Roy Loney

Teenage Monster —
California Born and Bred

Interview by John Battles

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     In ’72, Flamin’ Groovies recording sessions were produced by Dave Edmunds in Wales. The planned Slow Death LP didn’t happen, but singles were released in England and France and the group became more popular in Europe. The Edmunds material was later released on various bootlegs and as The Rockfield Sessions. Greg Shaw’s Who Put The Bomp! magazine (#18) had The Flamin’ Groovies – Will ’75 Be Their Year? as the cover story along with a history of the band. In ’76, Flamin Groovies - Shake Some Action (Sire) was their best selling and best publicized LP, but still didn’t crack the American or British charts. The band, whose members had started wearing matching suits, sounded great but was relying more and more on 60s covers and harmonies. Their return to vinyl led Buddah to release the rival Still Shakin’ album. It features choice tracks from the two Kama Sutra LPs plus oldies outtakes from the Teenage Head sessions. “Little Queenie,” Loney’s last studio recording with the band, then came out as the b side of “Can’t Explain” (Skydog) in ’77. In ’78, Sire released The Flamin’ Groovies Now – with former Charlatan and long time band friend Mike Wilhelm replacing Farrell, who had left to join Loney, who had decided to record again. That year his fine solo debut was Roy Loney – Artistic As Hell (Albertson Frost), an E.P. of four originals. His backing band was Danny Mihm (drums), George Alexander (bass), and Tim Lynch and Cyril Jordan (guitars) – in other words: the 100 % original Flamin’ Groovies! The E. P. was dedicated to Sissy Spacek.

     In ’79 Loney signed a deal with Solid Smoke, a small label known for its important Johnny Burnette Rock ’N’ Roll Trio compilation Tear It Up. Paul Burlison was lead guitarist of the wild mid-50s Memphis trio. “He didn’t sound like anyone else. Nobody played Rockabilly like THAT! Plucking the bass strings like that, and getting that buzzy, fuzzy attack, it was just, like, amazing. It was the beginning of heavy metal. I put him, Bo Diddley, and Link Wray at the top, as far as people that created heavy metal music. They got that distortion, that WEIRD crunchy, fuzzy, crunchy sound, man! Nobody else was doing it! Distortion, man, I mean, they were the guys who got the distortion thing going. They seemed like punks! Johnny Burnette seemed like a real punk to me, and so did Dorsey! These are punks, man! You don’t wanna get into a fight with these guys. I think Dorsey was a boxer, right?” Note: Both Burnettes were. “They looked tough. I thought they were real punky. I think Gene Vincent was real punky.”

     The Flamin’ Groovies - Jumping In The Night (Sire), was the band’s last (and weakest) studio LP. The group carried on with more personnel changes, but always with Jordan and Alexander, until 1990. Meanwhile, Roy Loney And The Phantom Movers – Out After Dark was released by Solid Smoke in 1979 with 10 Loney originals plus covers of Elvis’ “Return To Sender” and Jackie Morningstar’s “Rockin’ In The Graveyard.” The Phantom Movers, with Loney, Mihm and guitarist James Farrell, had as many Flamin’ Groovie members as The Flamin’ Groovies did. At the time fans could find both LPs lumped in “New Wave” record bins. Loney became popular with rockabilly revival and Cramps fans.

Roy Loney and The Phantom Movers played Hurrah’s in New York City to promote the first LP and Loney was interviewed for Kicks #2, published by Miriam Linna and Billy Miller in Brooklyn. The Phantom Movers went on to record Phantom Tracks (Solid Smoke, 80), Contents Under Pressure (War Bride, 81), and Rock And Roll Dance Party (Rockhouse, 81). All the labels were basically Solid Smoke.

After the label died and The Phantom Movers broke up, Roy (with various musicians) recorded the albums Fast And Loose (83) and Roy Loney Live (84) for the French Lolita label, Scientific Bombs Away (Norton, 89), and the Roy Loney And The A-Bones - Boy Meets Bones E.P. (Norton, 93), with Miriam (who had once been in The Cramps) on drums. In ’94 Loney recruited three members of the Seattle band Young Fresh Fellows and they became The Longshots, recording the albums Full Grown Head (Shake) and Action Shots (Marilyn). Watch for Norton’s new Groovies comp California Born And Bred, featuring previously unreleased Loney era demos and live tracks.

     The original Flamin’ Groovies represented something that people couldn’t really put a label on. “I think that was a problem in those days, that you couldn’t just say, ‘This is what these guys sound like.’ I’ve always been accused of changing my voice for every different song! Sort of like Fogerty, you go, ‘That’s Fogerty right there!’ Every time you hear a Creedence song, you know the voice. Well, I use different voices for different songs a lot, so you don’t even have a specific voice that comes to mind when you think of The Flamin’ Groovies, much less a style. I think your voice is your instrument, in that case. You use that instrument you need for that song. It’s the same way now. The original Flamin’ Groovies are getting back together, and we’re going over about 40 songs. It’s just a question of learning ’em, we know ‘em, basically, it’s just a matter of relearning all the nuances and stuff. We haven’t started rehearsing yet.” Note: The original group began rehearsing shortly after this interview, but have yet to make a public appearance as The Flamin’ Groovies. Loney later informed me that the reunion is temporarily on hold for now, until various band members have fulfilled other obligations. Roy has a new solo album on the way, and he recently opened for Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent of The Zombies in New York. Likewise, Cyril Jordan and Michael Wilhelm opened for The Chocolate Watchband in San Francisco recently. Various aggregations of ex-Groovies performing together have been turning up for a long time, but the first-ever regrouping of the original band should be nothing short of stellar, feller, as FJA would say. Get down, Groovies! Get Fucked, Baby! (Don’t mean maybe).

     Thanks to Rick Lucey.