THE HISTORY OF THE DEDICATED FOOL
Under
construction......more coming almost daily....lots of bits will be
lying about for your perusal as we saw away at it....you are invited
to send any recollections of Rather Ripped Records in Berkeley, CA,
the Dedicated Fool in North Carolina, Berkeley, Sacramento and/or now
Pittsburgh, Tunes to Go in Sacramento, Face the Music in heaven and
environs or bands like Monet's Gardens, Cement Trampoline, Cold
October, Sachiko, 9th Creation, Steve One and the Shades, and any
other ruminations on this axis of music phreaks and their world...to
emikoo@comcast.net...thanks, Russ
|
The earliest spotting |
Wherein we learn how a Canadian, name of Richard and a refugee from the wilds of Pittsburgh, a boy with lots of hair, named Russ, forsook a Leopold's Records Store in Berkeley that he and partner, Richard, helped build, to become Fools, and then got RATHER RIPPED. Here's one early picture, if you get this far.
|
At 5 years old, I whined and wheedled my mother into buying me a 45 by Johnnie Ray - Little White Cloud That Cried/Cry on Columbia Records' Okeh label, its race records label...cause Johnny was a bit too soulful to hang out with Mitch Miller, I guess. So were Clive Davis, Santana, Miles Davis and the like, but that's a later story. Mom was a high school musician, a Tamburitzan, a Croatian folk troupe wherein she played bizernetza along with her usual Hawaiian and acoustic guitar. She gave up a scholarship and had me (hey, we all make mistakes, some turn out okay..I like to think I was one of the okay ones, but I am sure I have some old acquaintances who would beg to differ.) Anyhow Dad was a world war II hero, handsome as the Devil can make 'em, and he liked country music mostly, so I got an early dose of Hank Williams, Slim Bryant, Bill Monroe and the like. And then along came Elvis, the Everly Brothers and a million excellent doo wop groups, kind of one per corner in my teen years, of which I of course, was one. |
||
|
How they stopped being FOOLS and became Rather Ripped forever. |
04-03-1979 / Berkeley, CA / Zellerbach Auditorium, University of California / USA • Can't Stand Losing You - Truth Hits Everybody - So Lonely - Fall Out - Born In The 50's - Hole In My Life/ Fixing A Hole - Be My Girl-Sally - Peanuts - Roxanne ** Landlord - Next To You ** Can't Stand Losing You • Support act: Robert Johnson, The Knack. • Attendance: 3,000; sellout. Introduction by Miles: "For the first time in Berkeley. Will you please welcome THE POLICE". Sting: "This is Berkeley right? Now be careful, because you are on the radio as well". Stewart: "So sing in tune". During Roxanne: "I tell you what. 3,000 people right? Can you sing? Course you can sing. Sing with me". Before the encore Stewart made the comment: "I went to school here, about five years ago". This show was recorded and broadcasted live by KSAN radio in San Francisco. In the afternoon of 05-03-1979 The Police did an album signing and in-store appearance at Rather Ripped Records in Berkeley. This remembrance comes from this website....http://www.scarlet.nl/~gugten/s19790304.htm
|
HORSLIPS - THE BELFAST GIGS LP, Live at Whitla Hall, Belfast, April 29, 30 and May 1, 1980. If you don't know this Irish rock/folk/prog band that heavily influenced U2 and any other Irish rocker that came afterwards, well you should. We became friends with them over the years and they played our final birthday party at Rather Ripped Records in Berkeley, CA, and we became better friends until they disbanded. Interested, go to google and type in Horslips for a full panorama incl. their own website... Or
|
||
|
In late '69, Mr. Ripped, The Fool or Russ as he is sometimes known crossed the great big USA from Pittsburgh, PA to Berkeley, CA with three beautiful women in an old van. Seemed to be the thing to do as we skipped going to Woodstock that weekend and headed West. Quite a trip, I must say. The US was beautiful in '69, so were my travelling companions, but I can't say it was any less prejudiced or right wing, as town after town had a problem with the fact that I had long curly hair. In Denver, the Mile High City, (and I thought they were the Mile High City 'cause they had the best dope, nope they ---at the time anyhow -- just had the most dopes. Can't say I've ever had the urge to go back and visit after we had to make a quick exit from a bunch of good old boys, who were threatening to kick my ass (all six of them), maybe six could, didn't wait to find out. And never looked back, and they are all probably sitting at the same diner, wishing they had lives, huh! Lost a suitcase off the top of the truck in Kansas when we stopped to fix a flat, and found out that when the cops found it, they thought it was a sex cult once one of the women's moms told them we were okay, one guy and three girls....wish I had the newspaper report from old Pittsburgh, our home town....and this was before Manson, Jim Jones and the renegade Mormons. But before the erstwhile Kansas troopers could find us, we were long gone and into California. Needless to say when we hit California, I pulled the truck over and kissed the ground and yelled "I'm Home" And I was back then. First thing we did was get an apartment on Derby Street in Berkeley, CA. The rental agent was rather smitten with my beautiful companions and didn't even wince or run a credit check when I told him I was a writer, and that' s how I made a living. Well, it turned out to be true, but most of the writing was on music, and Rather Ripped ended up publishing most of it. |
Wendy O. Williams visit to RRR for autograph party. An early pic of
young Russ with Hair, face and head, early Sex P's tee shirt made by
artist, Hugh Brown, Ms. Arayah Genanian, Mr. Miles lower right. An
early staff of the original Rather Ripped at left, up front David
Kuznets, who went to UK to marry the beautiful Ms. Enid just beside
him there,. In England he worked for many many years at Topic
Records, and he just informed me, he is still there, soldiering on.
Hi. David, Hi Enid.