MORE ON TYRONE'S

I have always said that Tyrone's was the best club ever, period, so I was happy to see Rick Baker's appreciation. What follows is meant not so much as a criticism but as some interesting addenda.

I was a little surprised that neither the Tone-Tones nor the Method Actors made its Band List. That is understandable in regard to the former, somewhat less so in regard to the latter. In any case, the circumstances surrounding the Tone-Tones' gig there are kind of interesting, inasmuch as they were the band which more or less opened the doors to the Chameleon becoming Tyrone's.

In the wake of the popularity of the B-52's, Oliver, the manager and, I believe, part-owner of the Chameleon, called me and asked if I knew of any bands playing "that new wave stuff" that he could book down there. (As I recall, Mike Hobbs - the one and only - had a hand in this as well.) I suggested the Tone-Tones (convenient for me, since I was in it) and we played there in early June of 1979. (Interesting band trajectory: debuted February 2 of that year and by the time they called it quits less than six months later had opened for Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson and several gigs with the Police.)

The show at the Chameleon was a complete success and a couple days afterward Oliver called me back and said he wanted to get out of the Spanish-guitar-in-a-tux-restaurant-business and into the new-wave-stuff business and could we play there again soon, and I said, "Thank you very much but we're quitting." However, I know this great band you should check out, they're called Pylon...

And thus began the indescribably wonderful, appallingly short life of the greatest rock and roll club in the history of the known world.

As for the Method Actors: That a band which was written about in the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Spin and every music paper in England the year they were there was passed over rather than, say, Import - sorry, I don't get it.

Vic Varney
Athens

ENOUGH ALREADY!

Enough already! Pub Notes is starting to sound like all of Ed Tant's editorials. Why not attack bigger targets such as the "Uglification of Athens" courtesy of those hideous giant bulldogs and the "artists" who made them even uglier, or the ongoing Dooley/Adams squabble, or the "Impeach George W. Bush" movement? As LTP, who submitted "Compelled to Write," has implied, we readers are all tired of the same old gripe week after week. There are other drums to bang!

WAM
Athens



ADMIRABLE RESTRAINT

Recent Pub Notes installments contained fascinating and admirable examples of understatement and restraint.

On June 11, Pete could have invoked more than Dooley's independence, popularity and administrative brilliance to explain Adams' decision. He could have mentioned that efforts to cover up and whitewash last year's coaching debacle - and Adams' part in it - were totally inadequate. It certainly suggests a dereliction of duty on the AD's part.

Thank goodness that's all over now. Adams' action proclaims loud and clear that while he'll hold the same ethical course, he'll have an AD whose team-playing, bridge-building skills will keep things quiet from now on. This University is getting on with business. And that's good for Athens, too.

On June 18, Pete stopped short of naming that great cultural chasm that rends the heart of this town. He's right, there are some nice people (to whom the commission is indeed attentive) who seem willing to sacrifice the arts scene for nice neighborhoods. But that's like saying there are some politicians who seem willing to accept power should any happen to come their way.

He could have pointed out that the cultural center, the "other townies" who sell insurance, loans and automobiles and send kids to the Academy, aren't merely willing to make the sacrifice. They want the cultural edge, who paint and sculpt and make an incredible diversity of music, dead and gone. Period. Oh, the Rolling Stone thing is fine for brochures, but you know what? The University's going to keep pumping cash into ACC forever, whether students rock out or not. So just can it with that pierced and tattooed, profane and obscene, and (above all) disrespectful crowd of drunken young misfits.

It's not like the town will suddenly be awful to live in. We'll still have the bohemian ambiance of Starbucks, right there on College Square. And the wacky artsiness of Aurum and Native America on Clayton Street. Hey, just look at Chapel Hill. They cleaned up, and they're still quaint.

On both topics, Pete did well not to go too far. It would have been pointlessly ugly, since the issues are already pretty well decided. And now that they are, why waste energy on wails of grief for the Athens that was? Let's get on with building the Athen$ to come!

Ash Raymond
Athens

AT THE SAME SHOW?

I could not believe my eyes when I read your opinions of the Tomahawk show at 40 Watt. The reviewer said "it would have been best if they hadn't even played," and thought the evening was saved by the Melvins. Were we at the same show? I thought Mike Patton was incredible. Not only did he keep the crowd energetic with his spirited way of performing, he had amazing toys for creating neat beats and sounds. My favorite, which we called the "Silence of the Lambs Mask" added electronic sounds to his raucous lyrics. His stage presence is amazing, and all of my friends were impressed with the show.

And the Melvins saving the evening? After seeing Tomahawks, it was obvious why the Melvins were chosen to be the opening band. Maybe the volume of the deafening Melvins' songs caused your reviewer to not hear Tomahawk correctly.

Val Cormani
Athens

ALMIGHTY CRAP

In response to Carrie Coker's complaint about Patrick Franklin, Flagpole's "snooty, know-it-all" movie reviewer: Ms Coker, if you want to read nice things about mainstream movies, then I suggest you read a mainstream newspaper. I personally appreciate Mr. Franklin's vitriolic wit and his ability to peg these Hollywood movies for the almighty crap that they are.

A. Bettini
Athens