Bombs - Fortune and Fame

[@brian-pu3yy]

Amazing!! Clap

[@BasilHolly]

The short story behind the very FIRST indie vinyl Punk Rock single to be released anywhere in the Midwestern United States and West of the Mississippi. ... 'THE BOMBS' "LET'S GO! (To Guyana) ©1977 (R. Lilly/B.Hanotis) "The Bombs" started off as a couple of freshman college kids in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with way too much time on our hands and a whole lot of love for The Sex Pistols and The Ramones with whom we performed live shortly after the release of our own single "LET'S GO! (To Guyana) ©1977 (R. Lilly/B.Hanotis) and it's flip side "FORTUNE & FAME" ©1977 (B.Hanotis) We had a great time writing "LET'S GO! (To Guyana) over the course of more than a case of drinks or two. Granted, Rob was the driving force behind the highly contriversial content that no other act at the time would have touched with a barge pole (which is probably precisely why we did). Insane as the idea was (put yourself into a late '70's mindset and really THINK about what happened in Jonestown, Guyana) I jumped right down the rabbit hole after him (no one else had balls like that back then I guess, except for maybe this weird band that Rob liked called "The Pork Dukes" (give them a listen and if you're nuts, they'll grow on you too!) At any rate, once the lyrics were finalized, it was simply a matter of "put up or shut up". So we green-lighted our own product because no one else in their right mind would have. We weren't expecting to make a penny, but I think we WERE expecting to make waves. And we did. Within weeks of its inception, our single was produced at Star Studios in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and mastered in Schaumberg, Illinois with a first run pressing of 500 units under the direction of Producer Tom Gold who was also instrumental (literally) in hiring the talent necessary for the touch-ups that a work with novices like us required. Remember, this was raw, real, ORIGINAL Punk Rock and Roll and completely new stuff to 99.9% of the public at that time. Professional musicians hired by Gold included the late, great John "Grover" Robarge on drums, local guitar phenom/Master guitar builder Jimmy Eanelli and Pianist/Keyboardist Paul Voudouris; in his own right an exceptionally talented, prolific and Internationally known artist and songwriter. Being spanking fresh new Punkers, I believe that if we'd actually thought about it rationally at the time, the main artistic goal we'd have set out to achieve with our single musically, would have been to capture the raw anger and anomie that many of us FM Radio-haters felt at the time. That said, our guitars needed to BE angry and not just to sound angry. And they WERE, probably because we were. Secondly, our lyrical content and its consequent socio-political implications needed to be as antithetical and as challenging as possible to FM Radio and to the hypocrits behind it. After all, they'd been making zillions boring the entire musical World for years with mindless lyrical dribble, so we decided we'd start talking about barrels of Kool-aid and almost a thousand plastic body bags. Over forty years later, I am pretty sure that inadvertently or not, we succeded in both pissing FM Radio off and finally getting rid of 99% of their ilk as well. Or did we? On a final but most important note: It never occurred to us to think about this at the time, but what we didn't know was, that the single that Rob Lilly and I made was the very FIRST Punk Rock vinyl to ever be released on an independent record lable (our very own BOMB Recs.) EVER anywhere west of the Mississippi and certainly in the Midwestern United States. And that's just a documented fact that any kid reporter can verify with one call to the LOC in Washington, D.C. And it is precisely because of its historical significance and it's highly controversial political content, that a slightly used copy of one Bombs single (WITHOUT it's original cover artwork) recently (4-5 years ago?) sold/bid out on eBay for a whopping $2,700 USD. Over the last decade other prices paid for this rare 500 unit release, ranged between $250 and $1,800. When I'd first learned of these figures I'd been amazed. I'd been amazed because by 1979, we idiots were throwing our singles off of our stages to our fellow punkers in the audiences to use as frisbees! Stay forever young. Basil Holly AKA Billy Bomb (1976-1980) About 'THE BOMBS' An American Punk Rock Band originating in Milwaukee, Wisconsin ca. 1976 -1980. (not to be confused with offshoot Milwaukee band "The American Bombs"). SINGLE (Vinyl): US/Milwaukee 1979 Live 7" Bomb Recs ERK0659-01. (Let's Go (To Guyana) / Fortune And Fame) AKA "LET'S GO! (To Guyana) ©1977 (R. Lilly/B.Hanotis) & "FORTUNE & FAME" ©1977 (B.Hanotis)

[@brian-pu3yy]

Great history thx.