Remembering Jerry

Remembering Jerry

People always remember Johnny Thunders but his band The Heartbreakers helped shape the sound of one of the greatest album released in the seventies and rightly so.  The Heartbreakers consisted of one Jerry Nolan on drums thunders pal from his time with the Dolls. Out of the four members of the band, only Walter Lure is still with us and with it being the 14th of #january the day Jerry passed away we wanted to celebrate his time with us by championing his work and remembering Jerry Nolan. A powerhouse of a drummer who was old school and didn’t go for being flash and played the song.  If there needed to be silence or no drums then that’s what you got.  He had style and managed to look fantastic behind his kit he was a real showman without being flash for the sake of being flash.RPM is gonna champion those forgotten men (and women) who got taken way to soon and what better place to start than in the engine room with the one and only Jerry Nolan, May 7, 1946 – January 14, 1992.

First up is former New York Doll and Heartbreakers drummer  Gerard “Jerry” Nolan.

Jerry passed away on this day in 1992.  Jerry was born in Brooklyn on 7th May 1946 which makes him just 45 when he passed away in Manhatten at St Vincent’s after suffering a stroke. 2018 saw Jerry get some much-deserved limelight with the release of his excellent biography ‘Stranded In The Jungle’ penned by Curt Weiss available here.

Outside of his work with Thunders be it in the Dolls or The Heartbreakers Jerry only managed one 7″ single ‘Take A Chance With Me’ and the posthumously released EP with the Profilers both bearing his name, there were a few other bits here and there as he recorded in Sweden with Pilsner and there was his stint with The Idols that managed one single – not a lot for someone so talented but what we do have is well worth tracking down for one of a few really influential drummers of his generation.  Jerry RPM salutes you and raises a glass in your honor as we remember.

Other notable things happened on this day – This was the day in 1978 when the Pistols played Winterland in San Francisco and the last time Sid would play with the band. They did, however, reform in 96 for a stack of cash.  another pistols fact for this day is they sued Malcolm and were awarded a cool One million pounds (seems like chicken feed these days).

It’s also the very day in ’77 that Bowie released ‘Low‘ and the birthday of David Eric Grohl

Born this day in 1969 Happy Birthday Mr Grohl.

 

 

 

 

Compulsions drop new video teaser and album news

Compulsions drop new video teaser and album news

COMPULSIONS Front Man Returns From Road, Releases Album Teaser Featuring ROLLING STONES Cover (Feat. GUNS N’ ROSES, RAGING SLAB Players)

From camping out in the recording studio with an army of killer New York musicians to racing around England and Germany on a co-headlining tour with
CRYBABYS front man, Darrell Bath (DOGS D’AMOUR, IAN HUNTER, UK SUBS), 2018 has been a busy year for COMPULSIONS leader, Rob Carlyle.
“I had a blast on the road with Darrell,” says Rob. “It’s rare for me to have that much in common with another musician. But musically speaking, we were two peas in a pod. Anyone who brings Now Look by Ron Wood on tour is all right by me! And after one of the German shows, I’m told someone on Facebook called us ‘The Two Greatest Rockers from Each Side of the Pond.’ So, I guess we did all right (laughs).”


But now that he’s back home, Carlyle’s been back in his second home: the recording studio. The New York-born frontman has been putting the final touches on Ferocious, the follow-up to his wildly acclaimed band’s sophomore effort, Dirty Fun (2015) – a release music scribes spilled much ink over as they favorably compared the underground underdogs to legendary artists such as AEROSMITH, THE NEW YORK DOLLS and THE ROLLING STONES.

“The recording process has taken longer than I expected but then again, we had about thirty tracks in the works,” explains Rob. “And it wasn’t until recently that we narrowed them down to the ten songs that’ll be on (Ferocious). But on the flip side, with the other 20 or so tracks already in progress, we have a great head start on the next couple of albums.”
As he continues to tinker with producer Ken Rich at Grand Street Recording, Rob springs a second Ferocious teaser video on the unsuspecting public.

To quickly backtrack: The first clip was unleashed in late 2017, featuring upcoming ditty, “Dirtbag Blues” – an obscenity-laced spurt of back alley sleaze with none other than Earl Slick (yes, DAVID BOWIE’s guitarist!) delivering a rapid-fire barrage of snarling CHUCK BERRY-style licks and riffs. In addition to Carlyle and Slick, rounding out the “Dirtbag” lineup was ex-NEW YORK DOLLS drummer, Brian Delaney, and ex-RAGING SLAB bassist, Alex Morton

Fast forward to today for the release of a second Ferocious video.

In this latest video, Rob and a seemingly heavily sedated nurse are sprawled out on a dirty basement floor while Rob strums his battered Telecaster. The music features THE COMPULSIONS tearing through THE ROLLING STONES’ country-inspired classic, “Dead Flowers”. The “Flowers” recording lineup consists of two GUNS N’ ROSES alumni, Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal on guitar heroics and Frank Ferrer on drums, along with Carlyle and Morton in their respective roles – not to mention gospel-tinged backing vocals by Nicki Richards (borrowed from MADONNA and MARIAH CAREY) and boozy barroom piano by Andrew Sherman. The new teaser video featuring “Dead
Flowers”

An official release date for Ferocious has yet to be announced, however, Rob offered this: “I thought we’d release (Ferocious) in 2018, but between working on almost 30 tracks and the tour dates that popped up unexpectedly, we’re gonna now shoot for 2019. In the meantime, I hope everyone gets a kick outta this little clip. And please keep spinning THE COMPULSIONS real loud and please keep telling all your friends about the band. Rock ‘n’ roll needs your love… every little bit counts! God bless!” More COMPULSIONS news is coming soon. Check the website for details