New England Music Scrapbook
Reddy Teddy

This is one of our oldest pages, but it's unlikely we'll have time to update it anytime soon. What we can do, though, is provide a link to information Luanne gathered about a Summer 2004 Reddy Teddy reunion concert in Boston and a CD-compilation release that's scheduled July-ish. If either of those things may interest you, please follow the link below.

Newsletter Reddy Teddy item

Reddy Teddy, as the name might imply, is a pure rock and roll band in the Who/Aerosmith vein.1 The lineup includes Bug Witt on drums, Scott Barrenwald on bass,2 Matthew McKenzie on guitar,3 and John Morse, vocals. Their approach to music is also similar with McKenzie being an excellent power chord style player. He's also a good singer and when he joins lead singer Morse, the band is capable of generating some real excitement. Reddy Teddy relies almost entirely on their original harmony and hard rock material, which often displays an above-average sense of humor. Their 1974 single, "Novelty Shoes"/"Goo Goo Eyes" is a fine example of humor in rock, and they pull it off without being cute like Sparks. An album entitled Reddy Teddy is being produced by Willie Loco,4, Maxanne5 and Matthew, and will be out soon on Spoonfed, another new Boston label. -- Bruce Dickinson, Bomp, Winter 1976/1977

Reddy Teddy
Reddy Teddy (LP, Spoonfed, 1976)

1. In a "Cellars by Starlight" column that was published earlier than this Bomp article, James Isaacs dubbed Reddy Teddy and other 1970s Boston underground bands "punk nouveau." He listed Reddy Teddy in company with such acts as Willie "Loco" Alexander, Mickey Clean and the Mezz, Third Rail, and Mark Thor and Nola Rezzo.

2. Actually, Scott Baerenwald. He resurfaced a few years later with a great band, Robin Lane and the Chartbusters.

3. Actually, the late Matthew D. MacKenzie. He was in other Boston-area bands, such as Willie Alexander and the Confessions.

4. Willie Loco refers to Willie Alexander.

5. In the 1970s, Maxanne Sartori was a highly influential disk jockey on Boston's WBCN-FM.


Alan Lewis

Notes copyright © 2001 by Alan Lewis.
All rights reserved.

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