Artist description Concrete Witchdoctors were a band unlike any other, in or out of the mid-'80s Queens, NY punk scene from which they sprang. While other local alternative acts stuck to a single style or imitated a specific band such as R.E.M. or Misfits, the Witchdoctors truly threw in everything---including the kitchen sink! As drummer Ed Rapacki stated with tongue firmly in cheek: "We get our influences from dropping acid and watching natural disasters." Frank Nestola's punk-pop crooning and Iggy Popish roars perfectly set off the goth-metal crunchings of guitar wiz Michael Grimes. In other corners sat bassist and occasional lead singer Joe Average, with his British-inflected songs and folk/blues background; and Rapacki, the veteran of wedding bands and Yes tribute acts turned industrial-noise merchant. This constant battle of egos and influences produced something unusual and beholden to no one genre or style. Yet---most importantly---their music rocked hard and never failed to surprise. Filled with cutting black humor (as Groove noted: "Other people sing about love, fast cars. We...reflect on things," while Rapacki added "Our themes reflect life under the shadow of the bomb"), unusual themes (songs such as "Dead Animal Zoo" speak for themselves), gritty energy, and unexpected spurts of melodicism, the Witchdoctors have the cure for what ails the bored listener.

Music Style Indescribable melange of pop, punk, metal, noise, blues, goth, surf, and beyond

Musical Influences Nelson Riddle, Black & Decker power tools, Ramones, Iggy Pop, Kinks, Bauhaus, Birthday Party, Scratch Acid, Velvet Underground, Led Zeppelin

Similar Artists Ramones, Iggy Pop, Kinks, Bauhaus, Birthday Party, Butthole Surfers, Damned

Artist History This indefinable band's formation lies in the simmering summer of 1985, when four young men from Queens (eating refried beans), all students at St. John's University, came together at the legendary and now defunct punk/goth club Subway in Rego Park, NY: vocalist Frank Nestola (ex-The Oppressed/Outcry/The Cave), guitarist Michael Grimes, bassist Joe Average (ex-The Cave), and drum god (and Subway manager) Ed Rapacki. Their first gig on August 3, 1985 (at Subway, using the interim name Shadowland, supporting The Naked and the Dead) came after only two rehearsals, but immediately won the quirky quartet a bemused following among NYC's alternative crowd. From day one the band's diversity was key--Nestola's ideas came from the fields of Punk and Pop; Grimes' from Metal and Noise; Average's from Blues, and Rapacki's from Jazz and Funk. if these weren't contrary enough, the band's amoeba-like ability to absorb influences expanded to include goth-rock ("Footsteps") and surf ("Party on Horror Beach"), two of three songs comprising their first demo tape, recorded by supporter Bob (Hasbros) Hanophy on November 29, 1985 at local Queens studio Bizarreland. The tape quickly led to airplay on college stations WFDU and WSJU, and "Party on Horror Beach" reached #4 on WRHU Hofstra's Top 35. The latter station's "Lip Service" show featured an extensive Witchdoctors interview in December '85. Following a short hiatus, the band reconvened in 1986, leading to a new batch of songs (such as their second demo, the squalidly intense "Public Flesh"); a feature article in St. John's newspaper "The Torch"; glowing reviews in "Heaven Down Here" and "The Big Takeover"; and a bevy of exciting gigs (including the final October 16, 1986 show with Brain Eaters at CBGB, from which these live mp3s are culled), before splintering in different directions. Nestola and Grimes formed Razor Chamber (joined for a time by Chris Natz and Patrick Blanck, the rhythm section of NYC punk legends The Undead) and unleashed the Goatblood Sacrifice project in March 1987 (with Greg Fasolino, ex-Naked and the Dead, on keyboard). Grimes, Nestola, and Rapacki also concocted the experimental May 1987 project Pump (with ex-Naked and the Dead members Fasolino and Lorianne Oakley). Grimes also played with bassist Larry (Springhouse/Blue Man Group) Heinemann in an unnamed project. Average went solo, while Rapacki guested with Fasolino's band Rawhead in early summer 1987 before forming the killer noise-rock outfit God later that year with former Horror Planet yowler Party Frank. Average was the original bassist, but was soon succeeded by Grimes. After God split in summer 1988, Rapacki played in Sea of Fur with Average and Fasolino, while Grimes reverted back to his natural position at guitar, and joined forces with vocalist Robert Rowan Conroy (ex-Burning Rome/The Children's Zoo) to form 99 Stellavista; they later mutated into Sisterboy and released an eponymous CD in 1996. Grimes currently performs with Zenen. In 2001, the band's farewell CBGB gig was remixed by MJM Creative Services, and their utterly unique sonic crunch is finally reaching the diverse audience it was meant for.

Group Members Frank Nestola: lead vocals/rhythm guitar; Michael Grimes: lead guitar; Joe Average: bass/lead and backing vocals; Ed Rapacki: drums/percussion

Instruments Guitar, bass, drums

Press Reviews HEAVEN DOWN HERE (Winter 1985-86): "One of the most interesting local bands, having a near-impossible sound to define...Mike Grimes: one of the most creative guitarists this side of Daniel Ash...watch out for the Witchdoctors" - Greg Fasolino; THE TORCH (April 23, 1986): "A tight-knit group with a vast store of musical knowledge. The Witchdoctors' music is an interesting combination of parody and pain...moving from the absurd to the ponderous." - Sue Nunziata; THE BIG TAKEOVER (December 1986): "Down to CBGB to check out Concrete Witchdoctors, who have progressed nicely since their first gig at Subway club over a year ago. Singer Frank is emerging as a solid frontman for a well-rehearsed musician's band. They're still a little rough, and need some work on half the songwriting, but a hypnotic second half of their set is worth recording now, which is saying a lot in a day when TOO much marginal talent is recorded. Drummer Big Ed is a pounding pummeler nowadays as well." - Jack Rabid

Location Queens, NY - USA

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