and his guest DJ's on his satellite shows are cool(Kim Fowley, Andrew Oldham, etc)

and, despite the fact that i am not a Chesterfield Kings, i'm still friends with Paul Morabito.

FYI - Rick Cona and i used to play together in a band called The Veins(w/ex-Uncle Sam singer Dave Gentner)

...and Paulie Rocco(R.I.P.) and i, along with 'Frantic' Frank Deblase, used to play together in The White Devils.

The kings can still put on a good show but overall, i don't have a high opinion of them personally.

i don't hate the UG, i just still have some bitterness b/c of that whole Kings Krap.. Little Steven has the right idea, and his guest DJ's on his satellite shows are cool(Kim Fowley, Andrew Oldham, etc)

and, despite the fact that i am not a Chesterfield Kings, i'm still friends with Paul Morabito.

FYI - Rick Cona and i used to play together in a band called The Veins(w/ex-Uncle Sam singer Dave Gentner)

...and Paulie Rocco(R.I.P.) and i, along with 'Frantic' Frank Deblase, used to play together in The White Devils.

The kings can still put on a good show but overall, i don't have a high opinion of them personally.

Glad to hear that too:)  Again, my condolences for getting blacklisted from the UG.

Rob Filardo said:

 

oh and we were never blacklisted in Rochester, just from Miami Steve's show and the House of Guitars(probably lol)

Thanks for telling us your side of the story:)  BTW, I was real happy for you guys when you did get some airplay on the UG.  I also still listen to your garage pop releases on occasion.  Please don't hold it against me for still listening to the UG.

Rob Filardo said:

well part of that story is true. i played bass/farfisa for the Priests. our singer did kick the shit out of Paul Morabito of the kings(and Moviees)at a Creation show at the Mohawk Place in Buffalo, but even Paul now admits he deserved it.

the song Little Steven played on his show from our Get Hip release, 'Tall Tales' was called 'MORE" and it was part of a weekly or so feature on Miami Steve's show called 'Coolest Song Of The Week' or something...andy from the kings apparently ALLEGEDLY filled Miami Steve's brain with all sorts of nastiness about us saying we're no good, etc, we beat up his guitarist, etc....kind of like going to the high school principal...and well, we were blacklisted from that radio program.

 

oh and my other band The Quitters wrote an anti-kings song called 'Monkee Suit which wasn't played much at the Babiuk household.

 

the Cavestomp story is totally accurate, unbelievable, and fucking hilarious even to me! :)

 

we went on to do some US touring, Las Vegas Shakedown, SXSW, and a European tour in 2005. after that, we split up and i have no idea where anyone is. i'm still stuck in Rochester.

MikeL said:

I thought so, because I heard a story through the grapevine that one of the members got into a fight with one of the Chesterfield Kings, and that got them blacklisted.  I don't know if the blacklist applied to certain clubs, or just to CK gigs, or the whole city of Rochester.  

 

I saw them for the last time in late 2004, when they shared a bill with the Cynics at Rosebud, a now defunct club.  Their lead singer and I swapped some stories about the festival at Randall's Island, and he also told me how the band begged Gregg Kostelich to sign them to get them some airplay on the Underground Garage.  They did get their CD released on Get Hip a few months later, and one of their songs was named "Coolest Song in the World" at the time of the release...then Gregg and Little Steven had their falling out, and that was the end of the Priests getting any airplay on the UG.  I felt really bad for them.

 

 

 

 

Hideout Admin said:

I have "Tall Tales" on Get Hip. It's not bad. I played three or four of those songs on my old radio show, The Wayback Machine, a few times. And yeah, they were from Rochester.

Ken said:

I remember them...  I never saw them, but I really liked the two CDs on garage pop.  I remember wishing that those had come out on vinyl...

 

oh and we were never blacklisted in Rochester, just from Miami Steve's show and the House of Guitars(probably lol)

well part of that story is true. i played bass/farfisa for the Priests. our singer did kick the shit out of Paul Morabito of the kings(and Moviees)at a Creation show at the Mohawk Place in Buffalo, but even Paul now admits he deserved it.

the song Little Steven played on his show from our Get Hip release, 'Tall Tales' was called 'MORE" and it was part of a weekly or so feature on Miami Steve's show called 'Coolest Song Of The Week' or something...andy from the kings apparently ALLEGEDLY filled Miami Steve's brain with all sorts of nastiness about us saying we're no good, etc, we beat up his guitarist, etc....kind of like going to the high school principal...and well, we were blacklisted from that radio program.

 

oh and my other band The Quitters wrote an anti-kings song called 'Monkee Suit which wasn't played much at the Babiuk household.

 

the Cavestomp story is totally accurate, unbelievable, and fucking hilarious even to me! :)

 

we went on to do some US touring, Las Vegas Shakedown, SXSW, and a European tour in 2005. after that, we split up and i have no idea where anyone is. i'm still stuck in Rochester.

MikeL said:

I thought so, because I heard a story through the grapevine that one of the members got into a fight with one of the Chesterfield Kings, and that got them blacklisted.  I don't know if the blacklist applied to certain clubs, or just to CK gigs, or the whole city of Rochester.  

 

I saw them for the last time in late 2004, when they shared a bill with the Cynics at Rosebud, a now defunct club.  Their lead singer and I swapped some stories about the festival at Randall's Island, and he also told me how the band begged Gregg Kostelich to sign them to get them some airplay on the Underground Garage.  They did get their CD released on Get Hip a few months later, and one of their songs was named "Coolest Song in the World" at the time of the release...then Gregg and Little Steven had their falling out, and that was the end of the Priests getting any airplay on the UG.  I felt really bad for them.

 

 

 

 

Hideout Admin said:

I have "Tall Tales" on Get Hip. It's not bad. I played three or four of those songs on my old radio show, The Wayback Machine, a few times. And yeah, they were from Rochester.

Ken said:

I remember them...  I never saw them, but I really liked the two CDs on garage pop.  I remember wishing that those had come out on vinyl...

Ha! Getting blackisted in Rochester. Somehow that's just funny to me. I'm sure they were crushed. ;)

I thought so, because I heard a story through the grapevine that one of the members got into a fight with one of the Chesterfield Kings, and that got them blacklisted.  I don't know if the blacklist applied to certain clubs, or just to CK gigs, or the whole city of Rochester.  

 

I saw them for the last time in late 2004, when they shared a bill with the Cynics at Rosebud, a now defunct club.  Their lead singer and I swapped some stories about the festival at Randall's Island, and he also told me how the band begged Gregg Kostelich to sign them to get them some airplay on the Underground Garage.  They did get their CD released on Get Hip a few months later, and one of their songs was named "Coolest Song in the World" at the time of the release...then Gregg and Little Steven had their falling out, and that was the end of the Priests getting any airplay on the UG.  I felt really bad for them.

 

 

 

 

Hideout Admin said:

I have "Tall Tales" on Get Hip. It's not bad. I played three or four of those songs on my old radio show, The Wayback Machine, a few times. And yeah, they were from Rochester.

Ken said:

I remember them...  I never saw them, but I really liked the two CDs on garage pop.  I remember wishing that those had come out on vinyl...

Cool story:)  Very "Spinal Tap."

Hideout Admin said:

Yeah, I remember reading about them on the Bomp list many moons ago. They'd won some battle of the bands competition and were invited to play one of the Cavestomp shows, and they were told that a backline would be provided, including drums. But their drummer assumed that meant he wouldn't need to bring sticks, either (whoops)! Here's how this tale unfolded, copied directly from the Bomp list archives:

The Waistcoats, who were also on the bill, lent him two pairs of sticks, of which he broke three IN THE FIRST TWO SONGS. And he wasn't even playing that hard -- I was offstage to his right and had a very good view.

None of the other bands were willing to lend them any sticks after that, and I don't blame 'em.  (Though the headliners, Electric Prunes, weren't in the building at the time and weren't asked.)

The Priests wandered helplessly around the stage for awhile while the drummer left to go beg for sticks.  HE DIDN'T EVEN TELL THE OTHER GUYS IN THE BAND WHAT HAD HAPPENED OR WHAT HE WAS DOING.  All they knew was that he had bolted. They must have thought he got sick or something.

There are no music stores in the immediate area, but there are a couple in that part of Brooklyn. Several people IN THE AUDIENCE started making phone calls looking for sticks. A few of them found sticks at rehearsal studios and such, and people were dispatched to get them.

Of course, this was all too late.  After a VERY painful ten minutes of Priestly Stage-Pacing, Van Zandt came out onstage and grabbed the mic and said "Oh well, whaddaya gonna do? DA PRIESTS!" and they were outta there.

But what happened next was hilarious. As the next two bands played, the sticks started arriving.  People wandered in with drumsticks, placed them on the stage, and walked away.  For a while I thought it was 1980 again and Pink Floyd was doing "The Wall," and eventually the band was going to be completely obscured from view by a wall of drumsticks...

Haha!

I have "Tall Tales" on Get Hip. It's not bad. I played three or four of those songs on my old radio show, The Wayback Machine, a few times. And yeah, they were from Rochester.

Ken said:

I remember them...  I never saw them, but I really liked the two CDs on garage pop.  I remember wishing that those had come out on vinyl...

Yeah, I remember reading about them on the Bomp list many moons ago. They'd won some battle of the bands competition and were invited to play one of the Cavestomp shows, and they were told that a backline would be provided, including drums. But their drummer assumed that meant he wouldn't need to bring sticks, either (whoops)! Here's how this tale unfolded, copied directly from the Bomp list archives:

The Waistcoats, who were also on the bill, lent him two pairs of sticks, of which he broke three IN THE FIRST TWO SONGS. And he wasn't even playing that hard -- I was offstage to his right and had a very good view.

None of the other bands were willing to lend them any sticks after that, and I don't blame 'em.  (Though the headliners, Electric Prunes, weren't in the building at the time and weren't asked.)

The Priests wandered helplessly around the stage for awhile while the drummer left to go beg for sticks.  HE DIDN'T EVEN TELL THE OTHER GUYS IN THE BAND WHAT HAD HAPPENED OR WHAT HE WAS DOING.  All they knew was that he had bolted. They must have thought he got sick or something.

There are no music stores in the immediate area, but there are a couple in that part of Brooklyn. Several people IN THE AUDIENCE started making phone calls looking for sticks. A few of them found sticks at rehearsal studios and such, and people were dispatched to get them.

Of course, this was all too late.  After a VERY painful ten minutes of Priestly Stage-Pacing, Van Zandt came out onstage and grabbed the mic and said "Oh well, whaddaya gonna do? DA PRIESTS!" and they were outta there.

But what happened next was hilarious. As the next two bands played, the sticks started arriving.  People wandered in with drumsticks, placed them on the stage, and walked away.  For a while I thought it was 1980 again and Pink Floyd was doing "The Wall," and eventually the band was going to be completely obscured from view by a wall of drumsticks...

Haha!

They were pretty good live.  I remember they did a really good cover of "TV Eye."

Ken said:

I remember them...  I never saw them, but I really liked the two CDs on garage pop.  I remember wishing that those had come out on vinyl...

I remember them...  I never saw them, but I really liked the two CDs on garage pop.  I remember wishing that those had come out on vinyl...