Va bene, Carlucci, tu sei musicista, un ex-Fuzztones and you are on the inside track while my english sucks and sure I don´t have this expertise, but I beg to differ and so I´ll try... At least just to say my (to your eyes, incompetent) opinion.
Is not my intention to fight or to growl at you John, really, but as a Fan i feel offended by you! Since you can´t help doing discrediting the Fuzztones and Rudi as soon as those names are mentioned, you might expect some Fuzztones´s fans to take issue with you! So you are gonna be my english-exercise today.
"Rudi stole the entire image from The Music Machine"??
Not agree at all... the mop-top haircut wasn´t their exclusive and the Fuzztones´s haircut was much longer and so very singular if not unique! Wearing all black? Johnny Cash used to do this long before, lot of other bands did or do as well. Even myself, since about 81 i use to wear all in black (i still do, mostly!!). I don´t know whom i have stoled my image but more probably is just because it better extravert my dark disposition and my anger.
Are you talking about the instruments? Typical 60s-bands aren´t? The Farfisa Organ? Deb had one in Tina Peel already, right? The Fuzzbox? One of the coolest inventions!! I seem to recall to have read Rudi owned a fuzzbox in the 60s already. (By the way he choose for his band the best name he could choose, to my little opinion!)
"Rudi played a Carvin Les Paul copy"?? Well, so i suppose to be a bad guitar? Maybe he just didn´t had the money for a better one at that time?! No idea! But I´ve seen Tina Peel´s vids in which he played a Vox... So?
Of course the Music Machine were one of the greatest, most original and inspiring 60s-garage bands and yes, the single glove actually IS the prickly (?) attribute which however, could be intended as a symbol for their influences on Rudi or his love for them?.
Did Sean Bonniwell ever complain to him for it? I don´t think so...
Talking about look: To me Fuzztones means: yes, betimes, a long mop-top-haircut and for sure long hairs (which I love much more than a mop-top ;). Tooted or Bones-Necklaces (which are extremely cool especially on black gear) and the crossed phantoms as a logo!!! (even much cooler!!:) This way They influenced on the look bunch of bands still to this days. So what? In my opinion, Rudi has a great taste... He´s been kind of trendsetter for many different things in the past.
And he has a huge "Charisma"! while lots of great! musicians, don´t have this at all!!
(And i´m not even talking about his beauty, since is secondary to me!)
"Tina Peel wore matching outfits of stripes, polka dots & checkers.."
If you consider the time they were dressed that way (76?), you may rather say they influenced some New-Wave´s bands some years later.
"In some cases, he had dudes that were bald, so he made them wear wigs"
Ha ha, that´s funny!... But don´t most of bands work hard to have an (own) "image" different from other bands? Though, anyway, do you have to go blue that much???
"We? had the chops & the spirit to put on an amazing live show."
Those, in 85, were already amazing live of Fuzztones to me, they doesn´t look like the Music Machine. They not even sounds alike other bands, not even when they did a cover.
I loved them and you weren´t in the band yet! Elixir festival 85 >
I´s a great pity that all those fantastic 60s bands disappeared so fast in your country (why wheren´t you all listen at them that much and buying their records and so let them live longer?) while the Beatles in Europe got that big??
(ok, sure, they were pop by comparison, but still..)
We were grateful for the Fuzztones bringing those great tunes to Europe, (original or not). Personally i think they let re-surge those great tune in their own singular way!
So, i would rather say they re-invented this music style!
The fuzztones sounds like Fuzztones and nobody else, even when the cover.
(As well as the Cramps when they covered)
Personally, i love most of the original Fuzztones songs too.
"IMO The Ramones & Cramps are in a different league"
In the USA they may be in a different league!! OK!
But not here! In Europe they are in the same league!
I don´t think your experience or music-taste must be the benchmark.
IMO this is not the right place for you to conduct a campaign against a music colleague, (though i bet Rudi couldn´t care less), do You think YOUR carrier is gonna be better than?
Since i believe your behave is unfair, i guess you will give yourself a favor by stopping this picking at him. And if you really have an axe to grind with Rudi, please do it somewhere else, ideally, personally with him.
(Non mi fare vergognare anche tu di essere Italiana,
ti prego, con Berlusconi abbiamo gia´fatto il pieno!)
And now back to topic, i hope!
John Carlucci said:
I think I have some expertise on this particular topic and can shed some light on the situation having been in this band for 5 years when they were in their prime.... Yes, Rudi stole the entire image from The Music Machine. The Fuzztones started as a novelty side band to his "real" band, Tina Peel. Tina Peel wore matching outfits of stripes, polka dots & checkers and Rudi played a Carvin Les Paul copy. The funny thing is that the novelty side band went over better than his main band, so he kept doing it. He pieces his bands together by whoever is available, then dresses them up to fit his "image". He tells them what guitars to play, what clothes to wear & how to cut their hair. In some cases, he had dudes that were bald, so he made them wear wigs. Some of his band mates knew nothing at all about garage music, and were basically hard rock dudes that he molded to fit the look. I was from a Punk Rock background & had my most success to that point as a member of the Power Pop band, The Speedies. The most amazing thing about the line-up of the Fuzztones when I was in the band is that despite Rudi, the other 4 of us had amazing chemistry & we took the band to a different place. Try as he did to control us, I did not work. I am & always have been a non-conformist. We had the chops & the spirit to put on an amazing live show. But the original songs Rudi wrote were nothing compared to the covers we did. You have to realize that in the 80's the internet did not exist. It was not that easy to find these rare songs by bands like The Sonics & 13th Floor Elevators. A lot of people did not realize we were doing covers back then. This was their first exposure to this genre. So now you have young bands emulating what we did while we were emulating what came before. IMO The Ramones & Cramps are in a different league, They had their own voice & did something more original than we did. We tried, but it was an uphill battle the entire time.
Is it possible to call them "a Music Machine wannabee"-band just for a single glove used by a young Rudi, while on the other hand, still today, you hve bunch of bands wearing bones-chains a la Fuzztones? Are they Fuzztones wannabee bands?? I´m confused...
(but hell, it may be!.. ;)