[Time Never Forgets] Farewell, Charlie Chesterman
Posted on December 16, 2013 at 9:00 am | 3 Comments
Just over a month ago, Boston-based musician Charlie Chesterman passed away. The news hit me like a brick, knocking me out of the daily hamster wheel as I prepped for a trip to the West Coast. I spent much of the cross-country plane ride with Scruffy the Cat, his seminal Boston rock band, playing loudly in my headphones.
I first heard Charlie & his songs more than 25 years ago, as a fresh-eared DJ filling summer slots at WWPV, the St. Michael’s College radio station up in northern Vermont. I was too young to be working at a college station (and one I wasn’t even planning on attending), but I had a hookup and a music obsession, and that was enough. Scruffy the Cat’s 1987 EP “Boom Boom Boom Bingo” stared at me from the stacks one day, and “You Dirty Rat“, the lead-off track, totally nailed me.
Sure, other bands outta Boston grabbed my attention – first the Cars in junior high, then the Pixies later on – but somehow Scruffy seemed more real. The were tangible, relatable, more down-to-Earth than the others, and they started me thinking that bands I could fall in love with were made up of musicians I could hang with. They were a bar band gone big, guys playing rock music that had me believing anyone could play rock music. Taken a certain way, that might sound like an insult, but from me it’s the furthest thing from it. They planted the seeds of my playing in bands – something I eventually did, something that changed my life.
I followed Scruffy the Cat, and Charlie’s post-Scruffy projects, into the 1990’s and beyond. Even though I ended up in Boston, and got the chance to see him perform a couple times, I never did try to meet the man – I wouldn’t have known what to say anyway. But I was always listening, always following, excited at any news of possible reunion shows, gut-punched by news of Charlie’s health struggles.
On November 4th, 2013, he left us. At last Sunday evening’s Boston Music Awards, Charlie’s longtime friend and studio collaborator Pete Weiss presented his wife Juliann with the “Unsung Hero” award. Here’s what he had to say to the Liberty Hotel crowd…
His own brand of wordplay, guitar finesse, and soulful (and sometimes mournful) singing defined him as a unique and valuable songwriter and performer.
I was lucky enough to work with him on seven albums over 20 years. And I was lucky to have him as a friend.
We lost one of the greats. We will miss him badly. But we’re lucky he left us such amazing music — Scruffy the Cat, the Harmony Rockets, the Legendary Motorbikes, and solo recordings.
It’s my privilege to present the Unsung Hero Award to Charlie’s wife, Juliann Cydylo.
– Pete Weiss
A fund has been established to help Charlie’s family in the wake of his passing, so please consider dropping some money in the digital hat “For The Love Of Charlie Chesterman”. You can also contribute to the cause by grabbing the 20-track “Solid Gold Electric Chestnut Dispenser” compilation, which is a “collection of hard-to-find compilation tracks and previously unreleased rarities by the ex-Scruffy The Cat frontman, spanning 1992-2012.” Well worth a measly 10 bucks.
What follows is a long form obituary that was passed along last month, and I proudly share it here. See below for some Scruffy The Cat songs to stream while you read about the gentleman who wrote ’em…
Born and raised in Des Moines, Charlie was lead singer of The Law, one of Iowa’s first punk bands, in the late 1970’s. He moved to Boston in the early 1980s where he started Scruffy the Cat, writing songs, playing guitar and singing most lead vocals. The band was at the forefront of a budding roots-rock movement, touring the U.S. relentlessly, sharing bills with the likes of The Replacements, Yo La Tengo, and Los Lobos, while releasing two full-length albums and two EPs on Relativity Records. After garnering attention on Coyote Records’ 1986 Luxury Condos compilation, Scruffy the Cat’s first EP High Octane Revival earned the fourth spot on the Village Voice 1986 Jazz and Pop Critics Poll. The band’s debut full-length album Tiny Days was released the following year and quickly topped college radio playlists. The video for the album’s track “My Baby, She’s Alright” entered rotation on MTV and the band was later profiled in Newsweek magazine. During an interview conducted from a street corner phone booth, Charlie commented on Scruffy the Cat’s spread in Rolling Stone’s “Back to School” fall fashion issue, “We were going to get into Rolling Stone one way or another, so we figured we might as well get pictures of us with someone else’s clothes on.”
In 1988, a follow up album was recorded in Memphis with famed producer Jim Dickinson. Although Moons of Jupiter was not as enthusiastically received in pop circles as the previous album, the experience of recording in the shadow of Elvis, Al Green, Booker T and Stax/Volt left a deep impression on Charlie. It proved pivotal in leveraging both his own development as a crafter of songs and in his transition from pop star to mature artist in the wake of Scruffy’s subsequent disbandment. As Chris Heim observed in a glowing 1988 Chicago Tribune review of the album: “It wasn’t quite as dramatic as Saul on the road to Damascus, but something did happen to the Boston-based band Scruffy the Cat on its way to Memphis that converted once punky attack cats into sweet, soulfully cool kitties.”
In the early 1990s, Charlie formed The Harmony Rockets, a jangly, British-pop-rock-influenced band. Popular and critically-acclaimed, the band played around the New England region, and released one record. In 1993, he recorded a few demos as a solo artist that resulted in his signing to Slow River/Rykodisc Records, with whom he recorded three albums — From the Book of Flames, Studebakersfield, and Dynamite Music Machine — that formed a sort of tragedy-to-redemption trilogy. He later put out three more albums with his band The Legendary Motorbikes, often known simply as Chaz & the Motorbikes. After stepping away from music for a few years to focus on raising his family, he issued a collection of unreleased and rare recordings entitled Solid Gold Electric Chestnut Dispenser.
Charlie’s longtime producer Pete Weiss said, “I feel incredibly lucky to have had him as a close friend and collaborator. And I’m very grateful to have been invited into his amazing musical world. I love, love, love how uncompromising he was with his music, and how he looked at rock and roll through a visual/conceptual artist’s lens.”
Charlie loved Rickenbacker guitars, motorcycles and Vespa scooters, and collected mid-century American graphics. He studied and cherished the songwriting finesse of Buddy Holly, the raw grit and creativity of the early Beatles, the bombast of Little Richard, the twang of Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent, and the ageless pop-rock of Chuck Berry, all of whom factored into his own style of songwriting and performance. In addition to his musical career, Charlie worked for many years at Boston’s PSG Framing.
Charlie died peacefully at home surrounded by family. He is survived by his wife Juliann Cydylo, his daughter Clementine and son Woolsey, his sister Nancy Covington, his brothers Ted and Dan Austin, and his mother Carolyn Chesterman.
* Steve Morse of the Boston Globe wrote a feature on Charlie’s passing.
* For more about Charlie, visit the Friends of Charlie Chesterman page on Facebook. This post, written by his friend Michael Charles (who took the topmost photo) is where many of us first heard of his passing.
* While you’re at it, join the Scruffy The Cat fans group.
* It’s a crime that Scruffy the Cat’s major label output has been unavailable for so long, but there may be justice on the horizon. Keep an eye on those two Facebook groups while you keep your fingers crossed.
And finally, a few StC songs. Thanks for everything, Charlie…
[Last Thursday’s Playlist] New Music Night XIII at River Gods
Posted on November 25, 2013 at 7:03 am | No Comments
The 13th installment of New Music Night, our final DJ night of 2013, happened last Thursday over at River Gods in Cambridge, MA. Unlucky number, my arse. Good times took place as Jay Clicky Clicky and I served up nothing but new sounds for four hours straight.
So what did we play during our stint in the DJ booth? Glad you asked, ‘cuz I happen to have my playlist right here, and it took me longer to pull together and write up than it did to actually spin. So take advantage, and follow the links to download/listen/buy. There’s a wealth of new aural greatness below…
And be sure to step on over to Clicky Clicky for Jay’s ace playlists, where there’s more valuable info and aural pleasure to be found. #NewMusicNight returns in January, where there’ll undoubtedly be plenty of new songs to be shared.
New Music Night XIII
at River Gods in Cambridge, MA
on Thursday, November 21st, 2013
* Boston-area band
Set One / Brad Almanac / 9pm – 10pm
01. Snowbird – “Porcelain”
[ From the forthcoming debut LP, “moon” / Stream song at Soundcloud ]
02. Mogwai – “Remurdered”
[ From the forthcoming Sub Pop LP “Rave Tapes” / Stream track at Soundcloud ]
03. The Notwist – “Close To The Glass”
[ Title track from their upcoming Sub Pop LP / Stream song at Soundcloud ]
04. Belgian Fog – “You Drive Me To Madness”
[ New single / Stream song on Soundcloud / Video on YouTube ]
05. Barbara Manning – “Wishes Don’t Tie You Down”
[ Her latest digital single / Listen at Bandcamp ]
06. Barton Carroll – “The Straight Mile”
[ From his new LP, “Avery County, I’m Bound to You” / Soundcloud / MP3 ]
07. Howe Gelb – “Unforgivable”
[ From his new LP, “The Coincidentalist” / Stream LP at the WSJ ]
08. Damien Jurado – “Silver Timothy”
[ From his upcoming LP, “Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Son” / MP3 ]
* 09. Marissa Nadler – “Dead City Emily”
[ From her upcoming album, “July”, out in Feb. 2014 / Stream song at Soundcloud ]
10. Tara Jane Oneil – “Wordless In Woods”
[ From her upcoming fan-funded LP “Where Shine New Lights” / Soundcloud / MP3 ]
* 11. The New Highway Hymnal – “By The Pool”
[ From the brand new “Reverb Room” EP / Stream at Bandcamp ]
12. Crooks on Tape – “If Feelings Mean a Thing”
[ From their new “Fingerprint” LP / Stream song on Soundcloud ]
13. Throwing Muses – “Freesia”
[ From their new LP, “Purgatory/Paradise” / Download demo version via CASH Music ]
14. Joanna Gruesome – “Tugboat” (Galaxie 500 cover)
[ From the “Sugarcrush” single / Stream song at Soundcloud ]
* 15. Reindeer – “Blue And White”
[ Debut digital release / Stream song on Bandcamp ]
16. The Middle Ones – “McBee”
[ From the October WIAIWYA 7-inch / Stream song at Bandcamp ]
17. The Ocean Blue – “No Money In That”
[ New song from the Korda 2 Komp / Stream song on Soundcloud ]
Set Two / Brad Almanac / 11pm – midnight
18. There Will Be Fireworks – “Youngblood”
[ From their new album, “The Dark, Dark Bright”, out tomorrow / Stream song on YouTube ]
19. Secretary – “The Only Ones”
[ From their self-titled debut EP / Stream at Bandcamp ]
20. Let’s Whisper – “Paperclip Chains”
[ From the forthcoming WeePOP! LP / Download via the Kickstarter campaign / MP3 ]
21. Withered Hand – “Black Tambourine”
[ From the forthcoming Slumberland LP, “New Gods” / Soundcloud / Video teaser ]
22. Ducktails – “Honey Tiger Eyes”
[ From the new “Wish Hotel” EP / Stream song on Soundcloud ]
23. Axxa/Abraxas – “I Almost Fell”
[ From their forthcoming debut Captured Tracks LP / Stream song on Soundcloud ]
24. Dum Dum Girls – “Lost Boys & Girls Club”
[ From the forthcoming Sub Pop LP, “Too True” / Stream track at Soundcloud ]
25. Hospitality – “I Miss Your Bones”
[ From their forthcoming Merge LP, “Trouble” / Stream song on Soundcloud ]
26. Midlake – “Antiphon”
[ Title track from their new LP / Stream song on Soundcloud ]
27. Minor Alps – “I Don’t Know What To Do With My Hands”
[ From their debut Barsuk LP, “Get There” / Stream on Soundcloud ]
28. The Bruised Reed – “Needle In The Hay” (Elliott Smith cover)
[ Lead-off track from the Detroit-based Elliott Smith tribute / Stream at Bandcamp ]
29. Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks – “Lariat”
[ From the forthcoming Matador LP “Wig Out At Jagbags” / Stream song at YouTube ]
30. Vertical Scratchers – “These Plains”
[ From the upcoming Merge LP “Daughter of Everything” / Stream it on Soundcloud ]
31. Survival Knife – “Divine Mob”
[ From their latest 7-inch on KRS / Stream songs on Bandcamp ]
32. Ume – “Black Stone”
[ Preview track from their fan-funded next LP / Stream song on Soundcloud ]
33. Bailterspace – “Today”
[ From their new LP, “Trinine” / Stream the song on Soundcloud ]
* 34. Caspian – “Hymn For The Greatest Generation”
[ Title track from their new EP / Stream on Soundcloud ]
As I said, #NewMusicNight will return in 2014. Don’t fret.
Happy Holidays, people. May they be stress-free and well-soundtracked.