indirectly receiving the sanction of the city government.

https://www.twolouiesmagazine.com/history/history-of-portland-rock-2/


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXGF1pU4MBY



SP Clarke © 2011 – All rights reserved


"Hair bands prospered in that era as well, with Sequel leading the charge from the outer Westside suburbs toward the Last Hurrah, Zack’s and to Tippers in the outer Eastside suburbs- followed closely by Movie Star, Kashmir, Fire Eye, the Storm and the Choir Boys, which were both comprised of members of the Checker Brothers, Legend and Rising Tide, oddly enough. poppier bands such as the Bachelors, No Ties, and Mr. Nice Guy also found refuge in those venues as well.

The blues contingency was anchored by Paul DeLay, Robert Cray and Terry Robb. Rockabilly revivalists the Rockin’ Razorbacks, featured Chris Miller on guitar and former Upepo bassist J. Michael Kearsey on bass. The White Eagle in North Portland stood as a blues stronghold, as it does to this day."

________


"A victim of rampant urban renewal, Tony Demicoli was forced to close La Bamba, allowing the owners of the building to convert it into a quaint mini-mall on the edges of the permanent Saturday Market space under the Burnside Bridge. Euphoria closed and reopened as a sports bar. The Met folded. Tippers changed hands.

 The Fat Little Rooster became the Barley Mill Pub and replaced its stage with pool tables."
________


"It was on his return trip to LA, to record his lead vocal tracks for the demos, that Billy felt a lump in his chest. His lymphatic cancer had returned. He had just signed a six-album deal with Arista, guaranteeing $500,000 upfront for the first recording"

"By the dawn of 1984, Greg Sage and the Wipers’ Restless Records release Over The Edge, had become a certifiable underground hit."

"But by far the most significant club inauguration of 1984 or any other year, was the opening of Satyricon in March. Formerly Marlena’s Tavern and situated in what was one of the ugliest parts of the bowery known as Old Town, Satyricon did not immediately make its mark.

 Owner George Tahouliotis and his brother Dimitri had formerly run the Mediterranean Club, a tiny hole in the wall on upper West Burnside.

They had catered to a coterie of avant clientele in their former space and hoped to enlarge upon that following at their newer, trashier digs.

Original Satyricon booker Chris Monlux made no stylistic or hierarchical distinctions among bands, which meant that on any given night one might see a folk duo, a punk band and a top blues outfit sharing a Satyricon bill in an evening of debauched musification."


https://www.twolouiesmagazine.com/history/history-of-portland-rock-3/


"In an exceedingly rare instance of actual hard-hitting “journalism,” Two Louies, smelling a rat, stepped to the fore, charging Bob Ancheta with a conflict of interest: for acting as Sequel’s manager while simultaneously promoting them through his position at KGON. Receiving several official letters of complaint, the FCC eventually looked into the matter. But nothing ever came of any assertions.

Still, a music scene adrift in the doldrums, in 1983, was showing signs of moving toward channels where the trade winds were blowing more favorably in 1984.

 As Terry Robb was recording his third acoustic album with the legendary John Fahey for Rounder Records"
_______

**** (I played with Michael Hurley at a house concert in which Terry Robb was the main act. It was a small house. 2009-10) ----FLB

_______________



"Billy Kennedy, fresh from experimental ventures with Rick Mitchell’s Le Bon, decided to throw in with renowned misfit entrepreneur and washboardist extraordinaire, Billy Hults to form Special K. Hults, who had been garnering local fame for his smirking folk troupe Billy Foodstamp and the Welfare Ranch Rodeo, as well as for stints with Les Clams and occasionally with the Rounders, was even more notorious for the outspoken support of his friend Bud Clark in the 1984 Portland mayoral race.

The two Billys combined to create a cosmic conjunction that was nearly Kafkaesque in nature, wherein Hults’ Sometimes A Great Notion sensibility intersected with Kennedy’s One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest flights of fancy. 

Never predictable, their sets were funny, cathartic and transformative, sometimes within the course of a single five minute song.


By the Summer of 1984 the scene was once again rejuvenated. Not only were the home boys in Black ‘n’ Blue making a triumphant return to Portland, opening for Whitesnake at the Coliseum, but Nu Shooz rocked nearly 200,000 spectators in the streets of lower Southwest Portland at the Neighborfair, an early (and superior) precursor to the Bite. "


"Members of Rising Tide and Fire Eye (who had always intermingled in the past anyway) joined with Quiet Riot drummer Cliff Carothers, creating Malice and signed with Atlantic. "
______

"Barkeep Bud Clark was not given much of a chance when he ran against perennial pol Frank Ivancie in the 1984 Portland mayoral election.

 But his status as a man of the people was well received by a populace that was never able to fully trust career politicians in the first place. His election victory came as a surprise to many, not the least of whom was Clark himself, who had amassed a sizable campaign debt during the course of the race.

His longtime friend Billy Hults quickly sprang to his assistance, organizing an event of unheralded magnitude. But there was method to the machinations of Billy Foodstamp. 

The sly Hults correctly concluded that by staging a benefit for the Mayor of Portland, featuring the cream of Portland’s musical community, he would be indirectly receiving the sanction of the city government. 

Such support became integral to the promotion of Portland to the greater music world.

And what a spectacle it was! More than thirty acts on seven stages performed during the evening, in front of more than 10,000 spectators.

 Bands such as The Kingsmen, the Paul DeLay Band, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Allstars with Steve Bradley, Thinman, the Razorbacks, Incredible John Davis, Earl Benson, Special K and the Swingline Cubs all made appearances.

The first Mayor’s Ball set into motion a series of major events that helped to draw attention to the Portland music scene. It also initiated a tradition of benefits that was to continue on into perpetuity.

The first recipient of this newfound social goodwill among local musicians was, rightfully, Billy Rancher. In an attempt to stave off Billy’s creditors, friends organized a benefit for Billy at Starry Night, featuring a cast that included members of Crazy 8s, Quarterflash, Thin Man, the Unreal Gods and Nu Shooz, as well as Jack Charles, Meredith Brooks and Dan Reed. Billy even made an appearance with members of Lenny’s band the Pipsqueaks (the first of several throughout the Winter and Spring of ’84, later under the name Flesh and Blood)."

Aisling, Don't Call Us Sam.

https://www.twolouiesmagazine.com/history/history-of-portland-rock-3/