No Vermont music lover needs to be reminded of the excitement that The Decentz genetrated during the months that followed its debut at the late and very lamented Mill "Internationally Known" Restaurant in Winooski. It was a loose and energetic conglomeration of skilled, experienced musicians ([Jimmy] Ryan on bass and [Gordon] Stone on pedal steel guitar) with the steady, driving force of Peter Torrey's drumming, and the sheer naive excitement of the relatively inexperienced rhythm guitarist Brett Hughes and singer Pamela Polston. . . . -- Joshua Mamis, Vanguard press, September 2, 1984

That debut at the Mill Restaurant took place in 1981. The Decentz included Brett Hughes, Pamela Polston, Jim Ryan,¹ Gordon Stone, and Peter Torrey.

It didn't take the Decentz long at all to reach a career high point. By September 1982, the band had recorded and released the great extended-player, Get in Trouble (12" EP, Philo, 1982).² Joshua Mamis wrote in the Vanguard Press that

As anyone who has seen the Decentz knows, they are a musically imaginative New Wave ska band. Their best features  -  Jim Ryan's bass playing, Peter Torrey's high-energy drumming, and Gordon Stone's synthesizer-like pedal steel  -  swirl rhythms and dance tempos in and around Pam Polston's vocals, while Brett Hughes' guitar adds another layer of rhythm. Musically, the Decentz are as good, innovative and unique as any band with national attention and a major label record deal.³

"Ryan's bass playing is simply wonderful  -  especially on the title track  -  and 'Compared to You,' a ska song with some great pedal steel and guitar breaks, is already getting lots of airplay on WRUV."⁴ At year's end, Mamis picked Get in Trouble as the area's record of the year. "The Decentz were the hottest band of 1981, and primarily due to the success of their six-song extended-play record Get in Trouble (Philo), they managed to stay near the top in '82 as well."⁵

John McAuliffe's short review in Boston Rock was quite perceptive.

  . . .  Philo Records has released an excellent six-cut EP by The Decentz entitled Get In Trouble. The music itself is poppy post-punk with reggae/ska overtones. Thrust home by the beautiful voice of Pamela Polston, the difference in their sound lies in steel guitarist Gordon Stone's playing. . . .  The steel is used the same way lead guitar or keyboards might be used in other bands.⁶

Jim Ryan wrote "I Feel So Dumb," the pop-rock opening track on Get in Trouble, and "Hold Me Tight," the great, driving closer  -  only hinting at his importance to the band. He was also a superior rock bass player. Gordon Stone's hypnotic pedal-steel riff gets "Compared to You" started,⁷ and then Peter Torrey's drumming kicks it into a higher gear. Gus Zeising's saxophone and Pamela Polston's backing voice add to the success of this number. Polston takes the lead vocal on songs that are not easy to deliver; and she sings with such confidence, especially on "Get in Trouble," that it's surprising to learn this was her first group. Finally, Stone and Torrey get the whole band rocking on "Hold Me Tight," the closing track, which many fans would call the Decentz' signature song.

Singer Pamela Polston told us, "It was definitely a fun and vibrant era for original live music in Burlington."⁸

The band was unfortunately under-recorded. Yet one other performance was taped, though it has received little attention. The Decentz made a wonderful appearance on Vermont public television's broadcast, Guest of the House.  "I only remember," said Polston, "that we had to get there at something like 7:30 a.m. and pretend to be awake. We'd had a gig the night before, so all of us were pretty toasted. I think we pulled it off pretty well, considering."⁹ In fact the band was a bit ragged, not that those who followed the Decentz really cared; and it was fantastic to see the members up close, particularly Gordon Stone on steel and Polston dancing about the stage. "[Y]eah," she told us, "I kind of jumped around all the time. . . . "¹⁰

By 1983, the Decentz had fallen victim to the problems that typically lead to the breakup of most bands. According to Polston, at first members were so busy with shows they didn't have adequate time to create new material. Brett Hughes recalled that "We got really caught up in trying to make a living."  And yet these musicians were never able to put together the money it would take to produce the high-quality demo needed to take their career up to the next level, nor did their finances allow them to establish footholds outside Vermont.¹¹

Brett Hughes was first to leave the band, heading for New York evidently that fall.¹² Then Pamela Polston made her exit.  "The chemistry and musical feel and direction began to change after Brett left," she wrote; "bass player Jimmy Ryan . . . switched back to his primary instrument, electric mandolin, and we got a new bass player."¹³

I didn't really like the sound (though Jimmy's a fantastic player), and I felt like the punky energy changed. Brett and I were the only people who'd never been in a band before the Decentz, so we were the "rawest," and hence I think the liveliest two in the band. The other guys were and are really good musicians. . . .   It was a good combination.¹⁴

That is precisely what we loved about the Decentz as a performing unit  -  the budding high energy and enthusiasm of newcomers coupled with the accomplished playing of seasoned musicians.

We next saw Pamela Polston's name in connection with her free-lance writing for the old Vermont Vanguard Press.¹⁵

Hughes and Polston were also important parts of the Decentz' creative process. Hughes wrote "Compared to You"  -  arguably the band's best song.

I can't stand the things you do She's got a lot compared to you. You don't love me, she don't preach. She's onto me, you're out of reach. . . . . . I don't know what to do. I don't know what you want me to. I don't know what to do. I don't know what you want me to.

Polston's name appears in the credits for half the songs on Get in Trouble, including the much-admired title track; and she wrote "What Did I Do Last Night," a fine song which was one of two the Decentz contributed to a later release, the Attic Tapes compilation. (And she gets off a pretty decent rock and roll scream!)¹⁶

So with a new lineup, was this group really the Decentz? No doubt the answer is a matter of point of view, and it seems likely strong arguments could be made on either side of that question. But either way, the band would never be quite the same.

The Decentz had two tracks  -  "Give Her to Me" and "What Did I Do Last Night"  -  on the Burlington-area compilation, the Attic Tapes (cassette, Burlingtown, 1984). And then we lose track of the band. The last lineup must have struggled with many of the same problems as did the original group. In the summer of 1984, the members decided to dissolve their partnership. Jim Ryan was moving to Boston and Gordon Stone planned to take a break from performing. Differences over musical direction were mentioned; and it was said there was a sense, anyway, that the band had run its course.

Joshua Mamis thought the demise of the Decentz raised a question of whether it was even possible for a Vermont rock band to break out of the state.¹⁷  "If any Vermont band had a shot at the 'big time,' it was the Decentz (with Pinhead still taking a shot at it)."   "Kilimanjaro has proved that hard work can take good Vermont jazz to 'the masses,' and Pinhead has been gaining an ever-widening following by regularly playing the New York City clubs."¹⁸

The Decentz held a grand Farewell Reunion show at the Quarry Hill Club in South Burlington, Vermont, on September 8, 1984.¹⁹   "I don't know about you," wrote Joshua Mamis, "but these feet sure wouldn't mind dancing to Brett singing 'In the middle of the middle of the night' one more time."   "And yet, Get In Trouble will be a lasting memento of one of Burlington's finest bands."²⁰

Hold me tight, hold me tight In the middle of the middle of the night night Let me go, oh, let me go Let me out of your sight tonight

Alan Lewis,  November 5, 2001

1.  Jimmy Ryan has been much in the music news recently because of reunion shows featuring his later band, the Blood Oranges (Ryan, Cheri Knight, Mark Spencer, Ron Ward). [And more recently on account of his great work with Catie Curtis and his new solo album, Lost Diamond Angel (CD, Ambitious, 2002). Ryan has another solo album in the works for a 2005 release.]

Ryan's group, other then the Decentz, that interested us most was the Beacon Hillbillies (Ryan, Matt Glaser, John McGann, Howie Tarnower, Jim Whitney). Ryan is currently doing great work with Catie Curtis, whose "Kiss That Counted" from the album, My Shirt Looks Good on You (CD, Rykodisc, 2001), is easily one of the best singles on radio today.

2.  Saxophonist Gus Zeising joined the members of the Decentz on Get in Trouble, which was recorded in February 1982. Vanguard Press writers seemed to differ on whether "i before e" pertained to the spelling of his last name.

3.  Vanguard Press, 9/26/1982.

This endnote is attached to a lavishly complimentary quote that  -  hard as it may be to imagine after reading that passage  -  is from a decidedly mixed review. Joshua Mamis criticized the record's production, characterized the Decentz' music as "a kind of New Wave for preppies," and took band members to task for not having the "courage or conviction" to "vent anger, frustration or confusion."

Four of the articles we researched for this profile were written by Mamis. Our archive includes several examples of his normally excellent work, but evidently the Decentz didn't bring out the best in him. The last of his four pieces came across as apologetic in tone. It seems to me that there was more than a little general frustration with the music business speaking in those Decentz notices.

Joshua Mamis is now prominent in the Advocate chain of alternative weekly newspapers which serve Western New England. A quarter of a century later, and we're still among his regular readers.

New wave was a replacement term used to distance punk rock from a certain 1970s stigma, but it came to take on new meanings. This was a time when MTV was putting new wave bands on TV screens in living rooms across the country; and a lot of this music, though often given high-energy performances, was more accessible, melodically, and traditional in its lyrics' themes. Then there was the commercial success of The Cars, which was met by two of the industry's most weather-worn formulas. On the part of record labels and radio stations:  If it sells, my friend, then do it again.  On the part of musicians poised to imitate and cash in:  Hey! I can do that, too!   To many old-school punksters, new wave was really wimpy stuff and must have represented a serious selling-out by its practitioners. It seems doubtful, though, that today many observers would apply such a perspective to an original and driving band such as the Decentz.

As I recall, at least one more notice exists somewhere in our stacks of unfiled clippings; and one band member became something of a Decentz historian. So, it may be possible to substantially revise this profile sometime in the future. [May not, too. Time has gotten tighter around here.]

It's worth adding that, while the Decentz sometimes showed ska influences, they could no more be characterized as a ska band than they could be called a bluegrass group. At its heart this was a new-wave-era rock band that had a decidedly punkish sound when performing live.

4.  Fans of Jimmy Ryan's recent mandolin work with Catie Curtis must be amused to see him receiving such high praise as a bass player in a rock and roll band; but this goes to show that he is a gifted and versatile stringed-instrument player.

5.  Vanguard Press, 1/9/1983.

6.  Boston Rock, 11/17/1982, Issue 34.

7.  When listening to Get in Trouble, it's worth thinking back to Jon McAuliffe's emphasis on the unusual role of Gordon Stone's steel guitar as a lead instrument in a rock band.

I heard the Beach Boys at the University of New Hampshire, when Blondie Chaplin and Ricky Fataar were members of that venerable group. Hearing Fataar play steel guitar with the Beach Boys was a consciousness-altering experience. So was breathing the marijuana smoke that hung thick in the air that evening.

8.  E-mail message, 10/4/2001. Information kindly supplied by Pamela Polston did much to make it possible to pull this article together.

9.  E-mail message, 10/4/2001.

10.  Ibid.

11.  Vanguard Press, 9/2/1984.

12.  Later on, we found Brett Hughes playing with the popular Burlington-area group, All Fall Down (Hughes, Jeff Spencer, Mark Spencer, Harry Thompson).

13.  E-mail message, 10/4/2001.

By early 1984 or even late 1983, the Decentz had evolved into the quartet of Jim Ryan, Nick MacDougall, Peter Torrey, and Gordon Stone.

Journalists seemed unable to agree on a spelling of the new member's last name. We checked a couple phone books and believe MacDougall and McDougall are the most-common spellings.

14.  E-mail message, 10/4/2001.

15.  Polston now publishes and edits the excellent Burlington-area alternative weekly, Seven Days.

16. The Attic Tapes tracks and the Get in Trouble EP are quite enough to convince me that the Decentz had at least one great rock album in them.

17. Members of Phish must lay awake at night worrying over this same question.

18.  Vanguard Press, 9/2/1984.

Pinhead:   Tor Borgstrom, Bill Kinzie, Doug Knapp, Jeff Spencer, Mark Spencer.

We have a bit about Pinhead on our Attic Tapes page; and I hope that, in time, our archives will produce more material for a possible band profile. We get enough e-mails to clearly show that there are a lot of Pinhead fans still out there.

Kilimanjaro:   Paul Asbell, Chas Eller, Bill Kinzie, Tony Markellis.

It would be great to add a Kilimanjaro band bio. to this site. The group's recordings include Kilimanjaro (LP, Philo, 1980) and Kilimanjaro 2 (LP, Philo, 1982). Because they appear on a folk label, we find these musicians written up in folk-music columns and journals in addition to the expected pop outlets.

[The name, Charles Eller, has appeared in our newsletter fairly often lately, because of his work recording a hot, new-ish Vermont band, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. I'll have to check this if I think of it, but it seems to me Paul Asbell won a Seven Days  2004 Daysie Award as the instrumentalist or performer of the year.]

The cover of the debut release could easily give the impression that Kilimanjaro was a New Age outfit; but it was really much more a jazz-rock fusion band. The late Paul Butterfield, formerly of the well-known and influential Paul Butterfield Blues Band, took a strong liking to Kilimanjaro  -  it was said to be his favorite group; and Kilimanjaro's tour with him was certainly a career highlight, as were each of these two beautiful albums.

19.  "Seems to me like we actually did two 'reunion' shows, both at Quarry Hill Club. Probably a year and two years after  -  but my memory is not distinct on this."  -  Pamela Polston, e-mail message, 10/4/2001.

20.  Vanguard Press, 9/2/1984.

Talk a year or two ago of a Decentz reunion proved to be just that  -  talk. Not all band members were equally enthusiastic about the prospect. Perhaps agreement could be reached more easily on, say, a CD compilation.

Meanwhile, Pine Island  -  a Burlington bluegrass and roots-fusion band featuring Jimmy Ryan and Gordon Stone  -  has reunited and did so quite successfully.

Alan Lewis,  December 7, 2004

A navigation bar appears at or near the bottoms of pages.

Copyright © 2001, 2004 by the New England Music Scrapbook.
All rights reserved.