Imagine my surprise at finding a note in my inbox this morning that appeared to be from none other than musician Richard Barone, former leader of the 80's Hoboken, New Jersey band The Bongos! I checked the header and server routing carefully, and yes, it looked to really be from Mr. Barone, via his domain on richardbarone.com. He was writing because he'd seen my Unzen Koans website page "Hot Town, Summer In The City", where I'd talked about his former band's 1982 album Drums Along The Hudson. Out of print in the US, it's well worth tracking down either as an import or used...it's one of those clear sightlines into the early 1980's New Wave garage-rock scene that few captured, and fewer still survived. If you haven't seen that column, here's what I wrote:

"Drums Along The Hudson" is popped into the tape deck first. The Bongos were an obscure mop-top New Wave/punk band from Hoboken led by squirrel-voiced Richard Barone (whose atmospheric guitar work on later solo albums like Cool Blue Halo, Primal Dream and Clouds Over Eden epitomized pre-Chris Isaak neo-twang Pop); their 1982 effort has the goofy feel of 60’s “low-f-IQ” offerings like “G-L-O-R-I-A” and the intoxicated harmonizing of Spanky and Our Gang. The almost reductionist simplicity of cuts like “Three Wise Men”, “Video Eyes”, “Clay Midgets” and “Glow In The Dark” recalls the bouncy mindlessness of flocked-plastic dashboard creatures with spring-mounted heads. Bing, boing, bonk. Twing, twang, twonk. This isn’t the Eighties of skinny ties, beatle boots and the Mullet: this is pure, beer-drunk Jersey garage-band pop at its black tee-shirted, ripped-jeans best. My wacked tape head azimuth doesn’t even matter…“Let’s glow in the dark tonight, yeah yeah!” Not too hard if you’ve lived in New Jersey all your life.

Before you get the wrong idea, I loved the record - but Lester Bangs I ain't, by any stretch of the imagination.

Richard had just dropped a note to say he'd gotten a smile out of that column. He even signed, "squirrellingly yours, " Now that's a true mensch for you! Mr. Barone, if you are reading this, thank you - and greeting from Chicago!

If you'd like to find a copy of Drums Along The Hudson, I believe it's out of print in the US, but available as an import (or used).

Other Richard Barone work you might like to check out includes:

• cool blue halo
  
• Primal Dream
  
• Clouds Over Eden
  

His full discography is available on www.richardbarone.com, and a cross-referenced discography can be viewed on AllMusicGuide.

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