Archival Buffalo News feature articles

  A reminder of how wonderful Janis Ian was at her peak. April 18, 1977 A Giant Janis Makes Chapin a Lightweight            The irony of Saturday night’s show in Shea’s Buffalo was that tiny Janis Ian could be so powerful while 6-foot-5 Tom Chapin was such a lightweight.           Chapin, dressed in blue, strumming a guitar alone, seemed a more finely-crafted tenor than his famous brother Harry. Star of the children’s TV show “Make a Wish,” he seemed silly to excess, but had a magic way with nonsense lyrics and singalongs.           Ian and her quartet provided him his finest moments, slipping in behind him on a two-song encore and providing the bite his solos lacked.           It was a preview of the wallop her set packed.           Beginning with delicious ...

  An early rumbling of a Buffalo music revolution. April 16, 1977 Jamie’s Punk-Rock Band Offers Plenty of Lip Service IT’S ONE OF THOSE BIG OLD HOUSES on Goundry Street in North Tonawanda . Big enough for the paradox of having Dr. R. A. Carlson’s offices in the basement and his son Jamie’s punk-rock band Lip Service upstairs.           Jamie, who abandoned college in favor of pursuing the anarchy of the New York Dolls, grabs some refreshment from the refrigerator and leads the way to a living room with tall windows, high ceilings and a grand piano.           “I cried for Jimi Hendrix when he died,” Jamie relates. “I have a real Hendrix fixation.” * * * JAMIE’S MUSICAL passions have fired half of his 22 years. Back in seventh grade, he and singer Mark Siezega spent nights trying to recreate the thundering attack of the MC5’s “ Motor City ’s Burnin’” and Tastes’ “Blister...

For the UB Folk Festival and the folk scene in general, this was a far cry from the glory days of the early 1970s, but it still had a wonderfully eclectic lineup.  April 16, 1977 Cooney, Elliott Provide Mixed Folk Repertoire              Michael Cooney stirs a spoon of honey into his tea at the afternoon reception in the Tralfamadore Café prior to the UB Folk Festival Friday and says he just wrote an essay called “A Case Against Famous.”           “The kind of music I play is by nature esoteric,” says the emcee of the Festival’s opening night show in Clark Gym. “Therefore, if lots of people like it, then I must be doing something wrong.”           Bob Dylan was spoiled by fame, Cooney says, and Leon Redbone’s on the verge of spoiling. A moment later, an unspoiled singer in a cowboy hat comes to the table. It’s Ramblin’ Jack Elliott.   ...

  The fate of progressive album rock radio was a burning issue among Buffalo ’s serious music lovers in the mid 1970s. For years hopes had centered on WYSL-FM/WPHD-FM and WGRQ-FM. By 1977, though, both those stations had taken a more commercial route and there was a new champion for new music – WBUF-FM. But now it was about to sell out, too.   April 11, 1977 Waves of Change Are in the Air For WBUF and Hard-Rock Format              It got so that program director Cal Brady wouldn’t answer the question when callers asked if on the Town Crier, WBUF-FM’s 10 a.m. weekday talk show.           “They wanted to know if we’re going Top 40,” he says. “I just hung up on them.”           Brady ducked it because he doesn’t know the answer. Nobody does. The situation, as they say, is fluid.           This repor...

On my desk at The Buffalo News, I still have a souvenir from this transformative time for Jethro Tull – a little plastic tree stump, hollowed out to be a pencil holder, stamped with the title of what was then their latest album, “Songs from the Wood.”   March 30, 1977 To Tull the Truth, Jethro’s Act Has Smoothed Out Rough Spots             He tips a red bowler hat: “I’m Arnold Stirrup and I’m the support act this evening.”           Support act, indeed. It’s Ian Anderson, the satyr who directs Jethro Tull and he’s come out alone to get things started.           He resembles a country squire in his riding pants and vest. He strikes his acoustic guitar and the rest of the band slips in behind him – a hint of the precision 12,000 fans will set the rest of the evening Tuesday in Memorial Auditorium.      ...

  Everybody with fond memories of McVan’s always mentions these guys.   March 26, 1977 Rasputin Spelled With $ Signs Since Band Used Kiss Makeup   RASPUTIN LOOKS LIKE KISS expanded to a quintet in the big color photo in Paul Steinbruckner’s living room on Union Road in Cheektowaga . As with Kiss, it’s hard – no, impossible – to tell who’s who in Rasputin without the makeup.           For instance, Paul here. Glance at the picture, then at Paul, then at the picture. It’s no use.           “Which one are you?”           “I’m the drummer,” he says.           “Oh, you’re Peter Criss.”           “Yeah, it happened to work out that way.”           Just because everybody in Rasputin happens...