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The Neighborhoods
Throwing Heat This Summer

Brattleboro, Vt,  June 9  -  The proudly unofficial website, TheHoodsOnline.com, says that if members of The Neighborhoods were Red Sox players, they would be Dwight Evans.  Let's see.  When Evans heaved a baseball out of right field, he put everything he had into it and looked like he was born to do it.  The Neighborhoods put everything they've got into rocking and rolling, and they look like they were born to do it.  TheHoodsOnline.com crowd will get no argument here.  Apt comparison.

The Neighborhoods are playing out again.  So the first question we pitched to band members had to do with whether they consider The Neighborhoods to be a current band playing contemporary music.  It drew an intriguing answer.

"[T]he 'Hoods are a very unique entity in as much as the sum of the parts is greater than the whole; and whether that's contemporary or the stuff of legendary status, it is what it is," explained the definitely legendary David Minehan.  "New songs are in the making and they too will not be looking over any shoulder to see whats the Hip New Thing to buy into.  We have 30 years plus of musical inspirations to draw from.

"We certainly see a large presence of bands and musical genres that can absolutely be traced back to our era's musical DNA.  We feel absolutely vindicated that what we perceived as our vision for musical expression then has flourished decades later."

Noting that the band plays "only a handful of shows each year and only as the mood and opportunity strikes us," Lee Harrington said, "I have always felt that good rock 'n' roll has a timeless quality that transcends time and generations.  And I always thought that The 'Hoods made (and make) good rock 'n' roll.   I think our music remains musically relevant and sounds as good today as it ever did.

"Judging from the reaction at shows, folks still dig it. It has an element of nostalgia, no doubt.  But its more than that.  We were, and remain, a very compelling live band; I think it was our undeniable strong suit.  Even today, pound for pound, I think The 'Hoods stand up to any band, anywhere, anytime."

Asked about the experience of getting back into performing, Harrington said, "I have been surprised at how much of what we did comes back to us, almost reflexively, after years away from being a full-time band.  There is still some latent muscle memory, and the act of performing is really amazing.   I feel like a kid on stage, and it makes me smile to look across the stage and see David doing his thing as if he's never been away.   I have always considered David to be a world-class performer and it remains a distinct honor to share a stage with him.

"As to the question of relevance, I don't think we ever worried about the relevance of our music.  We certainly don't now.  When I listen to the radio today, I don't sense that what we did, and what we do, is so different from what I listen to and enjoy now.  Good tunes, with an edge, played with a sense of irreverence or irony and lots of attitude, as with all great rock 'n' roll."

"Relevant is a term harder and harder to apply these days, as the iTunes/MySpace forums allow anything to be relevant given proper context," said Minehan.  "We most definitely have a potential for pure nostalgia with our long-term fans; yet as witnessed by a song we have with Guitar Hero 2, those kids think we just popped up into the modern rock world and want more Neighborhoods!  What is relevant is that people are showing up at the shows and we are doing a slamming job of delivering the goods as of late."

As I recall, it took me a couple years or more to find the great Reptile Men album on compact disc after its initial vinyl release, though CD was then in the process of becoming the hot new format.  Asked if the delayed CD-release hurt, Minehan said, "It's a somewhat profound aspect to the band that if we ever could have timed our experiences in a more timely sequence, who knows where things could have gone.  But whether it was labels, studios, producers, trends in the arts culture, corporate sponsorships, or something as benign as being on the cusp of the CD's acceptance and proliferation, we had perfect worst timing.

"Now, don't get me wrong.  Despite all of that, we had a grand run.  And when I look back and see months on the road with the likes of mega-heroes Bowie, Cheap Trick, Aerosmith, as well as opening for our more punk heroes like the Clash, The Jam, The Damned, The Ramones, on and on, I know now our timing was meant to be and a lot of those times were rock fantasies way beyond desciption."

This is the first-ever time we at this newsletter have received enthusiastic mail about an article before we wrote it.  One short, nifty e-mail message was about once catching The Neighborhoods kicking off a massive show for David Bowie.  "The 'Hoods opened for Bowie in 1987 at what was then Sullivan Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts," said Harrington.  "We were invited to play the gig by the Thin White Duke himself who had heard Reptile Men and really liked it.  The gig was amazing on so many levels: meeting Bowie (of whom we were and are huge fans), knowing that Bowie knew our music, playing in front of tens of thousands of people . . . it was really a magical night.   A real career highlight."

Looking back at the record releases of The Neighborhoods so far, it is surprising how many personal favorite cuts are from the early Fire Is Coming vinyl EP, including the slightly Beatles-esque "Fire Is Coming," "Heatwave (Downtown)," the driven pop of "Night (Feels Alright)," and The 'Hoods classic, "Shake." ("Night" and "Shake" were bonus tracks on the Reptile Men CD.)  "Heatwave" would not be out of place on a '60s garage-rock set such as the great New England Teen Scene records.  But as for a favorite album overall from these guys, that would be the last release, The Neighborhoods.  Personally, I thought more major label albums and music business successes were bound to follow.

"Us too," said Harrington, "in terms of believing/hoping it would be the first step of a new stage in our career.  But it's a tough business, without question.  We all have boxes full of records, tapes, and CDs of bands we adore (many of them our contemporaries locally) who never achieved the kind of notoriety they deserved.  We all feel very fortunate that we achieved what we did, experienced what we experienced, and made the friends we made along the way.

"Remember The 'Hoods had been at it for more than a decade at the time of the Third Stone/Atlantic release.  We were always realists.   I think we hoped for and worked for the best with that release, but we had no illusions; we knew that getting on a major was only a step and not an end in itself.  And I think the mainstream music environment at the time was not necessarily completely sympathetic to what we were doing.  As events transpired post-Hoods, I often sensed that we were suddenly ahead of our time in the late 80s, early 90s.

"I offer that without a hint of disappointment or bitterness.  The 'Hoods had an amazing run, left a solid legacy, and made music that appealed (and apparently still appeals) to a lot of people."

"Alas it would have been nice, but that situation was not meant to be," said Minehan.  Ironically the A&R dude who signed us at Atlantic Records (arm-twisted into it I think) was the man who signed Twisted Sister, White Lion, and Skid Row.  Of course we were having none of that and knew that revolution was in the wind, and within months Nirvana changed everything and the hair bands were instantly irrelevant.   HA!"

Perhaps he who laughs last rocks loudest.

"As to aspirations," said Harrington, "I think we are older and wiser enough to realize that making music is, and has to be its own reward.  Do we ever fantasize about, by some strange twist of fate, suddenly selling millions of records?   Sure, life is sweetened by dreams, no matter how fanciful.  And the feeling we get from making music together is a rare gift; who wouldn't want that feeling all the time."

Defining The Neighborhoods and the band's music apparently is not easy.  It always seemed that many in the press saw in The Neighborhoods what they needed to see but not necessarily what was there.  This was a wonderfully diverse, straight-ahead rock band with a fine sense of melody but without quite being a pop-rock outfit.  Arguably the two most striking features were that The 'Hoods played really hard like a punk band and had a terrifically full sound in relation to the number of players.

"When I am asked, as inevitably I am, about what the band sounded (sounds) like by folks who never got to see us play," said Harrington, "I always say that I thought of us as a big, dumb, American rock band.  Sure we loved punk rock (my iPod is populated by the Clash, Wire, Damned, Jam, Stranglers, Dictators Ramones, etc.) and we came of age musically and personally when all that great energy was coming to us across the Atlantic.  But we are all also products of our formative musical years in the 1970s.  We equally love Queen, Bowie, Alice Cooper, Stones, Beatles, Zeppelin, Iggy, Sparks, Mott as we do the great punk bands.  Somehow, whether by design or osmosis, 'Hoods music is a hybrid (or bastardization) of all of our influences.  So, yes, we had our punk spirit and influences, but we weren't really a punk band.

"Just to expand on this point a bit.  First, I always find it curious when folks appear particularly nostalgic for The 'Hoods circa 1979 and see our music thereafter as a progression away from punk and towards a more hard rock (re: less punk) sensibility.  I've always thought the music, from the band's inception, was hard rock, fast, aggressive, drawn from a wide array of influences, and never overtly political or message-laden or quintessentially 'punk.'  One only has to listen to 'Prettiest Girl' to recognize that.  David always wrote songs about relationships, disillusionment, teen angst, etc.  Those themes run through the entire body of work, from 1979 to the end.  Our only criteria was, did we dig the music and did it make us happy to play it live.

"Second, if one listens to the Ramones body of work (or the Clash, or Jam, or any of the seminal punk bands) one simply hears great rock 'n' roll that draws on, and reflects back, a wide array of musical influences.   I think that people who long for 'punk rock' 'Hoods long for a time period in their lives, more than a type of music.

"When we reminisce now (and we do), it is almost always about strange, isolated moments, people, places, gigs.  And it always ends in laughter."

The most compelling parts of this Neighborhoods interview were not necessarily those that took up the most space.  One gets a solid sense from the comments of Minehan and Harrington that The Neighborhoods is a band with a fun present and an alluring future.  So we were not about to let these two get away before we could ask whether new record releases may be in the works.

"There are about a dozen basic tracks recorded now that range from some unreleased stuff just prior to the bands 1992 breakup and a bunch of new things as well," said Minehan.   "The direction(s) are not foreign in any exotic way:  always a turn of the compass but still 'Hoods compatible.   It's been that many more years of listening and being influenced/inspired by the multitudes of bands, old and new, so its gonna be a tad evolved no matter what."

"The new music is really inspired," said Harrington, "and will see the light of day sometime soon.

"We plan to release a live CD of the band's last show at The Rat, recorded in October 1992.  It really captures The 'Hoods in peak form, and the set includes lots of great material."

Obviously The Neighborhoods would not need nor want to go outside the band for record production services, David Minehan often working wonders as a producer.

"Hmmmm . . . "  said Sir David himself.   "It would be a treat to consider someone else for us in that role that had produced records we hold in high esteem . . . Tony Visconti would be a freak out."

Then again, I could be wrong.

"At first, the shows seemed like pure ego stroking," said Minehan.  "But after a while they started to add up as more legit 'there is some real electricity/chemistry in this combo' type experiences.  And now we try hard to find time in our mature adult responsible lives to live up to the potential again."

We asked these 'Hoods if they had anything to say that was not covered by a question.  "Only that we really want to thank all of our fans and friends for keeping our music in their hearts and for making the effort to come out and rock with us again," said Harrington.  "We have always held our fans in the highest regard, and it has been an amazing experience to reconnect after some time away.

Likewise, we at this newsletter thank John Lynch of The Neighborhoods for helping set up the Minehan and Harrington interviews and, thus, helping make this article possible.

Asked if The 'Hoods had ever gotten a press notice they thought was maybe a little odd but really funny, Harrington reported, "Well, we recently played in New York City and someone wrote that we looked 'bizarrely young.'  We enjoyed that one."

"There are some demeaning aspects to the biz we certainly are not going to subject ourselves to again," said Minehan.  "But there are some kooky ideas floating around out there for future Europe, Japan, and occasional festival type events.  Otherwise East Coast jaunts don't seem too hard to accomplish."

The gig at Salem's Dodge Street Bar and Grill is actually The Neighborhoods' debut at that venue.  "We are so grateful and excited for the chance to play music together again," said Harrington.  "It is also great to reconnect with old friends at gigs; invariably, there are folks we haven't seen in years and it's great to catch up.  The 'Hoods also always had lots of fans on the North Shore, so it will be cool to play up there again."

"The North Shore is like hallowed ground for rockers, writers, artists," said Minehan.  "It's a hardscrabble aesthetic and very blunt in its affections or disdain for the visiting troubadour.  So many bands we hold as essential to our existence have North Shore connections.  Something in the water, air, or shared bodily fluids up there is a powerful mojo.  Don't try to jive these folks, you'll be sorry."

Similarly, it would be a mistake to take these Neighborhoods for granted.  Think of that TheHoodsOnline.com artist comparison of The Neighborhoods to Dwight Evans.  Evans had some very impressive numbers, as I recall, including walks, on-base percentage, and runs scored.  He hit with more power than one might normally expect from a batter in the number one or two slot in the order.  Because of his skill for getting on base and then working his way to home plate, he was batting lead-off one year when a peculiarity of the schedule put a Red Sox game on ahead of the first National League contest.  Evans, who was really known mainly for his throwing arm, hit a home run on the very first pitch of the entire Major League Baseball season.  Did Evans take us by surprise that day?   With one crack of the bat he thrilled us unspeakably!

So dodge on over to the Dodge Street Bar and Grill on Saturday, June 16, and don't be surprised to see the bizarrely-young looking, always thrilling Neighborhoods knock one out of the park.

• Who:   The Neighborhoods, with The Octave Museum and Corolla DeVille
• Where:   Dodge Street Bar and Grill, 7 Dodge Street, Salem, Massachusetts
• When:   Saturday, June 16  [2007]
• For more information:   www.dodgestreet.com