 Legendary Underground Boston Punk Rockers * 1977 - 1987 The true story of the Phantoms during a 10 year period as they played the clubs in Boston MA. | |||
The 2nd chapter of The Phantoms commenced when Micky Metts and Angelo Aversa added Judy O'Mara, a novice bass player and an old high-school buddy of Angelo's, replacing Debbie Packard. The three spent a few months writing songs and rehearsing in the basement, then began playing in area clubs throughout 1978. After about 6 months together, Angelo picked up the guitar once again and a drummer named Frank Liuzza was added to the band to form a quartet. Songs included some original Phantoms tunes along with new material from Judy - the most notable songs she wrote were "Beat Me with Your Chains", "City Hero" and "Face in the Mirror".
This was the era of the first parties at the notorious Club One in Allston. The tradition started when the band could not play as often as they wished to in the clubs around Boston. The cellar of their house was already set up as a practice space for the band and was easily reconfigured into a small club complete with seating for 40 people and a dance floor in front of the tiny stage. Angelo, Micky and Judy scoured the streets of Allston late at night collecting items that helped transform the dank cellar into a hip after-hours club that drew crowds of over 200 people at times. Across the street was a burnt out shell of a house that had been wrecked in a fire and abandoned; the ruins of this house supplied The Phantoms with about a dozen purple diner booths - tables and booth chairs - left stashed in the cellar for years previously. The neighborhood supplied everything else - rugs, wood for the stage, lamps, couches; you name it, we found it in the garbage, creating a sort of shabby elegance if you will. A giant Shell Oil sign adorned a wall in the basement and a 6 foot tall fake Heineken Beer bottle leaned against another wall. Micky found a huge surplus box of 60's-vintage white knee-high go-go boots at the Salvation Army for a few bucks. Being a Punk Rock fashion maven, she knew exactly what to do with them... she nailed them to the walls and ceiling in the basement at random intervals and around the perimeter of the room, and with black-light on them they took on the surreal look of legs sticking through the floor above. A real traffic light was donated by the guys down the block and it was rigged up to blink like a strobe light. The walls were white brick and the band members had painted random bricks with day-glo colors and black-lights were placed in strategic spots; several twirling pink bar stools were added in the very back of the room creating a cozy atmosphere. Near the bar stools was a small and dark spiral staircase that led up to the kitchen - and at the front end of the basement was the main stairway leading up to the living room. At some parties it got so crowded you could actually be carried in a circle by the crowd - down the front cellar stairs, past the stage, to the back of the room and up the spiral staircase into the kitchen again. Sometimes a cover charge of $1 would be collected for beer money when the party ran dry. Sometimes beer would be distributed freely - to those of age of course. Donations were also sometimes taken to pay the other bands that played. An average party would have 3 bands and multiple jams that went into the next day/s. |
The neighborhood at that time was ripe with bands of different styles: The Zoo Types - arty pop; Fortuna Bay - Latin salsa; Air Raid - punk; and, of course, The Phantoms - who were just plain BAD at this time. The street they all lived on had much charm and assorted folk musicians would wander the street playing guitar and singing. Matt "Guitar" Murphy of the Zaitchek Brothers Band (and later of the Blues Brothers) lived across the street, a few doors down from a jazz bass player. The drummer from the Pousette-Dart Band also lived on the street. Artists were plentiful and you could tell where they lived by the open, inviting feel of the exterior of their houses. Everyone seemed to know everyone else and there had been a tradition of having block parties for the past few summers. This atmosphere contributed to the welcoming of the Club One to Allston.
The Phantoms played several Club 1 parties and club shows in the summer and fall of 1978. They were together for about 6 more months until Frank got married and left the band for more stable forms of income. Angelo picked up the drums again and the band took on their first keyboard player in the form of Delores Paradise (the wife of local rocker and legend Lou Miami). Several new songs were written and the band gigged over the next few months in local Boston clubs. The Rat and Storyville in Kenmore Square, along with Cantone's, Maverick's and the Space, all located in the Financial District of Boston, were some of the clubs that the band played at frequently. Judy, the bass player, was a student at Wentworth College majoring in Architecture and as school progressed she had less and less time to devote to The Phantoms. Working a day job and going to school was a full schedule, and Punk Rock eventually took a back seat as she went on to get her degree. Eventually, however, Delores and Judy became inspired to create their own new band with a 50's flair. The band split up and Micky and Angelo once again moved forward with a new version of the Phantoms - they reunited with bass player David Scaltreto ("David Jay") who had previously sat in on the Carnelian studio session before Micky joined the band. David, a local motor-head and electrical genius (yes - he's done repairs of the Tesla exhibit at the Boston Museum of Science...)and another old high-school mate of Angelo's, was living nearby and had some time on his hands...
 Doormen at the Club One Fish and Jimmy in the hallway New Year's Eve 1983 | ||
