A Night To Remember

The picture above was taken at a Chiller Theatre Convention many years ago. Meeting Richie Stotts of The Plasmatics brought back some great memories from many years before the photo. It was around 1980 during the Fourth Of July weekend. I was living in the Bronx, but spending my summer working in Ocean Grove, New Jersey. I was behind the desk of the Grand Atlantic Hotel when a friend of mine came rushing through the front doors just before midnight. Asking me what time I got off work, I told him "in a few minutes." He told me that we had to go to The Fastlane because The Plasmatics were playing there. He told me that he was on the boardwalk earlier in Asbury Park and the band was on the beach throwing firecrackers at the people walking the boards. I was going to ask him how he knew it was them, but then I realized that they were easily recognizable. This was especially true because of the blue mohawk worn by Richie Stotts.

Once I turned the front desk over to the graveyard shift employee, we started to walk at a fast pace towards Asbury Park by way of the boardwalk. The opening act, which we didn't get to see, was a Chinese punk band called The Plastics. Then after they were finished, a punk rock dance contest was held that was won by someone who worked at Seaview Square Mall. We got there just as The Plasmatics were beginning their set.

A film clip was playing starring the band until The Plasmatics broke out from behind the screen. From the moment the band started playing, the sale of alcohol must have decreased due to everyone's eyes being glued to the stage. Some people were even standing on their barstools. Wendy O. Williams was leading the band basically topless (she did have 2 pieces of electric tape covering her nipples). Richie Stotts was rocking a tutu, while firing off his leads on guitar. Jean Beuvoir was keeping the backbeat at a very frantic pace on bass guitar while sporting a strip of white hair that complimented his dark skin. Wes Beech kept the rhythm going on guitar with a platinum / gray appearance to his hair with thick black makeup under his eyes. It was hard to tell if Stu Deutsch was behind the drum kit due to the bandages he was wearing.

Each song was barely over a minute long and each number was counted off in a different language. The exception was their ballad, "Sometimes I," which included some shaving cream and an odd use of the microphone. As the band moved through their set, the audience was treated to Wendy smashing a television with a sledgehammer, shooting a section of lights down from the ceiling with a shotgun, and sawing a guitar in half with a chainsaw. Did I mention that the guitar was plugged in? The road crew would frequently come out to remove debris from the stage dressed as certain characters that included an executioner and Richard Nixon. I wasn't surprised that they didn't do an encore due to the fact that there was nothing left of the drum kit when they were done with their last number.

The night even continued with some weirdness in the crowd as I met this guy who claimed to be a Satanist. He told me of a party where he shot a role of 12 pictures with his camera, but when he got the role developed, 13 pictures were in the envelope. The extra picture was of a guy who had a serpent's tongue. In addition, many of the cars that were parked in front of The Fastlane had their tires slit.

Not counting the last paragraph, the night was a fun one. At first, I didn't know what I thought of The Plasmatics, but they ended up growing on me. Having to hear how their music sounded on vinyl, I had to purchase the current album that week. I did buy a shirt the night of the show, though. The front of the white tee had a chainsaw with blood dripping from it and the words "Butcher Baby, They're Gonna Put You Away." The back of the shirt had the album title, "New Hope For The Wretched." I began to follow the band ever since that night. I even wore my Plasmatics shirt to a Joe Jackson concert later that year.